We kept pretty mum about the recent mess at Bootup Labs that culminated with a Techcrunch piece and a “I’m Sorry” post from Danny Robinson, one of Bootup’s founders.
I was ready to get some nails and start sealing the coffin of Bootup. The whole scenario has been a huge credibility killer for Bootup and I am sure it has been tough on the community in Vancouver.
Before I started hammering away at those nails however, I decided to reach out to Boris Wertz. Boris Wertz is a bit of a sage and I figured he would have a sense of what was going on. It was then that I found out that Boris W would be joining the board of Bootup and would be helping to back it.
Danny Robinson posted yesterday that the other Boris, one of the original founders, would be leaving Bootup. I’m not going to speculate on what caused this, but it does seem like everyone at Bootup have committed to doing whatever it takes to get this thing back on the rails.
So here is my endorsement for the new Bootup. Vancouver needs Bootup as much as Bootup needs Vancouver, and with these recent changes I hope that the Vancouver community can get behind Bootup 2.0 as well. I expect that it will take a while, and Bootup will suffer greatly for it, but time will hopefully heal all wounds.
Vancouver is truly one of the best cities in the world, and I know that the startup community there will continue to live up to that reputation. It is a unique place, with a unique startup community and set apart in Canada. Vancouver is a lynchpin of change and I hope a city that leads the charge in rebuilding the definition of what it means to be a startup in Canada.