Adam Fish came up with an interesting idea during a summer internship at Chrysalis Ventures, the local venture capital firm.
Talking with Chrysalis senior associate Matt Winn, Fish learned about the failed effort in 2007 and 2008 to start a local social networking organization for entrepreneurs called Forge. He learned that interest in the Forge website, which was to be a resource for local entrepreneurs and stakeholders in start-up ventures, had waned in 2009.
So Fish, a U of L MBA student who spent much of his life in start-up rich California, is re-organizing Forge in hopes of creating a business entity focused on entrepreneurs, with the idea that the concept may take hold and spread to cities like Lexington, Nashville and Cincinnati.
“I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, even among MBA students, who don’t have the connections they need or know how to get them,” Fish said. “This is a great opportunity to get rid of the opacity apparent in the entrepreneurial community.”
The renewal of Forge is underway, and there’s an event at Avalon Thurday night which Fish hopes will attract 200 people. Be sure to register if you want to go. Mayor Greg Fischer, a big supporter of entrepreneurs, will speak.
Fish said he’s working to raise some seed capital to finance expansion of the Forge online presence, saying that he envisions it as a social media resource that can do things that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can’t. Here’s how the site describes it:
Forge is back as the city’s one-stop social resource, a free online community for Louisville’s entrepreneurs connecting them with one another and other stakeholders in the startup community such as financiers, lawyers, and accountants. The site will offer local and regional startup news, legal information, news about government incentives, and an online community space to share content and create blogs.
