From the desk of Michael Gluzman:
I had the pleasure of attending Startup Drinks, a networking meetup for entrepreneurs and technology fiends, alongside Corbin Pon to rub shoulders with some of Atlanta's fellow startups. We met Alexis Madrigal and Sarah Rich of The Atlantic Magazine who were in attendance as part of their Startup Nation special report. Here we are, photographed by Alexis in his article concluding the trip.
While Corbin pitched our fledgling company to numerous friends and foes, I suddenly found myself cornered by a flock of entrepreneurs seeking to add designers to their team. It was obvious designers were a rarity at these events...
But the gathering was certainly constructive for us. When you reiterate what you do and why numerous times to so many different people, you begin honing in on the things that really stand out about your company. We frequently discuss what we want to accomplish with Scholrly, but finally hearing what surfaces to the top most frequently has introduced a better sense of the most important goals we are all driven by. In that sense, all members of your team should engage in these events. It's the friendly skirmish before the championship game.
For a designer, and for me specifically, that sharpened understanding of what we do and are passionate about helps me refine the identity, brand, and design that is always in service of our intended UX. That's an incredibly precious awareness to possess in the development of a product.
Also, sometimes you get a friendly invitation to lunch :)
"Scholr.ly is a startup that wants to help people discover research that's relevant to their fields of study. Think of it as a probe for the adjacent possible."
- Alexis Madrigal, on Scholrly
