Passionate Entrepreneurs and Innovators Gather to Share Struggles and Strategies for Success - Collaborate Recap

This past weekend, almost 1,000 people converged on the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C. for the Collaborate conference hosted by Fosterly. I was fortunate enough to attend, and after two days left with the standard conference package: a stack of business cards; pages of notes from panels, keynotes and workshops; and ambitious plans for new initiatives with the people I met. A lingering question remained that I had avoided answering until the conference had closed down, but had been searching for an answer to ever since I arrived. What was the true value of this particular conference? What separated Collaborate from all the other networking events in DC and around the world?

Yes, that's a Tesla Model S in the middle of the atrium. 

Yes, that's a Tesla Model S in the middle of the atrium. 

The Tesla Model S sitting in the main atrium was a minor differentiator, but clearly a statement by Fosterly that they wanted this weekend to stand out. More importantly, the conference emphasized the intersection between government and entrepreneurship, providing a safe space for the two sides to share ideas for collaboration. The conference environment broke down any barriers that might exist - literally or figuratively - between government and the private sector. This rarely-seen openness revealed just how much more we can do to innovate and improve people’s lives by fusing the power (and budget) of government authority with the innovation and growth of the private sector.

Collaborate was peppered with rich content, leaving me wishing on several occasions that I could be in multiple places at once. Here are some highlights from what I did see:

Oratium's Pyramid of Planned Outcome: Knowledge leads to Belief, which leads to Action.

Oratium's Pyramid of Planned Outcome: Knowledge leads to Belief, which leads to Action.

Entrepreneurs know that in order to have a successful business, perhaps the most important skill you need is the ability to communicate the business’ value to your customers. The same can be said when seeking an opportunity to collaborate, especially with government, where regulations and red tape can slow you down. Powerful communication is essential, and that’s why I loved Eli Murphy’s engaging and memorable workshop on advanced communications strategies. Eli is the SVP at Oratium, an international communications firm. Eli’s presentation focused on the process of conveying your message so that it is absorbed by your audience. The key, Eli explained, is starting with the audience’s problem, rather than about your own need. Here are the questions to ask when giving a presentation (in this order) taken from Oratium’s model:

  • “As a result of this presentation, what do I want my audience to DO?”

  • “In order to make a decision to do this, what does my audience need to BELIEVE?”

  • “To believe these things, what does my audience need to KNOW?”

This cycle of “Know → Believe → Do” will help shape every presentation you make into a powerful message that inspires action from your customers.

 

"Thinking is a terrible way to think." -Tom Chi, Co-founder of Google(x)

"Thinking is a terrible way to think." -Tom Chi, Co-founder of Google(x)

Tom Chi, the co-founder of Google(x) and the co-creator of Google Glass, delivered a motivating and humor-filled keynote on Friday evening about rethinking innovation. Tom provided examples from his own work, including creating the first Google Glass “prototype” a mere three hours after coming up with the idea (they used a clear sheet protector, a wire hanger, and a netbook). The importance of iteration and rapid learning is often misconstrued as part of the misunderstood concept of “failing fast”. Tom emphasized that guessing and failing are only positive if you learn something significant during the process. As he said, “thinking is a terrible way to think.” Instead, doing is the best kind of thinking, because it is impossible to consider all the possibilities and factors in a decision by merely thinking about it. Tom asserted that merely thinking about a problem will yield an 80% solution to only 25% of the problem. There are things we simply will never consider unless we take action. Through various strategies like mandatory customer feedback, ambitious thinking and rapid prototyping, Tom closed by encouraging the audience to “maximize the rate of learning by minimizing the time to try things."

"The secret to success is self-awareness." -Shawn Nelson, Founder & CEO of Lovesac.

"The secret to success is self-awareness." -Shawn Nelson, Founder & CEO of Lovesac.

Saturday morning opened with, in my opinion, the most honest and hard-hitting content of the weekend. Shawn Nelson (Founder/Chairman of Lovesac), D.P. Venkatesh (CEO at mPortal), and Tien Wong (Serial CEO and angel investor) sat down to discuss the toils of entrepreneurship. Although it was simply an informal discussion, all three leaders shared valuable insights on the true hardships of building a business. Shawn Nelson observed that “there has never been an article published that truly captures how difficult entrepreneurship really is.” He also mentioned that “the secret to success is self-awareness.” Preaching mental preparation, routine, and a healthy lifestyle, the panel was sure to leave a few founders in the audience second-guessing their decision to pursue entrepreneurship.

The last session I attended was a strong example of the benefits of providing an open space for collaboration. Shana Glezer, VP of Social Marketing at SocialRadar, and Jenna Gavin Kelly, CEO of Peerdash, led a roundtable discussion about women in entrepreneurship. I was one of four men, among 20 women, and it was enlightening to hear the variety of perspectives on how women can prosper and grow as entrepreneurs. Most agreed that women are held to a higher standard, and that it is much more difficult to get funding as a female founder. However, there was much more variance in opinion when brainstorming potential solutions. The lack of more women in entrepreneurship is a problem, but crowdfunding may offer one solution: women are receiving more total funding on crowdfunding platforms than men. I am grateful to work with a female co-founder at Onevest, Tanya Privé, who has given me a firsthand perspective on the challenges faced by a female founder and how she is facing them head on.

Springboard Enterprises held two “Dolphin Tank” sessions, playing off the ABC hit show “Shark Tank”, but with a bigger focus on feedback and making introductions than on actual investments. Springboard president Amy Millman brought on a few other  ensured that pitching entrepreneurs had a safe environment to share their ideas and receive constructive feedback.

