The Second Annual Mountain Ventures Summit Set for Closing Day in Telluride

The world of work is changing, so in a true “unconference” format, a network of leaders building entrepreneurial ecosystems in mountain towns will come together to identify best practices and new ideas that can help make faster and more reliable progress in our mountain communities, at the Second Annual Mountain Ventures Summit, April 5th through 7th, in Telluride, Colorado.

“There has never been a greater time in history to both live and work where you want,” says Marc Nager, director of Telluride Venture Accelerator. “Coupled with a growing awareness of the need for more diverse and sustainable economies in our mountain towns, we have an incredible opportunity to redefine what’s possible for future generations that make our communities so unique and special.”

Mountain Ventures Summit was born to bring together our communities leaders and collectively work together to develop best practices for creating a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem in all of our mountain towns. The future of work is changing. And remote mountain towns are ripe to leverage this change, attracting and retaining more startup activity. Mountain towns inherently attract entrepreneurial individuals. You have to be entrepreneurial to fund a life in the mountain. Let’s work together on harnessing this spirit and move it towards real action.

“Entrepreneurship is a hard work. The allure of the mountain town lifestyle often sits counter to a lack of resources for non-endemic, tourism based businesses in these towns, thus adding increased challenges,” says Scott McGuire president of The Mountain Lab. “For our communities to thrive in the future, beyond a dependency on recreational tourism, we need to solve the barriers that stand before an increasingly nomadic and remote-based workforce, as well as those seeking to flee an urban existence. These gatherings allows those in power and those seeking change to create peer networks and to facilitate information sharing.”

Overall, Mountain Ventures Summit brings together three jam-packed days of intimate insight and tactical workshops to help us all play a role in creating a better future for our communities. Plus, we’ve left plenty of time for skiing and exploring Telluride.

Weekend Schedule

Day 1 (1pm – 7pm) Entrepreneurial Infrastructure: The nuts and bolts of setting visions, getting buy in, and the execution of efforts such as: coworking, accelerators, incubators, housing, broadband, venture capital funds, angel networks, events, working with governments, working with ski areas, avoiding small town politics, regional strategies, etc — Keynote, Panel, Breakout Sessions, Happy Hour

Day 2 (1pm – 7pm) Culture and Industry: Learning how to create an entrepreneurship ecosystem in your mountain town, learning from other communities and share experiences from your community — Keynote, Breakout Sessions, Happy Hour

Day 3 (9am-11:30am) Regional Team Workshops: Creating alignment among geographic and functional efforts. No one is alone in their efforts, and together we can help this movement go even faster.

For more details, visit mountainventuressummit.com.

Attendees

Leaders of all the pieces that enable an entrepreneurial ecosystem thrive in mountain towns, from coast to coast across the greater North American continent.

• Entrepreneurs – Outdoor industry, tech, travel, manufacturing, breweries, you name it

• Key Startup Communities – Coworking spaces, accelerators, incubators, capital, mentors

• Outdoor Industry – State offices of Outdoor Recreation, energy leaders, public lands and environment leaders

• The Arts – artists, creative communities, social impact ventures

• Local Governments – mayors, city managers, economic development teams

Event Registration: Interested in joining us? Tickets are available at $150 per person for three days and include several meals, happy hours, and discounted hotel and ski passes. Register here today.

Speakers: Speakers include several senior executives from the outdoor industry, Rusty Gregory of Alterra Mountain Co, Luis Benitez with the State of Colorado, Nate Greenburg of Mono County, Mammoth, authors, artists, and mountain town community leaders of companies and organizations like Osprey, Hydroflask, Western Rise, Voltaire, Bend Outdoor Worx, Proximity Spaces, Something Independent, and beyond.

Why Telluride? Telluride has had great success in building an entrepreneurship ecosystem, including the launch of an accelerator, the creation of a venture fund, an active and growing angel network, and a continual influx of smart entrepreneurs moving or starting companies in our remote box canyon.

Keynotes and panels will be held at The Peaks Resort and Spa. Breakout sessions will be held at The Peaks and nearby locations.