I’d like to welcome and thank my friends at Gold Systems for joining The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.

Terry Gold – the co-founder of Gold Systems – was one of the first entrepreneurs that I met in early 1996 shortly after Amy and I moved to Boulder.  At the time Gold Systems was about 15 people.  Terry, his partner Jim, and I went for plenty of long walks in 1996 and 1997 as they tried to navigate the waters of growing a young business.  As I got to know Terry better, he came to epitomize the ideal of a thoughtful and generous entrepreneur and person.

Through Mobius, I invested in Gold Systems in 2000.  Terry and his team grew quickly after the investment but then had to struggle with the telecommunications downturn in 2002.  Due to Terry and his team’s perseverance, they survived and have gone on to build a solid member of the Boulder tech community.

I’m proud of what Terry and the team at Gold Systems have accomplished.  I’m very pleased that have chosen to become a member of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.  Thanks Gold Systems.

A little over a year ago Amy and I had a discussion about how we could directly contribute to rebuilding New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  We have made financial contributions and underwritten several trips of students to the city, but we were looking for something tangible to do.

A close friend and nationally known architect – Coleman Coker of buildingstudio – told us of a project he was working on with his colleague Jonathan Tate to build high quality, low cost housing in New Orleans.  He connected us with the folks at the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans a New Orleans based non-profit that helps first time home buyers.

After a little study, we determined that for $50,000 we could provide a high quality house for a family based on Coleman’s design (approximately 900 sq. ft.)

As a result, we’ve put together a program in conjunction with the Community Foundation Serving Boulder Country that we call Boulder Building New Orleans.

To date, we have raised a little over $40,000.  Amy and I are covering all administrative costs of the program so 100% of the donations are going toward the house.  On the second anniversary of the land fall of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Amy and I thought we’d put together a final push to get the $50,000 raised for this project.

If you are inclined, please consider making a donation to Boulder Building New Orleans.  You don’t need to be from Boulder to do this – you’ll be part of helping our extended community provide a new house for a family in New Orleans.  Any amount helps – electronic donations can be made in amounts as little as $10.  While it might not seem like a lot, it’ll be life changing for the folks that end up living in the house.

Blue Mountain Arts has been a fixture in the Boulder community for the past 35 years.  It was started by the parents of my friend Jared Polis (Susan Polis Schutz and Stephen Schutz) who are all dynamite people.

For Blue Mountain Arts’ 35^th anniversary, they’ve given a wonderful gift to Boulder.  Rather than having a big party and spending a bunch of money, they’ve given each of their 100 employees a share of $200,000 to donate to their favorite charities.

Jared and I have been involved in a number of philanthropic efforts in the Boulder community, including activity around The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, Social Venture Partners, and most recently the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.  I’m really proud of the Schutz’s and all the folks at Blue Mountain Arts for actively engaging in local philanthropy in such an impactful and visible way.

Amy just blogged about her trip last week to New Orleans.  Neither of us had been there since Hurricane Katrina.  She went as an attendee at a conference organized by the Women Donors Network called Revitalizing Democracy: What We Can Learn from Katrina. 

We were together in Boulder over the weekend and had plenty of time to talk about her experience during the few days she was in New Orleans.  Her post summarizes her thoughts well and end with some concrete suggestions about what she (we) are going to do.

Bill Erickson sent me a link to a TUAW article on Introducing Nike + Group Goals.  Nike has a super cool Nike + iPod Sport Kit (which I’ve bought and have sitting on my desk – I guess I need to get my act together and actually try it).  Now – they are donating $1 to a cause for every mile that you run and record on their website.  The Lance Armstrong Foundation is up first – Nike is donating up to $50,000 for 50,000 miles contributed (he’s got $24,469.28 contributed at this point.)  The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are in the mix as is a showdown between the Northside and Southside of Chicago.  Awesomely cool stuff.