Gwin Scott

Spynnr Wins

Startup Weekend www.startupweekend.com occured this past weekend in Memphis and there was no surprise in seeing firsthand what was accomplished. Having 100 entrepreneurs of all business disciplines come together and actually create a company was an impressive feat. The winning idea was Spynnr www.spynnr.com ...a Facebook app for sports enthusiasts which manages the scheduling of games in local areas as well as rates individual performance levels by player. Im hopeful that the company will take off as there are others already in this space...which helps with validation and demand..

There were a lot of other great ideas that were brought forth and Im looking forward to seeing some of these ideas be further evaluated and cultivated into hopefully something more than just an idea. Sustainability will be the next opportunity/challenge of all the great stuff that came out of this weekend and im greatly encouraged that several other noteworthy startups will be launched in due time. mentors and angels be on the alert!

Congrats to Eric Mathews and the founding team http://www.launchmemphis.com/about/ for making this happen...as there is a lot more to do in keeping and building on the momentum that has been created!!

Launch Memphis

The "entrepreneurial momentum" continues to make an impact in memphis with the recently announced Launch Memphis by eric mathews and other founders. Here is the official description of what it is all about:

"LaunchMemphis was established by Memphis area leaders to grow an entrepreneurial community. By undertaking a series of events throughout the year all designed to bring focus to entrepreneurial activities in Memphis, we hope to deliver new technology business startups to our economy."

As a result of the initial success of Start-up Weekend, it was prudently decided that there needed to be other events formed around this same time that cover the full vertical gamet to maximize opportunities with: networking, idea exchange, education for startups, and a seed-venture forum so that this community is further cultivated and promoted. it all makes a lot of sense and efforts are underway to promote this nationally.

Check it out and here are a few of the links for anyone interested who wants to participate:

LaunchMemphis

Tech Fuel Networking

Investment Forum

Start-up Weekend

Memphis has won!!!  www.startupweekend.com

Andrew Hyde's, Startup Weekend, is coming to Memphis on May 30th, 31st and June 1st!  What is this all about?  It is basically taking 1 weekend and starting a company with a group of local entrepreneurs who are committed enough and fit the right background to make 'launching' a company a reality. Equity is involved and the secret is to come up with a viable idea that is sustainable and fulfills a real technology need. Greater details to come, as it will be important to get the word out for those interested.

Im excited about this, as the voting talley really became a viral thing and Memphis rallied behind it!!

Thinking like Patagonia

Yvon Chouinard is both a legend and a visionary in what he has created with Patagonia. He really has broken most of the rules and, not only survived, but won and continues to win. He does things on his own terms and always tried to 'distance himself as far as possible from those pasty-faced corpses in suits that he saw in airline magazine ads.' Im humored too by his analogy of the entrepreneur who he compares to the juvenile delinquent--who says with his actions, "This sucks. Im going to do my own thing"

 

I really got a lot out of his book, Let My People Go Surfing  http://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman/dp/B000YFE8FO/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203002001&sr=1-1 and here are a few of my favorites parts of it which im sure a lot of you can relate to:

--Zen archery--forget about the goal of hitting the bull's-eye and focus on all the individual movements involved in shooting an arrow. Practice your stance, reach back and smoothly pull an arrow out of the quiver, notch it on the string, control breathing and then let the arrow release itself. If you have perfected all the elements, then the center of the target is yours. Just like in an entrepreneurial setting--concentrate on the process. The goal isnt necessarily about profit, but about 'doing everything else the right way' and the profits will come as a result. To monitor the amount of good the business has accomplished excels profits.

--Promotion--They have a culture more to inspire and educate rather than promote. They feel like earning credibility is more vital than just having people buy it. Word of mouth is more important to Patagonia and advertising is a last resort. Editorial coverage can go a long way. The mentality is that every great product will sell itself. It is like if you build the right environment and culture than the demand would be created as a result.

--Biggest Challenge from Yvon--is guarding against complacency. They feel like their 'success and longevity lie in the ability to change quickly and that continuous change and innovation require maintaining a sense of urgency'. A managerial mandate is to instigate change...nature is constantly evolving.

