than the first, which encouraged Matt Cordio, Startup Milwaukee co-founder and executive chairman.
“We see a desire for these organizations to do more work together,” Cordio told me after the event. “The older generation believes Madison and Milwaukee are divided. A room like tonight proves them wrong.”
Some of the ideas from the event will move forward. Others will sputter and die. That’s OK, Skievaski said in an interview.
“The biggest benefit is they tried and know each other now,” Skievaski told me after the event.
Skievaski thinks more cohesion between the Milwaukee and Madison startup communities could allow them to reach “critical mass” and compete with bigger startup hubs around the country in metrics like attracting institutional investments.
“We’re not combined,” Skievaski told me after the event. “We don’t know [each other]. That’s a problem.”
But the two connecting events are a good start that will likely lead to more interaction, he said.
“It’s already growing a little stronger,” Skievaski told me.
