Pssst. Hello, It's Boulder Calling. Just Don't Tell Anyone.

OK. Boulder. What a roller coaster!

Let's set aside the lack of sleep, charmingly odd doll house we stayed in, and continuation of bizarre UGBT cab drivers for a minute. As I've said, it was our last stop on the whirlwind, and honestly career-changing, User Generated Book Tour.   I already had mixed feelings about it coming to a close, but I'll save all that for another post. And as we've detailed even more I was getting a less-than enthusiastic response to my impending arrival. Still, I knew there was something in Boulder. And I was right.

Here's the thing. Boulder has a ton to offer. The companies that presented at New Tech were pretty amazing, and the people we hung out with where smart, confident, collegial and surprisingly effortless to be around. They just, um, don't want anyone to know?

This is what puzzles me about Boulder. It's a very, very tight-knit community. While entrepreneurs from London, D.C., Memphis, Los Angeles and several other cities have complained that it is hard to develop a regular startup "crew" because the cities were so spread apart geographically, Boulder is only a cuddly 100,000 people or so. There are twice as many bikes as people, so either people have calves of steel or everyone is just a quick cycle away. The New Tech event itself was like a more earth-conscious, savvy version of a Town Hall meeting in Stars Hollow. There was something so genuine and non-poser about it. It was unlike another one I've seen.

But for whatever reason, there's a general desire to protect that unique vibe by fencing out everyone else. More on this in the next post, which features a point-counterpoint between Matt Galligan of Social Thing/AOL and me, so I won't belabor my thoughts now.

But while my gut still tells me that kind of thinking inherently limits companies in Boulder, I love that the scene is its own animal and it feels utterly different than any other stop on the tour. As I've written throughout the tour, the single most important thing is that cities play to their own strengths. In Boulder, a core strength is clearly this community, cooperative vibe. After all, one of the biggest entrepreneur success stories is Celestial Seasonings-- right down to the early days when town's folk helped the founder pick herbs from around the town to go in our teas. (Which I'm inhaling as I write, thanks to a nasty cold.)

I'll be interested to see what develops out of Boulder over the next few years. Hopefully, some new hot shot will actually return a Silicon Valley call...

Now to that dollhouse...this video was shot before our pleasant surprise of an evening, hence the apprehension. (and Olivia's hair in progress)

Boulder of Love? from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

Lost London Footage

It may not sound like a relaxing way to end a vacation to you, but believe me, the closer I come to  working through a back-log of Flipcam footage from the last month, the weight is just lifting off my shoulders. Now if I could only finish that BusinessWeek column and other secret project....ah well, that's what a long plane ride is for, right?

Among Flipcam gems I've found today are these two clips from London, featuring two of my favorite people Robert Loch and Paul Carr. In both, the guys have to hide how nice they're actually being to me, by kinda acting like jerks. But I see through it. They love me.

Lost London Footage #1: High Tea from sarah lacy on Vimeo.
Lost London Footage #2- The Launch Party from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

I Just Had the World's Best Taco

And I live in the Mission! I decided to capture the moment for you all....

OMG. OMG. OMG. from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

So Fifteen Entrepreneurs Walk into a Cave...

So, I’m standing chest deep in freezing water wearing a bright orange mining helmet, some water shoes with holes in the toes and a rented wet suit that was already wet when I winced and shimmied into it about ten minutes earlier. (Ew.) I’m hundreds of feet below the earth in an ancient Mayan death cave that’s just been discovered two years ago. Apparently a local who thought a creepy jungle 40 minutes from civilization would be a good venue for weddings and Sweet 16 parties bought the property a few years ago. One day he saw an Iguana, which is apparently equivalent to Kobe beef in Mayan culture. Like some Mayan Alice in Wonderland, he chased the Iguana into a hole and kept digging while the hole got deeper and deeper. He found this enormous cave. How enormous? No one knows. They haven’t even explored all of it yet. In fact the Discovery Channel is coming next week to help. A white thread tells you when you’ve entered unchartered territory. That, and some skulls.  After all, they don’t call this a death cave for nothing.

I’ve already been told not to hurt the spindly crab spiders who also share the death cave, and I nodded, even though I know I’m smashing that guy into a rock if he comes near me. I’m trying to avoid jagged rocks and growing stalagmites on the floor of the cave and looking up to see a huge vaulted cave ceiling with thousands of sharp pointy stalactites over which is our van or a forest or something. Maybe even that MIA iguana. Being from San Francisco, I immediately start thinking about earthquakes and these thousands of spears coming crashing down on all of us.

Just then, the guide tells us in broken English that we’re about to turn off our helmet lights and sit in total blackness for a while. And I freak out, mostly because I can’t understand what he’s saying I just hear “total darkness” on top of the uncomfortable situation I’m already experiencing. “I’M NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THIS!” I shriek. Yeah, all those people who keep writing about how fearless and ballsy I am? A cave full of entrepreneurs now know the truth. Especially Tony Hsieh of Zappos, whose hand I squeezed so hard, a few fingers could be broken.

Did I mention I’d actually signed up for a lazy afternoon of snorkeling?

My Nerves are Shot....

...about this election. Which is why I'm glued to the TV in an airport bar relieving tension through the almighty cocktail. However, I can't bear to listen to pundits battling over blue states and red states, so I'm listening to a new playlist instead. Thank vodka Steve Jang, a SarahLacy.com favorite and iMeem exec, compiled a list of Barack Obama's top ten favorite songs. So in between gulps and stomach flips, I'm singing out loud to some Rolling Stones, and fistpumping to Kanye. Which means I am literally Baracking the Vote.

