Help Startups is both a web portal and an organization serving the entrepreneurial community. The organization was founded in November of 2004 as HELP (Helping Entrepreneurs Learn from Peers) in Pittsburgh, PA. HELP's initial intent was to link up executives of startup companies via informal monthly meetings. These meetings were round tables (literally, we had drinks and pizza) where entrepreneurs asked for and shared advice on a wide range of issues.

From this initial format we evolved into one where we invited a guest to join our round table each month. These guests were key players in the entrepreneurial community -- heads of organizations, successful entrepreneurs, journalists, attorneys, etc. Our guest would give us a brief overview of who they were and then we indulged in two-way Q&A -- we asked our guests questions and they asked us. These sessions were very informative for both our members and our guests.

In addition to our monthly meetings we took on the mission of doing everything we could to improve the local entrepreneurial environment. Out of this grew the initiative to create a one-stop web portal for entrepreneurs to quickly gain access to the information they needed.

After working for two years to get our web portal initiative going, we were finally able to launch the project in early 2007 through funding provided by The Heinz Endowments and the Benedum Foundation. Version 1.0 of Help Startups was officially launched on September 18, 2007, at a gala Launch Party in Pittsburgh. We were honored to have over 350 people in attendance at this event, and by the City of Pittsburgh issuing a Proclamation declaring that date to be Help Startups day in Pittsburgh.