In an effort to uncover the truth about the American startup scene, Australian entrepreneur Simon Walker embarked upon a quest. He flew around the world to visit 10 American cities in 20 days. He met with local members of the startup community and created a video series called the Leeap Project documenting his journey. His goal is to provide a comprehensive and accurate representation of startup life in those areas and inspire people around the world to start (and invest) in emerging companies.

The latest installment of the Leeap Project takes place in San Francisco. Walker and I met for coffee shortly after his arrival to discuss the project. Due to my perpetual lateness, he was forced to wait for 15 minutes on a street corner of questionable character. Fortunately, he did not hold this against me, and we were able to discuss the local entrepreneurial ecosystem over black coffees.

“People in Australia and New Zealand get a skewed perspective on startups,” he said. “Their perception is generalized to all of America, and they think that everyone that wants to have a startup can just get cash easily. Back in Melbourne, I really wanted to know what life was really like here for entrepreneurs and knew others who felt the same. I am trying to create an educated, informed, and outside perspective.”

While here, Walker stayed at the Villa of Bravo’s Silicon Valley reality show infamy. He met with local influencers and discovered a few key points about San Francisco. First and foremost, he realized that referring to the city as “San Fran” is the kiss of death.

I reconnected with Walker after he returned to Australia and finished this video to find out what else he learned.

“One unique aspect about S.F. seemed to be the capability to raise funds on an idea fueled by passion, rather than a proven business with preexisting traction and users/customers,” he said. “Most of the entrepreneurs I spoke with also seemed to have very much an insular or ‘tunnel vision’ view toward things. Everyone in S.F. seems to be so completely consumed with their own startup that the bigger picture sometimes didn’t even come into view.”

Watch the full video below:

Check out the first installment of the Leeap Project in Los Angeles.

Simon Walker is an entrepreneur from Melbourne, Australia. From Down Under, he struggled to find fellow innovators, venture capital dollars, and the kind of support he needed to get a startup off the ground. As the story of Mark Zuckerberg and other young Silicon Valley success stories wafted his way, he began to wonder if these tales were real. Is it really as simple as showing up to an investor’s office with nothing but a hoodie and an idea, and walking away with millions?

Walker decided to set out on a journey to uncover the truth about the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. He partnered with Startup Stay, a global community for traveling entrepreneurs, and Shoestring Media, a publishing company based in Sydney, to embark on the Leeap Project, a 10-city, 20-day tour. He would stay with local entrepreneurs, interview local influencers, and create comprehensive videos that reflect “the DNA” of each startup community.

“This project is about the realities of startup life, with the hope of creating an unbiased opportunity for entrepreneurs around the world to build an educated and informed understanding about what the grass roots of the entrepreneurial world actually looks like,” Walker said. “With no hidden agenda or preplanned storyline, the Leeap project is truly a raw, open and honest depiction of the realities of each local startup community and culture.”

His first stop was Los Angeles. He spoke with entrepreneurs, event organizers, accelerator founders, and asked them questions about the L.A. startup scene, how it has changed, its advantages and disadvantages, and their vision for the future.

Check out the this video about the startup community exploding in the Hollywood Hills:

If you liked King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters, you’ll love Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, a new documentary showing the world’s best Tetris players as they hone their skills (and talk plenty of smack) gearing up for the Classic Tetris World Championship.

According to the movie’s official website, “From the days of Thor Aackerlund and his historic victory at the 1990 Nintendo World Championships right up to the present and Harry Hong’s perfect max-out score, this documentary expertly chronicles over two decades of Tetris mastery.”

Portland filmmaker Adam Cornelius started making the documentary about Hong, who was the first Tetris player to officially reach a max-out score. He raised a slim $1,610 for that project on Kickstarter.

However, when Tetris master Robin Mihara informed Cornelius that as many as two Tetris players might have actually been better than Hong, the scope of the film changed.

“He took the news well,” wrote Mihara in a blog post, “and from there we fantasized about holding a live contest with all the greats, and having big screens, announcers, spotlights, all like we did [at the Nintendo World Championships] in 1990.

“The next day I got a call from Adam. ‘OK, I want to do it. You’re my star. You put it together.’ I was in my car speeding to his house in 30 seconds.”

Ecstasy Of Order: The Tetris Masters is currently in post production and will be in the festival submission process during the last few weeks of 2011. So far, the documentary is an official selection of the Austin Film Festival and SF Doc Fest.

The producers are accepting donations through the film website via Paypal to help complete the documentary. Go be a nice gamer and give ‘em a couple bucks for curiosity’s sake.

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---