How to Find the Best Events in the Boston Startup Scene

Since diving into the tech and entrepreneurship community in Boston, I've attended many, many events. Lectures, workshops, mixers, conferences, classes, pitch parties -- you name it. Some of these have been incredibly informative, helpful, even inspiring.

There's always something exciting going on in this city, and you don't want to be struck with FOMO.

How do I find out about these great startup events? I thought I'd share my sources and recommend some of my favorite can't-miss meetups.

Where to Find Boston Startup Events

 

Eventbrite

The majority of events in the innovation community are listed in Eventbrite.  Many of them are free, and you can even filter your search results to show only free events (which is great when you're a starving founder). You can search by date, location, and of course, topic. I recommend you skim the search results from the following keywords:

• tech
• startup
• entrepreneur
• founder
• pitch
• business
• innovation
• coding
• developer
• hack

Of course, if you're looking for a more specific, niche event, go for narrower keywords and phrases, ex., "women tech," "UX design," "content marketing," etc., depending on your interests.

 

Meetup

Another source of discovering worthwhile events is Meetup.com. 

Again, I recommend searching the list of keywords above to find groups that might be of interest to you. Once you join a few groups, Meetup will suggest similar groups that you might like. Some groups are open to join with a click; some require you fill out some information about yourself first, and still others require admin permission. In your email settings, you can get alerts about new events added by your groups, so you never miss a thing.

Some Meetups I'm a part of:

• Greater Boston Startup Culture Meetup
• Startup Cafe Boston
• Boston New Technology Meetup Group
• Boston Startup Founder 101
• Boston TechBreakfast
• Boston Women-Led startups Meetup
• WeWork Boston Events
• Boston Entrepreneur ThinkTank

 

Coworking Spaces

WeWork, Workbar, and Cambridge Innovation Center are three of the top coworking space franchises in greater Boston. Part of what makes them great is that they often host community events that are free and open to the public.

WeWork - an international coworking space franchise. You can browse events on their event page by filtering for city:Boston. Of course, there's also the Meetup group listed above.

Workbar - currently has 2 locations, one in Central Square, Cambridge and one near South Station in Boston. Check out event listings on their website or sign up for their email newsletter.

Cambridge Innovation Center - currently has 2 locations, one in Kendall Square, Cambridge at one on Milk St, Boston. Check the CIC blog for a weekly blog post by Geoff Mamlet about upcoming public events hosted by the CIC.

 

Mass Innovation Nights Email List

Mass Innovation Nights is the brain-child of innovation guru and marketer extraordinaire Bobbie Carlton. The monthly MassInno events themselves are always a treat, great for discovering new products and ventures while networking with an excellent crowd. But beyond the MassInno events themselves, the MassInno email newsletters include an exhaustive list of upcoming events, free and paid, for the New England entrepreneurship community.

Recommended Boston Startup Events

 

Venture Cafe

Venture Cafe is a staple of the Boston startup scene. Every Thursday from 3-8pm, innovators of all stripes congregate in the cafe space on the 5th floor of the Kendal Square CIC. The beer and soda flow freely, often with accompanying snacks. The Thursday get-together are primarily for networking, but sometimes there are structured events like panels, speakers, or workshops. Check their calendar for special events.

 

StartupStir

I always look forward to Startup
Stir events. They're consistently well-organized and informative, often with free food and cocktails, and sometimes free or with a nominal ticketing charge. Usually there's 30 minutes of schmoozing and snacking, followed by an hour-long panel discussion with experts on a topic. Past topics include social media branding, creating apps, and women in innovation. The founder, Aaron Radez, moderates the panels with grace and humor. 

 

MIT Enterprise Forum

The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge has an excellent reputation for hosting quality events. You can join their email list to hear about what's coming up. If you plan on attending multiple events there, it's worth it to buy a membership. This gives you discounted admission, plus a bunch of other benefits they list on their website. The events I attended there have been catered both before and after the event, and attracted people who are seriously invested in the innovation economy. Great spot to network and keep current with the industry.

 

Boston New Tech

I hear about the monthly Boston New Tech events via their Meetup group. The events are always free, often heavily catered, and well attended. After generous networking time, attendees take their seats and listen to a series of pitches by presenting founders. Startups use Boston New Tech as a forum to announce new products, gauge interest in their business idea, and connect with potential investors or clients.


