Recurly Boulder: Part of a Vibrant Startup Community
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of Boulder Startup Week (BSW) which celebrates the unique startup community in Boulder, Colorado. Over 340 events with over 811 speakers were held across 57 venues around Boulder over the week of May 13th.
The week-long event was an opportunity for Recurlians to get out of our regular routine to learn from inspiring entrepreneurs and growing companies who are building amazing things in the Boulder community.
Recurly was founded on the idea that we could solve for a true business problem in a more elegant and thoughtful way. This idea is especially echoed in our values “be mindful,” “debate passionately” and “iterate everything.” Our participation in Boulder Startup Week reinforces our commitment to these values as we found ways to mindfully learn from others, challenge our assumptions, and iterate on our process and approach.
Recurlians attended speaking events on topics ranging from the venture capital scene on the Front Range to diversity and inclusion in hiring and in the workplace, to the role of customer success in driving company growth and women in leadership.
Women Inspiring Leadership Development (“WILD”) Track
One unique topic track in which Recurly became involved through sponsorship and participation was Women Inspiring Leadership Development, aka “WILD.”
Kelsey Schlarmann, Technical Lead at Recurly, spoke on the She LEADS panel alongside four other impressive women leaders to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their personal leadership styles and how they’ve overcome various obstacles in their careers. The panel focused on the unique challenges women leaders face in the workplace.
“Some of us may face pushback when we are too assertive (a trait typically applauded in men, but sometimes criticized in women). At other times, those of us with more reserved personalities may need to find ways to make our voices heard,” said Kelsey. This was a topic at the forefront of the panel.
Following the panel discussion, Recurly hosted a reception in collaboration with WILD. This provided a chance to network with women business leaders, female founders, and aspiring young women, including women from the WILD Council.
BoulderRuby Meetup
On a monthly basis, Recurly hosts the BoulderRuby Meetup. Last week’s event intentionally corresponded with Boulder Startup Week to maximize participation and engagement. This month’s event featured a discussion on “The What, Why and How of Software Components – in Ruby and Beyond,” by Stephan Hageman from Pivotal.
We hosted approximately 40 Rubyists and aspiring programmers in our offices for the event, which included beer and pizza. Following the presentation, participants discussed how local software companies can improve upon hiring and mentoring talented junior developers.
Boulder Startup Week Job Fair
Unsurprisingly, the Job Fair was packed with both companies and prospective candidates. As Boulder’s technology scene continues to grow, it’s no surprise this event increases in numbers every year.
Recurly was one of twenty-two participating companies. During the two-hour long event, members of our team met with candidates ranging in experience from engineering, data analysis, and sales, to operations and more. This was a great opportunity to introduce Recurly to both new Boulderites and long-time members of the community. We are committed to expanding our teams in the Boulder office and are so pleased with the amazing talent on the Front Range.
Supporting Boulder’s startup community
Recurly takes pride in being part of the growing Boulder Startup community for the last four years. Since we first moved here, our office has grown from just four to more than 60 Recurlians! Being a sponsor for Boulder Startup is an important part of our engagement in this community, and we look forward to being a part of it for years to come.