New: Understanding Fear & Opportunity

Neophobia is the fear of new places, things and experiences. We all have it. It's a natural survival instinct. The fear of new is the reason most people lead a predictable life - do well in high school, graduate from a good college, do work that supports a fraction of a desirable lifestyle until retirement age. Entrepreneurs somehow figure out a way to trick their brains into believing the reward of doing what is new is greater than the predictability of the American dream. However, we are no less fearful than our "life-in-a-bubble" counterparts; we just process fear differently. The hardest decision an entrepreneur will ever make is new.

The implications are too much to deal with:

* Are my competitors leaving me behind?

* Do customers really find what I do valuable?

* Am I charging enough?

* I've been selling the same widget for 10 years, is my service/product ready for a brand new generation of consumers?

* My industry is shrinking, how will I maintain the lifestyle I've created and stay centered on my core values? 

* Have I lost touch with why I even got into this business in the first place? 

I don't care who you are, none of those questions are easy to answer. Consequently, most people are so afraid that "new" will be the answer to all of those questions that they don't address them until they're looking at a business that no longer represents their vision or values or the out-of-business sign.

Fear of the unknown is most often a fear of misguided or potentially unfulfilled expectations. Changing ones perception to view "new" as a serious of small, consistent steps over the lifespan of the company will dramatically reduce the fatal grip of unqualifiable expectation. In other words, you learn as you do and that makes it easier to do more because you learn more.

Success is an algorithm, developed over time that yields predictable and measurable outcomes. Look at any company we consider successful and you can see it. They've found the sweet spot - a risk/reward balance that placates the neophobia that is inherent in all of us. The point of this post isn't to help you find that balance but challenge you to create new algorithms. To do this you need to position in such a way that it is always taking small, calculated steps towards answering the hard questions, which is where opportunity lives. In other words, embrace the fear of "new" and you'll find opportunities. This isn't easy to do but you and I both know it's absolutely detrimental to your survival in this fast-paced, show me why you're worth the money, 50 million people have the same idea economy.

I'll leave you with these quotes:

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted."

- Unknown

"People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines....There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear”

- Bill Gates

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

This is *AWESOME* Branding!!!

I received this email a few minutes ago. I liked it so much I had to share it with you. It's one of the most creative ideas I've ever seen. A lot can be learned from what he's done.  

_____________________

Hi Wes,

My name is Jay Kell and I'm one of the owner/winemakers at VERGE Wine Cellars.  We're a small wine company based out of Healdsburg, CA in Sonoma County.  Periodically, I check out other businesses named VERGE and yours came up.  I really dig the coIn idea and would love to send you a bottle of two of my 2007 Syrah.  If you like it, perhaps we could work together in the future on any parties or gift programs you may have a need for.

Bottom-line, I like the name of your business and that alone deserves some wine!

Our focus at VERGE Wine Cellars is to produce Syrahs from vineyards that are on the edges of appellations and that only grow organically/biodynamically.  Mike Brunson, who is also the head winemaker/vineyard manager at Michel-Schlumberger, and I make the wine together. The 2007 Syrah is from Bradford Mountain in Dry Creek Valley with vines that have been farmed without pesticides since 2003.  It is also one of the oldest Syrah vineyards in Dry Creek. We made around 450 cases.  Our previous vintage was named (Feb 2010) as one of the Top Syrahs of the Year in Wine & Spirits.

Please let me if you'd like me to ship you some wine as well as an address and contact info.

Nice to meet you!

VERGE Wine Cellars
4085 Westside Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448
707.490.4585
http://www.vergewine.com

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Building Ideas out of Experiences

Contrary to popular belief, innovation is less about cleaver ideas than it is your thought process. To be more specific, innovation requires you to turn your personal memories and experiences into empathetic solutions that enhance the value of your product or service for consumers. Consequently, these solutions increase value and profitability to your stakeholders. These are some very complex issues to balance and are very difficult to successfully pull off. It requires that you be in constant communication with your consumers, while also learning as much as you can about anything you can. 
 

If you've never heard this explanation of innovation before don't panic. Many entrepreneurs are pretty much clueless of what innovation actually is, even more its role in their business life cycle. Over the next few paragraphs a much clearer picture of what innovation is and why it's important will emerge; however, don't expect to leave with a clear cut conclusion; that's really not the goal of this. The goal is to get you thinking again. 

