The Attractive Landscape of the Entrepreneurial US

Written by Evie Francis, former Kansas City business specialist.  

Entrepreneurship is a form of art—the skillful balanced acts of one, who willfully undertakes business, applies innovation as well as finance activity with the aim and effort to transform any kind of innovation into economic goods. A startup company offering the most basic service or produce is entrepreneurship in its most obvious form.

However, some of the fastest-growing or smartest US entrepreneurial performers of 2012 managed to do much more than just that. With major players on the entrepreneurial field of social media, engineering, food services and environmentalism—the biggest success stories of 2012—we have seen astonishing growth and expansion figures from startups over the past two or three years, some increasing their profits with more than 4000%.

Major players diverse and widespread
A recent study done by the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation shed some light on where entrepreneurial companies and franchises have been experiencing the biggest growth spurts in the United States. As a whole, Texas, Washington, California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan are some of the states which have shown the most growth in innovation and entrepreneurial growth, but quite a few Kansas City area-based players have been mentioned as well—Strategic AR, UnitedLex, Nextaff, Rhythm Engineering and Sweet Spot Marketing.

The Kauffman study also found that women made up almost 14% of new startup entrepreneurs over the past 18 months, a prime example being the “Mompreneurs” phenomenon, in which mothers use the internet as a driving force for a national (not just local) reach.

Although Kansas or Missouri did not rate amongst the top 20 entrepreneurial states in the US, there has been substantial growth in terms of revenue made and steady year-on-year growth, rather than just the amount of new companies started.

Accelerating US economic growth
Entrepreneurship has been a major key driver of the US economy. The majority of jobs and wealth are created by small businesses which were started by individuals with entrepreneurial mindsets—many of whom ended up creating very big businesses.

The entrepreneurial visionary website Entrepreneur.com has highlighted the following industries as the biggest influencers currently on the entrepreneurial map: technology, apps, food and beverages, travel, health, geek chic (digitalised comics), invention, retail, social media and social music or art.

Over the past 18 months, many products and services represented by the US’ annual roundup of 100 Brilliant Companies, as published on Entrepreneur.com, have come from entrepreneurial individuals. It should come as no surprise that these innovative startups were mostly focused on digital technology (apps, development platforms and gadgets related to mobile phones, social networking and health care).

An entrepreneurial future
The United States Department of Labor statistics show that nearly 80 percent of would-be entrepreneurs in the United States are between the ages of 18 and 34. A recent poll from Junior Achievement (JA) found that 68.6% of the teenagers interviewed wanted to become entrepreneurs, even though they knew that it would not be an easy path. Despite this overwhelming interest, however, youth rarely receive any information about entrepreneurship as a career option.

A report published by the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Corporation shows a wealth of  positive outcomes from implementing entrepreneurship and innovation-focused training from an early age leads to increased problem-solving and decision-making abilities, improved interpersonal relationships, teamwork, money management, and public speaking skills, enhanced social psychological development (self-esteem, ego development, self-efficacy), and perceived improved health status.

For the love of the game
You can’t view the statistics on business startups all as one. A small business such as an independent taxi driver cannot be considered in the same statistics as a Silicon Valley startup with $15 million in backing. An accountant in Wisconsin starting a personal practice can’t be equalized to a new battery-powered car manufacturing company in Houston. However, when viewed in context, first-time entrepreneurs all learn the same lessons—sometimes painfully—over time, no matter how groundbreaking the product or the guaranteed return on an investment may be.

Even with all training and experience considered, there are thousands, if not millions of “wantrapreneurs” going under every year. Well-known former entrepreneur Mark Suster has publicly spoken against those who glamorize startups. “I don't think the big shocker for most people is the prospect of disappointment or outright failure,” he has stated. Suster believes most entrepreneurs underestimate how much hard work is involved to start something new. “This is because most people's hard work meter is calibrated to 10 and entrepreneurship requires you to often go to 11.”

Still, Suster says he would love to be back in the game. His attitude is shared by thousands of serial founders who run the marathon and (maybe) fail, but after another year’s strong practice, head back to the starting line. “Entrepreneurs don't have to be the bravest or smartest or most persistent people in the room. They have to be the most psychically tough.”

Written by Evie Francis.  Evie Francis is a former KC resident and business specialist who has covered everything from specialist business vehicle cover to startup capital.

Top 10 Ways Your Startup's Blog Will Fail

#BlogFail.  It's a hashtag that is used almost every day by a handful of people on Twitter.  That's because it is very, very common for a blog post, or even an entire blog website, to completely fail.  At the end of 2011, there were 109 million blogs on just Tumblr and Wordpress alone.  With the millions and millions of blogs on the Internet, many are bound to fail.  

Will your startup's blog be one of them? 

Fingers crossed you're doing everything you can to keep your blog on the fast track to success.  But if your blog struggling to capture the attention of readers, there are 10 huge mistakes you could be making in the blogosphere. 

1. No Keywords & No SEO 

No one said SEO was easy, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to create a keyword-driven headline and optimized content. Many novice bloggers enter the blogosphere with a "if I write it, they will come" attitude.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.  Every blogger should do his or her best to incorporate effective keyword and SEO strategies.  How so?  Look up some strong keywords in the Google Keyword Tool by Google AdWords.  The keywords with low competition and high local/global monthly searches should be prominent in your blogs.  In addition, it's important to link your blog content out to other websites.  Share the Internet love (but remember, only incorporate 1.5 link per every 100 words, or Google will consider you spam!).  Build your SEO and your readership numbers will increase!  

