Three Kansas Citians have launched a Kickstarter campaign for a “Tech Trek” using Google Glass.
It can be a challenge for newcomers and outsiders to understand what goes on at early stage startups. For those interested in technology or joining the ranks, Think Big Partners entrepreneur-in-residence Chris Shaw is spearheading a project to share that reality—with a twist—and he’s aiming to raise nearly $10,000 on Kickstarter to fund it.
Imagine an account of the nation’s startup scene through the eyes of established entrepreneurs, now frame it with Google Glass. That’s the mission of “Tech Trek – A Google Glass Enabled Interactive Documentary.”
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“To me, Google Glass is meant to be used as a new-age media and life-casting tool, and we wanted to put it through the ringer and do something interesting with it,” Shaw (right) said in an email.
The Trek will take him, Think Big Partners’ managing director Blake Miller and Piscator Media founder Spencer Walsh—along with other “Trekkers” that join along the way or pay for a spot ($2,000) via Kickstarter—to five places Shaw calls “tech hubs”: San Francisco; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Grand Canyon, Ariz.; Boulder, Co., and Kansas City, Mo. Along the way, the group plans to meet with early-stage companies and “chat with folks from seed-stage companies at YCombinator (Silicon Valley), 500 Startups (Silicon Valley), Science (Los Angeles), TechStars (Boulder) and the Think Big Accelerator (Kansas City),” according to the Kickstarter page.
Backers can pledge for a range of opportunities, from live stream access of stops to watching one of the Trekkers act out a dare or having your name presented as the title sponsor of the film. According to the site, Kickstarter contributors will help pick which companies to visit, who to talk to and what questions to ask.
Funding will go toward production costs, editing hours, equipment and more. “If we are successful in raising the entry-level amount, we’ll add stretch goals that allow us to add more people and more destinations,” according to the site. “Our goal is to simply tell a compelling story.”
Shaw isn’t sure when the hardware will arrive or what the limitations will be, so location and timing details can’t be finalized as of yet. As of 2 p.m. on April 16, 14 backers had pledged $280 of the $9,780 goal, with a final date of May 5.
Credits: Photo from Tech Trek website. Video and mug from Kickstarter page.
