Matchup Camp

Photo originally uploaded to Flickr by david parmet

I’m a little late in mentioning this, but I popped down to Manhattan Wednesday night for a bit of MatchupCamp. I only stayed for the first hour, but the turnout was impressive, and the format seemed ideal for the goal of somewhat randomly matching startups and people with ideas with those looking to put their technical/marketing/business skills to work in a startup environment.

There were color-coded name tags, depending on what you were looking for, and an opportunity to post short pitches on the wall and see if you got any bites. I posted the above for allCampus. I spoke with a few nice and smart people. Understandably, they were interested in opportunities that called for jumping in head first. Because of my circumstance, that’s not something I can do right now. I’m hoping to find a technical co-founder who’s looking to moonlight and see where that gets us.

That said, it was nice to get a sense of the tech networking seen in the city. It was an encouraging vibe. (And I met David Parmet, a smart PR/marketing guy whose blog is worth checking out and who took the above shot. Thanks, David!)

Why Google Didn’t Shed Tears for Facebook

Techcrunch has further word on Google’s OpenSocial effort to allow for portable social data across multiple participating networks (Facebook, surprise, surprise, is not among the initial partners). I left this comment on the post re: Google’s latest undertaking:

Continuation of the grand theme: Google doesn’t do content, they make it easier for you to find it, create it, share it. They don’t do social networks, just make the ones you already use better/easier. Don’t (won’t) make a phone, but will hopefully make mobile web apps (and OS) better and also makes carriers nervous. Cool, cool, and cool. Of course, I’m still nervous about all the data they have on me, you, and him.

Outsourcing the Mixaloo Run-Through

Rather than waiting for me to put together a Mixaloo mix (even though it only takes a few minutes), I’ll just direct you for now to DemoGirl‘s screencast.

Poughkeepsie Playlist Startup Mixaloo Gets the TechCrunch Treatment

As I Twittered earlier today when I first read the news on TechCrunch, reading the words “Poughkeepsie, NY startup…” and realizing that they weren’t followed by a punchline was a pleasant surprise for the Techworking blog where we are interested in and rooting for all things tech in the Hudson Valley.

The startup in question is called Mixaloo, and the idea is to let people create playlists that they can distribute and sell through playable widgets on their blogs and elsewhere on the Web or via e-mail with the promise of a 50-50 cut of any profits. There are plenty of places to make and share playlists (though one less after Yahoo recently shuttered Webjay). My personal favorite right now is imeem. The prospect of getting paid may well entice people to use Mixaloo. You can also grab other people’s playlists and promote them on your own sites.

The big drawback — as with all most things music — is DRM. So although you can pull songs from all the major labels into your playlist, you (and your potential buyers) are saddled with 30-second clips. You can customize the widgets and set up is quick. I got in to the private beta but haven’t yet set up a playlist (and couldn’t embed it here on a WordPress-hosted blog anyway) but you can see examples at TechCrunch and on Yohay’s blog.

The TechCrunch review and comments therein are mostly positive (though everyone points out the eternal DRM bummer). Either way, it’s just nice to see a local startup and even nicer to see it getting some attention. I’ll follow up with another post after I’ve played around with the service and perhaps try it out on my old Blogger blog.

TechValley Links

• Superduper Computer -IBM and AMD both booking time on RPI’s $100 million super computer. (via TU)
• This can’t be good – The Hudson Valley Center for Innovation says it needs $250,000 in public money to keep operating.

TechValley Links (and a “whatever happend to…” question)

• Nation’s oldest worker is a retired IBMer who got his start in Poughkeepsie. (via Burlington Free Press)
• RPI and Albany Law to host “Patenting for Entrepreneurs” (via Albany TU)
• First Tech Valley H.S. class starts tomorrow in MapInfo office. Science and Chinese on the curriculum. (via Albany TU)
• Troy’s BelWo Inc. puts a local face outsourced programmers. (The Business Review)
• …and now for the question: the Woodstock Film Festival is coming together. What about Woodstock2.0, which is scheduled for the same place/time? Haven’t seen any developments and can’t get into the wiki. Anyone?

TechValley Links – (Mostly) Big Blue Edition

• Advantage Capital moves its New York office from Manhattan to…Glens Falls? Maybe this will help address this issue.
• Hudson River water starts flowing through 13-mile pipeline from Poughkeepsie to IBM’s Fishkill plant.
• IBMers can take vacation whenever they like. Inevitably, some end up taking little or none. Is greater flexibility worth the trade-off of fewer days? I think so.
• NY gets a “D” on economic growth index. Talk about grade inflation. 😉
• IBM to support Sun‘s Solaris.

TechValley New Tech Meetup – The Week-Late Report

So last Thursday night, I headed up to Albany for the inaugural TechValley New Tech Meetup.  I was  cautiously optimistic, thinking there are  plenty of potentially interested folks in the region looking for more opportunities to network and socialize, but wondering why it took someone from the Bay Area to put it together (there are certainly other tech-orientated gatherings in the area, but most seem to be either technology-specific or aimed more at collecting business cards than talking tech.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find about 20 people from a variety of backgrounds (marketers, programmers, journalists, IBMers, economic development folks, and a surgical resident!) turn out for the event. Myles Weissleder leads the large SF New Tech Meetup and was also encouraged by the turnout. He proved to be a great facilitator.

Rob Safuto, a blogger, podcaster gave a presentation on RawVoice and Blubrry, the podcasting platform, community, and analytics business for which he serves as marketer. There was interesting stuff there for podcast consumers (pardon the politically incorrect term) and producers alike.

There was also some general discussion of the state of TechValley and what needs to happen to spur more innovation and startups. There was a general consensus that we’re doing the big things right (like tax incentives and nurturing RPI and other great institutions) to land the chip makers and nanotech researchers, but that more needs to be done to build out the tech economy to encourage more local entrepreneurship. More on that from me later, and more from a CEG online forum on the topic from Tuesday. (It was nice to see CEG represented at the Meetup even it could be viewed as competition for its own TechConnex Fiestas. Their presence says to me that they understand that there’s more need for this kind of event than any one group can accommodate. The more the merrier.)

All in all, an encouraging start, even if it does involve an hour-plus drive north. I’m hoping to get something related going closer to home sometime soon. Thanks to Myles, Rob, and everyone else who turned out. See you in October.

VC Money into TechValley but a Trickle

It’s interesting that this Times Union story on the lack of VC investment comes on the eve of the Tech Valley’s first New Tech Meetup. Of course, there already networking opportunities for the region’s tech community (broad ones like TechConnex, and narrow-interest ones like the TechValley Ruby Brigade).

But it’s clear that there’s something missing from the tech ecosystem here that’s preventing startups from bubbling up here in a significant number. We’ve got the big boys like IBM and Semetech and (someday maybe, AMD), and great universities, but until we get more examples of a few smart people coming together around a shared passion for a great idea, TechValley will be little more than a marketing slogan. Let’s hope this Meetup helps do its small part to help get some ideas, connections, and companies going.

TechValley Meetup

…is scheduled for this Thursday, Aug. 23 at 7pm at Jillian’s in Albany. If you’re in the area, try and make it. Hope to see you there.