A angel emailed me to say that the application deadline for the Pittsburgh Angel Venture Fair has been extended to tomorrow -- January 10 -- at 5 p.m. The Angel Venture Fair website, with a link to the application template, is here.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Angel Fair Deadline
A angel emailed me to say that the application deadline for the Pittsburgh Angel Venture Fair has been extended to tomorrow -- January 10 -- at 5 p.m. The Angel Venture Fair website, with a link to the application template, is here.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Other People's Money
Compare this interview with TA Associates VC Jacqueline Morby ("There are a tremendous number of venture capital firms from outside of Pittsburgh coming in, which is what we need: other people's money -- OPM -- to come and finance some companies and get them going. ") with this column by Harold Miller ("[Local angel group] Blue Tree needs more angel investors to join its ranks. . . . Pittsburgh also needs a professionally managed angel fund so that high net worth individuals who don't have the time to participate in an angel network can still make early stage investments.")VCs and angel investors are distinct but related things; each of these pieces clearly recognizes the importance of both. Still, the different emphasis (more outside money is needed to grow the region, in the first piece; more local money, in the second) is interesting to note. Can they both be right?
Pittsburgh as a Top Tech Town
The current issue of Wired magazine uses "highly scientific methodology as well as algorithms snuck out of NASA and Google" to identify Pittsburgh as one of the "top 10 places [in the U.S.] to get your geek on":
Come for the country's top-ranked computer science school; stay for the robotics startups that Carnegie Mellon alums are founding. If androids aren't your style, try for a gig at Google's new engineering office.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Couldn't Say It Any Better
Here's a comment on an earlier post that's worth pulling out and posting:
Except that I'm not so sure that everyone has given up on the "city of the future built on all that's best about its past" thing. And how about the following for a slogan (not that slogans do much except capture a certain Zeitgeist):
Come home to Pittsburgh.
I was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area, graduated from Pitt in '89 and tried back then (unsuccefully) to find employment that would have kept me in the area. I moved to Washington, DC, and have enjoyed all the career and lifestyle benefits of a growing and prosperous MSA. My partner considered a job opportunity in Pittsburgh in 2001, and I found myself seriously considering a move back to the home turf. The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it. I've thought about relocation from time to time since 2001. Then this casino talk erupted. No way. No way would I attempt to create a future in a city that is hitching itself to casinos for any fraction of its revitalization dreams. It all smacks of desperation, and a low-rent stripe of it at that. To me, a former Pittsburgher still incredibly fond of the place, I feel the city has failed at selecting from two future portraits of itself: 1). an affordable city full of warm people and a variety of attractions (from sports to high culture), and growing business buzz; 2). sports-centric, nostalgia-driven, and seemingly precoccupied with a revenue savior (gambling) that graces too many other destinations all over the map. I can't tell you how sad, desperate and pathetic this all appears to a variety of former Pittsburghers with whom I stay in close touch. We all love the place, and a few have even moved back. But none of us enjoys the prospect of Branson-on-the-Mon. It's death by imitation, not reinvention. It broadcasts conventional thinking. Pittsburgh has given up on being something unique, on daring to be a city of the future built on all that's best about its past. In an anxious, expensive, and rat-race-paced America, Pittsburgh is missing out on its incredibly opportunity to offer America the invitation for which it is so desperate: come home again.
Except that I'm not so sure that everyone has given up on the "city of the future built on all that's best about its past" thing. And how about the following for a slogan (not that slogans do much except capture a certain Zeitgeist):
Come home to Pittsburgh.
Institute of Politics
From Clarke Thomas's op-ed this morning regarding bills -- big bills -- that are about to come due for Pennsylvania:
He's not talking about all of the problems he lists; this sentence refers specifically to water/sewer problems in Western PA. Still, it highlights an organization -- the Institute of Politics -- that deserves a little attention.
The Institute of Politics is an innocuous sounding organization that lives in and on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. According to its website,
and
Because everything is off the record, the Institute does not publish detailed reports about what happens at its programs. It does publish summary reports, which are available online. However:
"The Institute of Politics at the University of Pittsburgh is shepherding dialogue sessions to determine future action."
