Steve Case, the co-founder and former chairman of AOL, is in Buffalo today with his "Rise of the Rest Road Trip," an initiative that looks to encourage startup companies.
"We want to better understand what's happening there," Case said during an interview with WBFO in advance of his visit.
"It's really shining a spotlight on the great entrepreneurs all over the country that are building great companies, great startups. All the attention seems to be on places like Silicon Valley but places like Buffalo also have a thriving startup community."
The visit also features a pitch competition from local startups. The winner will receive a $100,000 prize.
"The Rise of the Rest Trip" has been to several parts of the country. Two visits, to Detroit and New Orleans, stood out to Case. Both cities, he says, have been able to bounce back after suffering devastating economic circumstances.
Case has observed encouraging signs from entrepreneurs all over the country.
"The thing that is similar is people recognize that real job creation is coming from these young companies that are starting small and some of them end up being successful and getting quite big."
Case acknowledges that his connection to AOL and the early internet boom provides him with credibility among entrepreneurs.
"It's been a great journey. My hope with 'Rise of the Rest' is we can help other entrepreneurs have similar journeys," Case said.
"When we started AOL, it was 30 years ago this summer, only three percent were online."
But it was hardly a straight line to success.
"In reality, it took us more than a decade before we finally got traction. It was a tough decade. There were a lot of struggles. We almost didn't make it," Case recalled.
"We started with a big idea, but we were a little company, just a couple dozen employees, not much capital and eventually it grew to the point where it was actually the best performing stock of the 1990's and we had 10,000 employees and helped lift up the D.C.-Northern Virginia area."
"That's the kind of the thing we're trying to do with 'Rise of the Rest.'"
