Webinar – Open Coffee Clubs (and other adventures)

Open Coffee Clubs, hackathons, unconferences, and other adventures.

We will go through how to get started, messaging to attract people of interest, generating interest in your area, and what to expect. We will give you a framework for getting started, and based on input from attendees, we can also provide additional resources after the webinar.

The purpose of these events is to attract local people who are interested in getting involved and making a difference in their community. People want to get involved and help their local innovation ecosystem to become a place that has an impact on their neighbors. Some people are willing to take a leadership role, and we will talk about how to identify them and put them to work.

This webinar will be recorded, and a copy will be made available to all registered attendees.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday July 16th, 2025

Time: 8am EST, 12pm GMT, 7pm BKK

Format: Presentation with extended Question and Answer period

Closed caption translation is available for the following languages – Chinese (simplified), Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese

Background on Open Coffee Clubs

The Boulder Open Coffee Club, initiated in 2006 by Brad Feld’s suggestion to Jason Mendelson, was a simple yet transformative bi0weekly meetup. Its format—regular, informal, and open to anyone—helped cement a culture of connection, mentorship, and collaboration in Boulder. It’s a tangible example of how small, persistent events can build powerful startup ecosystems—a theme that Brad Feld highlights throughout his work.

The club’s aim was to foster deep, informal interaction—discussion, idea exchange, feedback, first-time pitches—all in a casual, judgment-free environment. The guiding principle was simple: “A regular place and regular time.” The club’s aim was to foster deep, informal interaction—discussion, idea exchange, feedback, first-time pitches—all in a casual, judgment-free environment. Community members credit it with spawning real connections—people forming partnerships or even selling their first product as a result of interactions at the Open Coffee Club.

The Coffee Club became a template in Feld’s influential Startup Communities book (2012), illustrating how small, consistent, community-led meetups form the backbone of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. It emphasized that entrepreneurs must lead, events should be consistent, and the community must embody generosity and openness—core tenets of the Boulder Thesis.