Dave McClure discusses building a global startup community through 500 Startups. 500 Startups is a global seed fund that has invested in over 700 companies across more than 40 countries. McClure talks about creating aligned communities through quirky branding, combining elements like education, entrepreneurship, and social media to unite the over 1000 founders and 200 mentors in the 500 Startups network into a supportive community under the #500STRONG hashtag.

1. #500STRONG
BUILDING A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
@DAVEMCCLURE @500STARTUPS
FEB 2014 #CMXSUMMIT

2. THIS TALK
1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities & Geeks On a Plane
5. 500 Startups & #500STRONG

3. Dave McClure
Founding Partner & Chief Troublemaker, 500 Startups
00’s & 10’s:
• VC: Founders Fund, Facebook fbFund, 500 Startups
• Angel: Mashery, Mint.com, SlideShare, Twilio, Wildfire, SendGrid
• Marketing: PayPal, Simply Hired, Mint.com, oDesk, O’Reilly
!
80’s & 90’s:
• Entrepreneur: Aslan Computing (acq’d by Servinet/Panurgy)
• Developer: Windows / SQL DB consultant (Intel, MSFT)
• Engineer: Johns Hopkins‘88, BS Eng / Applied Math

4. 500 STARTUPS: GLOBAL SEED FUND
700 COMPANIES, 200 NON-US, 40+ COUNTRIES

5. 1000+ FOUNDERS, 200+ MENTORS

6. 1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities & Geeks On a Plane
5. 500 Startups & #500STRONG

7. • Kids & Family: Youth, Innocence.
• Education: A SENSE OF WONDER.
• Fun & Funny: Seuss, Bugs, Calvin & Hobbes
• Fantasy: Cartoons, Comics, Animation
• LOVE :)

8. 1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities & Geeks On a Plane
5. 500 Startups & #500STRONG

9. • Nerd Communities (Insecurity = Strength)
• Egalitarian, Meritocratic vs. Sexist, Brutish, Antisocial
• ”The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth” = Geeks Rising.

10. 1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities & Geeks On a Plane
5. 500 Startups & #500STRONG

11. • HiTech + Silicon Valley
• Startups + Entrepreneurship
• MONEY! FAME! (Happiness?)
• MSFT, AAPL, YHOO, AMZN, GOOG, PYPL, FB, TWTR
• Entrepreneur, Wantrepreneur, VCs, Bubbles.

12. THIS TALK
1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities + “Geeks On a Plane”
5. 500 Startups & #500STRONG

13. • Y Combinator: Guild of Geeks
• 500 Startups: House of Hustle
• WarmGun: Designing Happiness
• UnSexy: B2B, Monetization
• MamaBear: Family Tech
• PreMoney: Disrupting Venture Capital
• BitCoinference + Commercism: SELL OUT COMRADES!

14. 1. Cats & Hats
2. Geeks & Developers
3. Founders & Startups
4. Branded Communities & Geeks On a Plane
500 Startups + #500STRONG

15. • Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
• #500STRONG = WE. ARE. SPARTA!
• Combine Previous Elements:
• Kids, Fun, Education
• Geeks & Developers
• Startups & Founders
• Aligned Communities
• Creative Mktg & Quirky Branding

16. THANKS 4 LISTENING!
• Questions?
• Heckles?
• Smart-Ass Remarks?
• @DaveMcClure
• http://500.co