Unauthentic Startup Advice

It is important for you to identify startup advice that is authentic from that which is unauthentic. Unfortunately, there is more unauthentic advice out there than is acceptable. Even worse, it puts a young, fragile Arkansas startup community at risk.

Unauthentic Startup Advice
This advice is dangerous, especially for the startup newbie. This advice most often times comes from those who are paid by a ‘higher power’ to “help.” Unfortunately, to be paid, a mission has to be accomplished, dollars have to be created, which requires the “help” to be tied to a motive. Usually that motive isn’t directly tied to you getting to MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or hitting a sales goal or whatever goal you are trying to reach. Due to this, suggestions and ‘advice’ may be given that doesn’t directly correlate with what might be best or most productive for your startup development.

This also means that because the relationship is unauthentic, that the person giving advice doesn’t have a genuine interest invested into you. Because of this, you may find that when you are in a slump, or things are not going particularly well, or more bluntly, you no longer fit within their agenda/motive, that their time/advice will be non existent.

Many people provide value through mentorship and through advising regularly because of the fulfillment it gives them. I am one who meets with people multiple hours weekly in order to provide as much value as possible. Believe me when I say it: I provide Authentic Advice. I have nothing to gain other than the fulfillment of knowing I did as much as possible to help you succeed either through my knowledge, skillset, perspective, network or overall support. Your success doesn’t get me a raise at work. If it did, you could imagine I would find more time to have more time to help. This is not the case though, nor would I put myself in that position.

Not all funded advice is unauthentic. I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am only saying to be careful. Be careful what advice you take from anyone. Have enough discipline to trust your gut and to do what you think is right.

At the end of the day, not everyone is out to see you succeed for the pure fact to see you succeed. Many have motives. Many have agendas. You have to be aware of that so that when dealing with these people, you are comfortable and prepared.

An Arkansas Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Recently, multiple conversations have led down a path to the same question:

“Do you think that the success of NWAEA, G60, or The Iceberg, etc. could translate and become successful in other parts of the state?”

I quickly challenge and ask the question differently:

“How about: How do you think the early successes in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas, although very much in its infancy, will play a role in the creation of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that represents the entire State of Arkansas?”

At first you might think that I am crazy. The ENTIRE State of Arkansas!? Yes, the entire State of Arkansas. I strongly believe that our generation has the opportunity to change the traditional mindset of regional isolation in this state. Little Rock vs Northwest Arkansas, can and should be no more. And what about North Eastern Arkansas or Southern Arkansas? They have entrepreneurs, too.

See, this is not about a pitch contest, a lecture series, or a coworking space; this is about something much larger. Currently, we have the opportunity to connect an entrepreneurial community, as well as a series of economies, across the entire State of Arkansas. I believe that what is taking shape in Northwest Arkansas is just part of that process.

While many are trying to figure out how to launch the next coworking space in Arkansas, or hold the next pitch event, I challenge you to look at the big picture. I challenge you to see the value in a state where entrepreneurs are empowered and regions connected. I challenge you to see a state where the entrepreneurship community of NWA is that of Little Rock as well as Jonesboro and they are viewed as one. I challenge you to look past the isolation of regions and instead see a community of entrepreneurs that encompasses an entire state. I challenge you to see not NWA or LR as a catalyst of entrepreneurship but Arkansas as a catalyst for entrepreneurship.

All of the things that are taking place in Northwest Arkansas around entrepreneurship are happening because of a community. A community that has been built one entrepreneur at a time over the course of a few years. A community that is built on authentic goals and transparent motives. A community that is as much about support and resource for others as it is about success.

I believe that while there are early successes within the NWA entrepreneurial ecosystem, that this is just a step in creating an Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem. I believe that, if we, as a statewide community of entrepreneurs look instead at the big picture, instead of merely at the singularities, we will find that the opportunity to do something revolutionary for the State of Arkansas will be within arms reach.

I believe that Arkansas having a reputation for being a great place to be an entrepreneur is much stronger than instead singularly holding that reputation by Northwest Arkansas or Little Rock. I believe that the mindsets of traditional isolation are of yesterday and that the reality of a state-wide Arkansas Entrepreneurship Ecosystem is tomorrow. Today, we have just began.

Sense of Purpose

I sit here on the fourth day of the new year, debating on what my “Welcome 2012″ post should be.

A reflection on the past year?

Nah. Typical.

A resolution?

Overdone.

