Life was good for a while, but when Draplin hit age 12, he started to see the divides in the pressure systems in the community. For example, he saw that there were defined groups of good-looking kids versus not-so-good-looking kids.

Draplin knew he was destined for a different life path, and so he hit the road at 19 to pursue his dream of being a snowboarder in Oregon. It was Draplin and 6 of his best friends; nobody was trying to compete for the best, they just enjoyed life and truly lived.

And then Draplin sold his first snowboard graphic for $300. Immediately, it awoke in him a realization that he could make money off of his logos, and it set in motion a life journey that took him from Alaska to Minnesota, through Southern California and eventually back up to Oregon.

Today he sits as the founder of Draplin Design Co., fueling his life with artwork. We were lucky enough to see Draplin come by a Tech Cocktail Week Sessions in Downtown Las Vegas and give one hell of presentation about the graphic design space.

Here’s the video:

The post Aaron Draplin: An Evocative Look at the Life of a Graphic Designer appeared first on TechCo.

The fund, called EXXclaim Capital, will invest in companies focused on areas like pediatrics, health and wellness, and digital health. According to MedCity News, the fund was started by Dr. Anula Jayasuriya and Karen Drexler and has already invested in Wildflower Health and Medable.

“Women’s health has been extremely overlooked by today’s VCs because, guess what? Less than 5% of VCs are women and people invest in what they know,” Grossman said. 

EXXclaim Capital, which is still looking for limited partners to provide more capital, is willing to invest up to a few million dollars in companies who are expecting to exit for just $30 million or $60 million, Grossman said – a smaller return than most VCs are looking for. In the process, she hopes to see more women board members at the companies they fund. 

Grossman is a serial entrepreneur who has always been passionate about women’s health. She founded Gynesonics, which built a minimally invasive device to help treat fibroid tumors and be an alternative to major surgery. She was also CEO of Sense4Baby, which made sensors to monitor a baby’s heart rate during high-risk pregnancies. 

At Tech Cocktail Week, Grossman shared the story of her journey from medical school to possible venture capitalist – here’s the video. 

The post The First VC Fund Focused on Women’s Health Has Launched appeared first on TechCo.

While this recap barely skims the surface of the panel session, here are 9 ways we, as members of the DC Tech community, can encourage diversity and practice safe and respectful working environments:

1. Rise Together
   “We don’t do anything alone. We can’t do anything good alone. Ultimately what we need is shared values. We’re influenced by people who believe in a fair and just democracy and they bring [this mentality] to the tech space. We have a collective of badass women in town– folks who put in ton of hours to organize this community. The reality is we must rise together and pool resources to create change.” – Aliya Rahman, Program Director, Code for Progress
2. Find a mentor.
   “Praise is a powerful motivator. When you make it public, they’re more likely to share information and help you. A lot of people are willing to help when you ask thoughtful questions. Everyone is sharing knowledge and trying to understand the same problems.” – Melody Kramer, Digital Strategist & Associate Editor, NPR
3. Be a mentor.
   “It’s essential to try to be a mentor as well as find a mentor. Sometimes we focus on one angle or the other. Sometimes we do both and forget about how far we’ve come. If you’re still early in your career, there’s still someone you can mentor along the way.” – Ashleigh Axios, VP, AIGA
4. Be Proactive.
   “Support, challenge and push each other but also be proactive about it. Recommend her for that keynote or that job. Go to that company and encourage her to apply. Go to a conference. We need to change the image of that programmer who is a pasty white dude hanging out in his garage.” – Bonnie Bogle, COO, Mapbox
5. Initiate Change & Change Your Story.
   “There are actual material barriers to access and opportunities. Some communities do not have computers. We can do things with policy to change things. What would it be like to require Computer Science in schools? Second, the the story and narrative we tell about ourselves is the hardest to change. Stop calling yourself a non-technical person. People self select themselves out of opportunities to come to events, volunteer and be heard. Change that.” – Rahman
6. Branch Out of Your Networks.
   “If someone is always considered the experts, they are always the same type of person who are invited [to speak or be profiled]. Use LinkedIn and go outside of your network and find other people. It takes you out of your network for sourcing articles if you’re a journalist, […] if you’re trying to source conferences […] or if you’re trying to hire a diverse pool of applicants. It exposes you to different people you may not know.” – Kramer
7. Push Diversity & Change Recruitment.
   “We’re creating a culture to learn and come into leadership positions. We see this in the DC Tech community. We see push. If you dont see it, you can change or break it. One-third of our team is involved in recruiting. We talk about our culture, being inclusive and talk about the fact we want women to work with us and encourage them to apply. Seven of the last 11 technical hires are women. The coolest part is they immediately get involved in the recruiting process so we have access to their networks and resources so it becomes a cycle. This process hard to start but it will start to create change.” – Bogle
8. Use Twitter to Connect with People.
   “It’s an easy medium to connect with people. Favoriting can be more powerful than responding. Follow people whose jobs you want. Be aware of what’s happening on Twitter. A lot of communities have hashtags to talk about new jobs- follow those. People like to be praised. Praise them. Ask them to grab a cup of coffee with you. If they say no, who cares?” – Kramer
9. Volunteer.
   “There are so many organizations, non-profits in the area who have different experiences than you do.” You can gain a lot of insight by being there and being helpful. – Axios

