This post was supposed to be a thank you for last week’s Boston Holiday Tech Co-Party, but the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut have certainly changed the mood. These events have hit me personally on a number of levels, as a parent, as a New Englander, and least importantly, as a start-up CEO. The Boston start-up community is amazing, but sometimes we congratulate ourselves a bit too much for solving the cool problems, while not doing enough to solve the real ones. That said, there’s not a more inclusive, friendly, and caring group of people than the Boston tech community. Which is why this decision so easy, and so obvious.
First some background, each year Promoboxx and a group of local start-ups (Localytics, Evertrue, The Tap Lab, Zagster, Indie Ambassador, Kinvey) host a holiday “co-party” for tech start-ups too small to have their own. It’s a fun celebratory event, that draws over 300 people from 33 Boston area start-ups. The attendee and sponsor support for our holiday party was so amazing that we ended up with some extra money. Just last week, I was chatting with Raj, Jesse, Dave, Ryan, Ben M-L, and Srav about what to do with the remaining money. Ideas included saving for next year, planning another co-party, or donating it all to a charity. Given the amazing group of people behind this party, they all agreed to donate the money. But, to what cause? Unfortunately, the events of last week gave us an obvious choice.
This is why I humbly announce a donation on behalf of our co-hosts, co-sponsors, and the Boston area start-ups in attendance in the amount of $4,108.76 to the United Way of Western Connecticut. The money will go towards supporting those who were effected by the tragedy in Newtown. It’s a small amount, but one that we hope can help bring some comfort to those affected, and confirm what President Obama meant in saying “Newtown – you are not alone.”
Lastly, I’d like to thank the following people/companies for making the event, and this donation possible:
Our Co-Hosts:
Raj Aggarwal – Localytics
Jesse Bardo – Evertrue
David Bisceglia – The Tap Lab
Ryan Light – Zagster
Ben Maitland-Lewis – Indie Ambassador
Sravish Sridhar – Kinvey
The Co-Sponsors:
Morse Barnes-Brown & Pendleton
Goodwin Procter
Launch Capital
Avalon Ventures
North Bridge Venture Partners
Boston Seed Capital
Jones Lang LaSalle
Microsoft
General Catalyst Partners
Polaris Venture Partners
Devonshire Recruiting and Consulting Partners
The Start-Ups:
Promoboxx
thetaplab
Zagster
Localytics
Kinvey
Evertrue
Indie Ambassador
Help Scout
Kibits
myenergy
appswell
impulsesave
intelligent.ly
marginize
Techstars
socialsci
Dashbell
crowdly
smarterer
murfie
wiggio
coachup
ubersense
Yesware
backupify
Project11
Boston Startup School
crave labs
fetchnotes
Libboo
TerrribleLabs
Integrated Adventures
ovuline
Seth Minkin
LearnLaunch
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