Pitch competitions out to show the South can rise up, challenge venture capital’s big 3
Memphis will be the first site of six regional startup pitch competitions aimed to take a piece of the enormous amounts of venture capital poured into the East and West Coasts. The pitch competitions are conducted by the Delta Entrepreneurship Network, which is part of the Delta Regional Authority. DEN is seeking a group of 36 new entrepreneurs and organizations to drive the startup ecosystem in the Delta Region. Read the full article at Memphis Business Journal
Startup pitch competition to kick off in Memphis, looks to take a bite out of Calif. venture capital
Memphis will be the first site of six regional startup pitch competitions aimed to take a piece of the enormous amounts of venture capital poured into the East and West Coasts. Read the full article at Memphis Business Journal
Fourteen startups graduating at Memphis Demo Day Aug. 13
Start Co. and ZeroTo510 graduating teams to present business plans to investors, entrepreneurs and community leaders MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 3, 2015) – Start Co. and ZeroTo510 recently announced that their graduating startup teams will collectively present their companies to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including community leaders, at Demo Day Aug. 13. Demo Day is the culmination of both organizations’ summer startup training and mentoring program. Each team will pitch their business on stage in the ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Memphis to celebrate progress to date and to seek additional funding. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. and conclude with a reception at Felicia Suzanne’s at 5:30 p.m. More than 200 attendees are expected, ranging from successful entrepreneurs to regional and community leaders and investors from throughout the Mid-South. Both programs are highly recognized; Start Co. was granted membership in the Global Accelerator Network and ZeroTo510’s unique medical device accelerator was named one of the top 15 accelerators in the U.S. by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project. “It is always a proud moment for us to see our graduating cohort showcase their work and share their experiences with investors and the entrepreneurial community,” said Eric Mathews, Start Co. CEO and founder. “We invest a great deal of time and energy each year to strengthen our programming, and we are delighted that many of our teams already have existing customer bases and have been focused on refining their business models during the program.” Start Co. operates three accelerator programs,
No summertime slowdown at Tennessee’s accelerators
At Launch Tennessee, we talk about the “pipeline” a lot when it comes to building a strong startup ecosystem. A key piece of this is developing, attracting and retaining a well-qualified workforce to the region. In this regard, there is some great work going on across the state with various partners, including a number of our accelerators, developing innovative programs to educate the next generation of tech-savvy Tennesseans. These are very compelling programs, as evidenced by the fact that students willingly give up some of their summer vacation to participate. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on around the state: The Nashville Technology Council has partnered with the Tennessee Code Academyand RePublic Schools on computer-programming camps and after-school programs. Given the ongoing need for a software-oriented workforce in the area, these will be an important staging area for tech-oriented students to begin charting a career path. Read the full article at The Tennessean
Two Memphis students headed to meet Michele Obama
Two Memphis students are headed to the White House next week. Dellarontay Readus, this year’s valedictorian of Melrose High School, and Bettie Elston, who graduated in the top 10 percent of her class at Fairley High School, are two of 150 students from across the country selected to attend the Beating the Odds summit on Thursday, July 23. Readus and Elston are both students of The College Initiative, a local organization that provides assistance to students in applying to and succeeding in college. While at the summit, the two graduates hope to glean ideas for increasing college access to low-income students in the future, including adjusting how FAFSA applications are completed. Read the full article at WALB – TV (NBC/ABC)
Persistence A Key for Fundraising
At Start Co. many founders need not raise capital to keep advancing their businesses. In fact that is the ideal. If they are looking for outside capital we try to not candy coat the reality of how hard it is to raise money. We instruct them that they will need to take 50 serious investor meetings with 50 different investors in order for them to have a chance at raising investment capital. Why do some startups get funded? DocSend recently teamed up with Professor Tom Eisenmann from Harvard Business School to conduct research on the process of raising money. Their data verify our thinking. They sampled 200 Companies a subset of which successfully raised $360MM in Series Seed and Series A rounds. Take a look here to see the reality by the numbers: Average Number of Investors Contacted: 58 Average Number of Investors Met: 40 Average Raise: $1.3MM Average Number of Weeks Spent Fundraising: 12.5 Average Length of Pitch Deck Sent: 19.2 Slides Average Time Spent by Investor Looking at the Deck: 3 minutes 44 Seconds Slides with the Most Time Spent by Investors: Team and then Competition Teams that didn’t raise any funds on average quit after 6.7 weeks When should you give up on Fundraising: a few months The study and more details can by found here: http://www.slideshare.net/DocSend/docsend-fundraising-research-49480890?utm_source=slideshow02&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=share_slideshow Fundraising Research Eric Mathews is CEO and Founder of Start Co. He can be reached at info@neverstop.co
