code big or go home.
shake things up. cause a disturbance.

Moving on From hack/reduce

I am incredibly proud to have launched hack/reduce, Boston’s Big Data hacker space, which will be officially opening it’s doors next week. Everything about this process has reinforced why I love the Boston startup community. The upswell of support from every corner of the community has been amazing. People reaching out that I’ve only met once – or perhaps merely seen from across the room at an event at NERD – came forward to help with everything from readying the space to making connections to offering to teach classes, provide data sets, and mentor the amazing members hack/reduce will soon be welcoming in.

And the people who applied completely blew my mind. From biotech and life sciences experts who want to use data to improve our health, to an MIT robotics student with a passion around using real time data for autonomous cars, to a Media Lab researcher using data to study gender equality, to a weather geek who wants to use real time weather data to keep people safe while fighting wild fires!

It reinforced everything I believe about the brilliant and passionate people we have here in Boston and how much amazing potential there is in this community.

And so I’m incredibly proud to have been hack/reduce’s Founding Executive Director to bring this community space into being because I believe that if we can provide resources and infrastructure to bring people together to create, that only more greatness will ensue.

It is therefore with some sadness that I write this post announcing that I’m moving on from hack/reduce. In the end, it seems we had different visions for what the space will become and how the to bring in the community.

Not to fear though, as Boston’s startup guardian angel and crazy child, I believe there is more great work to be done. And so, I wish hack/reduce the very best of luck as I look forward to my next endeavor. Have some awesome ideas bouncing around – if you have some thoughts, I’d love to hear from you too. In the meantime, keep pushin’ the edge & I’ll see you around the community (Boston Startup School, Babson Enterprise Forum, TechStars Demo Day, MassTLC unConference, Lean Startup Circle… well, you know where to find me 😉 ).

Do you want to push the edge on what's possible?

Abby Fichtner works with some of the world's top organizations and universities to incite creativity and spur extraordinary results.

Whether you're looking to foster innovation, create a 21st Century workplace of engaged employees, or become a change leader in your industry -- bringing in an expert who's helped hundreds of companies do the same is a brilliant way to accelerate your results. Bringing excitement and fresh perspectives to rally your entire organization in your growth and success.