Conrey is for Closers

As part of my “reclaiming my commute” push, I’ve been listening to Punk Marketing
on audiobook this week. This is not an old book, it came out in February of 2007, but the sense of how dated the examples and references are are amazing after just 3 years.

Myspace was still huge, Twitter didn’t exist, the iPhone didn’t exist, and the TV ads and other campaigns are long forgotten by now. And the cell phone companies they reference, Cingular and Alltell, no longer exist.

Remember that when you think that Facebook or Twitter are going to continue to be the dominant social network in the future. When you think that you will continue to be the dominant player forever, you’ve already lost the future.

I’ve been in Boulder this whole week for Boulder Startup Week and being here has reminded me of all the awesome things from my 5 years here previously. I’m not the only one effusive with my praise for this rapidly growing tech town. See Chris’s writeup at RWW, or the Tweet stream for the #bsw hashtag.

At the same time, Francine Hardaway posts a beautiful piece at Fast Company about Gangplank and the young but growing startup culture in Phoenix.

Everyone talks about how great the startup community is here in Boulder, and I can definitely see that while I’m here. But I’m sure I’m not seeing everything, I’m sure there is infighting and backbiting here too – just like our beloved Valley of the Sun. Does that mean we can’t learn from Boulder? Of course not, this is a town smaller than Chandler or Mesa but still has this reputation of openness. Boulder is farther from Denver than Chandler is from Phoenix but it doesn’t feel as far away.

I love it here in Boulder, but it just gives me more hope for what Derek and the rest of the Gangplankers are doing in Chandler. Remember none of this tech community was here in Boulder eight years ago. The grass is awfully green here, but its green where you live too – don’t forget that.