Cracking the code to a bright tech future
Within two months of launching their technology education startup, Code Crewhas attracted a group of more than 30 Memphis middle school children and the attention of the NBA. Thanks to funding from the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation, Code Crew was able to institute Grizzlies Code Camp, a six week summer camp for Memphis children in grades 7-9 that develops their digital skills. The startup began as an idea to bridge the skills gap so Memphis youth can grow to become producers of technology, as opposed to consumers. Co-founders Nnaemeka Egwuekwe, Audrey Jones, and Petya Grady began working on Code Crew as part of StartCo’s Sky High program, a 90 day accelerator for social impact tech startups in Memphis, with funding from the Grizzlies Foundation. Read the full article at High Ground News
If People are the Hardware, Culture is the Software
If people are the hardware of an ecosystem, then culture is the software. As an innovation community we ascribe to a set of unwritten rules and norms that lower transaction costs and empower our culture. This software is important to our success, locally and beyond. It enables the assimilation of our startup ecoysystem members seamlessly into Silicon Valley and other high performing ecosystems, which have similar cultural norms and unwritten rules. Here is a link to the explicitly stated “software” for our innovation community: The Memphis Ecosystem Pact. Share it. Live it. Never Stop Eric Mathews is CEO and Founder of Start Co. He can be reached at info@neverstop.co
The Memphis Ecosystem Pact
Memphis Ecosystem Pact I am joining a growing tribe of innovators, entrepreneurs, and their supporters in a growing startup and innovation ecosystem that brings an economic vibrancy to Memphis, Tennessee that will last well beyond my lifetime. The Memphis ecosystem consists of people who share a common faith in the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and the benefits it brings to our region. While I am a mentor, investor, service provider, founder, innovator, donor, cheerleader, first customer, or other participant, I know that, regardless of my role, personal returns will only come from active collaboration and freely giving my ideas, my capital in all forms available, and my talents. To enable the free flow and rapid assembly of ideas, capital, and talent for community and personal returns, participants in the ecosystem ascribe to a set of beliefs, values, and cultural norms. These unwritten rules and beliefs will bring economic benefits to me and the community in the long run, but in the short term they defy rational economic thoughts of profit and personal benefit. Like those that have come before me, I ascribe to these beliefs because I am motivated beyond personal gain. As a part of this ecosystem, I believe and live out to the best of my abilities the following: Honoring the dreams of others as well as my own. Giving trust to others before expecting to receive trust in return. Treating everyone fairly and not seeking advantage over others. Bringing people together, as none of us is
Start Co. launches three accelerators and summer programming
Eleven startup teams to build businesses in Memphis over the next 90 days MEMPHIS, Tenn. (May 12, 2015) – Start Co. recently launched its summer accelerator programs for 2015. Eleven startup teams comprised of nearly 30 entrepreneurs will embark on an intense entrepreneurial journey over the next 90 days in one of three accelerator programs. The companies include a diverse set of B2B companies, including online collaboration and retail tools, in-house delivery services, social media analytics, code schools, and more. All teams will present their business plans Aug. 13 at Demo Day, an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments, network with the entrepreneurial community and pitch their startup ideas to investors for funding and other follow-on resources. The teams were chosen from a large applicant base to work alongside elite mentors and business leaders to earn invaluable expertise and insight for honing their business models. More than 75 mentors from the business and creative community have signed on to support the teams via office hours, workshops, and training. Members of AutoZone’s IT team are also volunteering by providing technical assistance to Start Co.; training on software, application development and design to startups. “We’re looking forward to building on last year’s successes to continue developing our programs to provide the best possible curriculum for our teams,” said Mara Lewis, managing director at Start Co. “I’m anxious to guide the teams through their business plan development and help them prepare for Demo Day in August.” Nearly 30 founders, a mix of Memphis-based teams