Social Matchbox (www.socialmatchbox.com), set for August 20, is DC’s place to be and be seen for technology and web startup companies. The event has been called the “state of the startups” and “the meeting of the makers” because it brings together the who’s who of the startup, investor and skilled technology and web community for an evening of company launches, product launches and peer conversations. The audience mirrors the local startup community with professionals from disciplines including advertising, design, marketing, human resources, quality assurance, sales and software engineering. Put any 2-3 attendees together and you can expect a new startup if there is time and chemistry.
The event begins with a series of four-minute presentations by launching startups followed by 4 minutes of Q&A time. Earlier stage startups get their chance later in the evening during the Open Mic session where each is given up to 60-90 seconds in front of the crowd. Many of the earlier stage companies are looking for co-founders sweat equity and seed money from investors.
According to event co-founder Bob Neelbauer, the event started out as a startup job fair for founders looking for sweat equity and full time paid employees, but after co-founder Juliana Neelbauer and the duo’s LCD projector got involved it quickly became the preferred place for DC area startup companies to launch their companies and new products publicly for the first time. After two years of events held in Northern Virginia and DC the event has moved into a new home, the E Street Cinema, where startup founders now have the opportunity to put their presentations up on the silver screen for the event’s attendees.
Bob Neelbauer prefers to call attendees “Socializers” and points out that the event is about building lasting relationships among peers--not superficial networking--because Social Matchbox is not a traditional “happy hour” or networking event. According to Bob:
“There are plenty of networking events around town. There are even demo nights and startup-specific happy hours, but there is no other series like Social Matchbox. Founders have the opportunity to share their inspiration, struggles and success stories with a group of hand-picked, like-minded colleagues who, if they like what they see and hear, can get involved and immediately add value to a venture – as a co-founder, sweat equity worker, employee or investor. Social Matchbox is not about superficial networking; it is about building a community of founders who can share their projects and their needs with each other and who have been hand-selected so that every person in the room is in a position to help.”
The upcoming event is unique in that provides a platform only to startup founders--embargoing sales organizations. Permitted attendees are limited to skilled founders and technologists, venture capitalists, angel investors, press and bloggers. The result allows interaction without interruption from people trying to sell attendees something or recruit them. With the exception of a few invited sponsors who help underwrite the cost of the event, there is a strict “no selling while socializing” rule in effect that is strictly enforced during event registration. No sales or vendor representatives or recruiters are permitted to attend. By limiting the size of the crowd and curating the attendee list, Social Matchbox offers up the most widely anticipated event for DC’s startup community every six months.