2. A God Awful Template 

You've seen it before, haven't you? A really ugly blog?  Of course you have.  Many bloggers care so much about the content they produce and spend very little time on the blog's template.  Although a blog template isn't the most important piece of a blog (remember, content is king!), it sure doesn't hurt to be visually appealing.  Pump up your blog's appearance by hiring a graphic designer, web developer or just play around with the templates yourself! 

3. Irrelevant Content

If your blog is titled "Startup Marketing for Dummies", why would you blog about the health care system (unless for some reason, your post relates to inbound marketing somehow)? Your startup's blog should stick with a general theme.  At the same time, don't be afraid to let current events and trending topics become a piece of your blog.  If the Presidential debate is a hot topic on the Internet, but your blog is about social media, write a blog about how the Presidential debate is utilizing social media effectively (or ineffectively).  There's always a way to add a twist--just make sure it stays true to your blog's area of expertise.  

4. Lack of Pictures

Sure, we usually visit blogs to read content, but it doesn't hurt to have pictures incorporated as well.  A stimulating or interesting picture at the top of a blog post can actually do wonders (just look at what we did at the top of this one!  Did it draw you in?).  Much like your blog's template, your posts need to be visually stimulating as well.  Incorporate pictures when you can to truly paint a story.  

5. Inconsistent Posting

Nothing kills a blog like inconsistent posting.  If you post on your blog a lot in the beginning (let's say, 4-5 times a week), and then leave it deserted for 2 months, people are not going to continue to visit your startup's blog.  As a matter of fact, it's frustrating for readers to find that one of their favorite blog sites has gone completely dark.  Don't do that to your readers!  Keep your blog posts consistent--even if that means just one post a week.  It's better than going dark for 6 months!   

6.  Forgetting Social 

Remember that blog readers spend a lot of time on the Internet.  That usually means that they also spend a lot of time on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Always incorporate social media buttons that link your blog to your startup's social pages so that readers can follow you and post your blog to their social media accounts.  Now that's how you generate more readers! 

7.  No Call to Action

Many bloggers write their thoughts, feelings and expert opinions on a blog and leave no call to action at the end.  What can the reader actually do with the blog post?  Should they share it with their coworkers?  Vote in a poll?  Visit a website?  Call a number?  Tweet to their readers?  Like you on Facebook?  Be sure to instruct the reader on what to do after they have read the blog--even if that just means to sit and think about your content.  Every blog post should be written for a reason.  

8.  Unorganization

Is there anything worse than reading a bunch of blabber in an email?  It's all unorganized and we can hardly keep up with the run-on sentences, the scattered thoughts, the lack of periods.  The same goes for blogs. Keep your blog posts organized.  Use the miraculous paragraph, for example.  Space your blog out into a bulleted or numbered list (like this one--FYI, people LOVE lists).  Check your grammar and spelling.  And of course, don't write like you speak.  Make it easy to read! 

9. No Comments Allowed

One of the biggest mistakes a blogger can make is to not incorporate a Comments section.  A Comments section not only allows your readers to interact with your blog and voice their own opinions, but will also provide you with direct blog feedback!  Nervous that someone will post something unrelated or nasty in your comments section?  Many blog platforms allow you to approve or delete comments.

10. No Purpose 

As mentioned earlier, every blog post should be written for a reason.  The same goes for blogs as a whole.  A blog should have a purpose--whether that's to inform, vent, solve a problem, educate, make people laugh, drive traffic to a website, advertise or promote.  Make sure that your startup's blog has a purpose and define that purpose before you even write the first word.  

So the next time you think about sitting down to start a blog or write another Bloggies-worthy blog post, take a step back and see if you're committing any of these 10 startup blog sins! 

029 Think Big Radio: The Top 10 Things Startups Won't Tell You

029 Think Big Radio: The Top 10 Things Startups Won't Tell You

In this episode of Think Big Radio, Derek and Allison dive into something that many entrepreneurs want to know, but rarely ever get direct answers to.  It's the Top 10 Things Startups Won't Tell You.  Here at Think Big Partners, we want you to know what you're in for when you decide to enter the world of entrepreneurship.  This episode will help you understand the aspects of entrepreneurship that many founders, CEOs and startups may not tell you about.  It's the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Top 10 Things Startups Won't Tell You:

1.  "Our business is just as likely to fail as it is to succeed."
2.  "Sometimes, getting funding seems impossible."
3.  "Stock in the startup is probably not going to happen...at least for awhile."
4.  "We change the investment rules."
5.  "You probably don't want to work for us."
6.  "My parents invested money in my business."
7.  "I don't really have a life anymore..."
8.  "We hate our competitors."
9.  "I'm terrified to share my idea."
10.  "We have no clue what we're doing." 

Happy Halloween! The Top 10 Fears for Entrepreneurs

Halloween is almost here, Kansas City entrepreneurs! October 31st will be the perfect night for walking through Kansas City haunted houses, pumpkin carving with the family, telling ghost stories, and of course, Trick-Or-Treating.  And although most successful entrepreneurs are not afraid of Grim Reaper costumes, “haunted” cemeteries and scary music, there are other fears that haunt Kansas City entrepreneurs every day in the workplace.  So, in honor of this spooky holiday, I have compiled a list of the Top 10 fears for entrepreneurs.  

