Entrepreneurship

Bloop

Imagine yourself as a circle.

It’s tempting to suggest a sphere, but the added dimension is not necessary for this metaphor. Alright, with your circular self, take a tiny portion of the arc and “bloop”… push it beyond the circle’s circumference. Even the smallest nudge gives the entire circle space to expand.

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I had fun making all sorts of sounds as I considered the title for this reflection, but I’d love to hear how you’d describe the sound of such an expansion. Also, since I had to look up the terms to ensure this metaphor was translated correctly, here are the parts of a circle.

There’s plenty of research behind the idea of small improvements adding up. As we hear from inspired speakers and read about in Atomic Habits by James Clear, if you get one percent better each day, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the end of a year. It’s hard to define “better” and such steady progress would surely require sacrifice, but most will agree that small choices don’t make much of a difference, until they add up.

While establishing systems that support good habits and compiled improvements are great, this reflection is more about welcoming singular moments of exploration and growth, even when it seems unrelated, weird, or insignificant.

Perhaps it’s trying something new without preconceptions, saying yes when no is status quo, or being the initiator when movement is seen as risk? As we poke the box and invite a bit more bloop in our life, we give ourselves an opportunity to grow as our own circles expand.

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To thank those who have enjoyed brewing on these Roasted Reflections every week for almost two years AND to say hello to some new friends, here’s a free gift just for fun!

By Ben McDougal, ago

Venture Studios

Venture studios work with different startups to activate a portfolio of ideas into reality.

They invest financial capital, then use a long-term lens to enhance the chance for traction by pouring resources into each startup they invest in. A compounding collection of services are provided within these funds and full access helps everyone building together, often in sprints.

The compressed nature of the building process makes venture studios somewhat comparable to accelerators, yet with an extended, almost open-ended timeline. This emerging model can also be used as a form of due diligence for venture capital funds. While there’s still a lack of standardization and wonky economics have some investors questioning the long-term mechanics of such an approach to investing in startups, it’s no surprise that the innovation economy continues to drive fresh approaches to raising financial capital through the art of supporting entrepreneurs.

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This caffeinated contribution was written by Miles Dotson. I met Miles through mentor madness with Techstars. We bonded over our shared interested in this emerging approach to supporting entrepreneurship. Miles co-founded Devland, which is an investment company that focuses on new innovative ventures with brilliant technologists and wildly underestimated entrepreneurs. Devland provides an alternative mix of investment pathways for committed entrepreneurs with program guidance and direct funding through Series A.

The builders venture studios can attract, do not always have familiarity with venture capital and the language of finance. Whether you call them venture studios or startup studios, the word “studio” gives them the sense that there is a seat for them, regardless if they have a passion for a new idea or if they have formed initial traction. Terms, timelines, and investment theses vary between venture studios, as they should, knowing each company and fund provide different strategic values. After years of experimentation, our team is currently using the venture studio approach to conduct due diligence over an average of 14 months, working alongside builders, getting in the trenches with them, and advocating for their growth. This provides a much better gauge of the entrepreneur as a corporate builder, leader, and team builder — further validating our cause to invest and market them to firms upstream from us.

To bring this short intro to venture studios together, we can think about this as a validation-led approach to venture capital. The intention is to discover outsized returns from potentials who do not generally have network into the world of capital, relationships, and resources needed to build a market leading business. We are operators, product leaders, and venture capital thinkers who understand the role startup creation plays in the market. Our goal is to illuminate repeatable paths that often result in early acquisitions, stable long-term growth, or public market entry while improving the average cost required to create that outcome.

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This has been a fun little series, brewed around a few interesting actors within entrepreneurial ecosystems. There are many more key actors, factors, and instigators throughout any startup community, but we hope you’ve enjoyed this sip of awareness around Accelerators + Incubators + Coworking + Venture Studios. As always, subscribe to Roasted Reflections and stay tuned for what’s being poured next week!

By Ben McDougal, ago

Incubators

Incubators warm you up until it’s time to hatch.