My mentor, John James wrote a post that struck me. It wasn’t the common reflection or resolution post, but a post that challenges himself to have and to identify his sense of purpose. “What’s your sense of purpose?” he concludes.

Who am I to know about ‘purpose’? I am still figuring who I am and what this world is all about. While at 25 years old, I am not the best person to speak about a person’s ‘sense of purpose,’ I can begin to speak about the bars that I raise higher than I think I can reach and the mantras by which I live my days.

Do my all to to add value to any person that I encounter.

When I was laid off from the architecture firm I had endured my brief architecture career at, I knew no one, knew nothing and even worse, had no confidence. As I headed down the treacherous path of entrepreneurship, I met many folks. It was these encounters, that I owe a lot to fueling my drive to continue my pursuit in the hardest of times. When meeting someone new, as selfish as it sounds, I tried to figure out what I could take away. Please don’t confuse my ‘take away’ as ‘taking advantage’ of someone in the negative sense. I simply mean that I would try and identify how I could best leverage the knowledge, resources, support and networks that one has in order to help inch closer to some level of success. Most often, support was the take away.

Believe it or not, support is one of the most valuable of the four I listed. Support is like fuel for the aspiring entrepreneur. When people are supporting you it not only gives you a sense of “I can do this!” but also adds the pressure of not letting those who support you down. While support may be the most valuable, other times leveraging resources, gaining knowledge or gaining access to a network is the key take away.

We all possess these four things, though. How we share those four things and identify how best to share them is different amongst each and every one of us.

Each person I meet, each person I speak to, each person I encounter, I try and share with them as many of these four things as possible. It is not as simple as granting a person with the keys to your four things, though. Some are ready for certain pieces, while others, not quite. Some can use certain resources, while others not so much. Others should learn about specific experiences or processes, while others have no need. All people deserve and need support.

While sometimes I find it very difficult to add value to someone, know that I am always trying to. Know that it is the least I can do in exchange for your time. Know that it is because of the value that was added to my life by so many that continues today, that I am able to write this blog post and share the experiences and accomplishments that I have.

Invest my all into any person, project, company or organization that I involve myself.

I can see this as a problem or a turn off for some, but it is what it is. Know that if I care enough to meet with you and add value to you, then it is most likely that I am going to have some emotional attachment and ‘sense of purpose’ to go beyond our encounter to help you find success. Don’t be surprised if I follow up a 2 minute encounter in a coffee shop with an email or text offering a suggestion, a thought, an idea, advice, resources, a connection to someone in my evolving network or simply a verbal pat on the back and words of confidence.

Many can tell you that while I don’t have 40 hours a week to spend helping each and every person I meet, that I will do my best to help in whatever ways I can and as a 24 hour day allows. If it means meeting at 7AM on a Monday to go over a pitch deck and my schedule allows it, I will be there to help you prepare for that pitch you have with the investor at 10AM. If it is 3AM and you send an email with a question, if I am awake, don’t be surprised if you get an email back within minutes. It may seem ridiculous, but little things like this means the world to an aspiring entrepreneur.

I used to be amazed that someone would spend 20 minutes with me at a coffee shop. I used to tell my, now, wife all the time how I was excited about how a meeting went and how I couldn’t believe that ‘so and so’ just had coffee with me. When that person would proceed to followup or quickly respond to a followup email, it meant even more. Looking back, its embarrassing how much I would brag about who I got to share coffee and stories with, but it was because of the support and the investment each of those people made in me as an aspiring entrepreneur that has fueled me to become who I am today.

Knowing that you have someone that not only supports you over a cup of coffee but is going to help you through your many battles as an entrepreneur, is infinitely valuable. At least it has been for me. I have people that have stood by my side throughout the entire last three years of my life. These are people I have met while on my journey. I wouldn’t be the person I am, in the situations I am in today, if it were not those who have invested their time, their support, their advice into me.

I will never be able to thank the people that have spent hours listening to me talk, answering my questions and watching me make repeated mistakes, but because they have invested in me, and given me their all, they will always be a part of the reason I am able to do or become as a person and as a professional. These people are who have helped me and continue to help me become who I am each and every day. Without these experiences I would not be able to share this post with you, much less have a blog that I hope people read.

I owe a lot of thanks to many people. John James, who inspired this post, is one of those people who keeps my turbo button held down on the video game controller of life. He is always challenging me, always questioning me, always pushing me to learn, grow, and ultimately become successful. John is someone who I can call on 24/7 and know that his advice always has the best interest for me, Josh Clemence, above all.

