Hello, Jade here, just finished watching the "Never mind the Valley..." video. Pretty motivating - I've always respected the Threadless story.

I am Jade, 24, from L.A. California. I've never been out of the country and have only been to Vegas, Tempe, Arizona, and most recently San Fransisco for startup school <3.

I opted out of going to college because I didn't agree with the "go to school to get a good job and be forever happy" path to success. Though now I realize that's not what school has to be about but I was young and dumb.

Instead I started a custom screen-printing company. I printed custom apparel for high school clubs and sports teams. I learned everything online and in my 3rd year I moved from my parents garage into an actual production warehouse.

During this time I dabbled in HTML because I wanted to create a website for my company. As time passed this hobby of mine turned into what I loved to do - I would work and work and work just so I could finish to go learn coding.

Finally about a year ago now, after my girlfriend and I parted ways, due to the fact that I was a dickhead that put work before her, I closed my company, ended the lease, and sold everything.

I used the year to learn programming full-time, and now I'm here, no money, no job, no credentials, and an annoying smallish debt to attend to.

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I would like to go to Boulder because my life is my work and my work is being an entrepreneurial programmer. I have to make things, even if that means I'll be living in a cardboard box while building, I have to create.

This is not a sob story, I don't want sympathy because my life is fantastic. Rather I want to convey that I learn the hard way. I willingly take these drastic and unfriendly roads. I'm too stubborn and hardheaded maybe but that's just the way it is. I have a lot to prove to myself and to others who grow increasingly worried about me.

Boulder sounds like a great place to do that! Oh yeah, p.s. I love "Man vs. Wild" and I even got to meet Bear Grylls at a book signing <3. So even though I've never been exposed to the great outdoors; I love the great outdoors!

Thank you for you time. My plane ticket will cost $169.00. If I don't get voted up, perhaps someone here has some freelance work I could do to earn ~ $200.00 for the trip. I work with kohana php framework, jquery, and can do moderate design work. http://plusjade.com

You got my vote because I sincerely believe you deserve a break, it's not a sob story but it definitely sounds like someone trying very hard and learning from their mistakes.

Best of luck to you, hope you make it out there.

I'm a marketing guy not a dev guy. I went back to college at 38 to study Internet Marketing and get a degree to verify much of what I've learned on my own the last 5 years(Hurricane Katrina changed my life direction radically, in a good way). I want to partner with a dev guy and create a great startup but there just aren't that many here in my hometown, New Orleans.

I've seen so many good ideas languish because no one knew how to market them. Its a shame too because it is incredibly cheap today(in money, not time) to mount a great campaign to get your product seen. I hope that I can go to Boulder Startup Week, network with bright developers, and find someone to partner and build a company with.

This would also be the best way for me to convince my wife to consider moving to Boulder.

Hey smart idea for promoting Startup Week.

As a developer already living in Boulder, just want to back up what Andrew said - Boulder is great for startups and has a great community. It should be both really interesting and a lot of fun.

I'd love to come up for the week (from SF) because Jed still owes me a drink from SXSW!

(Best excuse to finally meet you and Jo that I've ever had!)

I took a trip to Boulder last year to check out the startup scene and it was awesome. Coworked at a few companies and coffee shops, went to the new tech meetup and opencoffee and met a bunch of really cool people.

When I came back, I quit my job and started working with startups. Boulder wasn't the only reason, of course, but the experience I had made the choice much easier.

Looking forward to visiting again in a few weeks.

I am graduating from college (with awesome student loans of course :-) I want to work for a startup in not just a tech hub, but a place with a high quality of life. Of course, I want to start my own startup and have been keeping an eye on the Boulder area culture - it'd be nice to see the action and the people in person so I can invest my limited resources wisely.

I think I might be able to make it (from Phoenix, AZ), but I don't want to eat up one of the giveaway tickets.

I already know Boulder rocks. I already know the people there rock. I already know Boulder startups rock. The tickets should go to people who A.) would be looking for work in Boulder or B.) would like to go but otherwise wouldn't have the means to get there.

I was out in Boulder for Techstars events a few months back. Community and tech feel seemed better than when I visited Palo Alto (spent 4 days at both Palo Alto and Boulder with friends' startups). Would highly recommend it both as a place to live and as a place to start your company.

Madison has many parallels with Boulder but not necessarily in the realm of nurturing tech startups. So there is a lot to learn. Bring me to Boulder for the week, and I'll soak it all in and bring it back to Madison.

Hopefully, in a year or so, I'll have an opportunity to reciprocate.

Here in Boise we have a wee bit of "Boulder Envy" - but it's time to turn the tables, eh? But before we can dazzle you guys, first we need to learn from the masters! (Even if Paul Jerde is involved somehow...) @entrep_thinking

Because Boulder Startup Week is the poor man's SXSW and after leaving my job in September to go freelance and doing my taxes in April, I just realized that I'm a poor man.

I'm based out of Denver but same area! I'll be there to represent our company Site5.com (old tech - web hosting) and a new startup!

I will be flying into Boulder from Grand Rapids, MI. Look forward to meeting everyone and checking out the city.

I would enter but it would force me to choose between Startup Week and my honeymoon :(

I'd love to Andrew!

It's a great week to see Boulder too. The weather should be awesome. Sunny, and amazing view of the mountains. Lots of hiking and climbing opportunities. -- from a guy who lives about 20 minutes away, went to school at CU-Boulder and visits Boulder regularly.