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By Sean | November 19, 2010
I got a really cool opportunity last night. The AMA (our marketing club on campus) got a Product Marketing Manager from Facebook to come give a talk at Montante. So, of course, I got out of my Teaching Writing in Schools class and went over to listen to what she had to say. A lot of it was boring, useless information; basically, a pitch for Facebook. As if Facebook needed advertising.
One thing she mentioned was really interesting, however. She pointed out that Buffalo (she was a Buffalo native) was a great place for entrepreneurs. To back this up, she pointed out that there are quite a few (quite a few) non-chain restaurants in Buffalo that are unique to our little city. She said that we didn’t have to move to Silicon Valley to start the Next Big Thing. And while I disagree on some points (the Next Big Thing takes talent, and lots of it, and the software engineering talent to be found in Buffalo is… lackluster, from what I’ve seen of it), her main message was poignant and largely accurate. It had a particular relevance to me, but I’ll tell you more about that in another blog, when I can do it in my own particular idiom.
I don’t know what it is about Buffalo that’s encouraging to small businesses. New York State has a bunch of laws about creating a company that are annoying, prohibitive, and just plain don’t make sense. But we still have a bunch of local-only businesses that serve up great, vibrant, and quality services to our community. Which helps make Buffalo a wonderful place to live, despite how cold out it is.
Who knows, maybe I’ll stick around in Buffalo after I graduate. It has some really nice places to eat. Oh, and happy National Entrepreneurs’ Day, Buffalo.
– Mr. Charming
Topics: Sean '12 | No Comments »