They are similar to coworking spaces, but incubators often focus on entrepreneurial education. This developmental focus attracts newer entrepreneurs and has incubators most often found in educational environments, with semester or year-long programs. Incubators can also be found outside educational environments. Public incubators may have less rigidity, but there’s still urgency that most entrepreneurs benefit from. The timelines of an incubator are not as compressed as accelerators, but there is usually a beginning and an end to these programs.

This rotational nature of incubators provide a cyclical, yet stabilizing effect within startup communities. Entrepreneurs working through incubator programs become stronger founders eager to stay connected. As founders transition out of an incubator, they add human, intellectual, network, and cultural capital to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Their departure also makes room for the next class of entrepreneurs eager to develop a business within the incubator.

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Wondering how your business should evolve? Work around other entrepreneurs.

Another common draw of an incubator, is less expensive office space. Low rent alone attracts early tenants, but here lies the motive for many unhealthy incubators. If an incubator is only about cheap office space, the lack of heart will suck the cool right out. A fixation on cheap rent leads to less interest in helping entrepreneurs. This leaves floundering tenants starving for community. As cultural starvation occurs, entrepreneurs migrate and programs fail.

Incubators must be safe cocoons for less experienced entrepreneurs. They should allow entrepreneurs to repeatedly test, fail, and improve alongside their peers. With a supportive space dedicated to nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit, incubators allow connected entrepreneurs to hatch fresh ideas ready to fly.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Shifting Gears

Imagine the howl of a distant motorcycle bolting through the night. Hear the speed. Feel the wind and wait for the clutch to drop, knowing more power awaits.

The first gear is dedicated to initiating motion within the engine. It won’t get you far, but as the red line wraps, a shift bring you into the next gear that builds on the momentum. As that next gear tops out, yet another shifts moves you further, with higher gears that bring you to full speed.

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I owned a motorcycle in college. In addition to speeding up, shifting gears also helps us slow down. I treated the danger with respect, but after pushing a Yamaha FZR600 to 150mph, twas time to sell this bullet on wheels. A face full of wind feels great, but a convertible will now suffice.

Any journey is a dance, but your destination would not have been reached without an ability to temporarily lose power in exchange for more lasting capacity. Whether it’s personal or in business, recognizing a limit prompts a well-timed shift to keep moving forward.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Ideaworks

Our daily lives gobble up mental bandwidth. If you’re interested in building a business, compelling ideas may hit but lasting intention is needed to build momentum.

It’s unlikely that lightning will strike in a single brainstorm. Instead, combine detail-oriented initiative with pure wonder and open-mindedness to attract earned luck, thanks to serendipity. As ideas fueled by action create chemistry over time, different combinations will map more opportunities.

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We get what we repeat.

How might combining ideas be like a colorful fireworks show? Let’s begin with the anticipation a crowd feels before the show. Then a bright light flashes, and the sound of that first colorful explosion is celebrated.

To get color popping in the night sky, a fuse was required to spark early progress. Fuses such as linking slowness with urgency, actively listening, allowing new experiences to shift your perspective, and always staying curious give the idea machine more ways to continuously flip the switch.

As each fuse is lit, we hear that thump of a distant firework being shot into the sky. This sound of propulsion is like ideas darting into the limitless atmosphere of our mind.

With each idea sparked, there’s a thrilling hope that what’s about to pop is exactly what we’ve always wanted. Even if it’s not an absolute showstopper, each ideawork sparkles with different colors, shapes, and sounds that inspire the sky and connect into the broader experience.

Looking up into the stars, we appreciate each blast in different ways, based on the vantage point. This awakens the fact that every idea has value. Bad ideas lead to better ideas. This can spark great ideas that reverberate, and when given the space to merge, combine into a fantastic reality.

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Don’t wait for next year.

As ideas pop to create a tune, it’s like the grand finale a crowd waits for. The audience may scurry in different directions after the show, but they’ll keep talking about the experience long after that floating smoke clears.

When songs rhyme with a melody, the idea machine sparkles. When execution is a habit, even duds can’t stop a remarkable show from lighting up the sky.

By Ben McDougal, ago