Startup Grind DC Meetup

About Startup Grind: Startup Grind is an event series and website designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs. Each month they welcome an amazing speaker who shares their story with the community and tells the group what worked, what didn’t, and what they’ll do differently next time. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from the best, network with other members of the startup community, and improve your chances of entrepreneurial success.

The attendees were comprised of a great mix of individuals… those who are interested in startups and those who are already working as part of one (or at least starting to). The location of the event was 1776dc (www.1776dc.com) – a large workspace in downtown Washington, D.C. that is marketing itself as an incubator for startups. It was a very cool space!

Each month Startup Grind invites a guest speaker to be interviewed in a fireside chat type of setting. Jim Bankoff, of Vox Media, was the guest. He had an incredible demeanor… approachable, modest, personable, and insightful. For an individual who has had such a significant and successful career with large companies and startups, he offered some great advice and lessons learned.

My key takeaways from the session regarding those who work as part of a startup:

• Recognize when your skills have reached a limit and that it is time to bring in new talent/expertise
• Don’t think you can or need to do it all yourself – you can’t and you shouldn’t
• Identify what you are doing that is truly different
• Think about how to promote yourself with regard to where your audience is
• Find meaningful ways to connect with your audience and make sure your message has enough impact that it gets through all of the other messages and products that are out there
• If you’re going to be in a line of business… you have to be in it. Commit to it. From his experience if it’s a side project it won’t succeed.
• Be agile in your development – the more you can be agile the better off you’ll be. You need the continuous feedback loop.