Don’t be afraid, take a look:

1.  The Fear of Failure

Without a doubt, most entrepreneurs have a fear of failure.  When 50% of new businesses fail within the first five years, it’s difficult to overcome the fear of failure.  Instead of letting this fear define who you are and where your company is going, use the fear to push yourself beyond what you thought you could do.  Prove yourself (and the statistics) wrong—do not let failure be an option.

2.  Economic Uncertainty

Ten years ago, economic uncertainty was probably not a major fear of most entrepreneurs. The times have changed, however, and companies big and small, young and old, are worried about what the declining economy means for them.

3.  Being Your Own Boss

Being your own boss can be terrifying.  Not only do you have to keep tabs on your company, but you also have to keep tabs on yourself and make sure that you are doing everything it takes to create a successful startup business.  Entrepreneurs must be able to motivate themselves throughout each workday to see that all necessary tasks are completed.

4.  Raising Capital

Having enough money for establish a startup is one thing—staying afloat is another.  You will need money to start up, operate and grow your business.  To ensure that you have enough money to develop a successful startup, seek capital from a venture capitalist, angel investor, and the like.  Recently, the development of online funding platforms, such as peerbackers, KickStarter, Indie GoGo and Rock the Post have helped many entrepreneurs reach their American Dream.

5.  The Job Will Consume Your Life

It’s true: entrepreneurs can spend anywhere from 50-72 hours a week on their businesses.  In order to overcome this fear, be sure that you have your work-life balance in place even before your business starts up.  This means to prioritize what’s most important to you.

6.  High-Wire With No Net

When you have been in your own small business and survived the early years that weed out most startups, you have the fear that you can never turn back to “the devil you knew” (i.e. traditional employment). The struggles of entrepreneurship make you forget why you left corporate America in the first place and your memories become revised to dwell on how easy and happy it all was “back then”.

7.  The Length of the Process

Many entrepreneurs fear the overall longevity of a startup venture.  It takes time to grow a business so an entrepreneur must be extremely patient throughout the entire process.  And although your business may be getting more profitable every year, you look at your old car in the driveway and then your neighbor’s new Lexus and feel that if only you’d stuck to corporate, you’d have new toys, too.  Patience is virtue!

8.  The Merry-Go-Round Stopping

Entrepreneurs who already have an established company often fear that their company will slowly begin to fail.  Even though everything may be going well in the beginning, entrepreneurs always fear that the phones will go silent and that no one will want what they sell anymore.

9.  Getting Stuck

Although many entrepreneurs fear that their businesses will stop all together, even more seem to worry that their company will merely never make it to the top.  This entrepreneurial fear is that the company will never break through the wall of the business by being just “okay”.

10.  The Competition

Entrepreneurs always live in fear that someone else out there may be smarter than they are and therefore, develop a better product or service, consequently, blowing theirs out of the water.  It’s best to use the competition as a driving force for your company to become a better, more successful one instead.

During this Halloween, don’t let your fears impose on your entrepreneurial dreams.  Continue to reach for your goals, never let your fears bring you down, and of course, Think Big.  Happy Halloween, entrepreneurs!  

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Getting Started as a Young Entrepreneur in the Midwest

WRITTEN BY RYAN FRANKLIN, BLOGGER AND YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

Are you a Midwesterner who has an amazing business idea, but think you might be too young to start working towards it? Don’t think that way! You’re never too young to start chasing your dreams. Plus, the Midwest is a great place to launch a business. Startups are flourishing all over the region, due in part to Midwestern values like an enterprising attitude and the willingness to help out our neighbors.

So you have your idea and you’re in a great location; what’s next?

Establish Your Business’s Name
Get the fun stuff out of the way first by letting your creative juices flow. Once you have your idea down, choose a business name and then get it registered with your County Clerk’s office. This way, no other company can come along after your business is established and use your business name legally. Remember, this is not the same thing as getting a trademark of your logo or a copyright of written content on your website. Look into the U.S. Patent Office for steps on doing that. Once you have registered your business name, get online and purchase a domain name. It should be as close to your business name as possible, though you may have to get creative. Set up the placement page so visitors will know your site is under construction, and then create a direct marketing channel by obtaining visitor’s information. This way you can send out a mass email promotion when the site goes live. Avoid spamming—your customers will appreciate it!

Write a Business Plan
Because you are young and have less business experience, it’s likely that you will have to raise some money to achieve your startup capital. Creating a good business plan will be essential for seeking outside funding of your business, and it will also keep you on track on those days when you feel in over your head (and there will be days like that!). Having a business plan will maintain your focus by laying out the future of your business step-by-step. Sections of your business plan that should be included are:

1. Cover Page – Business Name, Address, Phone Number, Website, Logo.
2. Purpose Section – A short summary of the purpose of your business and how it will stand apart from others.
3. Business Structure – How will your business structure be set up? Sole Proprietor, Partnership, LLC, Corporation? 
4. Product or Service – Give more detail about your product or service. Include pictures.
5. Client’s Needs – How will you meet the needs of your clients? 
6. Financial Table – How much will you charge? Expenses of business?
7. Time Table – Break down by quarter what the goals and expectations are. Explain where funds will be spent in company.
8. Management and Staff – List founders, managers, staff, volunteers, vendors, etc. 