We all have a mission, we all have goals. We all need to reflect on past years and look forward to the next, but how are you going to leverage your experiences of years past to inch closer to success in your future. What drives you? What do you stand for? What are your goals as a person? “What is your sense of purpose?”

Cocktail Party vs Roundtable

Lately, there has been much talk about entrepreneurship in Northwest Arkansas.  How do we advocate entrepreneurship more effectively?  How do we provide better resources for entrepreneurs?  How do we identify more entrepreneurs? And many other questions.

The question that has my greatest interest right now is:

How do we create a regional Entrepreneurship Round-Table event, and what would that look like in the terms of structure and agenda?

There are many ideas that have been bouncing around the area.  One that caught my attention the most is the idea of an exclusive, invitation only, networking event / cocktail party.  The idea is that if you get the invite, then you feel “special” because of your inclusion.

I’ll be honest, I like a drink here and there.  I don’t like the idea of having to be invited to a closed door event in order to take advantage of a regional resource that one could utilize in order to progress their venture and ultimately add value to the NWA economic landscape.

The NWAEA has almost 60 members now and is an advocate group and resource for entrepreneurship in NWA.  You may be on the fence about starting a company or just want to see what it’s all about because you are not sure that you are up for the challenge.  It is not exclusive because it doesn’t have to be.  Not everyone is an entrepreneur, not everyone has what it takes, but some are and those who are utilize the resource and put back into building the resource ten-fold.  Those who are not entrepreneurs and do not have what it takes, usually do not show up for an event/meeting and if they do it is only that one time that it takes for them to realize that entrepreneurship isn’t for them.  They weed themselves out.

Remember this is all towards the economic development of our region, Northwest Arkansas.  Not only is this a networking event, but an advocate for entrepreneurship and a resource for development as an entrepreneur.  Once you begin making things exclusive and secretive then it no longer looks or feels like it is for the betterment of NWA but merely an exclusive secret “I’m better than you” club.

The Chamber of Commerce in each city has networking events each week. That is where business card exchanges should be focused.  This weight and focus needs to be put on the entrepreneurs and providing for the resources and development of those people.

The NWAEA focuses on hearing the current successes or hindrances of all of it’s members each meeting and as a group collaborating on either cheering the successes or offering suggestions and feedback for the hinderances.  Sometimes there are presentations or speakers, which again are done or spoken by local entrepreneurs. The networking comes after, when everyone has voiced their current situations, progress, received feedback, and cheered each other on.  What this does you’ll see is that the networking becomes reflective of the discussions that took place prior and are more productive than receiving someone’s business card.  It allows for a more in depth round of feedback and discussion as well as discovering new means and methods for solving a problem.  By this process, you are able to build a much more viable and productive network that actually benefits you instead of the stack of business cards that sits on your desk.

My point is: The Entrepreneurship Round-Table has to be looked at as a valuable resource that regional entrepreneurs are excited to go to and learn from, develop, ask questions, and gain valuable feedback from that progresses their ventures forward and in turn provides for a better economic environment for NWA.

A year ago I knew no one and needed this resource.  That is why I created the NWAEA.  Point being, as entrepreneurs, if it is not there, we will build it.

Are we trying to develop a resource that will build NWA or are we trying to build an elitist, invitation only, social night / cocktail party?

Who gets to invite who and based on what reasoning?

What if you don’t get invited?

Ever?

NWA Startups vs Investors

Startups and investors; in Northwest Arkansas, they are about the same. There are not many of them, the ones there are, are not really public about their existence, and when you do stumble upon one, their placement in one of the two topics of discussion is questionable.

Here in Northwest Arkansas we have a problem. There are not enough startups to create a sufficient deal flow for investors AND there are not enough public investors to entice local talent to be comfortable enough to start a startup.

Something has to be done in order to both create deal flow with startups as well as develop a thriving investor ecosystem. So what do we do?

Is it a VC model? Is it an incubation model? A group of local entrepreneurs and investors have been tasked with trying to build a plan in order to tackle the subject at hand. While there are many examples to look at, Northwest Arkansas will need something unique.

Tech hubs such as Boulder, San Francisco, and New York thrive due to the consistently high deal flow and the healthy investor ecosystem. Northwest Arkansas has neither. We must start somewhere.

Creating deal flow seems to be the easiest option. So, take your napkin sketch to your geek friend, work until 3am for the rest of the week and turn your idea into a reality.

What are you waiting for? An investor?