Relocating to MassChallenge Boston
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Rebecca Roach.
Poetry is my passion, and more specifically, connecting others with the poetry they will love.
My poetry startup, Trubadour, aims to make this possible on the large-scale, using technology, for poets and readers everywhere. (For more info, we're at trubadour.com and have a Medium publication! :))
Why I'm requesting help
Recently, others have thought my startup is a good idea too; Trubadour just won--against all odds--a spot in MassChallenge Boston 2017, a prestigious accelerator that only 128 startups per year get to attend. I couldn't be more humbled or excited for this opportunity to participate in this accelerator and truly get my poetry startup off the ground.
(Me, excited after I pitched Trubadour in the Semi-finalist round for MassChallenge on May 11.)
But moving to Boston while working full-time on a pre-revenue startup presents a financial hurdle that is hard for me to get over on my own right now. Moving/ flying is expensive, and the rent is higher than I can currently afford. That's the reason for this campaign, and I'm grateful to be able to invite you to learn more about me, my venture, and the upcoming journey with MassChallenge, below. Thanks so much for your consideration, support, and your time!
Why Poetry Matters/ The Full Backstory
Many people think that poetry and technology are incompatible. That they represent opposite sides of the spectrum, representing two totally separate worlds. I've certainly thought this before. But then...
On every online platform that allows people to post what matters to them, there is poetry being written, shared, read, and performed. From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Soundcloud, from Pinterest to YouTube--there's poetry, even though the conditions under which poetry is taught and published today are as obstructed and dismal as ever. (For example, it's expensive for poets to submit their work to countless literary journals, those journals have readership that is largely limited to other poets, publication takes way too long, and selection is often biased, exclusive, or untransparent, etc..)
What this signals is that, despite the odds, poetry is alive and means a lot to a lot of people. The problem is: how do we update our models for encountering and engaging in poetry in a digital world?
I think the answer is to marry poetry and technology. But with thousands of online publications already out there, we don't need another online journal. No, we need a new model, interface, and experience.
My Vision
My vision with Trubadour--and the one that got me into MassChallenge--is to create a central hub for poetry, an online platform and mobile app that connects current writers with their audience, as well as opportunities for feedback, collaboration, and support. (You can view the video I made about Trubadour for my MassChallenge application here!)Such a platform would help poets do their art better, allow users to grow and curate a creative social network, and provide an introduction for new readers to the thrilling world of contemporary poetry, in a way that will speak to one's specific tastes. (i.e. not boring!)
Think Pandora/ Spotify for poetry, Tinder-inspired swipe left or right matching, iTunes library, writing workshop, and poetry publisher, all blended into one. This would help both writers and readers--really anyone who already has, or could have, an interest in poetry.
Where I am now
Since I left my graduate MFA poetry program last year to devote myself full-time to Trubadour, my designer/ developer and I have gotten the conversation started by hosting an interdisciplinary forum on poetry and tech in the Boston area back in February (see our first ever press here !), created our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the web platform, begun collecting user feedback, won 2nd place in Purdue University's Boiler business competition (press release here), and, as of May 23, have been admitted to MASS CHALLENGE, a huge startup accelerator in Boston. We are in the top 8% of startups that applied from around the world! http://boston.masschallenge.org/press-release/masschallenge-boston-announces-2017-cohort
This is tremendous progress, and evidence that we have something really special here. Yet, living at home in the Midwest (Shawnee, OK) makes it difficult to be immersed in the literary community and to get the opportunities and generate the momentum we need to really take off. MassChallenge is our ticket to growing the team, developing the product, and overall getting to the next level.
How YOU can help
Physical presence at MassChallenge is required to participate in, and take full advantage of, the accelerator.
Yet, relocating and the cost of living in Boston is a stressor and a large personal concern. If at all possible, I want to be able to focus my full energies on growing my team and developing the product (which, in turn, presents a whole separate set of financial concerns!), not on meeting next month's rent.
This said, I am kindly requesting $5000 to help with the cost of relocating and living in Boston for the duration of the MassChallenge (June-November). By the end of the program, I hope to be in a much better position to be able to support myself financially as I keep working on Trubadour to bring our solution to the real world in early 2018! Your support in the meantime would mean the WORLD to me, really enabling me to pursue my dream.
Thank you so much for considering making a donation of any amount--no donation is too small. I believe that poetry has the power and potential to reach people like nothing else can--especially today, when so many people need and want poetry but don't know where or how to find it.
With your support, you can help me as I try to begin cracking open the poetry world like never before, tapping into the incredible energy and talent of today's poets and poetry-lovers, and making this vision for poetry and tech a reality. Like our creativity and our potential to do good, the benefits are truly limitless!