Start Marketing
Now that you’ve done all that hard work, there is still one more important thing to consider: marketing. Sometimes, the toughest part of getting your business off the ground is getting your name out there in front of those potential consumers. Plus, learning to set your business apart from the rest is an ever-changing process. However, there are a few tried and true methods to get going:

• Design business cards and flyers to advertise your website. 
• Link your website to every social networking site that makes sense for your business.   
• Create a legitimate SEO campaign to maximize your website’s traffic. 
• Generate traffic to your site through search engines and be select with the ads you allow on your site. 
• Produce great web content.  Remember, there’s nothing worse to an online shopper than landing on a page that’s cluttered with junk. Be mindful of your web content! 

Finally, it is extremely important to remember to take advantage of your supportive community. Don’t overlook any way to network and get your name out there. No connection is unimportant when you are getting your business off the ground!

Ryan Franklin is a blogger and young entrepreneur who writes on behalf of Ordoro.

Startups, Is It Better To Be Loved Or Needed?

Written by Tyler Prochnow, co-founder of Think Big Partners.

Written by Tyler Prochnow,
co-founder of Think Big Partners.

I’ve just recently finished reading "The Business of Happiness" by Ted Leonsis.  I submit that for all of the acclaim that he has received, Leonsis is still one of the most underrated entrepreneurs in history.  Based on his pioneering views of the role of technology in our business and personal lives alone, he should be a household name like Jobs and Gates.  Never mind that he coined the phrase “new media.”  The fact that he doesn’t roll off the tip of most people’s tongues when naming the most influential innovators of all time is a testament to his lack of ego and his laser-like focus on building successful teams.  But enough of my editorial.

                                                                                                                     

In his book, Leonsis raises the question of whether, as a company, it is better to be loved or needed.  He raises the question in regards to his vision for AOL.  When he ran the company and led it to its highest of highs, he constantly urged his employees to create features and content that would be loved.  Even as the Internet grew and it became something that most people “needed”, his unending focus was on creating a company people loved.  Companies that are loved, he argues, provide an emotional connection with their customers that is invaluable.  Like a family member who lets us down, he states, that love can overcome numerous mistakes the company may make, keeping loyal customers for life.

I am such an admirer of Leonsis that I would never imagine arguing or disagreeing with his core principles.  And while I am not saying he is “wrong” by any stretch of the imagination, it has been a long time since I’ve had a question elicit such a conflicting range of emotions.  He cites as his example, your electrical utility.  You need electricity, but you don’t love the company.  Every time there is an outage, consumers curse the company, not the circumstances that created such an outage.  And while that is all well and good, the last time I looked, my electric company generated a pretty decent amount of cash and a profit margin that would make most companies jealous.  Likewise, companies such as Cisco and AT&T, which I would argue are more needed than loved, have obviously been very successful. 

I’m not kidding you, this question is driving me crazy and making my already gray hair even grayer.  My own personal business experiences suggest that Leonsis is right.  I’ve had businesses that were needed by my customers and some of them have done quite well, but my most successful ventures were those that were loved by our customers.  No one “needed” to buy tickets for an Arena Football game, but our fans “loved” our game, our team, and our organization.  They came out week after week and gave a piece of their hearts to the team.  It was as simple as that.  The two years I owned the Brigade, we finished at or near the top in attendance and overall revenue, because our fans loved us.  

So naturally, I thought I would fall firmly in the love camp.  But as I’ve pondered the question, I can’t get this nagging thought out of my head, that being “needed” is pretty great.  If my customers need me, how are they going to leave me?  If they need me, don’t they have to live with my mistakes, not just tolerate them to a point?  Isn’t the entrepreneur graveyard filled with the tombstones of companies that people loved, that never figured out a profitable business model?

It’s been a couple of months since I read the chapter on love versus need.  After walking all the way around this question and looking at it from every angle, it is quite clear to me that there is no “correct” answer.  Obviously in a perfect world, it would be great to be loved and needed.  But since only a very small handful of companies are in fact loved and needed (see Apple and Facebook [post IPO stockprice notwithstanding]), most entrepreneurs are not that lucky.  No, the bottom line here, I believe, is that it doesn’t have to be a zero sum game.  You should strive to create that emotional connection with your customers, but if your company produces a product or service that is needed, your chances of success are substantially greater.

I apologize for going in circles with this article.  I fully intended to quit being a fence straddler, take a position, and make the case for it.  But as I kept writing, I kept coming back to the virtues of the other side.  So rather than take a stand, I’m going to wimp out and go all Dear Abby on you.  I want you the reader to let me know what you think.  Is it better to be loved or needed?

                                                                        Signed, Confused in KC

How to Throw a Killer Startup Launch Party

Your launch party isn’t just a fun night of drinking and schmoozing with friends, family and potential customers—more importantly, it’s your startup’s first impression.  And like the old adage says, you only get one first impression.

Your startup’s launch party is one of the most important days of your business’s life.  It’s technically your startup’s “birthday” and it’s a chance to find potential customers, interested investors and brand advocates.     

So how can you make your startup’s launch party truly stand out?  We’ve got six important tips for you to get it right the first time! 

1.  The Perfect Location

No launch party is complete without a kick-butt location.  But just because a location is modern and swanky, doesn’t mean that it will fit your business’s voice.  Some startups need to launch during the day at a local coffee shop, others are more fitted for the bar scene, and still others should look into modern business-oriented event spaces in the area.  It all depends on what you want your startup’s message to be and the vibe that you want to give from the start. 

Looking to save some cash?  Many startups opt to throw their launch parties at nonprofit locations or  schools.  These options often have the most reasonable pricing opportunities.

