At an annual event created to showcase how fiber optic infrastructure has positively impacted communities across the world, the Fiber to the Home Council will celebrate its “Gimme Fiber” Day in Chattanooga on Monday in conjunction with Chattanooga’s inaugural Startup Week.
Author and Foundry Group Co-Founder Brad Feld will join Launch Tennessee CEO and President Charlie Brock in Chattanooga via video conference for a conversation about building and nurturing a startup community.
The event will be held at Waterhouse Pavilion on Monday beginning at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Because space is limited, organizers encourage attendees to sign up in advance here.
A venture capitalist, blogger and entrepreneur, Mr. Feld began financing technology startups in the early 1990s. Before co-founding Foundry Group in 2007, Mr. Feld co-founded VC firms Intensity Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital. In 2006, Mr. Feld helped David Cohen co-found Techstars an early-stage venture fund and startup accelerator.
Mr. Feld has written and co-authored several books, including Startup Communities which will be provided free to the event’s first 200 attendees.
As president and CEO of Launch Tennessee, Charlie Brock, a Chattanooga native, oversees Tennessee’s nine startup accelerators and works to strengthen the state’s burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prior to taking this role, Mr. Brock was a founding partner of the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, the city’s first organized angel capital group, and the CEO of CoLab, where he oversaw the first Gig Tank program. Mr. Brock has been involved as CEO/Managing Partner with several startups, including Foxmark Media and FourBridges Capital Advisors, in addition to serving as an organizing director of CapitalMark Bank & Trust.
Founded in 2001, the Fiber to the Home Council Americas is a non-profit association consisting of companies and organizations that deliver video, Internet and/or voice services over high-bandwidth, next-generation, direct fiber optic connections - as well as companies that manufacture FTTH products and others involved in planning and building FTTH networks. The Council works to create a cohesive group to share knowledge and build industry consensus on key issues surrounding fiber to the home.