3RVF is a good event, but it is only the tip of the iceberg of interesting things going on in our fair city. I wrote a post a few months back about other ways to get plugged into the ecosystem here in Pittsburgh – you can find it at (beware: shameless plug) http://www.pittsburghventures.com/2009/04/tapping-into-the-pittsburgh-entrepreneurial-ecosystem/.

We are still at step 2 of 10 – but given enough time and continued hard work, we will live up to the entrepreneurial history that has been a part of Pittsburgh ever since Frick, Carnegie, and Mellon gave birth to businesses here.

Thanks for taking note. See you in September!

Welcome to the ‘Burgh, as those of us here call it when we’re kidding around. What you described is not just within the entrepreneurial community – it’s the entire community. We pull together to make our region an even better place to live.

Having been a presenting entrepreneur at numerous venture fairs (including in Philadelphia!), I agree with your observation of how the entrepreneurs are treated. The other events seem to be conducted for the pleasure and enjoyment of the VC community, with the startup companies being the ‘comic relief’ in between all their socializing and networking.

Kelly ‘gets it’ though and never misses an opportunity to let everyone know WHY the 3RVF is being conducted and WHO it is really for. Doing that has ensured the success of the event by making it attractive to both entrepreneurs AND investors. The latter group wants to be there because they know there WILL be good deals and some potentially great companies on display.

Oh, and your involvement is truly priceless! All of the participating companies benefit greatly from your assistance in honing their message.

Great post and thanks for the tremendous value you have added by helping presenting companies fine tune their presentations. I am a native Philadelphian who made the treck across the Allegheny mountains nearly 30 years ago and I have had the pleasure of seeing the Pittsburgh and Ohio venture community hit the inflection point you have articulated. The quality of startups has increased dramatically over the years and the Three Rivers Venture Fair is a great showcase for these emerging technology / health science companies. I encourage all of your readers to come and see first hand what is happening.

Paul