2.  Marketing

No one will show up your launch party if they don’t know it exists!  That’s why marketing your startup launch party is critical to its success.  Blast out an email to your contacts about your launch party, add it to your startup’s website, Tweet it, Facebook it, blog it!  Do whatever it takes to get word out about your startup’s launch.

Another great marketing tip?  Get in touch with online calendars (like through your city’s newspaper) and add your launch party to the list.  Newspapers reach a large amount of people, and oftentimes, adding events to their calendars is free!

3.  The Right Guests

Speaking of marketing...it’s important to get the right people to your startup launch—more specifically, potential investors, potential clients and media.  Therefore, when marketing, make sure that you’re using the correct platform to get the right people.  One of the best ways to guarantee that the right people will show up is by using a tool called EventBrite.  It’s a social-media-friendly event management site perfect for any launch party.  Another tip?  Send out a media advisory to important media resources like local newspapers, television stations and bloggers.

4.  Entertainment

Keep in mind that sometimes, it takes a little more than rockin’ music and an open bar to keep launch party guests entertained.  You want to keep guests engaged not only in the party, but in your product as well.  We recommend featuring a live demo of your product or service as one of the main focuses of a launch.  Other great ideas?  Live bands, contests, keynote speakers and raffles (plus, if you ask for business cards during a raffle, you automatically have some leads!). 

5.  Swag

What launch party is complete without swag?  Every guest loves swag, especially when they may not expect it!  Swag could be as simple as a few pamphlets about your startup, a stress ball with your startup’s logo or a discount coupon.  A lot of the time, you can get another partner to sponsor your launch party’s swag!  And that brings us to number six...

6.  Generous Sponsors

Donations are life-savers for startups...especially during the beginning phases.  Sponsors can play a major role in your startup’s launch party—from providing food and beverage to purchasing swag to donating event space.  Get in touch with the movers-and-shakers in your city and try to get your startup’s launch party sponsored! 

What are you waiting for?  Now that you have the six tips to blow your launch party out of the water, it’s time to get planning!  Best of luck, not only on solidifying your startup’s inception, but also on throwing a party that potential clients and investors will never forget! 

The Humor in Business Part 2: Can Improv Teach Us About Business?

Before you dive in, be sure to check out The Humor in Business Part 1: How Does Improv Relate to Startups?

Well gang, it seems as if class is in session once again.  In case you were absent or missed out on Part 1 of The Humor in Business, let me introduce myself.  My name is Bobby Miller Jr. and I’ll be your professor today.  I’m an actor and writer, but most notably, I’m an improviser. I’m also still a student, generally because I’ve been performing improv for just a year and a half, but also because in improv (and life), no matter how long you’ve been doing, it you’re always learning.  And that also sounds a lot like entrepreneurship, doesn’t it? 

When my troupe LSR rehearses, we all pool together the knowledge we’ve accumulated (from podcasts, improv books, etc.) since our last get-together and start brainstorming. This is valuable improv philosophy that can easily be applied to the startup world. 

So entrepreneurs; without further ado (and self-promotion), I’d like to you to take your seats and put your thinking caps on because it’s “time to get learned!”


Practice hyper acceptance

This is a step up from the basic “yes and…” concept we discussed in Part 1. The goal of hyper acceptance in improv is to support your partner in what they are saying and build on it by adding something. The way it is made “hyper” is by overly accepting their idea to the point that it becomes your own. Your partner then does the same with what you have said. In addition, never use the word “but”. The word “but” is nonexistent in hyper acceptance.

When applied to the business and startup spheres, hyper acceptance becomes a way of turning a good idea into a fantastic idea. Ignore the part of your brain that thinks of limits and impossibilities. Embracing hyper acceptance will allow you to explore a realm of truly unique thinking that you may have never encountered before.

Be in the moment and stay out of your head

During an improv scene, it is critical to stay engaged in what is happening only on stage.  When on the sideline, it’s important to listen and pay serious attention. Much like improv, the business world moves at an extremely fast pace.  You may be an entrepreneur working on a startup idea—someone else probably has the same idea.  If you don’t pay attention and do your research, they could easily pass you. That being said...

Fail big 

There is no greater learning experience better than failure. In improv, performers often think of something is hilarious...until it is said aloud. Oftentimes, jokes can create a room full of crickets. This is normally followed by the improviser putting their head down and trying to find a way to exit the stage. If it’s a bad joke, let the audience know you meant it to be a bad joke (even if you didn’t). Who knows?  Maybe admitting your joke could come across hilarious to your audience.  Admit when you’re wrong and celebrate when you’re not

One of the most famous examples of “successful failure” comes from Clorox.  It took the company 408 different formulas to finally find one that works. Today, we know this product as super-successful Formula 409 cleaning solution. There will always be those few people who know of your failures, but everyone will remember your successes as well.

 Find the game 

In the course of a scene, performers are only able to communicate within that particular scene. They cannot pause it and have a side conversation to discuss what is funny. That is what “game theory” is for. Game theory in a scene can be defined as the way both performers are able to nonverbally communicate what the funny thing is so they can then play off of it.

Luckily in entrepreneurship, game theory doesn’t have to be nonverbal. Game theory in business is finding what the successful or unique idea is and building on that. Twitter, for example, has a game theory is that it can monitor trends and serve as a platform for people to share opinions quickly with the world.  What’s your game theory?

Admit it then justify it with a philosophy 

This strategy goes along with failing big.  Admitting and then justifying with philosophy in a scene means that you have mean what you say and know why you said it. If you don’t know why you said it, find a reason why, make something up or better yet...improvise! Making an excuse is just avoiding reality.