While last night’s Meetup focused on women in tech, building diversity in tech is not limited to gender equality. As Aliya Rahman shared, “Coding is about empathy– learning how to communicate with someone different than you.” We should aim to address and be inclusive of sexuality, gender, class, ethnicity and everything in between.

You, who came to the Meetup or you, who saw this article in the Twittersphere (or elsewhere) are humans who love technology and this industry. It is crucial to have your support. Having open, honest conversations will contribute to better work environments for all of us. Whether it’s through recruitment tactics or by simply changing the description of Meetup events to be more inclusive, we can all make changes to our daily habits. The event was incredibly insightful, but one Meetup is not enough. Let’s continue the conversation and give a voice to those underrepresented in our community. Let’s inspire this change and speak up instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

Panelists from Left to Right: Shana Glenzer (SocialRadar), Aliya Rahman (Code for Progress), Ashleigh Axios (AIGA), Bonnie Bogle (MapBox) & Melody Kramer (NPR)

For information on DC Metro Women in Tech events and resources, visit the @DCFemTechcalendar here, sign up for monthly event newsletters here or join us for future Code & Coffees here.

DCTech Meetup typically runs every other month and convenes 800+ innovators gather to see demos, launch products and meet their future co-founders, partners and funders. See future Meetups here.

The post 9 Ways to Support Diversity in DC Tech appeared first on TechCo.

“I actually felt pretty good about it,” recalled Sandra Dainora, director of product, at our Chicago Sessions event last week. “An important part of a good product development relationship is being able to know when it’s time to pull the plug and when it’s time to evaluate: is this meeting a problem that our user has? Is this the best way to solve the problem?”

At GrubHub, they’re always thinking about what the user wants and needs. To really understand how restaurants and patrons use their dining tools, GrubHub set up a restaurant in their office where employees could try them. Last summer, they spent weeks and weeks in actual restaurants just watching the staff use their products. 

“We’re really trying to build empathy,” said Dainora, who runs surveys and usability tests as well. “Take out the hypotheticals and actually watch your customers using your product.”

Another small example: at some point, Dainora realized that they were spending so much time writing copy about how to use GrubHub while savvy users were barely reading it. So they stopped fretting over every word and comma. 

“Until you understand why and how people are using your products, you can make wrong inferences,” said Dainora. “And that’s something that we feel really strongly about.” 

The post How GrubHub Obsesses Over Their Customers (in a Good Way)  appeared first on TechCo.

GE Garages are pop-up maker spaces that welcome members of the local community to come and use their tools, such as 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC mills, injection molders, and Arduino kits. The spaces also host speakers and run workshops. 

