[akassover]

I like the term "playing house". Seems like there are a lot of similar activities. I don't make it to many "startup" type events, but when I do, I always wonder why everyone there is spending so much time hanging out with each other instead of going to the events their customers go to.

[TeMPOraL]

From my observations as a participant of such events, people actually working on startups don't frequent them.

The composition of people attending your typical bi-weekly unmeeting is: few people with money, lots of people who would like some of that money, few random CEOs who look for free employers, and the rest that just wants to hang out with "startup guys" because it's cool (and maybe they get to see some new toys).

[melvinmt]

This is spot on (especially for the "Hackers & Founders" kind of meetups) but there are a subset of (technical) events that are full of smart people and less bullshitters.

None of them will probably be your real customers but most of the people you'll meet are extremely interested in startups and new ideas. It's a crowd of early adopters, willing to try anything. This is worth something, at least while you're starting out and need to validate your ideas.

Compare that with pitching your startup idea to random people in a Walmart, that's way harder than it sounds :)

[johan_larson]

Anyone know any good places to meet people who are interested in startups but who aren't from technical backgrounds?

There must be people out there who have identified problems that software can solve, but who can't build the solutions themselves. Lawyers who know what law firms need or plumbers who know what general contractors need, and such.

[austinhutch]

I think there is some truth to this, but personally, I've been to events on both sides of the coin. StartX, for instance, hosted an event where I met several smart people and heard two fantastic presentations. If I were working on a startup, maybe I wouldn't have time to attend, but I'm not at the moment and why not meet and network with smart people with similar interests? That being said, there is a lot of BS you have to circumnavigate.

[ja27]

Yep. Even in my area I could go to 2-5 startup events a week but so much of it just feels so fake and full of hanger-ons that just want to be associated with startups. It is nice to get out once in a while, but I get a lot more out of virtually hanging out with my group of other indie app developers that actually sell.