Building a Brand

Attended two events at the PnP's Sunnyvale facility today. The first was their monthly Mashup - an open gathering for job-seekers to network with startups that are PnP tenants. It was fun to watch startup founders, some novices, some seasoned, make their pitch to a room crowded with people, all kinds of people, including investors. One person from Google stood out - he proudly wore his id and walked around the room giving his business card to the founders. He didn't speak much, and I have no idea what his role was, but watching him saunter about was fun. I liked MO's presentation. It was crisp and humorous, and he alone seemed like a person who'd be fun to work with.

Later, I headed to the PnP Web 2.0 Meetup. I think its a pretty cool move to host open gatherings like these and have beer, soda and pizza for attendees. The folks from Evernote were in attendance, and it was nice to hear Phil share his experience of getting funded just before the cash ran out. There's no doubt they've built a fine product, and they're equally enthusiastic about building their brand.

It was interesting to note how the cool looking elephant logo has helped them get favorable attention. Apparently, the Evernote logo is so attractive that even the folks at Apple love it.. and that resulted in it showing up in the iPhone promos. Sweet.