In Lagos, GE will be offering free workshops for entrepreneurs on new technologies, programming, and business planning. They’ll also offer student training in the power generation sector. According to AllAfrica, one of the goals is to help make students more employable. AllAfrica reported that the pilot phase will begin later this year. 

Taking GE Garages to Africa fits into GE Africa’s mission to help “build Africa’s sustainable future.” Right now, GE already has operations in Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. To help young innovators, they’ve launched leadership programs and created a competition for university students creating technologies that power their local communities. They also invested in Calabar Tech, a tech and engineering school in Nigeria. On the more humanitarian side, they put $1 million into the BURN Manufacturing Co.‘s Cookstoves Project, and support the health of African mothers and children through a program called Developing Health Globally.

Stephen J. Liguori, GE’s executive director of global innovation & new models, joined us at The Garage in DC in March to talk about GE’s approach with the Garages, crowdsourcing or “open innovation,” and how they engage with startups. At the time, he could only hint about the upcoming GE Garage in Africa. Watch the video below: 

Our March 27 DC Sessions was sponsored by GE – we thank them for their support! 

The post GE Is Launching a Fabrication Lab in Nigeria  appeared first on TechCo.

In April, Swisher went on NBC’s Meet the Press to talk about ObamaCare, and was struck by the difference in mentality between the government and the tech industry. 

For example, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was quoted as saying, “The launch of the website was terribly flawed and terribly difficult. The good news was that we said it would be fixed in eight weeks. It was fixed in eight weeks.”

Eight weeks? Whereas in the tech industry, minutes of downtime cause an uproar. “Every day, people use Google and eBay and Amazon and they work beautifully, and when it doesn’t work, you’re shocked,” says Swisher. “It’s like electricity – people turn on the switch and the light goes on. You don’t even think about it. A broken website in this day and age is a missed opportunity.”

She contrasted it to a technology like Tinder, the dating app. “Even Tinder does 12 million matches a day and it’s quantumly more difficult what they’re doing – people moving, dating, 12 million matches, geographic,” says Swisher. “Tinder is harder.” 

The whole episode reminded her of the disconnect between how government sees technology and how techies see technology. “It was interesting to watch the mentality of Washington,” she says. “It reminds me (having lived there for so long) how backwards they are in terms of what’s about to happen.” 

The post Kara Swisher: Tinder Is More Complicated Than the ObamaCare Website appeared first on TechCo.

What Evans does know is PR, and if you work in this industry like I do, you probably know her, too.

That’s because she is generous with her knowledge, sharing tips on generating buzz and promoting brands in articles and in numerous talks around the country.

At one of our Tech Cocktail Week Sessions, Evans shared more than her PR know-how; she shared her own story as an entrepreneur whose journey led her to start her own company, and then to move her family to Las Vegas to work at a startup.

Suddenly surrounded by the growing tech scene in Vegas, Evans wondered if her lack of tech chops would be a disadvantage. But, she quickly recognized that her well-honed skills were just what fledgling startups need, regardless of their industry.

“I enjoy running parallel to technology. I’m not a coder, but this is how I can kind of get my arm in this space and be part of it,” she said.

Evans knows that where a tech startup founder’s knowledge may end, hers most definitely begins.

“Just because you’re great at creating something doesn’t mean you know how to strategically promote it, create an integrated marketing plan, and launch a content marketing strategy,” she said.

Evans also discussed her book, “[RE]FRAME: Little Inspirations for a Larger Purpose,” which was written as an accountability tool as she builds her career as both a PR professional and a business owner.

The key to “[RE]FRAME” is what Evans calls a “life mission statement” and keeping it front-and-center in your daily life. She explains that her own mission statement “has been a compass for every decision that I make.”

Listen to her describe her mission statement and how this tool can be an important part of every entrepreneur’s arsenal in the video below.

