This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
By Lachlan Quintana
Two weeks ago, tech companies, food companies, and local startups invaded the city of Longmont!
Longmont was able to bring out what it has always been hiding. The community of has always been trying to show what it has through its craft breweries and its major employers such as Seagate, but Longmont Startup Week was able to bring out the businesses that were hiding in the “dust” of the beer and the tech.
Longmont Startup Week (LSW), going on its 3rd year has only been getting bigger each year by expanding with the community, providing FREE business and startup events throughout the week LSW showcasing startups from Longmont, the Front Range and across the nation.
The LEDP and it’s production partners were able to bring Longmont locals the tips and connections that would help fuel their local businesses. From starting your own brewery, funding a new idea and building as a founder, every type of entrepreneur, business owner and individual had something to earn from LSW.
Comparatively to last year, Startup Week was amplified from going after a smaller set of people (i.e. tech companies and similar type of companies) to expanding its reach more toward the entrepreneurial mindset and the people who want to surround that very thought process.
LSW is able to bring people, that you wouldn't ever think would chat or collaborate, together in a way that shows we are in this together, not competing. The Breweries across town came together to make a beer specifically for LSW2017. They weren’t competing, they sold the beer at each of their breweries showing that it was never about competing, it was about coming together for the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is how the mindset of LSW’s basecamp, CoSolve, works with its community coworking space. The idea of working together flows through the space every week allowing you to meet entrepreneurs, be mentored by local business owners and see other craftsman at their inspired work.
The 2017 Longmont Startup Week was more successful than years before through its cumulative craftsmanship and the entrepreneur lifestyle. The workshops did more than before. The keynotes changed people unlike other giant seminars do. The beer was unlike most beers of the world with its collaboration. The vision behind startup week, behind building something bigger than ourselves was achieved, not by one individual or one business, but the community as a whole.
This has been an opinion piece that was submitted to the Longmont Observer. It does not, necessarily, represent the views of the Longmont Observer. Have an opinion piece you'd like us to publish? Send it to [email protected].
