NOLABound Days 3-4 Notes and Final Takeaways

It's been a month since my March travels, and I've been super busy since I got home. I wanted to take a few minutes and wrap up my notes and thoughts about New Orleans start-up culture and the NOLABound experience.

Below are the rest of my notes for Days 3-4 of the trip as well as my larger takeaways at the bottom. Sorry for the length of the post! "I wish I had the time to write a shorter letter."

Launchpad accelerator visit

• Met Chris Schultz
  
• Launchpad coworking space and accelerator 3 yrs old
  
• Chris
• After Katrina wanted to create tech hub and one physical space
• Developer bought building and made it into hub
  
• Always welcome to drop in, no day rate
• Demo Day during Jazz Fest
• Now have several more such hubs in New Orleans
• Grassroots effort
• No government support
• Community came together
• Overnight success takes 5-10 years
• Moving to a place with a lot of interesting jobs
• Density of startups and cool ecosystem
• Low cost of living
• Accessible airport
  
• Ppl get started here who are based elsewhere
  
• Easy to get in and out
  
• Launchpad is coworking space
• Launchpad Ignition is accelerator program
• The more bankruptcies the better, means more ppl are trying
• Speed dating/hiring events
• 13 startups created 502 jobs
• Community running Rails class
• GE will put in $10M into higher ed for tech
• Several ppl from SF moved here for quality of life
• Lots to do, nice ppl, can own great home cheap
• Walkable city, all major events free
• Cutting edge of wave of development and excitement
• Issue is not starting businesses but about scaling, exiting 
  

Big Idea event

• B-plan competition
• Entrepreneurship is about networks
  
• Companies that won had the biggest networks
  

NOLABound camera crew notes (nice guys!)

• All cams on 5dmkii
  
• L zoom lens 24-70 f2.8
  
• Boom mics
  

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Talk by Alan Domesqieu (architect)

• Architect
  
• Design studio of 50
  
• Grew up around here and through Katrina
  
• Tricentennial in 2018
  

• Katrina was a man made disaster
  
• Only mid-level storm
  
• All city levy systems failed
  
• Engineering failure
  
• No respect for FEMA
  
• Engineering core not trusted
  
• Cities around world evaluating their levy systems now
  
• Sacramento has highest risk for levy failures now
  
• Lots of brick and mortars
  
• 40% of American watershed comes across French quarter
  
• How will NOLA port compete with Panama Canal widening?
  
• Probably will be behind Houston, Mobile
  

History

• NOLA established in 1718 by white Europeans
  
• Have had Native Americans there for centuries before though
  

Tricentennial comes with 3 obligations

• Marking history
  
• Celebration of recovery
  
• Charting a course 

Katrina work

• Build infrastructure for continued business growth
• Celebrate authenticity
• Way of life, not lifestyle
• How are we rearming our community as we strengthen the levies?
• Flooding spread 22mi x 15mi
  
• Population decline
  
• White flight
  
• Segregation
  
• African American middle class
  
• Population went from 627k down to 455k before Katrina then to 20k with Katrina
  
• Forecasts population recovering to 400k by 2020
  
• Population determines federal revenue sharing
  
• Ppl who left on buses were given one way ticket
  
• Buses were not coordinated by government and families got split who didn't know where buses went; took years to reunite
  
• Had no formal evacuation plan
  
• Biggest problem is figuring out how to get ppl back in to a damaged city
  
• Tourism not sustainable, lowers in economic downturns
  
• Brick and mortar infrastructure will be real foundation
  
• $2.2B medical complex being built by gov't
  
• Will employ 25k ppl
  
• Largest medical complex being built outside Kuwait
  

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Crawfish Boil

• Fun outdoors
• Played some cornhole 
• Benjy Davis Song: I Love New Orleans
• "Put your hand in a crack and you might find a treasure": Counselor lost her engagement ring on Frenchman Street pub crawl and then found it the next day because another NOLABounder saw it in a crack on the street! True miracle.
  
• Build community through regular city events and festivals every 2 weeks that everyone goes to
  

Various impressions of city from touring it on my own the last day

• Rivers of Los Angeles = freeways (but also have sweet ocean)
  
• Canal St and French Quarter shops
  
• Ate at Stanley's: "po boy" with sweet potato fries
  
• Took ferry to Algiers and ate a cookie at Tout Sweet (awesome name)
  
• Threw down $20 and doubled my money on blackjack at Harrah's (I only play 1 hand)
  
• Watched Hurricane in the Bayou IMAX film
  
• Spoke French with Haitian taxi driver
  
• "Biggest small town"
• People stay for the culture
• GE Capital coming to NOLA with 500 jobs
• More diversity
  

New Orleans News and Stats

• Based on jobs and output, The Brookings Institution has named Greater New Orleans one of the "20 Strongest Performing Metros" in the nation for Q4 2011. More info here.
  
• Sports Illustrated magazine is running in-depth feature on the story of the New Orleans Hornets, who it calls one of the most "promising and inspiring" teams in the NBA.  In particular, the article highlights the effort to keep the Hornets in New Orleans, including meeting a challenging attendance threshold, and then selling more season tickets, per capita, than any market in the USA. You can read the article online here.
  
• Business Facilities magazine has named Greater New Orleans, Inc. as one of the top three in the USA in its new award for overall "Economic Development Excellence."  GNO, Inc. finished tied #2 with Greater Oklahoma City; the top place went to Greater Austin. "2011 was a remarkable year for Greater New Orleans," wrote Editor-in-Chief Jack Rogers, going on to call the region "a shining model of diverse, growth-oriented success." The award article is online here.
  
  

Big takeaways

• Tax incentives and gov't cooperation are huge
  
• Community through frequent cultural events
  
• Close bonds and love of city (Fleur de lis everywhere); 2 degrees of separation
• Exciting tech community
  
• Problems with crime and education are being dealt with
  
• Poor perception management and marketing out of state are being addressed
  
• Amazingly talented people working in NOLA who love the city
  
• Amazing group of NOLABounders who rallied and bonded
  
• Warm weather all day and evening though a bit humid
  
• Awesome food though less on healthy options
  
• Amazing trip!