Philadelphia Media Network CEO Greg Osberg announcing Project Liberty, which includes the incubation program and tablet initiative. Photo by Liliputing

There is real movement on the $250,000 startup incubator program which will be housed at a legacy newspaper company and supported by local and national organizations with stakes in entrepreneurship and new media.

According to a press release sent on Friday, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Philadelphia Media Network have announced that they are seeking applications from startups looking to be a part of the inaugural class working inside the partners’ Project Liberty incubator. The project has also includes a widely cited tablet program, announced by PMN CEO Greg Osberg as depicted above and detailed by tech news site Lilputing.

We first reported on the program last November, when Philadelphia Media Network CEO Greg Osberg announced the program at a Temple journalism seminar. The incubator program was later formalized with a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.

The program starts October 31. Those interested can apply here to Ben Franklin Technology Partners before noon on Friday, October 14th.

This is Exit Interview, an occasional interview series with someone who has left Philadelphia, perhaps for another country or region or even just out of city limits and often taking talent, business and jobs with them. If you or someone you know left Philly for whatever reason, we want to hear from you. Contact us.

It happened in a weekend.

Four days after Jameson Detweiler and his team at LaunchRock opened the doors of its launch campaign and analytics platform for startups, artists and others — created over 48 hours during Startup Weekend this winter — it was getting ink in Silicon Valley.

“In case you needed another ‘you know there’s a bubble when …’ tech post, LaunchRock, a startup that builds viral launch pages for other startups, is launching today via its own product,” TechCrunch wrote. Tech sage Robert Scoble brought Detweiler, who at the time, was President of Philly Startup Leaders, in for a long interview on Scobleizer.

It was very quickly clear where the company was headed. Recently, the company has hooked up with 500 Startups, a Valley business incubator — with a $50,000 accelerator investment — and the rest is history. The company is now based full-time in Mountain View.

It’s most notably the story of how the newly elected president of a local organization dedicated to encouraging entrepreneurship in the Philadelphia region now says that Philadelphia “might not be the best thing for your business.”

But at the end of the day, Detweiler says, Startup Leaders is about encouraging smart entrepreneurship. Smart entrepreneurship that means business comes first, not your location.

More with Detweiler after the jump.

How has the company grown or progressed since Startup Weekend?

Basically, we’re getting over startup mode, starting to feel like a real company. We went from nothing to something really quickly. There were a lot of growing pains, but we’re starting to get over it now. We’ve signed up a lot more people than we’ve let in on the site; very large numbers of people at this point. We’re still figuring out the metrics. Things have been good for us. Up and to the right.

What does the company’s progress say about Startup Weekend?

It was opportunity to test a simple premise that I thought had some merit, that I could build in a weekend. It forced us to get things done at a speed that I had never been able to chase before, and just ship something. There’s a great community of people from Philadelphia blasting our stuff out. Continuing beyond that, the international network of Startup Weekend has been really helpful. At every Startup Weekend there’s people using our product.

When someone you meet there asks about Philadelphia and its tech/startup/gaming/creative community, what do you tell them?

There’s opportunity there. It’s growing and though it’s early, there’s a lot of really cool stuff going on. I think that people are a bit surprised by that. I think there’s a lack of awareness, but it’s the same for pretty much everywhere. People recognize that New York is interesting, and a few people recognize Boston and Austin, but you don’t hear it. People here live in their own bubble.

Was there anything that could have been done differently to keep you in Philadelphia?

Absolutely not. We got taken for a ride, where everything went really quickly. It was somewhat out of our control. It made too much sense to come out here. 500 Startups is a unique opportunity. They invest at literally every stage of the company up until Series C. They will start with $10,000 in something, then do an accelerator deal at $50,000, then help you at Series A. And they have an international network that is really connected. Our potential users are in this network.

Looking back at Philly from the outside, what is missing?

