A week and a half ago, I finally got out there and met some non-programmers with startups. In Austin.

For the first 8 months of creating my first startup, I've been working out of my inlaws house, practically hiding from the outside world, near Flower Mound, TX.

Hiding was great for keeping focus, but horrible for making *real* contacts - I've made a ton of "friends" on Twitter, Facebook, and via my blog, but it's not the same when you don't talk to them in person.

What did I do, and how did it go?

I was in Austin for 4 days, but found plenty to do!

  • April 19th - Social Media Club of Austin: a panel discussion - http://socialmediaclub.org/event/april-meeting-social-mobile-go-panel

    A lot of great discussions about Social Media, present and future, from expert panelists with cool companies in Austin. Met the http://helpattack.com guy - very impressed with what they're doing for good causes with Social Networks!

  • April 20th - Intro to TechRanch Austin - http://www.techranchaustin.com/stakeholder

    Austin Gunter went over TechRanch, how it helps startups in general, and how it can help me specifically. Also met another entrepreneur who has a tech and business (MBA) background. He's a great guy, and hope to keep in touch with him, because he really knows his stuff!

  • April 21st - Open Coffee for Startups, Central Austin - http://blog.damonc.com/2011/01/03/open-coffee-austin-rebooted/

    Heard about this on the Austin Startups Facebook Group, and decided to check it out. At first, I couldn't tell who at the coffee shop was part of the group, and so I didn't know what to do. It would be cool if there were signs or something to help new people figure out what to do. Eventually, I figured it out, and met some great people, such as the guy who started the Open Coffee, @Damon. I also met a real veteran marketing expert; I followed up, and we have a marketing meeting over coffee next time I'm in Austin. I soooo need this type of help!

  • April 21st - Met with a potential business customer - private conversations
  • April 22nd - Had lunch with @jdhancock

    This was great being able to meet a fellow Austinite, who's also a coder, social media guy, Refynr user, that even worked at the same Austin company as me (we didn't realize this until our lunch). He's very active with SM, was fun to just talk with, and gave great feedback on how he uses my software to do research. There's nothing more eye-opening than talking to users in person about your startup. Invaluable!

  • April 22nd - TechRanch Austin Campfire - http://www.techranchaustin.com/campfire

    This was really awesome, and was the highlight of my trip! They gave a nice intro to the various programs that TechRanch offers, and then we got in groups (there were about 30 of us) of 5 or 6 - in the groups we each had 2 minutes to give a quick pitch, and then say what we could each offer to the group, and then what help we are requesting. The offer and requests were things like technical skills, marketing, sales, business knowledge, office space, legal expertise, accounting, etc. Wow! In about 20 minutes, I met people that could offer all types of help in many areas that I suck at - web app design, video editing, marketing, accounting, veteran entrepreneurs, and more.

    After those group discussions, they had a social happy hour right in the TechRanch facilities, where I could talk in more depth with the people who had the most useful skills for me. So, that marketing guy I met back on Wednesday did me a huge favor and broke down the best way to approach a business deal with my first potential corporate customer. Some techies gave me tips on improving my software. I met a founder whose company was at a nearly-identical stage as mine. I got to talk with the leaders of TechRanch, and it leaves me hungry for more. Can't wait to get back to Austin - which I'm planning next week!

Anyone else loving the Austin startup scene as much as me?  ;-)