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Tell HN: Alphalab's Winter/Spring 2011 app deadline is Monday

18 points by Jordanian ↗ HN
Alphalab (http://alphalab.org) is a Pittsburgh based startup incubator. The deadline for the Winter/Spring 2011 session applications is this Monday, November 1st. Sessions are 5 months long with a Demo Day at the end where companies showcase what they've accomplished and present in front of investors. More information (including funding info) can be found here: http://alphalab.org/about.aspx

For full disclosure, I am an Alphalab alum. The experience was great and the relationships I've built and things I've learned are invaluable. These incubators provide the means for companies to do things right and really jumpstart their businesses. I encourage anyone at all interested to at least apply.

One thing I'm sure will be brought up in the comments is the fact that you need to maintain a significant presence in Pennsylvania for 5 years as part of the Alphalab terms. Honestly, I relocated to Pittsburgh for Alphalab and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The startup community here is thriving and everyone is willing to help. There's also great talent right around the corner with CMU, University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University all within 1 mile of each other. The community might not be as big as SF or NY but I think the smaller size makes it more intimate.

You can apply now at: http://alphalab.org/survey_overview.aspx

7 comments

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thomaspaine
What does alphalab offer over any of the other seed programs/incubators to justify being locked into Pittsburgh for 5 years? I split my time between pittsburgh and the bay area, and while it's a nice town it definitely feels like you're giving up a lot by staying there for 5 years, at least if you're a web startup. The only web development interest group or meetup I could find since moving there was some php group, whereas in the bay I can go to at least one a week.
nickpinkston
It should probably be said that you're not "locked" into Pittsburgh for 5 years. Plenty of the companies that have taken this investment (AlphaLab & the parent org IW) have relocated in other areas of the country: ModCloth, Clearspring, etc.

However, of the AlphaLab companies nearly all have stayed in Pittsburgh. One was acquired and had to move to Texas.

There's actually quite a few tech groups (as +30) in Pittsburgh. I did this Google embed because people kept asking: http://PghTechEvents.com

There's also HackPittsburgh.com for the Maker crowd.

JeremyHerrman
Pittsburgh is a great town with a thriving tech and startup community. As you can see from http://pghtechevents.com there are plenty of meetups (many of them web development oriented). The only annoying thing is that most of them meet on a thursday so you usually have to choose one. Having CMU, Pitt and Duquesne (and the others) definitely helps with keeping a ton of interesting and smart people around the burgh.
nickpinkston
Yea, in Pittsburgh it's a very tight knit community, and everyone wants you to succeed. It's also super cheap to live here - while still being close to NYC/DC/Chicago/Toronto.
jsb
I'm applying this year. Working on the final touches as we speak. Looking forward to it!