The MESH gang pulled it off. There were some interesting sessions this year. Jim Buckmeister of Craigslist gave us the inside scoop including the number of pages served per kilowatt hour and why Craigslist will be sticking with their simple design. Austin Hill of Akoha is focusing on social entrepreneurship these days and we are eagerly awaiting Akoha?s launch. Ted Murphy of PayPerPost who Mike Arrington called ?the most evil man in the room? faced off with Mike for the first time in person. Christine Herron of First Round Capital discussed porn affiliate programs and got everyone?s attention. Will Pate our Community Evangelist Extraordinaire shared his Theory of Awesomeness. Rick Segal of JLA Ventures provided an interesting breakdown on the natural evolution of startups. But the best sessions were held in the hallways; next year, rather than pay $400 for a ticket, you might just want to hang in the lobby.
At MESH there were 15 minutes of fame sessions that gave promising startups an opportunity to strut their stuff. We are going to be checking in with the featured startups at 15 days, 15 weeks, and 15 months to monitor their progress ? so stay tuned!
Wild Apricot ? membership management web service.
Contact: Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
SneakerPlay ? invite only social network for urban youth into street culture.
Contact: Robleh Jama, Co-Founder
ConceptShare ? online collaboration for creative professionals.
Contact: Scott Brooks, Co-Founder
Demofuse ? easily create and maintain website tours.
Contact: Greg Thomson, Founder
Octopz ? online collaboration for creative professionals.
Contact: Barry Fogarty, Co-Founder
Five Limes – user submitted eco-friendly products and services.
Contact: Chris Sukornyk, Founder
Throughout the conference a recurring thought went something like this: MESH is a once a year event. Nice as it was, it does not compare to what is really driving Toronto these days: the TorCamp Community. I am not sure what I would do without our DemoCamps, OpenCoffees, Skype Swarm, and OtherCamps. What I do know is that I am thankful, very thankful. We have a great community that is building something week in and week out. So the very first Startup North Golden Compass goes to? drum roll? the TorCamp Community.
Hey, I am looking forward to checking in with you guys.
Quick note: The links are messed up to all startups. E.g. to Concept Share: http://www.startupnorth.ca/2007/06/11/reflections-on-mesh-2007/%E2%80%9Dhttp://conceptshare.com/%E2%80%9D
Hey, I am looking forward to checking in with you guys.
Quick note: The links are messed up to all startups. E.g. to Concept Share: http://www.startupnorth.ca/2007/06/11/reflections-on-mesh-2007/%E2%80%9Dhttp://conceptshare.com/%E2%80%9D
I fixed them ;)
I fixed them ;)
I don't know about anyone else but there is always something happening with Craigslist.