Dave Gottschalk needs to hire a developer who knows the computer platforms LAMP — Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP — and Phone Gap. But instead of turning to a coders’ gathering spot like the website GitHub, or even just posting a job on the Internet, Gottschalk went a different route: He made a handwritten sign and posted it near where he sat working at Denver Startup Week.
“There are enough smart people in the room that I figured someone would walk by and take a look,” Gottschalk said, surveying the lounge at the event’s area at 1515 Arapahoe St. “I certainly wouldn’t do this on a daily basis, but when you’re here, you can never tell if somebody is a business guy or a coding girl. I figured someone would get the joke.”
Gottschalk, from the Denver-based startup , has attended for three years. The annual celebration of Mile High innovation runs through Saturday, bringing together creative minds from the worlds of tech, design, business and manufacturing for workshops, speakers, networking events and, of course, plenty of happy hours. The event is open and free to the public.
Denver Startup Week began as a vehicle to highlight Denver’s small-business pioneers on a local, regional and national scale. Last year’s event drew more than 5,500 people and is now the largest free entrepreneurial event in the U.S., according to organizers.
Tami Door, organizing chairwoman of Denver Startup Week 2014 and president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, explained that Denver is a prime area for small business innovation, citing a March 2014 Forbes Magazine article .
But Denver’s large enterpreneurial community also tends to segment itself into business clusters, which can impede innovation, she said.
Denver Startup Week “is a platform to bring all these different entrepreneurs together to cross-pollinate, collaborate and even find new investment opportunities,” she said.
Back at Basecamp on Monday, a group of millennials — with matching sideburns, black T-shirts and Converse sneakers — moved as a pack, rapidly discussing a new app while multitasking on their phones. Other attendees sat one-on-one at tables, engaged in passionate discussions — judging by their excited tones and rapid speech — while some, like Gottschalk, worked solo on their laptops.
Gottschalk praised Denver Startup Week for being a champion of the Denver startup scene. Yet he also feels Denver has some work to do to keep innovative companies from leaving for more lucrative places like Silicon Valley.
“What we really need is one big company to start and grow and have that trickle-down effect into the Denver area,” he said. “What’s Denver going to do to keep me here? There really isn’t that much infrastructure here to do that. (Things like Denver Startup Week) help, but the money’s got to come.”
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney
Update: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 11:05 a.m.: The photo cutline for this story has been updated to correct the spelling of Mario Esparza’s name.
