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Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

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Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#11

Post by mhartl »

firefoxman1 wrote: post #6
sachingulaya wrote: post #3

"Your business model, including 3- or 5-year financial projections that include sales, profits, cash flows, and returns on investment." How can anyone reasonably predict where their N-month old company is going to be in 3-5 years?

Well, if you've ever had to write a business plan, you'll agree the projections for a startup end up being complete BS, but they make investors feel safe looking at a 20+ page document with lots of charts and numbers. That said, business plans can be useful and help the founders solidify their business model, predict costs, etc. If anything, it helps you get a vague idea of what to expect a few years down the road in…

business plans can be useful and help the founders solidify their business model, predict costs, etc.

I would guess the vast majority of tech entrepreneurs would disagree with the implication that business plans are generally useful.

Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#14

Post by tazzy531 »

St. Louis has the wrong understanding of the problem. Money isn't the solution to building a tech community. Funding isn't usually the issue in getting a startup off the ground.

The development of the tech community is how you entice entrepreneurs and technologists to your area. Entrepreneurs and developers flock to where there is a community of like minded individuals. Build the community and the people will come. Once the people come, the capital will come.

Look at what NYC is doing. They are building a tech community that rivals Silicon Valley out of the ashes of former investment banking software engineers. The city government is actively supporting groups like New York Tech Meetup and General Assembly. They are nurturing the tech community and encouraging them to grow roots in the city.

St. Louis needs to work on this rather than just throw money at the problem.

Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#15

Post by pinko »

palish wrote: post #12

EDIT: Post removed. I truly apologize for offending you. I don't like the idea of making people unhappy, so I've removed my post.

I'm not going to defend the merits of moving a startup to STL, but I think this post says more about you than the city.

Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#16

Post by c_t_montgomery »

palish wrote: post #12

EDIT: Post removed. I truly apologize for offending you. I don't like the idea of making people unhappy, so I've removed my post.

(disclaimer: I go to Saint Louis University, but spent last semester in SF)

I don't know what you're talking about - it's really not that bad.

For example: the STLJS meetup just started less than a year ago and had over 50 people at our last meetup. Granted - it's not SF or SValley, but it's not the hell hole you make it out to be. There are some of the most genuine and kind people I've ever met that are here in STL.

We're not a bunch of dumbfucks. Hell - WashU is ranked the 14th best university in the country. I'm not one that thinks a great school is equivalent to intelligence, but c'mon - there are people here that think. A lot of them. Just not the same way a bunch of HNers do.

It's just a different culture here. People are much more corporate and family-focused, which isn't a bad thing to a lot of people.

With that being said, StartupWeekendSTL was here a few weeks ago, and there were too many people to fit in the place we had. It was awesome!

Think what you want, but if you really think St. Louis is that bad, then you're just not reaching out for the culture you're looking for, sorry.

Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#18

Post by bpodgursky »

palish wrote: post #12

EDIT: Post removed. I truly apologize for offending you. I don't like the idea of making people unhappy, so I've removed my post.

I have no idea what cultural rock you have lived under, St Louis is a city like any other. If you make an effort to look for it, it does indeed a cultural scene (St Louis symphony, Fox theater), and an intellectual scene (Washington University.)

I'm sorry you haven't found more than a couple people who "enjoy thinking", but with that kind of arrogance it's more likely they're just avoiding you.

Re: Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

#19

Post by sachinag »

wtvanhest wrote: post #8
firefoxman1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate on how it would make it harder to raise more in the future?

No VCs in St Louis.

Not true. I worked at one! However, it's fair to say there are no VCs in St. Louis that focus on consumer-facing technology companies.

That said, St. Louis isn't impossible. Strangeloop STL is one of the hands-down, bar none, best conferences in the country each year; Slicehost did quite well for themselves from there; Jack Dorsey goes back home all the time (a co-founder of Square is from the Lou, and the swipe-powered dongle technology comes out of Wash U); and it's not like Chicago's all that far away.

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