This is a great way to learn about who you are as a person.  Constantly late to work? You could blame it on oversleeping or that there was terrible traffic.  Or you could look inward and discover that you aren’t passionate about your job and dread going to work. If so, it’s time to quit and do something you are more passionate about.

Well, class that’s all for this lecture!  I hope you stayed awake and focused on each lesson. If not, please wipe the drool off of your desk, catch up on what you missed and start applying it to your business life! These ideals have been around a while and a lot of them are just pure common sense. After all, in the end, we’re all just making it up as we go along.

A Few Key People Can Really Make a Huge Difference (Whether You're in Silicon Valley, Seattle or KC)

When we first read this article by Mark Suster of TechCrunch, we couldn't help but notice the similarities it had with Tyler Prochnow's recent article, Silicon Valley Knows a Secret: It's Okay to Fail! Simply replace the words "Seattle" with "Kansas City" in Suster's article, and it still reigns true.  Don't believe us?  Read for yourself: 


This article can be found at: http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/05/a-few-key-people-really-can-make-a-huge-difference/


I’m in Seattle this week.

People keep asking me if I’ve “seen anything interesting.” Of course I have. I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation.

I really liked BigDoor, MediaPiston, OpsCode, BuddyTV, SEOMoz and much more. Can’t list them all.

But I’m not here trolling for deals. I’m here to build long-term, stable relationships that I hope will pay off over a decade, not a week.  I’m looking to turn dots into lines over time.

I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. It has all of the components for success: a steady inflow of smart, CS graduates from UW who prefer to stay local if they could, a smattering of local VCs & angels, some “patron” companies like Microsoft and Amazon who provide new talent as well as the opportunity for company-defining partnerships and it has “elder statesmen” like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.

[Kansas City: the enthusiasm of young, emerging startups every day is apparent in our city as well.] 

The ingredients are all here. Seattle should be the envy of any non-Silicon-Valley tech community in the country. Great lifestyle, great cost of living, motivated people and only the crap weather on the negative side. They have their successes; yet somehow all of the neurons don’t yet seem to be firing as powerfully as they need to be.

[Kansas City: great lifestyle, great cost of living, motivated people and not-so-bad weather!]

As I gear up to give a keynote at the annual Seattle 2.0 awards dinner on Thursday night I started to reflect on what it would take to “change the trajectory” for Seattle or for any regional market, really. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one.

And I think about the “Seattle issue” as a metaphor for startups and business in general. I’ve always been a big believer that just a couple of key individuals make all of the difference in a company’s success. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “the entrepreneur thesis.”

I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be. He listed all of the product releases that were upcoming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders:

“Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. But who else is going to get out there and close your big biz dev deals with you? Who’s going to help you with improving your marketing / positioning to become a clear platform category leader like Twilio?

Are you going to do all of this? Evidence over the past year would suggest otherwise. You have too much on your plate.

A few key people really can make a huge difference.”

Him:

“I know, I know. I will start recruiting soon. But I need to get our next release out the door. I need to take some VC meetings. I just don’t have enough time to focus on it right now. It will be a bit easier when we have a little more progress to show.”

Me:

“Bullshit. It never gets easier. There are always the next 20 tasks. The reason you’re not getting to the next level is that you’re not prioritizing the precise thing that could take you to the next level. I would say recruiting at least one superstar would be your priorities 1,2 & 3.”

I don’t care if you’re a 10-person organization, a 1,000 person organization or a multinational corporation – often it is the few key players that change the dimensions. Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs. Or less obvious, imagine Facebook without Sheryl Sandberg.

So entrepreneurs need to think the same way some VCs do – because markets change, competition changes, innovation & technology cycles move so fast that only by having a few truly outstanding leaders in your company can you sustain any sort of advantage.

And that is precisely my thoughts for Seattle and what I plan to deliver on Thursday night: Which few key community leaders are going to step up and get those neurons properly firing and connected?

My recipe for Seattle or your community: [Kansas City: let's take this advice from Mark Suster and implement it in our own community!  This is, after all, the mission of Think Big Partners.]

1. Community Leaders + Organizers
You need a good mixture of both.

Look at what Brad Feld has done for Boulder. I know it’s not single-handed as he has both fantastic partners at Foundry Group and many other community leaders. But he has helped put Boulder on the consciousness of so many young, aspiring entrepreneurs in search of somewhere other than the San Francisco Bay Area to work & live. It is possible and he’s showing people that.

David Cohen deserves much credit for building TechStars into an internationally recognized brand name for innovation. If you can attract people to Boulder for a session to be part of the magical mix of people at TechStars then some will naturally stay put afterward.  But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish.

It takes both to build a community. The business leaders need to do their parts. The people with the time, energy & creativity to build organizations like TechStars need to bring their ideas to fruition.

[Kansas City: We have leaders from the Kauffman Foundation, Think Big, KCSourceLink, PIPELINE and many other organizations working toward this same awareness.]

I see this emerging in Seattle and the passion of “a few key individuals” who can help shift the game. Chris Devore & Andy Sack have created Founder’s Coop with the goal of funding, incubating & launching more early-stage ventures in Seattle. If you could convince a few young “wantrepreneurs” that there is a community that can support them & a safe landing if they’re not immediately successful you might have your next Amazon in the works. It’s a very cool vibe at Founder’s Coop. These two guys are part of the recipe for Seattle’s growth.

