There’s this image out in the world of the lone entrepreneur anonymously toiling by himself, carving the next great company out of the wilderness with his bare hands. I admit I’ve held that image myself. I think it comes from the stories we hear as kids of Americans being rugged individualists.

But the image isn’t really true. People who accomplish great things, including business startups, do it with help. Lewis had Clark. Hewlett had Packard. Robert E Lee had Stonewall Jackson. Larry Page has Sergey Brin (and Eric Schmidt).

You don’t have to have partners, but you need someone to talk with. Someone you can bounce ideas off of. Someone to brainstorm with. Someone to be an advisor. Someone to call you out when you do dumb stuff. I think author Keith Ferrazi has a new book out about this, Whose Got Your Back.

I spent years trying to go it alone, without much help, advice, support or feedback. It sucks. Don’t do it that way. As I’ve considered this situation I’ve come to realize that I’ve got to get out in the startup world. Mix it up with the upstarts out there. (I really want to name a startup “The Upstarts”!) Find people I can collaborate with, exchange advice with and, sometimes, just shoot the bull with. So I’ve created and scheduled an event named Startups Over Coffee. it’s similar to groups like Geek Breakfast and Startup Drinks, and we’re going to meet at 9am on Saturday, July 11 at Fido coffee shop on 21st Avenue in Nashville. If you’re into startups and in the area, come on by. We’ll be meeting and mixing with other startup enthusiasts. Come share some ideas and grab a great cuppa joe. Who knows what might come out of it.

We’ve already got some smart people signed up for the event and I”m excited to see what happens.

In local startup news, knowledge sharing network Moontoast has secured a $780,000 round of financing, accoring to Milt Capps of Venture Nashville Connections. Moontoast launched at the South by Southwest Interactive event in March. They are currently undergoing a private beta, according to their website, which is allowing them to gauge user feedback and tweak their system, which allows users to find and consult experts on any kind of problems or challenges they may be facing. According to their site, they expect to relaunch publicly in August 2009.

Moontoast recently announced the appointment of Stephan Collins (formerly of DoubleClick and Juris) as acting CEO and Marcus Whitney (former parter at Emma and founder of Remarkable Wit) as Chief Technology Officer.

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