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Most of us feel compassion for people who lack this basic need, something so fundamental that we take it for granted at least three times each day.

But, what can we do to help? We’re so busy; besides, we spend 8+ hours each day making sure we can put food on our own tables, right?

Entrepreneur Liberty Huang found herself caught between a desire to help fight hunger and the time-consuming (yet necessary) role of being in the workforce herself. After a few years of working after college, however, she began to really miss the volunteer work she enjoyed before she had such demanding work obligations.

Then, she realized that finding meaningful ways to give back as a volunteer was a lot like work, too. Finding a match between your interests and organizations’ needs takes a lot of research and logistical planning.

So, she and her cousins set out to overcome these hurdles to volunteerism. They created a platform to connect professionals who want to volunteer with organizations that work to solve big problems.

Their nonprofit, Boobs4Food makes this connection between food bloggers, chefs, and other food enthusiasts and organizations that are out in the community battling hunger.

In this video, Huang shares the story of how she joined her work and passion to help others.

The post Liberty Huang Created a Smarter Volunteer Platform with Boobs4Food appeared first on TechCo.

Reed is the former CTO of Obama for America. When putting together his team for the campaign, he knew that it was important for him to bring in only the most talented people. “In 2012…we [knew we] had to build these big, great [technology tools and platforms]…we had to have real technologists do real technology,” said Reed. He brought on 40 engineers and over 120 tech staff – ten times as many as those in 2008 – and it obviously paid off handsomely for the campaign (I mean…Obama’s in his second term). According to Reed, putting together a solid team is one of the most difficult aspects of starting a company; if he had his way, he would have spent more time putting together the team for Obama for America.

“It’s incredibly hard to build teams. Oftentimes, it’s the thing we [entrepreneurs] stew on. We collected the right people to make sure [Obama’s re-election] could happen,” said Reed. “We did not do a good job [in terms of diversity] on the tech team for [the campaign]. For the most part, we hired all white dudes…If we had to do this again, I would spend more time solving that problem.”

The issue of diversity within the startup ecosystem certainly isn’t a new topic of discussion. Indeed, it’s been covered in posts from the likes of Fast Company to (most recently) The Guardian. Known to be occupied predominantly by privileged, educated, white males, Reed is only one among a handful of men from that group that is willing to actively discuss and encourage diversity among startup teams. As he notes in this talk, great innovation can only come from diversity – he cites how Google capitalized on diversity early-on, allowing the company to innovate ahead of its competitors.

“Don’t be afraid to hire people that look differently from you; innovation comes from diversity. Try to do that – try to talk about the difficulty…talk about the [diversity issue]…it’s not going to go away if we ignore it. The Internet isn’t just a bunch of white dudes with beards; it’s important for your team to represent the Internet.”

Reed claims that a diverse team of people are the ones that are going to build the best apps, the best culture, and the best companies. For him, it’s important to devote time to thinking about how diversity can impact a company culture. He did precisely this when founding Lunar Technology Corp, and he lays down a framework for others on what they can do to put together the best team conducive for innovation.

Watch Harper Reed talk about diversity, how to put together a great team, and his experiences on Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. You can see it here.

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The post Harper Reed: Why Diversity is Important When Building Your Startup Team [VIDEO] appeared first on TechCo.

Global 14, as he feels, is the way social networking and social media should be. It was inspired by the fact that while a lot of people know about Dupri and his music, nobody had any idea of what his other interests and ambitions might be.

During his talk, Dupri mentioned that technology and music are driving down a very similar path, but when he comes to tech events, he’s the only musician there. But that’s why it’s so important for him to go; mixing and interacting with a new culture is one of the most interesting parts of life.

In fact, culture and the way people come together to create things is the most inspiring thing to Dupri, period. The tech startup scene is a perfect example of mixing different cultures, which is one of the elements that Celebrate focused on. It’s those type of situations where you learn more about yourself, your culture, and how you fit into the world.