Two Million Minutes

A good friend of mine, venture capitalist, and newly acclaimed filmmaker/producer...Bob Compton...has recently released a very enlightening documentary called Two Million Minutes. It is a compelling wake up call in comparing high school students in the US vs India vs China. Why the title?  Because that is the amount of time one has in school from 9-12 grade. Why did Bob invest is personal money to do this? Because he wanted 'to tell the broader story of the universal importance of education, and address what many are calling a crisis for U.S. schools regarding chronically low scores in math and science.'

Bob has rallied some top-tiered talent as part of an acknowledgement that there needs to be a sense of urgency in creating more awareness for where American kids stand. Tim Draper, a renowned venture capitalist; Robert Reich, the former US Sec of Labor; and top Indian CEO's are profiled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS_QENuOYL8

I was intrigued with the students who were interviewed perspectives. it is clear that some of the US students were more focused on the fun factor of life and social experiences while the Indian girl was totally committed to her studies and working to make sure that her studies had a greater purpose and direction to her career. There was a more serious side on not squandering time. (Take into account that this is only 6 kids insights)

India and China have made significant leaps vs the US in their educational process. When compared to the US, China now produces 8x more scientists and engineers, while India puts out 3x as many as the US. The film really does help answer the question of 'Are we doing enough with the time we have to ensure the best future for all'?

Congrats to Bob and Memphis will be hosting a screening in Feb

Merging Minds Event

Aside from the freakiness on how Memphians deal with the weather (with it being a little cold/dropping temps), we had a great event last night here at EmergeMemphis with about 90 folks. Lots of interesting discussions within the entrepreneurial community on tech transfer/commercialization at the univ of memphis and ut research foundation and how to maximize/promote better what is in their product/service libraries....investing in india...startup weekend thoughts....job searches....angel investing and networks...finding good talent/startups in the 20/30/40s demo in memphis....

These sorts of events are mainly for networking purposes, but by segmentizing them a bit more into different genre's can help better detect quality and interests....so we will continue to regularly host them...as good ideas flow as we continue to build the right networks...

Remitdata deal

I couldnt be more jazzed about the news this am about one of our portfolio companies here at EmergeMemphis. Remitdata www.remitdata.com has received a $5 million equity investment from 2 highly reputable firms in the southeast by SSM Partners www.ssmventures.com  in Memphis and Noro-Moseley www.noro-moseley.com out of Atlanta. Here is an excerpt of the deal:

MEMPHIS, TN – RemitDATA, Inc., today announced that it has received a $5 million minority equity investment from Noro-Moseley Partners and SSM Partners.  RemitDATA is a leading provider of web-based productivity solutions for the outpatient healthcare marketplace.  RemitDATA’s tools enable physicians to identify and minimize payer reimbursement problems and cut the costs of collections.  Due to the nature of its tools, RemitDATA is a leading aggregator of specialty-specific claims data exceeding $15 Billion per year in Medicare

Bently and his team have really epitomized what being an entrepreneur is all about and in the course of their 7 yrs have been very patient with their growth. Something that not everyone has the discipline and ability to see through. This is a perfect example of when opportunity and timing come together. They continue to establish themselves in this health care IT area within the revenue cycle management sector.

I cant help to remember when they were trying to figure out what to do, whether it be continued organic growth, angel, or vc money. The process really took 2 yrs to solidify, after numerous meetings and debating.  Questions/thoughts like do i really want to give up equity in the company i founded, we can do it on our own for a while longer, ill have people to report to, are they like me and will it be collegial, why do we need that much money, will they micromanage our direction---just to name a few.

But today's result couldnt be much smoother and now a new chapter is beginning for them and they are scaling up already spending as prioritized by new hires and IT/infrastructure purchases. casey(ssm) and allen (noro) are both solid partners and i look forward to seeing them over here more during their quarterly meetings.