There’s a lack of capital. There’s always been a lack of capital, but right now there’s a frenzy, there’s extraordinary access to capital in San Francisco and New York, but not anywhere else. I don’t think Philly could ever match that. It’s also totally different here because everywhere you turn, everyone is in tech. It’s still amazing to me that when I go for a run, I run past Evernote, Firefox, and Meebo. Down the street is LinkedIn and Google. Out here, you can have a cup of coffee with anybody, and they’re willing to take a gamble because they know it will come back to them.

In Philly, there are generations of people who have been doing this, and in a lot of ways, I’m really disappointed. I think the older generation, the guys who have done this before and were involved in the first tech scene have disappeared. Not just for capital, but for mentoring, advice. They’re not available and they’re not around. I think Philly has done a really good job at guiding itself, this generation, but it’s starting from the beginning because there aren’t mentors and people there to provide that guidance.

There’s also such a disconnect between the suburbs and inside the city. There’s a lot more overlap between the Valley and San Francisco.

Do you think you would return to Philadelphia under appropriate circumstances?

I think I see myself coming back to Philadelphia some day, but I don’t see our business being based out of Philadelphia, based on our target and who we sell to. I could see us having an office in Philadelphia. There’s solid engineers who are eager to leave larger enterprises. There’s something of a glut of talent, but the question is, ‘how do you bring it out?’

What is the perception you most often find of Philadelphia?

Out here, people just don’t know about it.

What does it say for the President of Philly Startup Leaders to leave Philadelphia?

If you’re a seriously committed entrepreneur, your business is what comes first. As President, I wanted to see that community grow, but that was not my first priority. It’s not a nonprofit run by full-time people who are paid to do it. I was there to support the entrepreneur community because I wanted to create a better place for myself and whatever company I was building. Ultimately, the most important thing is that we’re building good entrepreneurs. I’m proud to say that we’re from Philadelphia and will always tell people about the great things going on there.

It’s an uphill battle to build certain types of companies in Philadelphia. If you choose to do that, then good for you, but that might not be the best thing for your business.

Anything else?

I’d love to do whatever I can to specifically help support Philadelphia startups. Anyone who wants to reach out about what Launchrock can do, is something that I’m really excited to do.

This is Exit Interview, a weekly interview series with someone who has left Philadelphia, perhaps for another country or region or even just out of city limits and often taking talent, business and jobs with them. If you or someone you know left Philly for whatever reason, we want to hear from you. Contact us.

In September 2009, Ben Kessler was having trouble getting work.

After a Drexel co-op in San Francisco the summer before, the new graduate and Unbreaded co-founder was living with his parents in Yardley, waiting for what was next. The Great Recession was hot then, but even still, Kessler, now 25, was getting bites in the 67th ward. By that October, he had moved up the Jersey Turnpike to New York City.

Philly has an ugly reputation for retaining its college graduate, but that trend is moving dramatically the other way. Still, we asked Kessler for perspective from  a college graduate who loves this city but hightails it for one with a job for him.

What is the primary reasons you left Philadelphia?

A job, seriously.

I spent some time looking around Philly, but I was looking for something very specific – a technology, specifically Internet, startup that was in early growth stage and looking to hire. Honestly 2009 was a terrible year for the job market, just getting out of college I found it hard to find a position, and the new New York startup scene itself was still somewhat nascent at the time.

I decided to take a position with LaunchSquad, a public relations firm I interned with in San Francisco that was looking to grow its New York presence. I never really intended to take up a career in PR, but it’s the kind of work and clients that LaunchSquad does, and the fact that the company really operates like a startup itself, that drew me to it. The people are great, and the clients were great. I helped launch some incredible companies including Vook, EPIX, SCVNGR, and my current employer SeatGeek.

Was there a specific event or moment that you realized you had to/wanted to leave?

There wasn’t a moment or reason that pushed me to leave Philly. I was honestly looking for work, and found it. I’ve always been fond of the idea of trying out a new city – I fell in love with San Francisco when I was there, but a move like that was out of the question, I’m too close with my family and girlfriend to go that far. The explosive tech scene in NYC seemed like the perfect fit – especially because I’m only a BoltBus away from the city I grew up in.