Here is the video:

The post To Jermaine Dupri, Culture is the Most Important Thing. Period. appeared first on TechCo.

Automattic grew to become the power source for WordPress and the multiple other companies Mullenweg has acquired since its inception like Gravatar, Simplenote, and Simperium. Whatever his current project, venture, or acquisition Mullenweg has kept one constant that drives his success: open source.

This is one of the topics he talks about in his fireside chat with our own Jen Consalvo, and he equates the open source model to life and not just software. He even modeled his business after an open source mentality and gives his employees the power to adapt their jobs for what they want. In effect he has created a macrocosm of the WordPress platform; no two people have the same experience with it.

This is only a taste of the kind of innovative and creative thinking that Mullenweg has brought to the tech scene though, and he eliminated email for his company. All communications are done through P2 and he can efficiently scale it for over 1,000 employees.

Over the next year, Mullenweg is determined to use all his various tools to release five to six updates for the WordPress platform. At the time of the talk WordPress v3.7 had just been released and we should see v3.8 this December.

Here is the video:

The post Matt Mullenweg: “Don’t Let People Tell You It’s Already Been Done” appeared first on TechCo.

According to Simon, we should listen to his opinions and predictions with a healthy sense of skepticism. Putting blind faith into an expert prediction because it belongs to an expert is about as smart as smoking at a gas station. The future is not yet written, and expert predictions are thusly not rooted in certainty.

After all, experts at HBO predicted Breaking Bad would fail, NBC’s experts almost canceled Seinfeld, and music industry experts predicted Rush would never achieve musical greatness. Entrepreneurs, then, should always fight to succeed, even if the expert predictions are stacked against them.

Simon joined us at Tech Cocktail Week in June to talk about the fallibility of experts. Here is the video:

Tech Cocktail Week is a monthly series of events that takes place downtown Las Vegas and is produced in partnership with Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project.

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The post Phil Simon to All Entrepreneurs: Do Not Trust Experts appeared first on TechCo.

That experience started Bhargava down a path that would ultimately lead him to write the bestselling books Personality Not Included and Likenomics. Both of which are globally marketed and nicely complement his features in NPR, BusinessWeek, and The Wall Street Journal.

His books center on the idea that everybody does business and builds relationships with individuals they like. Likeability powers everything from whom we believe to what we buy, and it all goes beyond simply being nice.

“That moment when business gets done and someone goes that extra mile and helps you because they like you, that happens all the time,” says Bhargava. “That is what Likenomics is about, that is what business is about, and that is what success is about.”

Here is the video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D9zHhzS5ao&w=560&h=315]

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The post Rohit Bhargava’s Likenomics: Find Success through Likability [Video] appeared first on TechCo.

Tech Cocktail’s own Frank Gruber was first at bat and detailed his formal start in Chicago in 2006. Packing his nights and weekends to the brim with work, Gruber never stopped extending the reach of his effort and bootstrapped the funding he needed. Tech Cocktail headed to the next level when Gruber moved to Las Vegas and raised $2.5 million. Ever since then, he has kept moving forward, a common theme to be found from all the subsequent speakers.

Corey and Lorena Egan dug into their adventures starting iLumi Solutions, an intelligent and multicolored LED bulb controlled via mobile app and Bluetooth. Corey (CEO) and Lorena (program manager) likened their voyage to that of a pirate ship, destined for treasure-hunting glory as they sailed ever towards the horizon.

Finding your true North Star will give you direction, just as it did for them. However, you cannot be afraid to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Successful individuals remain humble, but are never afraid to ask for help. Also, remember to manage yourself and allow some downtime for rest and relaxation.

Umba Box, a curated discovery platform for handmade goods, featured founder and CEO Lauren Thorp discussing the value of taking small steps toward your true passion. Thorp was always passionate about handmade goods, but found herself locked in a job she dreaded going to every morning.

Slowly, she worked her way out of her stale government job and toward the place in life where she had always wanted to be. After using Umba Box at her own wedding and landing in Entrepreneur Magazine, Thorp soon found herself participating in 500 Startups and the VegasTechFund – proof that baby steps can add up with enough time and dedication.