We all know SarahLacy.com is nothing but bi-partisan, so I'll also listen to John McCain's playlist too. When I'm trying to pass out in my middle seat on our plane to London. Thanks Grandpa!

Election eeeeeek! from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

Calling LONDON

In just a little over a week, Sarah and I will be touching down in London, and the excitement is brewing here at SarahLacy.com HQ (aka the couch). If you've been reading this blog since last spring, you know that Sarah loves the Brits and the Brits (mostly) love Sarah in return. The new UK edition of her book is entitled The Stories of Facebook, Youtube, and Myspace: The People, The Hype, and the Deals behind the Giants of Web 2.0, and accordingly, we're rolling into town for its November 3rd debut.

Of course, most of you already know this- which is why tickets for her book release event "Secrets from Silicon Valley: Sarah Lacy and the Rise of Web 2.0," are almost, ahem, sold out. If you haven't bought your ticket yet, RUN DON'T WALK. The event features a Q&A session and networking opportunity sponsored by Fidelity Ventures and co-hosted by Robert "British Michael Arrington" Loch and Paul "Irish Jason Calacanis" Walsh on Friday, November 7th. C'mon, you know you want to see Sarah grilled onstage by her own British counterpart, the irascibly charming Paul Carr, and the always delightful Mr. Loch himself (provided he's avoided anything lobster-related beforehand...) You also get free drinks and a copy of the book, which Sarah will be more than happy to sign. If you're still too cheap then you can also try and win a ticket here, ok?

In addition, SarahLacy.com will be headed to the Hampstead Tech Meet-up on Wednesday evening, November 5th. But that's not all London. We have a whole six days to see what you have to offer so give us some insider info! Any awesome entrepreneurs or angels we should meet? Co-working spaces we should visit? Pubs we should imbibe in? Let us know!

Leave your suggestions in the comments section or send them to olivia@sarahlacy.com. DO IT.

Um, Do You Know What Business We're In?

So, I better write this post now because after tomorrow it might violate David Hornik's sacrosanct "What Happens at the Lobby Stays at the Lobby" rule. Some people-- cough, cough ValleyWag-- take that rule to mean the Lobby is about partying and the attendees don't want that to get out. In actuality, the Lobby is about business and the attendees don't want THAT to get out. "Who's shameless enough to go to the Lobby this year?" Hmm... off hand, I'd say people doing their jobs.

Yes, the Rumors Are True...UGBT Is Hitting London

Ok, it's not officially part of the User Generated Book Tour, but Olivia and I are indeed coming to London for a big, big Robert Loch-style party. [Update: Apparently also hosted by Paul Walsh who will hopefully not steal my Blackberry and write Twitters about how hot he is. Hrmph.] Why are we throwing a party? To launch my new book. (Ok, ok it's just the UK edition of the same book only with a far more commercially appealing title...)

We fly out just after we vote for Mr. Obama (holla!!) and hopefully land on Nov. 5 to UK papers trumpeting his victory. (If not, we may just stay in London.)

Now, several of you keep *harassing* me to come to London and have a big party so I fully expect you to be there and bring friends.

Stay tuned for party details...

UGBT Memphis: Let's Play to Our Strengths, Guys

I have a lot to say about the past few days I've spent touring the various nooks and crannies of Memphis and its entrepreneur scene. And as luck would have it-- I finally have a few hours to say it, er write it. A theme that has consistently cropped up during this tour is what each city means by entrepreneurship, and what they want to get out of building their own culture to give rise to it. Increasingly, it's the cities who never really tried to be Silicon Valley in the late 1990s that seem to really have an exciting and burgeoning scene. Why? Because they were forced to play to their strengths.

I'd put Omaha in this category. Omaha's entrepreneur scene is totally nascent and who knows what will come out of it. But it's endemically Omaha-like. Same with Portland, to a degree. And, I think, that's even more pronounced in Memphis. (More on that in a second.)

The corollary would be Austin or Seattle, cities that have followed a more Valley-like model with varying success and failure. The success is obvious: More venture capital money, more jobs from what big or mid-sized companies have emerged. But is there really a sustainable culture around entrepreneurship? Or is it about being a Valley-satellite? And frankly-- which would a city rather have? Because you can argue the first brings in more jobs, prestige and money.

But I argue, there's something great about a city that at its core has its own unique, scrappy entrepreneurial drive.

UGBT Boston: New Englanders, Come Out to Play

We've landed in Boston finally- narrowly avoiding a Hurricane Ike spin-off tornado in our connecting city, thanks in part to a renegade pilot that is now one of my personal heroes. Gotta love that salty, go-get-em spirit. Speaking of, did I mention Sarah Lacy is here in Boston?

She's keynoting at the Taleo Worldwide conference on Wednesday, but we can't spend the whole duration of Sarah's FIRST-EVER visit to Boston standing beneath a powerpoint presentation. So, we want all you natives to stop by the UGBT event tonight at the Good Life Bar! Of course, there will be books and T-shirts for sale, and Sarah will lovingly sign any and all copies. (Three books gets you a free shirt and the holidays are coming up....just sayin'.)

Special thanks to Gradon Tripp, Rich Dibona, and Rebecca Corliss for their organizational prowess. You're all wicked awesome.

So, Yesterday Pretty Much Sucked. from sarah lacy on Vimeo.