Minnespark: micro seed capital for (very) early stage Minnesota startup(minnestar.org)
minnestar.org
Minnespark: micro seed capital for (very) early stage Minnesota startup
http://minnestar.org/minnespark/
10 comments
Is this more Awesome Foundation, where it's $1,000 to just build something or is it a mini-YC where it's $1,000 to really do a company?
I'd never heard of Awesome Foundation, sounds cool though.
Obviously $1K is not a lot of money to build a company, but the goal is to get people over the mental hurdles that are stopping them and hopefully get them to a place where they're making money online.
I'm a YC alumni so I'm influenced by that, but the idea is lifted from Scale Well in Chicago: http://scalewell.com/
The winner of the first Scale Well grant used it to refine his synthesizer, and he now sells Beep It on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25223176
Obviously $1K is not a lot of money to build a company, but the goal is to get people over the mental hurdles that are stopping them and hopefully get them to a place where they're making money online.
I'm a YC alumni so I'm influenced by that, but the idea is lifted from Scale Well in Chicago: http://scalewell.com/
The winner of the first Scale Well grant used it to refine his synthesizer, and he now sells Beep It on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25223176
Wow, it is great to see this second order ripple, good job!
Scale Well was itself inspired by The Awesome Foundation (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1040599) which has grown from our original Boston chapter to include Providence, NYC, and SF. Two more cities are ramping up: Ottawa and Philly.
Scale Well was itself inspired by The Awesome Foundation (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1040599) which has grown from our original Boston chapter to include Providence, NYC, and SF. Two more cities are ramping up: Ottawa and Philly.
Thanks for the props 100k. We noticed with Michael, the first recipient of a ScaleWell grant, that the community recognition allowed him to more efficiently collect feedback and support (his existing business seemed more "real").
So $1000 is not a lot, but in certain situations it is enough to propel an existing project toward revenue generation.
So $1000 is not a lot, but in certain situations it is enough to propel an existing project toward revenue generation.
Cool. This is an experiment for us, but we are going to tie the winner(s) into our existing events like MinneBar and MinneDemo to increase their exposure.
And in fact, we're already getting some press about the event...it was written up next to the $130,000 Minnesota Cup in one of the business papers here.
And in fact, we're already getting some press about the event...it was written up next to the $130,000 Minnesota Cup in one of the business papers here.
Oh, neat! Is there much of a startup scene in the Cities? Where do folks meet up?
That's a good question. A lot of places. I've met a lot of likeminded folks at Minnedemo/Minnebar events (see http://minnestar.org), and just through working/networking, and the local Ruby group (http://ruby.mn).
Tech.MN has a pretty thorough local event calendar: http://tech.mn/events/
One group that seems to be gaining momentum is a newish MN Lean Startup group. http://leanstartup.mn/
But yeah, there are many great people here doing many cool things.
Would love to see posts about folks in other cities doing or trying similar things. Silicon Valley is great and all, but not everyone wants or even needs to be there. I'm sure the Twin Cities is not the only place with a lot of enthusiastic folks creating the tech culture they want to see around them...
Tech.MN has a pretty thorough local event calendar: http://tech.mn/events/
One group that seems to be gaining momentum is a newish MN Lean Startup group. http://leanstartup.mn/
But yeah, there are many great people here doing many cool things.
Would love to see posts about folks in other cities doing or trying similar things. Silicon Valley is great and all, but not everyone wants or even needs to be there. I'm sure the Twin Cities is not the only place with a lot of enthusiastic folks creating the tech culture they want to see around them...
I'm involved in organizing this. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know and I'll respond and if necessary add them to the FAQ: http://minnestar.org/minnespark/faq/