Pitt's Bytes 7.16.07

The Post-Gazette's Bits & Bytes tech business column may or may not return, now that writer Cori Shropshire has left the Burgh for sunnier climes. Either way, a bloggy alternative is overdue. Introducing Pitt's Bytes, an occasional bit of online three-dot journalism that will include what interests me and what I hear about entrepreneurship -- tech and culture both -- in Pittsburgh. It can include what interests you and what you hear . . . but you have to share. To do that, read to the end of the post.

And away we go . . .

Is tech-oriented economic development in the works for the Hill, the Bluff, and Soho? Do we have another player for Pittsburgh's infamously bloated entrepreneurship middleware sector, or are we getting someone who knows how to connect ideas and money and then get out of the way? Hopefully, he's the latter. Welcome to the public eye to Point Breeze native William Generett, who recently took the helm of the new Pittsburgh Central Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ). He has been director of economic development for the Hill House Economic Development Corp. . . . HELP evangelist Gary Rosensteel has lined up sponsorship for an entrepreneurship bash on the North Shore on Tuesday, September 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McFadden's, to celebrate the launch of helpstartups.com, Gary's long-sought web portal for the region's entrepreneurs . . . . September 18 may be a red-letter day in Pittsburgh tech circles: Project Olympus, the brainchild of CMU computer science prof Lenore Blum and Exhibit A among Pittsburgh's best efforts to seed the region with high-end computing startups, has another "show and tell" meeting for potential investors that day. . . . If you can't wait until September for your networking Jones, check out Jessica Lee's Entrepreneurial Thursdays at the Altar Bar in the Strip. . . . Donald Bonk, hired recently at CMU in a position funded by the Heinz Endowments to help build a local infrastructure for emerging companies with CMU connections, can't be sleeping much; he's making the rounds with an aggressive plan to leverage Pittsburgh technologists and investors via social networking technology -- and he wants to connect them in person, too. A CMU "entrepreneur's reunion" is on tap for October 18. . . .

A Pittsblog commenter noted recently: "Think about it - when was the last time you heard ANY thing about some well-funded startups like Renal Solutions and Akustica? are they still around???? Or from others like LogicLibrary and DesignAdvance after their former CEOs left? Or promising companies like Cohera and TalkShoe? Do they realize how much easier it will be to recruit talent later if people see/hear their names more often?" So true. Send your Bytes to Pittsblog.