Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and current CEO of Revolution LLC, in Baltimore on Sept. 28, 2015, as part of his Rise of the Rest tour. He’ll visit Portland on Oct. 2.
On Friday afternoon, I’ll take the stage at Port City Music Hall for a conversation with Steve Case, who as co-founder of America Online is one of the entrepreneurs most responsible for connecting people to the nascent Internet and bringing… America online.
Am I excited? Of course. Intimidated? Maybe a smidge. Looking for guidance? Yes, and that’s where you come in.
Following the on-stage interview will be a competition featuring founders of eight Maine startups who will pitch Case and a panel of judges for the chance to receive a $100,000 investment from Case himself.
The interview, pitch competition and subsequent party are free and open to the public. If you’d like to attend, please register here.
Case, who’s now CEO of his own venture capital firm, Revolution LLC, is visiting Portland as part of his Rise of the Rest tour, designed to highlight burgeoning startup communities outside Silicon Valley. He’ll spend the day touring the city and meeting with various entrepreneurs and startup teams before arriving at the venue to face my probing questions.
On stage, I’ll have the opportunity to interview Case about his experiences as an entrepreneur, why he thinks Internet startups can be successful even if they’re not in Silicon Valley and, specifically, his impressions of Portland’s entrepreneurial community. Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts who is now focused on social-impact investing for Bain Capital, will also join us for the conversation.
I don’t have as much time as I’d like on stage with Case, so I want to make sure the questions I ask are relevant and solicit answers that are valuable to the crowd.
So, here’s my ask: I want to hear from you. What questions do you want Case to answer?
Feel free to submit questions in the comments section below or send me an email. You could also hit me up on Twitter. I’m at @whit_richardson.
Here are more details about the event: It’s all taking place at Port City Music Hall. The conversation with Case begins at 4 p.m., followed by the pitch competition at 4:50 p.m. and the party at 6 p.m. Again, here’s where to register for the free event.
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