A New Path Ahead — Becoming an EIR at Polaris Venture Partners

December of 2008 I stepped foot for the first time into the Boston Innovation Community (and also into NERD!).   For those of you who don’t remember, Fall of 2008 was when the world stopped turning, and the innovation ecosystem in Boston was a barren landscape.   At the same time, Microsoft made a huge investment in Boston, opened NERD and made it a key part of the charter to help catalyze and grow the Boston technology and innovation ecosystem.  I had the privilege to work with some awesome folks on this really important project.   immediately we saw how NERD could be helpful and opened the doors, invited the community into our home, and invested in groups/projects/ideas  that could add value to the community.

Fast Forward 2 years — NERD is a bustling hive of activity and has become a keystone to the innovation community.  I’m tremendously proud of all of the work that we’ve done (a lot of which was just feeling around in the dark), and how much I believe we’ve been able to help make Boston a better place for students, entrepreneurs, technologists and of course — beer and pizza companies.   While  there is never a good time to move on, and leave behind something as amazing as NERD, I feel great about the path that it’s on.  You shouldn’t expect to see anything differently from NERD.  I was a part of an amazing team and I expect them to fill in right behind me and continue to be an awesome community enabler and partner! 

I’ll be starting next week at Polaris Venture Partners, and will be working out of the Cambridge Dog Patch lab.  You’ll still see me at every event, gathering and party in the community!  I’m really excited to be able to really roll up my sleeves and continue to help launch and grow new companies in Boston.  Dog Patch is an amazing community of entrepreneurs and innovator (across all 3 cities!) and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on how to make it a bigger and better part of the ecosystem.  There’s still a lot of work to-do in Boston, and my resolve to make the ecosystem better is as strong as it ever has been.  My new email is gweber@polarisventures.com and I’ll be working out of the current Cambridge DPL.  Stop in, say hi or shoot me a note — as always, coffee (or beers!) is on me!

Lastly, thanks to everyone for your guidance, friendship, support, and for welcoming a relative outsider into this phenomenal community!   Here’s to an awesome 2011!