With immense gratitude,
Rebecca
Poetry is my passion, and more specifically, connecting others with the poetry they will love.
My poetry startup, Trubadour, aims to make this possible on the large-scale, using technology, for poets and readers everywhere. (For more info, we're at trubadour.com and have a Medium publication! :))
Why I'm requesting help
Recently, others have thought my startup is a good idea too; Trubadour just won--against all odds--a spot in MassChallenge Boston 2017, a prestigious accelerator that only 128 startups per year get to attend. I couldn't be more humbled or excited for this opportunity to participate in this accelerator and truly get my poetry startup off the ground.
(Me, excited after I pitched Trubadour in the Semi-finalist round for MassChallenge on May 11.)
But moving to Boston while working full-time on a pre-revenue startup presents a financial hurdle that is hard for me to get over on my own right now. Moving/ flying is expensive, and the rent is higher than I can currently afford. That's the reason for this campaign, and I'm grateful to be able to invite you to learn more about me, my venture, and the upcoming journey with MassChallenge, below. Thanks so much for your consideration, support, and your time!
Why Poetry Matters/ The Full Backstory
Many people think that poetry and technology are incompatible. That they represent opposite sides of the spectrum, representing two totally separate worlds. I've certainly thought this before. But then...
On every online platform that allows people to post what matters to them, there is poetry being written, shared, read, and performed. From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Soundcloud, from Pinterest to YouTube--there's poetry, even though the conditions under which poetry is taught and published today are as obstructed and dismal as ever. (For example, it's expensive for poets to submit their work to countless literary journals, those journals have readership that is largely limited to other poets, publication takes way too long, and selection is often biased, exclusive, or untransparent, etc..)
What this signals is that, despite the odds, poetry is alive and means a lot to a lot of people. The problem is: how do we update our models for encountering and engaging in poetry in a digital world?
I think the answer is to marry poetry and technology. But with thousands of online publications already out there, we don't need another online journal. No, we need a new model, interface, and experience.
My Vision
My vision with Trubadour--and the one that got me into MassChallenge--is to create a central hub for poetry, an online platform and mobile app that connects current writers with their audience, as well as opportunities for feedback, collaboration, and support. (You can view the video I made about Trubadour for my MassChallenge application here!)Such a platform would help poets do their art better, allow users to grow and curate a creative social network, and provide an introduction for new readers to the thrilling world of contemporary poetry, in a way that will speak to one's specific tastes. (i.e. not boring!)
Think Pandora/ Spotify for poetry, Tinder-inspired swipe left or right matching, iTunes library, writing workshop, and poetry publisher, all blended into one. This would help both writers and readers--really anyone who already has, or could have, an interest in poetry.
Where I am now
Since I left my graduate MFA poetry program last year to devote myself full-time to Trubadour, my designer/ developer and I have gotten the conversation started by hosting an interdisciplinary forum on poetry and tech in the Boston area back in February (see our first ever press here !), created our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the web platform, begun collecting user feedback, won 2nd place in Purdue University's Boiler business competition (press release here), and, as of May 23, have been admitted to MASS CHALLENGE, a huge startup accelerator in Boston. We are in the top 8% of startups that applied from around the world! http://boston.masschallenge.org/press-release/masschallenge-boston-announces-2017-cohort
This is tremendous progress, and evidence that we have something really special here. Yet, living at home in the Midwest (Shawnee, OK) makes it difficult to be immersed in the literary community and to get the opportunities and generate the momentum we need to really take off. MassChallenge is our ticket to growing the team, developing the product, and overall getting to the next level.
How YOU can help
Physical presence at MassChallenge is required to participate in, and take full advantage of, the accelerator.
Yet, relocating and the cost of living in Boston is a stressor and a large personal concern. If at all possible, I want to be able to focus my full energies on growing my team and developing the product (which, in turn, presents a whole separate set of financial concerns!), not on meeting next month's rent.
This said, I am kindly requesting $5000 to help with the cost of relocating and living in Boston for the duration of the MassChallenge (June-November). By the end of the program, I hope to be in a much better position to be able to support myself financially as I keep working on Trubadour to bring our solution to the real world in early 2018! Your support in the meantime would mean the WORLD to me, really enabling me to pursue my dream.
Thank you so much for considering making a donation of any amount--no donation is too small. I believe that poetry has the power and potential to reach people like nothing else can--especially today, when so many people need and want poetry but don't know where or how to find it.
With your support, you can help me as I try to begin cracking open the poetry world like never before, tapping into the incredible energy and talent of today's poets and poetry-lovers, and making this vision for poetry and tech a reality. Like our creativity and our potential to do good, the benefits are truly limitless!
With immense gratitude,
Rebecca
Organizer
Rebecca Roach
Organizer
Shawnee, OK