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Do you have Boston startup events you'd like to recommend? Please share your favorites in the comments.

How Board Games Made Me a Better Entrepreneur

Settlers of Catan - "gateway drug of board games"

A few years ago, I met one of the loves of my life: Settlers of Catan. This is known in the gaming world as the "gateway drug of board games." Once I got a taste of this genius tabletop, I was hooked. I went on a binge. I played Settlers 9 times in 7 days. I spread the gospel of Catan to all my friends, and promptly whooped them all. From there, I played Citadels, Ticket to Ride, Munchkin, Coup, Sentinels of the Multiverse, Avalon, Talisman, and most recently, Dominion.

Why do I find board games so addictive? For the same reasons I love startup culture. Board games are a fantastic training ground for budding entrepreneurs. Here's why:

Competition

When I play a game, it is ON! I'm in it to win it. I've got a healthy sense of competition, and I'm not afraid to go after what I want. And like they say, "if you want to make an omelette, sometimes you have to crack some eggs." I'd never resort to sabotage or unethical game play, but sometimes you can't play nice. In a game of Settlers, I have no hesitation about putting the robber on my boyfriend's #8 brick hexel. My strategy can be relentless and cutthroat, though never malicious. Sometimes that's what it takes to make it in business.

Cooperation

On the other hand, sometimes you have to work together as a team in order to succeed. I love cooperative games. In co-op games, players help each other out in order to beat the game itself. For example, Sentinels of the Multiverse is a co-op tabletop card game that pits "hero" players against a "villain" deck of cards. The heroes strategize together, combining complementary strengths for attack, defense, and healing. In the end, the heroes vanquish the villain, or else we all die. Co-op games are the antidote to the sometimes volatile dynamic of competitive games. They're also a reminder that in a startup company you need to work as a team to beat out your competitors.

Sentinels of the Multiverse - an awesome co-op game

Negotiation

Settlers of Catan may be solely responsible for developing all my negotiation skills. Trade is a crucial part of the game. You get the best trade rates working with other players rather than with the resource "bank." Settlers taught me to keep an eye out for advantageous trades and propose them whenever possible. After all, you can't get what you want if you never ask for it.

Trading resources in Setters is great practice in the art of negotiation: the dramatic give-and-take, feeling out someone's intentions, offers and counter-offers, emphatic persuasion. I've tried all psychological tactics, from pity to reverse psychology to bluffing. I'll create a sense of urgency and pressure, or else use humor and compassion. I've seen what works best, what works sometimes, and what makes other players not want to trade with you at all. Board games are a safe environment to test the bounds of negotiation so that you can find that balance between pursuing your goals and respecting trade relations. I'd much rather learn those hard lessons around a table with friends than with a hiring manager or business partner.

Risk-taking

If you don't take risks, you'll never win. True of board games and of entrepreneurs.

Board games have low stakes, so there's nothing to lose if your gamble falls flat. There are consequences, of course, but games are a safe place to get comfortable taking calculated risks.

Anecdotally, I find that those who play it safe in a board game tend to play it safe in life. They will second-guess their strategy, overthinking the benefits and drawbacks of each move, and often regret their choices later on.

My secret strategy? Don't overthink it, and go with your gut. If I go with my gut over my sometimes-too-rational mind, I'll take risks that have a greater payoff.

Adaptability

Just when I feel like I've mastered a game, I'll mix it up by adding an expansion. Expansion packs add more variables to the mix, experiment with different rules, and essentially create whole new versions of the game.

Settlers of Catan expansion packs

You can't sit pretty in a startup. The world moves too fast, the market shifts, new technologies emerge. The rules change, new players enter...sound familiar?

Failure

I play a lot of board games. I win a lot, and I lose a lot. Even if you're very skilled, losses are inevitable. Board games taught me to not take losing personally. I've developed a good sense of sportsmanship; I'll congratulate the winner on a good game and genuinely look forward to playing again. Perseverance and humility in the face of failure is essential.

Having fun

At the end of the day, win or lose, games are fun! You only truly lose if you don't enjoy yourself. And if I didn't love the thrills of startup culture, I wouldn't be playing at being an entrepreneur.

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Up next: How Job Hunting is Like Dating