He's not talking about all of the problems he lists; this sentence refers specifically to water/sewer problems in Western PA. Still, it highlights an organization -- the Institute of Politics -- that deserves a little attention.
The Institute of Politics is an innocuous sounding organization that lives in and on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. According to its website,
The Institute of Politics has been and will continue to serve as a regional catalyst, bringing public and private sector leaders together in private sessions to focus on issues of significance to western Pennsylvania. This strategy requires the development of seminars and other discussions which are regional, intergovernmental, interdisciplinary, non-partisan, and, off the record.
and
Institute programs are by named invitation only.
Because everything is off the record, the Institute does not publish detailed reports about what happens at its programs. It does publish summary reports, which are available online. However:
- The programs are designed to address and to produce agendas for action regarding public policy, and
- They are designed for participation by leading public officials in the region.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Strawmen Alert
Strawmen suffer in the words of today's P-G perspective piece on Negative Pittsburgh:
"Most cities would jump at the opportunity to have a new civic center built for them at little or no cost to the taxpayer." Most cities would also jump at the opportunity to host Santa's workshop. Pittsburgh wasn't offered a civic center, and what was offered wasn't going to be "at little or no cost to the taxpayer."
"Most cities would love to boast of having a professional hockey team with the best young talent in the league." Most cities would also love to boast of full employment, perpetual sunshine, and zero crime. The question is what it costs, and what the city can afford, not just what the city gets.
"Most cities would also want to build or extend a light rail system where the federal government is paying 80 percent of the cost and construction would have minimal traffic impacts." No, actually, most cities would (or should) not. *Taxpayers* and *people who ride public transportation* would want to expand public transportation where public transportation is needed.
"Most cities would see how a new arena or light rail extension would stimulate new business and development." Most cities would (or should) put an arena and rail transportation in places where development is most needed and wanted. Want to use light rail extension to stimulate development in an underserved community? Put the T on Fifth and Forbes Avenues between Downtown and Oakland.
"Most cities would appreciate the number of quality jobs that such projects would create during and after their construction." Most cities trying to promote quality jobs don't count "ushers" in their lists.
"Most cities would see a new arena as a lure for new entertainment or the extension of a rail system as just a stepping stone to other areas, like, say, the airport corridor or the North Hills." Most cities interested in extending light rail to an airport that lies south of the city would not spend tens of millions of dollars on a northward extension.
"Most cities would jump at the opportunity to have a new civic center built for them at little or no cost to the taxpayer." Most cities would also jump at the opportunity to host Santa's workshop. Pittsburgh wasn't offered a civic center, and what was offered wasn't going to be "at little or no cost to the taxpayer."
"Most cities would love to boast of having a professional hockey team with the best young talent in the league." Most cities would also love to boast of full employment, perpetual sunshine, and zero crime. The question is what it costs, and what the city can afford, not just what the city gets.
"Most cities would also want to build or extend a light rail system where the federal government is paying 80 percent of the cost and construction would have minimal traffic impacts." No, actually, most cities would (or should) not. *Taxpayers* and *people who ride public transportation* would want to expand public transportation where public transportation is needed.
"Most cities would see how a new arena or light rail extension would stimulate new business and development." Most cities would (or should) put an arena and rail transportation in places where development is most needed and wanted. Want to use light rail extension to stimulate development in an underserved community? Put the T on Fifth and Forbes Avenues between Downtown and Oakland.
"Most cities would appreciate the number of quality jobs that such projects would create during and after their construction." Most cities trying to promote quality jobs don't count "ushers" in their lists.
"Most cities would see a new arena as a lure for new entertainment or the extension of a rail system as just a stepping stone to other areas, like, say, the airport corridor or the North Hills." Most cities interested in extending light rail to an airport that lies south of the city would not spend tens of millions of dollars on a northward extension.
Coming Soon: Connected Pittsburgh
Preliminary efforts are afoot; a few of us who blog may actually try to put a little "future of Pittsburgh" money where our mouths are. Have a little taste of what we have in mind at this year-old piece from the Pittsburgh Quarterly: What is Pittsburgh? The question is: Can a concept of Pittsburgh's future be operationalized? Stay tuned.
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