Was there anything that could have been done differently to keep you?

There are a lot of things I love about Philly that make me miss it: the food of course, the tight knit technology community, the incredibly vibrant beer scene and more. Unfortunately there is a lack of innovation in Philadelphia. No, maybe it’s not a lack of innovation, but a lack of leaders looking to take the risk to start a company.

There are standout companies in Philadelphia — Venmo, WizeHive and others come to mind — but far too many bright minds are working at large companies or doing freelance development or design work. I found it ironic that the tight knit community that did such a good job at planning events, meetups, etc., has such a big problem building a product, a service, a business. Of course I’m being very hypocritical — why didn’t I just start my own company in Philly? At the time and still to this day, I don’t think I’ve hit the right idea, nor do I have the level of expertise that I really want to be at before doing my own thing.

Do you think you would return to Philadelphia under appropriate circumstances?

I’d love to return to Philadelphia, especially to settle down and buy real estate. I really would like to say that I want to build a startup there, but the lack of investors in the city really puts a dent in those plans.

When someone you meet from outside the region asks about Philadelphia and its tech community, what do you tell them?

I tell them there are amazing people in Philly, a really tight knit community. I urge them to bring their business and/or engineering talent to the city and build something incredible there – to this day, no one has taken me up on that advice.

What is the perception you most often find of Philadelphia?

Those who have never been to Philadelphia really don’t have a basis to develop an opinion of the city. Haters try to say it’s a dirty city with too much crime, too small of a technology community. Those people have often spent a weekend at most in Philly. My response is that Philly may not compare to NYC or San Fran, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Boston.

What’s the latest you’re up to that we can plug or look forward toward?

I’m currently at SeatGeek and we’re working on building the absolute best product to help fans easily find tickets at the best prices. We’re working on some cool new product releases that we’ll hopefully announce soon, and we have some exciting partnerships in the pipeline.

This is Exit Interview, a weekly interview series with someone who has left Philadelphia, perhaps for another country or region or even just out of city limits and often taking talent, business and jobs with them. If you or someone you know left Philly for whatever reason, we want to hear from you. Contact us.

Kevin Fitzpatrick had one of those cool white collar tech jobs that actually thrive in Center City.

Born in the Northeast neighborhood of Rhawnhurst, raised in Horsham and a loving resident of Center City, his job with Comcast Interactive Media seemed to suggest he would stick around.

But in June 2010, Fitzpatrick packed up with his girlfriend and moved to San Francisco. It was just time, he says, though his roots may likely bring him back.

“I needed to get out, find mentors and work on new stuff,” he said. Where’s the line between a city that limits and a natural need to try new places. Hear more from Fitzpatrick in his Exit Interview below.

What are the primary reasons you left CIM for San Francisco?

I left CIM because I wanted to pursue the craftsmanship side of software development. While it was a great job, we were working on projects I was personally interested in and I wasn’t getting a chance to grow as a craftsman. I needed to get out, find mentors and work on new stuff.

I ended up in San Francisco because it was a place my girlfriend and I had always wanted to live and I ended up finding a good fit at Pivotal Labs, a consultancy out here.

Was there a specific event or moment that you realized you had to/wanted to leave?

In August of 2009 I went to BizConf, a small conference run by the same people who run Hashrocket. Long story short, I met a lot of people from whom I felt I could learn a lot. I spent a week at Hashrocket learning the way they did things. When I got back to CIM, I started implementing some of them, but I realized there was no way I was going to be able to change things there to suit my desires. Change your company or change your company, right?

I followed the footsteps of a guy I met at BizConf, and I took a leave of absence to go on a journeyman tour to the best Rails shops I could find who would have me for a week or so. I even found one in Sweden that turned out to be a month-long paid gig. I ended up at Pivotal on the tour and the rest was history.

Was there anything that could have been done differently to keep you?

