Category Archives: Technology

WebKite’s Founder Takes A Look at the State of StartUps in Pittsburgh

The following is a guest post from Eric Silver who is the founder of the Pittsburgh based company WebKite. I have crossed paths with Eric a few times over the past couple of years – coincidentally I think I may have first been introduced to him at Bacon Night at the Harris Grill (All good things on this blog related back to bacon night). Over the past few months I have been learning more about WebKite and how to use their tools to build some more great and Pittsburghy features for IheartPGH. You can learn more about WebKite and sign up to create your own kite at webkite.com/beta.

Today is also a good day to share this post from Eric because the Post-Gazette published a great article checking in on some of the companies that got their start at the last Pittsburgh StartUp Weekend in October – #ixzz2I9s8WmIu " target="_blank">Less than a year after the first Pittsburgh Startup Weekend, firms make strides. Keep an eye on ThinkTiv, a Pittbsurgh and Austin based venture accelerator, and some of the companies that they are working with. Paul Burke who heads ThinkTiv’s Pittsburgh based office is working hard to help launch more successful companies in the Pittsburgh area.

Startup Weekend Pittsburgh Panorama (Photo credit: jonny goldstein)

I have participated in both of the Pittsburgh StartUp weekends and it has been an incredible experience to meet a whole new group of Pittsburghers. I am so happy to see that the folks from Thoughtful Husband are still working on their business idea. Another one of the teams from the last Pittsburgh StartUp weekend is MegaBits App – you can learn more about their business idea and support their Kickstarter project here.

Eric Silver speaking at StartUp Weekend Pittsburgh

Eric Silver was the keynote speaker at the October 2012 Startup weekend – check out some of his thoughts on the state of the Pittsburgh startup scene:

I was fortunate to have the chance to take the stage at Pittsburgh Startup Weekend this year – front and center in front of 140 Pittsburgh entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs had paid to trade their weekend for a chance to work to build something meaningful. To put this in perspective, this was the second Pittsburgh Startup Weekend and attendance nearly doubled from last year’s 80. While it’s a small sample size, it’s a good indication of the startup culture in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, which has done wonders to break free of its rust belt heritage, has reinvented itself to become a livable city, facilitate a biking infrastructure, and most recently a center of innovation. Growing up in Sunnyvale, California, I watched cherry orchards slowly replaced by Apple. I saw technology come to fruition and exceed my wildest expectations. And yet, I chose to grow my startup in Pittsburgh – a city that reminds me of what my hometown looked like as a kid; full of promise, technology, and people ready to take a chance.

Why the shift? To start, the Internet has broken down all geographical barriers, but it’s much more than that. Pittsburgh was a city founded on a series of rivers and mountains of coal. The wrinkle of rivers in Pittsburgh created micro-cultures and a city with multiple identities. Because of these resources and opportunities many entrepreneurial folks scattered to these regions creating a rich legacy. From that, Pittsburgh is home to magnificent museums and an eclectic culture. More obvious, Pittsburgh hosts a set of Universities, yielding generations of thinkers.

The challenge that Pittsburgh faces is that the selfsame legacy created a mental model of how business works. That mental model expects capital-intensive businesses with a quick path to profitability, while the web presents us with lean startups, quick iterations, and a series of opportunities to learn. Too many early entrepreneurs, after having their learnings dubbed “failures”, leave for greener pastures and build their networks in California or New York. Without local leadership, recent graduates follow, leaving the local startup scene fallow. For a long time Pittsburgh couldn’t figure out how to enable successful local businesses to attract capital, mentor new companies, and for entrepreneurs with experience under their belts (but no success) to continue to grow their local networks.

We’re currently at a tipping point. Startups are sticking around Pittsburgh instead of exiting for the coast. Some entrepreneurs are starting their second company in Pittsburgh while several notable examples bridge the local market for talent to remote markets for talent. Our startup community is fragmented with pieces near the Universities, others near AlphaLab, and yet others distributed through sparsely populated areas created by well-meaning government incentives. And yet, these pieces do compose a thriving whole. Pittsburgh, an early home to the AlphaLab incubator, is expecting a number of new hardware incubators, has seen new co-working spaces springing up, and is starting to retain a caste of experienced entrepreneurs.

