The captivating story of the mavericks who emerged from the dotcom rubble to found the multi-billion-dollar companies taking the Web into the 21st century.

"When I heard about Sarah's idea to do a user generated book tour, I did everything I could to convince her to come to Washington, DC. We have such a great tech community here, lots of web startups, and also the presence of a large, established Internet company (for which I work). With the help of other positive, proactive folks in the District, we were able to plan three events for Sarah's visit.

Justin Thorpe of Clearspring organized a roundtable get-together on Wednesday, July 16 at On the Border in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Several members of the DC tech community attended. Sarah, Frank Gruber (SomewhatFrank.com), and I also used this time to plan our presentation for the following day.

On Thursday, Sarah visited the campus of AOL in Dulles, Virginia for a panel discussion on web startups in Silicon Valley and other places like Washington, DC. The panel featured, Sarah, Frank Gruber (SomewhatFrank.com, TechCocktail.com), and I (InsideAOL.com, DCtech.tv). Frank and I work at AOL, in addition to our other side projects. The presentation was great, and we gave out free books (purchased by AOL) to attendees. Sarah and Frank got into a fairly heated debate on the essential need for successful web startups to be located in Silicon Valley.

Sarah made an appearance at Twin Tech, a networking event in DC, on Thursday night, where she talked with DC tech folks and signed books. The event was organized by Peter Corbett of iStrategy Labs.

By Friday morning, we had spent two days with Sarah and enjoyed every minute of it. Sarah was such a gracious guest and a positive influence on everyone she interacted with here in DC. I definitely enjoyed chauffeuring her around the city, as that gave me more exposure to her viral enthusiasm and witticism.

Come back to DC anytime, Sarah."

Michael Tolosa, Washington, D.C.
AOL Shopping | Program Manager

Video of the panel at AOL
Frank's interview with Sarah

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"Sarah’s UGBT visited Washington DC on a very auspicious day – it was the first time the veteran technology community in the greater capitol region mixed with the new tech crowd in mass at an event call Twin Tech. It became the largest tech party DC has seen with about 650 attendees and Sarah’s presence at the vent was the icing on the cake!"

Peter Corbett, Washington, D.C.
iStrategyLabs

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"I’m so very appreciative that Sarah took the time to come to DC. We have a growing Web and entrepreneurial community here. It was great to get some perspective from someone who’s spent a considerable amount of time in and out of the valley."

Thanks again for coming!

Justin Thorp, Washington, D.C.
Clearspring

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• Photos from this event
• More coverage

"Sarah's visit to Omaha has spurred numerous connections and solid conversations around the idea of innovation and entrepreneurship. What comes out of Omaha will look different than the Valley, and the knowledge and resources Sarah talked about gave our community the "jump-start" it needed to take Omaha to the next level and start launching some exciting new projects."

Jeff Slobotski, Omaha, NE
Silicon Prairie News

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"Sarah's trip to Omaha was outstanding. She offered excellent ideas and thoughts regarding entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs have evolved in the Web 2.0 era. In addition, she was thoughtful about Omaha and made some excellent points regarding the city's evolving entrepreneurial environment. She has left a number of interesting ideas and thoughts in her wake, and for that, we in Omaha are very thankful."

Tom Chapman, Omaha, NE
Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce

"Sarah’s visit to Des Moines was such an extraordinary experience for me and many others here in the community. Of course Sarah’s stories about Silicon Valley, the Web 2.0 world and the personalities within it are fascinating, but what won me over was Sarah’s genuine interest in every last person who came out to meet her.

She is incredibly kind, gracious, and never runs out of charm. I would highly recommend bringing Sarah to your city if you haven’t already – she has an ability to cut through all the white noise and figure out a city’s culture, relevance, and what it needs to do to improve. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, thinking about becoming one, or just want to help further your community’s sense of purpose, a visit from Sarah will leave you inspired."

Nathan T. Wright, Des Moines, IA
Lava Row

"Anyone in a burgeoning tech scene owes it to themselves to spend some time with Sarah Lacy. Why? Because she possesses a pointedly objective view of Silicon Valley—from its run with the dotcoms to its rebirth with Web 2.0—coupled with an enviable firsthand insight into some of today’s most successful Web businesses. And that makes her one of the strongest voices in the world of business, today. I, for one, am already looking forward to Sarah’s returning to Portland."

Rick Turoczy, Portland, OR
Silicon Florist

"Sarah Lacy visited her hometown of Memphis, TN and took it by storm in one packed day. She took the time to visit with the institutional players like Bioworks, EmergeMemphis, and the FedEx Institute of Technology. More importantly, Sarah made even more time available for the people in the trenches -- the entrepreneurs. Sarah offered Memphis, what has now become her UGBT MO: principled discourse that included straight talk, inspiration, thoughtful discussion, and feedback on the city's growing entrepreneurial environment. Identifying a theme she found at her tour stops in Omaha and Memphis, Sarah talked about the success of 'scrappy' entrepreneurship that distinguishes successful entrepreneurial cities outside the valley from others with a recipe of imitation. At the end of a very long day, Sarah was still able to leave behind the signature Lacy intellectual sustenance for the entrepreneurs, encouraging them to move forward 'scrappy' as ever."

Eric Mathews, Memphis, TN
Co-Founder of LaunchMemphis