Not really. I was ready for a change and frankly there just aren’t the kind of shops in Philly that I needed in order to grow.

Do you think you would return to Philadelphia under appropriate circumstances?

Absolutely. I love Philly, my family is there and I’m a big supporter of IndyHall and the wider the tech community. Someday I’m sure the circumstances will be right and I might even open up my own shop there.

When someone you meet in San Francisco asks about Philadelphia and its startup community, what do you tell them?

That there isn’t much of one. Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t lots of people doing great stuff, but there just isn’t enough. It’s young. People are still figuring out how the whole thing works. From a larger perspective, most of the technology people in Philly metro are connected to big tech, finance or biotech firms or companies that service them as clients.

I also want to make the distinction between the tech community and the startup community. The community of people involved with design and technology is vibrant. It’s driven from grass roots and it’s bad-ass. That doesn’t directly translate to lots of jobs working at start ups or start up clients.

What is the perception you most often find of Philadelphia?

Sad to say, it’s still New York’s little brother with the chip on its shoulder.

What’s the latest you’re up to that we can plug or look forward toward?

Keep an eye on our project management tool Tracker over the next year. We have some really cool stuff cooking.

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. Follow along with the Startup Roundup’s dedicated RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

Coverage of city technology scenes continues to dominate startup and entrepreneurial conversations across the country, leading to an important question: Is “X” City’s scene better than others?

You know well that we cheer on the Philly technology community, for good reason. But given a handful of articles that we’ve come across recently and featured in this roundup we can’t help but raise a question that we’ve asked before: Does it matter whether or not we receive national recognition for our startup scene?

American Express’s OPEN forum for small businesses, just, well, completes us. The site asks that very question: For Web entrepreneurs, does location matter?

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

To play devil’s advocate on the importance of regional recognition, Josh Kopelman tells Fast Company why startups should move to Philly. We’ve got an “unbelievable” sense of community, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and other investors and incubators, and lots and lots of universities. Truer words have not been spoken. Philebrity notes, though, that Koppelman isn’t hard enough on the city for its unfavorable business and wage taxes.

And according to a great piece from BusinessInsider’s Mark Peter Davis, folks love their own startup scenes. Duh. Boston and New York have more mentors than the Valley but less engineering talent, and investors are moving in on Boston and New York to keep up with the emerging entrepreneurial communities there. Splice what you like and factor in Philly.

Oh yeah, Baltimore’s got a scene too, and a great recent success story to boot. [h/t PhillyTechNews]

GIVE A GLANCE

Of course, instead of reading about it, you could be out there doing it. In the interest of sarcasm, we’re putting these two items last. Natch.

BusinessInsider asks how much you should raise for your startup. And VentureBeat tapes a discussion with angel investor Ron Conway, early stage investor in Google, Ask Jeeves and Pay Pal. We really liked Ask Jeeves. Those other two? Trying to remember ‘em.

Startup Roundup will post weekly on Wednesdays until there’s not a Philly startup story left to link to on the Internet. See others here.

Since business mag Fast Company began running a five-part series about cities where entrepreneurs should consider starting companies, several folks have been proactive in getting Philly on that list.

Venture capitalist and AsktheVC publisher Brad Feld predicts that Fast Company will feature Philly in a next batch of coverage, having already made introductions for the magazine here in Philadelphia, according to a follow-up blog post written by Philly Startup Leaders co-founder Blake Jennelle,

The magazine so far has featured three of its top choices, including New York, Boulder and Seattle. Feld says Boston and Austin are next.

Speculation that Philly wouldn’t be featured fueled rampant discussion on Jennelle’s original open-thread. Yesterday, Innovation Philadelphia blasted to email subscribers to contact Fast Company about getting the city included in the coverage.

The community’s reaction is not out of place, of course. Philly tends to make some terrible lists.

But the situation brings to light another discussion. Inviting business to the region can be difficult considering the obstacles in place, but does Philadelphia need outside confirmation to know this is a great city to work? Sound off in the comments.