This story is also about a Memphis firm---comprised of mainly Memphis investors---investing in a Memphis company, as well as an Atlanta firm/money coming to Memphis and recognizing the fact that there are worthwhile opportunities here to invest, as the last few yrs these investments have been made in other cities. Hopefully others will come and the bar has been raised.

Jack's got the right perspective

Check out this month's Men's Journal profile on Jack Nicholson   http://www.mensjournal.com/index.html , as he really does make his own rules and has a great attitude on a variety of topics. Here are a few excerpts that are worth noting:

1)What should a man get straight before his number comes up?  I dont have much philosophy other than Live in the Now. And that is very difficult to do...It's the things you dont do in life, as opposed to the things you do do, that creat lingering regrets. Dont leave something that you really want to do undone...

2)How should a man deal with any lingering regrets? There's no point in overburdening yourself with guilt. The key is to get in the habit of kind of redirecting it. Learn from the regret. Some regrets you cant recover....

3)How should a man face his fears?  Fear is the elixir of my work....But the real fear I have to overcome, actually, is the fear of the unknown. We're very uncomfortable with the unknown, and that's why we tend to cling to the status quo, to structure, to relationships--to just cling. I once put it this way in a comedy film: Where there's clarity, there is no choice. Where there's choice, there's misery.

4)How should a man best control his anger?  You have a choice. Go ahead and be angry once, but if it has a certain unpleasant result and you keep doing it, that's your fault, not anybody else's...

5)How should a man best embrace happiness? We do overthink the concept. Happiness, of course, is circumstantial, but it's also a grace and a skill. My friend Elmer Valentine used to say, "Jack, a lot of people scored, and they don't know it. We scored, and we know it."

Each of these points really do have a business/entrepreneurial relevance, even though he was putting a social spin on it. Anyway, a nice reinforcer on approaching things on a daily basis.

It's about the Journey

Timothy Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Workweek  http://search.half.ebay.com/the-4-hour-work-week_W0QQmZbooks has gotten a lot of press lately, in particular an article in the ny times this past sunday. being a former silicon valleyer, i can see where this topic of working too much and shifting priorities has gotten all the hype it has, as there are so many entrepreneurs who are out there grinding it out 24x7. I like m. andreessen's term, 'productivity porn' as that sums it all up pretty accurately esp in this world of blackberries, blogging, texting, emailing, multitasking, etc---all to maximizing one's personal productivity levels.

But really it should be all about the journey and not a sprint. sure most are all infatuated with wealth creation as fast as possible. we should be enjoying it all along the way and not burning it out until an objective is met. i really like ferriss's "mixing it up" attitude and experimentation with horseback archery, kickboxing, and doing the tango....and traveling the world. all work and no play makes for dullness and a loss of perspective.

Some of this book reminds me of my time at Turner Broadcasting, where Ted (esp in the early days of the company) had this mentality of getting away. fortunately his mgmt team was top notch, filled with a lot of mavericks themselves, but Ted would venture off for weeks at a time to sail, literally in races around the world...while at the same time trying to launch cable channels. so he did learn to outsource tasks, as he had no choice.

many of us prob need to be more external and personal in our efforts, inst of resorting solely to a computer to get things accomplished and to communicate.  working 4 hrs/week wont work, but showing more balance both in a business and personal world is what i got out of it...

Swimming the 'ole miss'

Ive been wanting to do this for a long while and it is time----swimming across the mississippi river. my inspiration got re-ignited with the latest issue of outside magazine, where a high school acquaintance (hampton sides) wrote about his experiences on the river which is a great story, as per this podcast . http://outside.away.com/mediaplayer/application.html?uniqueid=a07032&page=popup.  Ive got this great guide that is going to lead the trip, john ruskey  http://www.island63.com/about.cfm who is from the article.

why do you might ask i would want to do something like this?  being from memphis, you cant escape the river. 'it is obvious and it is just there'. as john ruskey says, it should be written in the constitution that everyone should swim across 'the beast' and that it must be part of your soul. i guess too i just like a good challenge, so im going to rally 4-5 others to come along and either swim it or even sit in the canoe. im hoping to make it work in oct/nov.

interested?