SOMEWHAT FRANK

26 Startups In 30 Days Demo at TECH cocktail

It has been a busy last 30 days as we hosted three TECH cocktail events in Chicago, DC and Boston respectively. Starting in Chicago in early August we drew a humongous crowd and showed off 9 new Chicago area start-ups as I previously explained. We did not stop with just Chicago, we continued to plan and host TECH cocktail events the past two weeks in DC and Boston. Both events were very well attended and showcased 17 more start-ups. The events attracted over 1400 guests and showcased 26 startups in 30 days. Not bad as we roll into our fourth year, with the same mission as when we started of "amplifying the local technology signal in local tech communities" while "having fun doing it." 

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for coming out to support the last three events in Chicago, DC and Boston. We couldn’t do the events without the support of the local technology community and our fabulous sponsors which included AOL’s AIM & Going.com, BOALT, Saper Law, Jess3, Shiny Heart Ventures, TransFS, SproutBox, Total Attorneys, Chicago Micro, OVAL Vodka and iStrategyLabs. We also had 26 great start-ups demoing at the events. 

Yep, It's True, AOL To Acquire SocialThing

A few weeks ago Mike Arrington gave me a call asking me if, my employer, AOL, had acquired SocialThing. Though it struck very close to home, I had to bite my tongue since the deal had not yet closed and did not comment on the matter. Now that is has been officially released, I can. It is true, AOL has entered into an agreement to acquire SocialThing, the Boulder, Colorado based social aggregating lifestream startup. The terms are not disclosed and the acquisition is still subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions.

I met founders Matt "indiekid" Galligan, Ben Brightwell and the team as they demo'ed at TECH cocktail Boulder on March 6th. Matt is originally from Illinois, like I am, and moved to Boulder to create SocialThing as part of the TechStars incubator program. I got a preview of the SocialThing private beta at TECH cocktail (shown in the video below) which was a few days before they launched at SXSW Interactive and were written up favorably on TechCrunch as being easier to use than FriendFeed. I was impressed by what this startup had created as it offered a wrapper for all your social activities making it easy to post to multiple networks at once. SocialThing is integrated with 13 social media properties including Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Flickr and is currently still in private beta.

Video: A Look Inside TechStars

If you are startup looking for a little funding and guidance you might want to check into one of the incubator program like TechStars. Nestled just outside of Denver in Boulder, Colorado the TechStars program is in its second year and still accepting hungry startup founders for this years applicants. Throughout the summer program, founders can get up to $15,000 in seed funding, are surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs, work in great space downtown Boulder, and are given access to learn from an line-up of fabulous mentors. Apply today - the 2008 deadline is March 31, 2008.