2. Passionate Entrepreneurs & Ambassadors
Stating the obvious but you can’t will a region into success. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. They have the same trade-off decisions that you do about packing up and moving to Silicon Valley vs. staying and building locally. The answer seems obvious (to move) but it’s not. When you account for competition for talent, the difficulty of retention, the cost of living and the difficulty of rising above the noise – there are many advantages of staying put. The advantages of moving are more obvious.

So you need Dave Schappell who is building an interesting business in Seattle called TeachStreet, a local-community initiative to connect teachers & students. Dave is ex-Amazon and is a tireless advocate for the Seattle community. He’s been steadily emailing me for the past 18 months with ideas for local entrepreneurs I “have to meet” and has been egging me on to spend more time in Seattle. He’s why I came this week.

Dave Schappell & Daryn Nakhuda rally the troops

He helped me organize a set of meetings with high-potential individuals and a dinner where we all debating how to increase entrepreneurial velocity. I re-connected with Andy Liu the founder & CEO of BuddyTV – the largest destination for social TV enthusiasts on the web. When I saw what BuddyTV is working on and how long they’ve been the market (since 2005) I realized that this has huge potential to help disrupt the television market. They haven’t launched their next gen product – watch this space. No Dave S. = no knowledge of what BuddyTV is up to for me.

Every community needs their “ambassadors” who build relationships with leaders from other communities, who convince these people to come visit the community, who help organize events with local teams to get the cross-city interactions and who create awareness for the local talent.

Dave is a potential key ingredient in the recipe for Seattle’s success.

[Kansas City: Loads of driven entrepreneurs come from our area too.  Just take a look at AgLocal, LiveOn, Zaarly, Audio Anywhere and many others that are making a splash from the Midwest.]

3. Patron Companies
Seattle has something that many communities don’t have. It’s what I call “patron companies” and the local giants are Microsoft & Amazon. When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital. When you start a company in the Bay Area you can often get your first biz dev deal done with Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com, eBay, Yahoo! or the countless other successful startup firms.

[Kansas City: We have innovative giants like Cerner, Sprint, Garmin and Hallmark.]

A key deal not only helps you raise venture capital but it can help attract employees, garner press attention, help with product focus & importantly drive customer adoption and/or revenue.

In Los Angeles we don’t have “patron technology companies” that are big enough to matter – we’re still hoping to see them emerge. But every time I talk with senior executives a the big studios or talent agencies I tell the same story,

“You know that your industry is being disrupted. What industry isn’t these days. You can be part of the creative destruction. You can help local entrepreneurs get their first deal done and the innovation ought to benefit you.

Sure, it might mean some of your employees or colleagues go to join the barbarians at the gate, but would you rather that innovation happen in your home town where you can play to your strengths or do you want your entire future industry to shift to Silicon Valley?”

This message is surprisingly well received. People do want to help. They just need a few key individuals who are willing to go out on a limb, take some actions and make things happen for them. They need somebody bending their ears. They can then direct staff, allocate budgets, talk to the press, connect you with politicians and attend events. A few key people really can make a difference.

And that is what is most disappointing about the feedback I’m getting about Seattle. It has the dual technology patrons and yet the consistent story I get is that they’re not actively out embracing the startup community, helping local successes emerge, getting comfortable with the symbiotic benefits of some employees going to startups that innovate at a different pace and then buying up local teams, talent & IP. They’re doing stuff – just not enough.

Seattle has its patrons. The neurons aren’t connecting to the startups. Somebody needs to make this happen.

4. Elder Statesmen
This is where I think the action on connecting neurons has to come from. Jeff Bezos (and executive team) have to recognize that it’s in their best interest to see the community thrive and the benefits to Amazon (not to mention Seattle) are far greater than any negatives of employee flow. Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates and other senior teams from Microsoft need to want to promote local startups. These kinds of connections seldom emerge from middle management who view the immediate threats more than the long-run benefits.

But Jeff, Bill, Steve and well as Howard Schultz, the executive team at CostCo, etc. are not likely to spearhead this movement. They’re too busy running their companies and literally changing the world. Who from Seattle has their ears? Who can get help get access to their capital? Who can get them to communicate the bigger picture message top-down to their teams to embrace the startup community and unleash local partnerships?

Without this – it’s a totally wasted patronage. Who will step up the way that Steve Case (founder of AOL) has done with Startup America to promote this initiative to politicians, business leaders and the press. Actually, who will get Steve Case to spend time in Seattle helping communicate the message to local leaders? It’s clear that America has a vested interest in promoting entrepreneurship in many regions in the country to stimulate innovation & job creation.

Who will be those key leaders who will step up and make a difference?

[Kansas City: on the road to becoming the most entrepreneurial city in America thanks to other initiatives like Startup America, Google fiber, and the mayors' involvement.] 

5. Playing to Your Advantages
Every region has its advantages and while not limiting innovation to local themes it seems to make sense to at least consider local advantages. It’s no big surprise that I spend a larger portion of my time in LA working on: disruption of television, performance-based marketing, games & mobile. We have unique skills, teams, experience and regional assets that give us a better chance of success than other regions.

In no expert in Seattle but when I look around I see: enterprise software (Microsoft), the market leader in cloud services (Amazon AWS), games (Xbox), some of the most innovative retailers in the country (CostCo, Starbucks, REI) and what is left of Boeing (HQ moved to Chicago). I’m sure there’s much more.

I’m not sure it makes too much sense to have check-in applications for restaurants here. That seems likely to be dominated by a more urban startup from NYC or from San Francisco. But who know? I’m just saying’ … what local assets do you have that load dice in your favor?

