Viximo的核心团队押注：联合创始人、原型和四周内筹得500万美元

做的是什么生意

Viximo was a Boston social-gaming publisher that grew out of Betahouse, the city's first co-working space for technology entrepreneurs; by 2011 it reported about 30 employees and described itself as one of the premier publishers in the social game industry.

启动资金：About $5M in VC funding raised within four weeks of the founding idea in 2007, from VCs connected through Betahouse's member network.

起因

In 2007 Brian Balfour, then 23 and working full time as a product manager at ZoomInfo, was moonlighting on entrepreneurial side projects. Six months earlier he had joined Betahouse, the first co-working space for technology entrepreneurs in Boston, where a diverse group of people worked on their own projects but freely collaborated on each other's. At a Betahouse party, an inebriated conversation over a keg turned into the idea for Viximo, formed with fellow Betahouse member Greg Gibson.

经过

Over the following weeks the Betahouse network executed the startup's hardest steps: member Dan Choi built the early prototype, another member introduced Balfour to Sean Lindsay, who became his technical co-founder, and VCs inside Betahouse's network supplied about $5M in funding — all inside four weeks. Balfour credits the group's deeply invested, unfiltered relationships rather than his own skills, network or mentors for the speed.

结果

Viximo quickly outgrew its space at Betahouse and, by the time Balfour wrote the story in January 2011, reported about 30 employees and described itself as one of the premier publishers in the social game industry; the company also housed numerous startups in its own office space.

可借鉴之处

推动创业公司前进的不是导师或大网络，而是一个小而诚实、充满热情的同行群体——它能提供联合创始人、资金和原型，这些单靠个人努力是无法获得的。