Much like how Pittsburgh once attracted the cream of the crop with its natural resources, we’re seeing a renaissance in technology and investments. The climate is right for Pittsburgh to propagate a series of successfully funded startups. What is apparent is a sudden explosion of new incubators, spaces, and entrepreneurs, the change has been gradual and the opportunity remains vast.

Yinz Want To Learn About Social Media N’At? 7 Reasons to Attend Podcamp Pittsburgh

If you want to learn more about social media then this is the weekend for you.

This Saturday and Sunday is the 7th Annual Podcamp Pittsburgh – a free unconference where social media experts from Pittsburgh and beyond will be offering presentations and panel discussions on all things social media. There are lots of sesssions for every level. If you have been looking to learn more about how to use blogging, Facebook, Twitter, podcasts and a host of other tools to get better connected on the internet – then Podcamp is for you.

Podcamp starts Friday night with a happy hour at Rolands in the Strip. Saturday and Sunday start with a keynote followed by a day of presenations. There is also a party on Saturday night at Alpha Lab.

Podcamp Pittsburgh 7
Friday-Sunday, October 26-28, 2012
Point Park University, Rolands, Alpha Lab
Podcamp Pittsburgh is free to attend – you can register here.

7 Reasons To Attend Podcamp Pittsburgh 7

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/7-reasons-to-attend-podcamp-pittsburgh-7

Add a Little Rick Sebak to Your Photos with Yinztagram

Yinztagram by @HollzinSeattle

If you follow @IheartPGH on twitter – you know that I am a devoted Blackberry user. I am constantly being asked why I use such a device when I could just “get an iphone.” I am loyal to the Blackberry. Until this week – something happened – that may be the reason I need to get an iphone – it is for the sake of all things Pittsburgh.

Meet the app that may make me break up with my Blackberry (I might say that my relationship has been one of the longest and best of my life) – Yinztagram.

Yinztagram is a free iPhone app that allows you to add some Pittsburgh to any photo. You know how Pittsburgher’s believe that everything tastes better with fries on top? Well some smart folks realized that all photos look better with a Primanti’s sandwich or Rick Seback added to the image.

You can read more about the Pittsburgh elements of the app here.

Check out some of these Yinztagrams and what people are saying about the app…

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/what-yinz-are-saying-about-yinztagram

Check out a Cheese Printer at the Mini Maker Faire

Image by maltman23 via Flickr

I have been waiting for MakerFaire to come to Pittsburgh for years!!! I have been a follower of Make and Craft – both are magazines/blogs published by O’Reilly Media. The Make magazine folks organized the first Maker Faire in CA back in 2006. It was a live festival of all things creative, handmade, DIY and hacked. Since 2006 – Maker Faires have been held all over the world.

Maker Faires have included demonstrations of all kinds of neat things. I had the opportunity to see Bre Pettis, who is a maker/hacker extrodinairre, give a talk on the 3d printer back in 2009 at ROLFcon. You can check out a video of his presentation about rapid prototyping and the 3d printer at ROLFcon here. I left ROLFcon thinking Pittsburgh needs to have a hacker space of our own.

Fortunately – others were thinking the same thing. In May 2009, HackPGH opened a hacker space in the uptown neighborhood to provide a workshop space where makers could come together and well, make stuff. HackPGH has hosted and continues to offer many classes on things like lock picking, LED Flowers and crafts.

Maker Faires are meccas of making things. I know many a Pittsburgh who has traveled to Detroit or beyond to attend a Maker Faire.

This weekend the fun comes to Pittsburgh! The first Pittsburgh’s Mini Maker Faire is this Sunday, October 23, Noon-6pm at The Children’s Museum. The event might be called mini but they have a mighty line up of makers who will be showing off their projects and offering workshops. You can check out the entire list of makers here.

Here are just a few of the things that will be demonstrated on Sunday:

Cheese Printer – Matt Stultz, one of the co-founders of HackPGH will be there demonstrating the cheese printer.

: photo via Maker Faire Daily

Pittsburgh Lock Picking Club

Yes, Pittsburgh has a lock picking group! This city has something for everyone. Not sure about lock picking – I wouldn’t have thought much of it before either but then I read this fascinating article from a 2009 issue of Wired about the Ultimate Lock Picker.

The Traveling Pittsburgh Craft-o-tron Machine

This is an awesome collaborative project of artists and hackers. But what you really need to know is that this is a vending machine where you can get a crocheted pierogi.