Speek "Blowin' Up" at Launch Party
The t-shirt that Speek co-founder Danny Boice donnedFriday night at his company's launch said it all: "Blowin' uplike you thought I would." (To be clear, his product is for conference calls, not mind reading.) Andbig namescame out for the Ashburn, Va., startup's bash at 1776.
Speek, whose conference call app eliminates long phone numbers to call and passcodes to punch in, set a high bar for any future launch parties with a rousing fireside chat with former Redskin and TV sports commentatorDoc Walker, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, SBA officials, and tech legends like Raul Fernandez and Morgan O'Brien. And not to mention the tons of startup entrepreneurs who showed up in force to support their fellow risk taker. At the pre-event VIP reception, we caught up with Deloitte's Chuck Carr and Steve Balistreri,who flank startup advisor Mark Modica.
We also found Fortify Ventures associate Terry Knapp chatting with Homesnap's Dominick Fuccillo and Lou Mintzer. Lou tells us his company developed a real estate app that allows users to point their smartphone at a home or apartment building to find info on price, size, and availability. (We pointed it out our TV--which has all the realities we want to live in--but it saw the 2x3 TV set, thought it was a one-bedroom micro-unit, and quoted us a monthly rate.) Dominick was recently hired as its biz dev guru.
During his fireside chat with Danny,Doc said one of the biggest deterrents to a business or a sports team is ego. You can't completely eliminate it, but it has to be controlled. A successful companyhas to have good vision, goals, and people who accept their roles. Doc says most leadership falters because there's doubt. "Never be afraid to fail," he added. He also says leaders have to compensate talent, which inspired some whoop-whoops from the crowd.
During Doc's chat, he spotted Raul in the crowd and stood up to point out his "mentor." Raul now runs ObjectVideo, a video surveillance software firm in Reston, Va., serves as vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and as a General Atlantic Partners advisor.
Raul and Danny pose with Speek biz dev VP Konrad Waliszewski and Nextel founder Morgan O'Brien and his wife, Belle Brooks O'Brien.For more coverage of Speek's launch party, readThe Scene Bisnow.