6. Marketing Muscle
It’s great to see an initiative like Seattle 2.0 because every community needs its local tech press to report on companies and run conference. Consider just how much exposure the Austin community gets every year due to SXSW. It’s awesome.

I’ve often talked about the NY advantage of having the NY Times, WSJ, Silicon Alley Insider, New York Magazine and even the editor of TechCrunch based there. Not to mention every major agency, many PR firms, etc. There is no question NY startups get disproportionate press.  That’s natural. Not to mention they have the highest profile VC / blogger Fred Wilson of AVC.

It was great to hear that in Seattle John Cook and company are solving this at GeekWire.  Every region needs its local media & events. In LA we have SoCalTech, for which I am grateful. It’s an awesome source of regional news. I’d LOVE to see it become more of a national vehicle. How do we make that happen?

[Kansas City: local media like KC Business Magazine, the KC Star, the Kansas City Business Journal and events like Think Big Kansas City, PIPELINE Innovator of the Year, and the Chamber's Innovation Conference help lead the way.]

I’m now getting about 400,000 views / month at BothSidesoftheTable. I don’t write about LA but I write from LA. It’s important. A few key people can really make a huge difference.

7. Local Angel Community / Recycled Capital
Fred Wilson wrote an eloquent piece on his blog about “recycling capital,” which every regional community should read. The magic that is Silicon Valley is that every tech entrepreneur who has made a bit of money chooses to “recycle” it by investing back into the startup community. There is a long tradition of these and it’s what formed the original angel network groups.

As I look at LA I see a lot of this reinvestment going on. There are great entrepreneurs like Evan Rifkin, Tom McInerney, Paige Craig, Diego Berdakin, Brett Brewer, Kamran Pourzanjani, Jarl Mohn and many, many more who have done several local Los Angeles tech investments. There are several “club deals” where you see the same sets of people “passing the hat” around on deals.

I know from all of my private conversation that they aren’t seeing this as a “get rich quick scheme” – they’re giving back to the community. And the truth is that they know $25-50k from them on a deal that they can help influence returns on is a lot better than handing it over to a money manager who is parking your cash in a vehicle you don’t understand.

I have done the same. I had the good fortune of doing one small deal that returned 6x in a year. So it was newfound capital I wasn’t expecting. I plowed it back into 9 deals. I prefer not to do any angel investments because I focus on my VC funds but it was gratifying to write some small checks to support local teams.

I know there’s tons of money in Seattle. Perhaps somebody needs to organize it a bit better to go into more angel deals. I know that Founder’s Coop has a fund as does TechStars Seattle. That’s one model. Perhaps some experienced tech entrepreneurs could formalize more of the Amazon / Microsoft money into a higher velocity of angel deals.

8. Venture Capital
And of course you need a mature venture capital industry. There are several local firms in Seattle like Madrona, Maveron, Ignition and others. But the consistent message I heard was “there’s not enough.” That’s why more VCs ought to be spending time in Seattle. It’s similar to LA in that there are a highly motivated cadre of tech savvy entrepreneurs wanting to create companies and a lack of funding. I’d bet if one is disciplined about investing here you’d see significantly better pricing than chasing deals in the overly competitive Bay Area corridors.

[Kansas City: VCs need to be spending more time here too.] 

It’s not an either / or but both / and. But as I look at the GRP Partners returns we’ve made a lot of money investing in companies in New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Arizona and Seattle. We won’t rush into the market but we’re very open to finding teams with the ambition to build big businesses. We know it can be done.

9. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
The other message I delivered to the room of entrepreneurs & investors at dinner the other night was that you need to think about equity from outside the region the same way that countries think about foreign direct investment. The inflow of capital can be transformative.

But what is often not talked about is that those investments lead to 8-10 board meetings every year of which it would be hoped that the “outside the region” VC would attend 6-8 of them in person. I think a series of brand ambassadors should find out when these VCs will be in town and organize evening events for them the night before so they don’t do a fly-in, fly-out visit.

Imagine if the ambassadors from Seattle organized a dinner with 8 entrepreneurs, the CTO of Amazon, the head of Xbox and the head of marketing for Starbucks. You mean to tell me that the VC wouldn’t fly in early for that?

With VC FDI the community gets more than money. They get time, commitment & attention. One deal begets more deals. If you’re already on a plane to Seattle 8 times a year picking up a second investment there is trivial. Get them over that first hurdle.

10. Time
And finally, it’s clear that to really build a regional community you need time. LA and Seattle are in the second (or third) major wave of technology innovation. We have all of the 2nd-time entrepreneurs from Overture, CitySearch, MySpace, etc. on to their next companies and that produced Demand Media, a public company who even with a slight recent reduction in share price is still trading at $1.3 billion.

Over the past 15 years Seattle has built one of the most interesting technology companies in the world. I’m still amazed at how forward thinking Amazon has been in cloud services – years ahead of Google, Salesforce.com, IBM, HP, Oracle or the countless other companies that should have been strong in this space.

[Kansas City: the same goes for you.  We are one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial cities in the nation and it's time to embrace that.]

It’s a shame that hasn’t translated into more local break-out successes, but if a few key people really wanted to put in the effort to make it happen I’m confident that Seattle could be a major force in the decade to come. That will be “the decade of the cloud” where it really starts to become a truly connect resource that continues to accelerate innovation.

Who’s in?

Follow Mark Suster! @msuster

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig