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On Wednesday night, hundreds of digital technologists gathered in the Boulder Theatre to celebrate the most anticipated deal closings in recent years. While notable founders, CEO's, and investors gathered around foodtrucks chatting nonchalantely, inside the momentum was rising. This is because in 2008 during Gnip's early years, founders Jud Valeski & Chris Moody pledged 1% of their Series A round - totalling $1.1M- to the Entrepreneur's Foundation of Colorado (EFCO). The time had officially come to present the check to the organization, which started all with Rally's initial gift of $1.4M.
Both founders were gracious of the everlasting support of the Boulder community and recalled when they just started the realtionship with Brad Feld, who turned out to be one of their leading investors and champions. Back in 2008 before an investor meeting with Foundry Group, Moody remembered introducing Brad, noting that "Brad Feld's blog readership is bigger than the Daily Camera."
During the 'program', the acquisition and the relationship between Twitter & Gnip became as clear as ever. Twitter's man on the ground, Zach Hofer-Shall, noted that they went back and forth about 'who should acquire who'. According to Hofer-Shall, it was more than just a product acquisition- it was about bringing the tech ecosystem closer together and retaining the Boulder driven values.
The informality was poignant and notably Boulder. "We're just a series of misfits and weirdos," noted Moody.
We're looking forward to more deals like this- where companies invest in building the ecosystem and bring in new talent, while connecting the national technology locales.