The team at Fosterly and all the volunteers did a wonderful job in making sure everyone was engaged, and reinforced the innate value of these types of events - bringing like-minded people together to share ideas. An important realization is that everyone always needs help with something, and at an event like Collaborate, chances are you might find the person who can help.

 

Securities offered through WealthForge, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC Onevest Corporation ("Onevest") is not a registered broker-dealer and does not give investment advice with respect to any securities. All the startup offerings listed are offered by the applicable Issuer. Onevest has not taken any steps to verify the accuracy of the information provided on the offerings that are listed. Onevest takes no part in the negotiation of the transaction and no securities are executed through Onevest's platform. Onevest receives no compensation in connection with the purchase or sale of securities.

Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of all clients. Testimonials are not a guarantee of future performance or success.

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Onevest at Collaborate: Helping Fosterly Stimulate the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

This post was originally published on the Collaborate blog as a Onevest guest post.

The value of a vibrant community, particularly as related to entrepreneurship, is widely recognized and appreciated. Community resources, mentors, and peer collaborations are just some of the intangible pieces every entrepreneur needs, and that only come with a strong network. When it comes to building a company, most first-time founders lean heavily on peer expertise and mentorship to guide them. The same is true for more experienced entrepreneurs. Whether moving from one startup to the next, or growing your company from 2 to 40 people, engaging with a deep personal and professional network is pivotal. Ask any successful entrepreneur, and you would be hard-pressed to find one who got to where they are now without the help of others. The “all by myself” mentality is not only unhealthy, but also completely unsustainable in entrepreneurship. By identifying leaders in the community, you can utilize their influence and experience to help move your company forward. The same is true for peer collaboration. 

Collaborate by Fosterly brings this community to your doorstep. At events like Collaborate, you have the opportunity to meet with like-minded people who not only are as driven and dedicated as you are, but also share a common goal of moving a startup forward. Those personal interactions, from a simple handshake, to receiving valuable advice, to even closing a business deal, are immensely valuable. In addition, most of these people come to an event like Collaborate with a community-oriented mindset, open to sharing their knowledge. Fosterly beautifully integrates this principle into their own community of thousands of entrepreneurs. They offer tons of great resources, events, workshops, and more to help entrepreneurs grow their own business and help others grow theirs.

Onevest wants to take that unique experience of collaboration and mentorship online. We imagine a world in which an entrepreneur can attain the same valuable knowledge and relationships through a digital portal. This was our inspiration for creating Learn.Onevest. Learn.Onevest is a peer-to-peer learning platform that offers massive amounts of content (think “Reddit” for entrepreneurship) on topics ranging from team-building, to fundraising, to investing. Readers have the ability to see who else is viewing an article/video, converse with that person, comment on a specific section, and up/downvote. Our mission is to bring that community feeling into the digital space. 

One key feature involves a curated curriculum of content that brings valuable content to a central place. We’ve created the first curriculum to help get you started. Click the link below to gain access.

STARTUP FUNDRAISING CURRICULUM

Startup Angels to Host First National Summit on Angel Investing

On November 12th-13th, in Dallas, Texas, Startup Angels will be hosting the first ever national conference solely dedicated to angel investing: AngelSummit.io. Startup Angels is a global platform that works to empower and educate angel investors, and they’re partnering with UP Global, 500 Startups, and the Dallas Entrepreneurship Center to kickstart the national conversation on angel investing. The summit will bring over 200 industry and community leaders together to discuss how to continue growing the startup investing community and its ever-growing impact on innovation.

According to the official press release, the goals of AngelSummit.io are the following:

  1. Clearly frame the startup investing landscape

  2. Facilitate conversation among community and industry leaders

  3. Enable and inspire more investors to fuel greater innovation in their own communities

Here at Onevest, we share the mission of Startup Angels to bring startup investing to angels all over the country. We feel that geographic location should not be a determining factor in the success of a startup. Rather, with a strong team, big market, and high-quality product/service - as well as a few supportive angel investors - a startup can grow from anywhere in the U.S. This is already happening, as startup communities everywhere have been fostering a rich culture of innovation through accelerators, incubators, competitions, and other resources.

Additionally, the rapid growth of online platforms has provided an entirely new medium for angel investing. Onevest’s CEO, Alejandro Cremades, will be sitting on a panel at the conference to discuss the benefits of these various investment platforms. Alejandro will be joined by Colm Browne from ProSeeder, a technology platform to help investment firms with their operations, and Dan Roselli from Packard Place, a Charlotte-based hub for the local entrepreneurship community. Other speakers will be added closer to the event.

Angelsummit.io is a chance for attendees to learn from leaders in the field, participate in breakout discussions, and network with their peers from around the country. Confirmed speakers for the conference include Dave McClure of 500 Startups, Mark Kvamme of Drive Capital, Scott Case of Main Street Genome (formerly with the Startup America Partnership), and Paul Singh of Disruption Corporation.

Angelsummit.io represents a groundbreaking step in opening up the conversation about responsible Angel Investing in America. For more information on the event please visit: www.angelsummit.io.

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About Startup Angels

Startup Angels is a new global platform that inspires and enables angel investors, across the US and around the world. We offer action-based learning, networks and resources for new angels to explore market-entry and experienced angels to explore new markets. For more information please visit www.startupangels.co.

 

Securities offered through WealthForge, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC Onevest Corporation ("Onevest") is not a registered broker-dealer and does not give investment advice with respect to any securities. All the startup offerings listed are offered by the applicable Issuer. Onevest has not taken any steps to verify the accuracy of the information provided on the offerings that are listed. Onevest takes no part in the negotiation of the transaction and no securities are executed through Onevest's platform. Onevest receives no compensation in connection with the purchase or sale of securities.

Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of all clients. Testimonials are not a guarantee of future performance or success.