Thursday, January 01, 2015

Bootstrap 3.0

Happy 2015!

The Bootstrap Austin community started its journey on Bastille Day 2003, when I gathered 25 Austinites at the original Ginger Man for beers and conversation.

During our first iteration from 2003-2010, we asked the question, "What is bootstrap entrepreneurship?" and co-created a learning community of entrepreneurs helping each other bootstrap their ventures. We learned from Austin's successful bootstrap entrepreneurs as they shared their stories at our monthly gatherings. Through this and the experiences of thousands of bootstrappers, the Bootstrap Map emerged outlining the stages, actions and principles of the bootstrap journey. And we experimented with different support structures for the founder's journey including subgroups by stage and industry, a book club and Boot Boards.

In our second iteration, we transitioned from supporting individual bootstrappers to stewarding the emerging ATX Entrepreneur Scene. Inspired by the Austin Equation, we convened its leaders, mapped the scene and evangelized it. It's been gratifying to see it blossom over the last 4 years and become one of Austin's key scenes alongside music, film, theater, art, and others.

It's now time for Bootstrap 3.0. We are stepping further into our journey by asking the question “How do we steward meaning for ourselves, others, our communities and organizations?” Stewarding one's meaning and expressing it in the world is a task Austinites are uniquely suited to, living as we do in the "be yourself" city. Our community has a role to play in holding space for this conversation.

Please join us to kick off Bootstrap 3.0 at our first monthly meetup of 2015. Around 7:15pm I will give a short talk on the Human Fugue with special emphasis on the fourth house: meaning. You can learn more at bejoying. I will also introduce Steve Golab in his role as community steward.

Please take a moment to let us know if you plan to join and feel free to invite anyone you think would be interested. I hope to see you there!


bijoy