Gwin Scott

Bootcamp Emergence

Great article today in the WSJ on an entrepreneurial case study, noting the importance and significance of boot-camp style programs to help with the funding efforts of those with a solid idea. Memphis entrepreneurs note a few things: 1)importance of networking even if you feel like the source is a dead end; 2)get out of your comfort zone; 3)develop a user base bf getting/going after funding; 4)note where his revenues are--$1.5 mill--they exist!!; and 5)be hungry and persistent--Fienberg pitched hundreds of contacts in and out of his network and came up with 17 who were interested.....and they werent all local, but located around the US. Message there is to find other angels outside of where you live and dont put all of your efforts in one location.   WSJ article

Entrepreneurial Superstars

Check out the latest INC which is the annual Entrepreneurial Superstars edition of the fastest growing private companies in the US. One interesting stat that I noticed, as a result of their CEO survey of 250 execs, was the statistical mix of the leaders and their companies.

Of the companies that were profiled 1) 42.5 was the median employee count; 2) $9.9 million was the median 08 revenue; 3) 888.5% was the median growth rate.

Of the CEO's 1) 90% were male; 2) 10% were female; 3) 21% were minority

Age range:  1% < 25 yrs   27%--25-35   41%--36--45    22%--46--55    9% > 55 yrs

Marital Status  1) 80% married  2) 5% divorced  3) 15% single

Im not sure what exactly this means, but there are some trends of this group---everyone is in a high growth sector with thriving industries---most were male---68% were from the ages of 25--45 so this is a young person's game---majority were married which i guess brings forth greater stability and enhances that hunger factor bc there is someone else out there that matters/that you have to provide for.

Also in another edition, I wanted to point out a slide show that INC did on 6 ways to be a better CEO. They are:  1) Delegate More  2) Become a Better Judge of People  3) Communicate well with your Board  4) Get Better at picking winning Ideas 5)Develop a sense of Humor 6) Just Be more Patient  http://www.inc.com/ss/6-ways-be-better-ceo#5  All are great instincts which have come from some solid leaders ie Twitter, Zappos, Y-Combinator, Enterprise Rent a Car, etc...

Entrepreneurial Superstars

Check out the latest INC which is the annual Entrepreneurial Superstars edition of the fastest growing private companies in the US. One interesting stat that I noticed, as a result of their CEO survey of 250 execs, was the statistical mix of the leaders and their companies.

Of the companies that were profiled 1) 42.5 was the median employee count; 2) $9.9 million was the median 08 revenue; 3) 888.5% was the median growth rate.

Of the CEO's 1) 90% were male; 2) 10% were female; 3) 21% were minority

Age range:  1% < 25 yrs   27%--25-35   41%--36--45    22%--46--55    9% > 55 yrs

Marital Status  1) 80% married  2) 5% divorced  3) 15% single

Im not sure what exactly this means, but there are some trends of this group---everyone is in a high growth sector with thriving industries---most were male---68% were from the ages of 25--45 so this is a young person's game---majority were married which i guess brings forth greater stability and enhances that hunger factor bc there is someone else out there that matters/that you have to provide for.

Also in another edition, I wanted to point out a slide show that INC did on 6 ways to be a better CEO> They are:   1) Delegate more  2) Become a Better Judge of People 3) Communicate well with your Board  4)Get Better at picking winning ideas 5)Develop a Sense of humor, and 6)Just be more patient http://www.inc.com/ss/6-ways-be-better-ceo#5  All good insights from some noteworthy stars of Twitter, Zappos, Y-Combinator, Enterprise Rent a Car, etc....

Fixed vs Growth Mindset

 I just read a great book entitled Mindset by Carol Dweck, who does an excellent job of describing the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth one. She explains that it isnt merely about our abilities and talent that bring us success on how we can learn to fulfill our potential, but more in the attitude and mindset. There is both a business and personal relevance to this (ie with kids why praising their intelligence and ability doesnt necessarily develop self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but could endanger being successful). 

The premise is based on intelligence where it is static with a fixed mindset and it is always being developed in a growth one. The highlights are that a fixed mentality leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to:

--avoid challenges

--get defensive or give up easily

--see effort as fruitless or worse

--ignore useful negative feedback

--feel threatened by the success of others

So as a result one may plateau early and achieve less then their full potential, while a growth mindset leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to:

--embrace challenges

--persist in the face of setbacks

--see effort at the path to mastery

--learn from criticism

--find lessons and inspiration in the success of others

So as a result, one can reach ever-higher levels of achievement.

Check it out. I know this is one, ill try to read every year and many Memphians could benefit from too!

TTDC Conference

I just attended the Tennessee Innovation Conference in nashville last week that the TN Technology Development Corp sponsored which is lead by my friend eric cromwell. The purpose of this org is really to help advance the competitiveness agenda throughout the state of TN by formally bringing a coalition of entrepreneurs, researchers, vc's, and govt leaders together. specifically the 3 main goals are to 1)deepen the R & D and commercialization base in TN, 2)accelerate entrepreneurship, and 3)increase access to risk capital.

hopefully by having statewide cohesion amongst all the partners that that will yield better economic returns for the state and to help fill some necessary gaps, but we cant be naive to think that this will just happen overnight. this process will take several years to come up with quantifiable results, and many of the stakeholders have to be hyper committed to their own local domains in order to make a difference. it was a good first step in getting some viable attendees come, that can in fact make an impact.

some of this might sound to be overly general, but there are specific organizations that we involved that will help facilitate/rollout these objectives in hopes of creating a multiplier effect on early stage development and funding. Let me know if youd like to hear more. check out their whitepaper too at    TTDC.

An Atlanta perspective on startups

Jeff haynie of appcelerator is frustrated with atlanta and is moving to mountain view. In his compelling analysis he basically states that the VC community in atl isnt very startup centric or focused or even understanding of the entrepreneurial startup life and challenges. I commend him for doing something about it and moving. His org is an open source platform for building rich web apps and has thousands of developers who are making contributions on a regular basis. It appears that there is an aversion to risk and that many VC's want to see more revenues and sustainability bf committing funds to a company. I dont blame them and if that is their calling then stick with it. Jeff complains that there arent any real early stage funds in atl that are helping incubate new ideas/concepts/ and companies. I mean this is extremely risky money...BUT it is needed to help build the right entrepreneurial community.

His solution is to have a fund that invests in a bunch of smaller deals aka a micro VC. perhaps it is a cultural thing where only the big markets ie silicon valley/boston/ny can support, as there arent enough small deals to support...something that memphis can relate to as well. i do like his suggestions on how to help the situation which of course wont happen overnight:

--build a better base of entrepreneurs/angels/risk capital

--deals will fail, but encourage those same people to try again and not give up

--build an ecosystem around startups ie all those community centric events ie startup weekend, barcamp, investment forums, user group forums, etc

--entrepreneurs must give back--via checks and mentoring. think boulder where they have an org where startups give back a percentage of profits...after a liquidity event

-cultural shift---a better corporate acquisition mentality

Take a look at his blog introspection on what the issues are, as i think that many cities can probably relate to this and assess how to improve their own environments.

Sarah Lacy Event

Last night, over 100 memphis based entrepreneurs got a chance to meet and hear, my new favorite friend, sarah lacy, who was back here in her hometown to promote her latest book, Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good. EmergeMemphis and LaunchMemphis hosted the event that the founders of LaunchMemphis organized. Sarah is a dynamic and totally plugged in personality/reporter in silicon valley and has firsthand seen some of the inner workings of the founders of paypal, facebook, ning, slide, digg to name a few...all known names in the web 2.0 world. sarah, it appears from the book, has done a great job of really getting to know all these entrepreneurial personalities and has developed a trust that has been the content foundation for the book. i look forward to keeping in contact with sarah and in hearing her stories and how what has been created out of the valley might be able to be learned/replicated/and differentiated here in memphis....as we need to continue to have our own success stories and let those be the springboard to other companies being launched.

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.