The founder of Digital Telepathy, Chuck Longanecker, discussed his focus as he worked to improve the design of the web by introducing new standards for people who are passionate about design. The central theme of his talk was about designing your own direction, and how you can plan out your path to the best of your ability.

Define where you start, what direction you want to go, and then map it out, he said. There is no book that tells you what to do, and the fate of your direction rests in your hands. Breaking down complex goals helps maintain a process of betterment while eliminating friction from your journey.

Phil Simon, author of the management book, Too Big to Ignore: The Business Case for Big Data, rounded out the talks by posing an interesting thought: never trust experts. Bluntly speaking, you should ignore experts because they are not always right.

Among the countless books written on the subject, Simon brought up hit TV shows Breaking Bad and Seinfeld, which barely made it out of the pitch room. The point here is: experts talk a lot, but take their advice with a grain of salt because their opinions are no more or less valuable than anybody else’s.

The post Successful Growth Through Well-Planned Steps: June’s Tech Cocktail Week Sessions appeared first on TechCo.

Kaplan’s fear of fainting eventually caused her to cab to the office each day in lieu of “a beautiful ten minute walk to work”, costing her an additional $2,000 annually.  This from the same frugal head of finance who couldn’t bring herself to hire support.

Later that year, Kaplan purchased a one-way flight to Indonesia, with no particular agenda.  She thought she was taking a sabbatical; what she got was a life-changing transformation.

Today, Kaplan is a free-spirited, meditating, bungee-jumping chance-taker, who lives her life on the philosophy of conquering fears.

Find out what spurred this radical transformation by watching Kaplan’s talk at Tech Cocktail Week Sessions.

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The post Dina Kaplan of Blip on Conquering Fears [Video] appeared first on TechCo.

After a brief hiatus, he decided it was time to jump back into the startup scene. But, Greg discovered that this scene was lacking, so he decided to work on filling the holes in Baltimore’s startup ecosystem.

In the video below, Greg discusses all of the elements and layers that need to come together to create a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. Then, he gives us an overview of what is happening on the ground in Baltimore right now, as it relates to this new startup ecosystem he is working so hard to nurture.

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The post Greg Cangialosi On How to Build a Startup Ecosystem [Video] appeared first on TechCo.

“It’s amazing what happens when you surrender yourself to the easy things to do in life,” he says.

Aziz, a director at DFJ Mercury, believes that companies should also do what is easy. Throughout his career in venture capital, he has noticed – time and time again – that companies tend to work when they have unfair advantages to succeed.

An unfair advantage might mean that the company was founded by someone who has already made a name for him or herself in the industry. Or, it could mean that the startup was funded from day one. And, setting up shop in a city known for your industry isn’t a bad idea, either.

Watch Aziz explain why laziness is his personal – and professional – philosophy in the video below.

Tech Cocktail Week is a monthly series of events that takes place downtown Las Vegas and is produced in partnership with Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project.

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The post DFJ Mercury’s Aziz Gilani Explains Why Being Lazy Can be Good for Startups [Video] appeared first on TechCo.

All this led to the creation of Factory Zero, an innovation colony in San Francisco and the first location of Memento. They are looking at building colonies like it in other locations. dolivelove.com is one of their first projects.

Tech Cocktail Week is a monthly series of events that takes place in downtown Las Vegas and is produced in partnership with Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project.

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The post Building Culture through Inputs and Outputs with Matt Dorey of Factory Zero appeared first on TechCo.

1776 co-founder Evan Burfield lead the Startup America DC movement and, through those efforts, was able to identify some of the key issues facing the region when it comes to startups. His hope is that the new space will help tackle some of these large national problems. Burfield has teamed with Startup America Partnership’s managing director Donna Harris to pull this effort together. The duo are working hard to open the space by early February (which is only a few weeks away).

