TechPint marks 10th networking with beer event at Agora Thursday
When Paul McAvinchey launched TechPint back in June 2013, he was simply looking for a forum where entrepreneurs could casually share ideas over a beer.
He called his first event a mini-tech conference in a bar with pints. Ten events later, TechPint has evolved into a popular and regular event in both Cleveland and Akron, hosting startup summits, winter jams, and even paired up with Flashstarts for a pitch competition.
“It’s only been two-and-a-half years, but I personally have learned so much and met so many people,” says McAvinchey, adding that more than 1,000 people have attended TechPint events since the first one. “We started with a bang when nearly 200 attended our first event in 2013 but that number kept growing.”
This Thursday, Dec. 3, TechPint will mark its 10th event with a combined Winter Summit and regular TechPint event at the Agora.
The day will begin at 1 p.m. with the Winter Summit – a tech conference with speakers and time to connect with other business founders from across the region – followed by a regular TechPint, complete with JumpStart’s Demo Pit of startups, Flashstarts Pitcher Night, and speakers Ed Bucholz, CEO and founder of ExpenseBot, and Morris Wheeler, founder of Drummond Road Capital.
This time around, McAvinchey says he wanted to highlight successful women who know the startup industry. He says he has found it difficult in the past to find female speakers. Thursday, three of the six scheduled speakers are women – including Jess Erickson, director of diversity at 500 Startups; Emily Baum, founder of Keyrious; and Kim Gardner, founder of Pigeon.io.
“All three are great examples of high caliber females not just participating, but succeeding in tech,” says McAvinchey. “It's refreshing to hear from such impressive people in startups, never mind the fact that they happen to be women.”
Other speakers include Guy Turner, managing director at Hyde Park Venture Partners; John Knific, founder and CEO at DecisionDesk; and Nick Solaro, former Google android business development executive and partner at Drive Capital.
At 5:30 p.m., the beer starts flowing and the doors open to TechPint.
Tickets to both the Winter Summit and TechPint are $75, while tickets to just TechPint are $20. Discounts are available on the TechPint website.