1776 co-founder Donna Harris had this to say about the new space:

“The Washington DC region is one of the most powerful, well-connected and wealthy communities on earth, and 1776 will help startups from all over the world to harness those assets to tackle America’s most pressing challenges.”

Her counterpart joined Tech Cocktail in Las Vegas in early December for the first ever Tech Cocktail Week event. Tech Cocktail Week is a monthly series of events that takes place downtown Las Vegas and is produced in partnership with Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project. During the event, Burfield shared his thoughts on tackling big problems and how 1776 plans to help act as a catalyst in the DC region. Watch Evan Burfield share his vision (below) for tackling big problems with the birth of 1776 DC tech startup campus and hub.

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Editor’s Note: Evan Burfield is also a contributor to Tech Cocktail and we are thankful for his insights, perspectives and support. 

The post 1776 DC Tech Startup Campus and Hub Aims To Tackle Big Problems appeared first on TechCo.

Watch the full session by Scott Case. The talk was recorded in front of a live audience at the Tech Cocktail Sessions speaker series event on May 24, 2012, in Washington, DC. We are currently offering these Sessions monthly, so check our event schedule for the next event, and come interact with startup founders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in person. The next one in DC is on July 24th – more details can be found here.

The post Scott Case On Sex, Gambling, Luck, and Growing Your Network appeared first on TechCo.

Tim joined us in Washington, D.C. for the kickoff of our monthly Sessions speaker series. Chi shared some of the insights from his two very different startup experiences at Blackboard and WeddingWire, which included the four important success factors:

1.) Team
2.) Listen Carefully To Your Customer
3.) Do Not Be Afraid To Fail
4.) Timing

We also uncovered though the sessions Q&A that Timothy connected with one of his first WeddingWire investors, Martha Stewart, via LinkedIn. Reid Hoffman would be proud. Watch the full keynote by Timothy Chi, CEO and Founder of WeddingWire.

Join us at Tech Cocktail Sessions as we break down the different ingredients that go into starting and running your own business (check our schedule). Our next DC event on May 24th features Scott Case, Founding CTO of Priceline.com and current CEO of Startup America,  Rohit Bhargava, Author of the new book LIKEONOMICS and Zvi Band, Co-founder of Contactually.

The post Timothy Chi of WeddingWire Shares Four Startup Success Factors appeared first on TechCo.

The Jampad is a place for entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts to collaborate with each other in jam sashes on company creation, company building and various technology topics. Travis is the sole proprietor and chief host of the Jampad.

Travis admits that his curiosity has gotten him into trouble in the past but also describes his passion as the driving force behind his success. He says that CEO’s that survive and the real CEO’s. He added that the phrase “fake it till you make it” isn’t true. Funding does not solve all the problems. Throwing money at problems is not going to fix them, ultimately you are going to need to buckle down, diagnose and treat.

Watch the full session with Travis Kalanick of Uber. This video is part of the Tech Cocktail Sessions video podcast on iTunes.

The post Travis Kalanick CEO of Uber Shares Startup Lessons From The Jampad appeared first on TechCo.

Fear is the disease,
Hustle is the antidote.

Since I saw those words up on the screen, they haven’t left me. You see, Tech Cocktail is a startup too – and we also have a product that we are trying to grow into a business. These businesses keep the team busy 24/7. Despite that, there are still those moments, typically around 3am when I wake up suddenly with heart pounding, fear taking a nasty hold. There’s no real prevention, but there is, as Travis pointed out, an antidote. Hustle. To me this means a few things. It doesn’t mean doing without thinking – and certainly not busywork. It means get busy figuring out what needs to be done – whether it’s testing, talking to people, selling, coding, raising money, etc. Hustle = don’t stop, don’t settle.

Travis was a crowd favorite amongst the Startup Mixology speakers, so we thought we’d share a video of his talk. Enjoy.

The post ‘Hustle Is The Antidote’ When Starting And Running A Business appeared first on TechCo.