Cognition is the mental process of converting information from thought to knowing. Our senses are typically used to gather the information which is processed but observation is needed to first draw conclusions, then organize those conclusions into factual statements. The statements are cataloged within the brain and are drawn upon during times of uncertainty, i.e. problem-solving. You may be asking, “what does this have to do with me and my business?” but please, bare with me. It’s important that you understand how questions are formed first.

As new information is processed, we conduct a series of rationalizations which categorizes the information into segments. The information that is placed into these segments is categorized as previously known facts or new and unknown observations. At this point questions begin to form as we try make sense of the unknown observation, as well as understand how they correlate to what was previously known. Because questions are the precursors and “guardrails” of innovation, you can see why cognition is an important process to understand.

Following the logic presented here, one must now begin to wonder, “how can increased cognition influence my output of innovative ideas?” That’s a good question! You must intentionally expose yourself to new information about your consumers through various forms of ethnography (observations). Questionnaires, focus groups, field tests, surveys, statistical analytics, trend reports, etc. are all great ways to observe your consumer.

Understanding the relationships which exist between your business and your consumer takes constant observation. Information that will be useful to you as you consider innovation is how the consumer uses your product/service/technology; reacts to changes to your product/service/technology; rate of acquisition of your product/service/technology; declines in usage of your product/service/technology (maybe due to competitors or obsolescence), among other things. The information you gather as a result of your observations should be analyzed, but it is the cognitive process you go through to analyze that information that will lead to the question which will fuel your innovations.

The information that you gather is totally obvious at this point. In fact, any of your competitors that engage in primary or secondary market research will have access to the same data.In today’s world; especially with the advent of social media and crowdsourcing, reliance on the obvious won’t solve your problems or increase sustainable value to the consumer. It will however give your competition the opportunity to one-up you. An alternative use of this information is to use it as a starting block for the discovery the “peripherals” (abstract characteristics of a defined demographic which can be used to create niches within a market i.e. apple iPod).

I've thrown a lot out there, so let sum things up: peripherals are discovered by asking the right questions. Questions lead to innovations. Innovations come from observations. Observations are used to expose relationships, which come as a result of cognition. Cognition is a mental process which leads to the discovery of relationships by converting information, known and unknown, into usable knowledge and understanding

 

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

The Strategy and Experience of You

You ever stopped for a second to consider how the brands you buy got your attention? Furthermore, have you ever considered why you continue to buy?

I would argue that the answer to both of those questions is strategy and experience. The company that created whatever you bought actually had you in mind when it created it. Everything from the price to the colors of the packaging was designed to appeal to you and the circumstance you were in when you decided to buy it. Recognizing the frequency by which those particular circumstances would occur led the company (or consultant in many cases) to design a user experience that would more often than not make you a repeat buyer.

Marketing and advertisement don't create loyalty and repeat customers. Well thought out and executed user experiences do. Websites and applications alone don't create convenient ways for customers to interact with you and you with them. Well thought out and executed user experiences do.

Logo's and other brand communications don't increase your competitive advantage. They're not sustainable ways of "stealing" market share. Their needs to be a strategy behind it.

We're all apart of someones strategy. A unique experience was crafted just for us way before we ever laid eyes of the products and services we can't live without.

The next time you have a great idea you think the market place needs, keep in mind the ways you've been sold. Think about the products and services you could never do without. Consider the thought that went into that loyalty. Write down the steps of your decision making process. Adapt, augment, and reposition those steps to reflect the goals of your new idea. The most important step of them all is to complete these tasks from the view point of the consumers you are trying to provide value to. Never forget that step.....it's the first one.

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

The Strategy and Experience of You

You ever stopped for a second to consider how the brands you buy got your attention? Furthermore, have you every considered why you continue to buy?
I would argue that the answer to both of those questions is strategy and experience. The company that created whatever you bought actually had you in mind when it created it. Everything from the price to the colors of the packaging was designed to appeal to you and the circumstance you were in when you decided to buy it. Recognizing the frequency by which those particular circumstances would occur, led the company (or consultant in many cases) to design a user experience that would more often than not make you a repeat buyer.
Marketing and advertisement don't create loyalty and repeat customers. Well thought out and executed user experiences do. Websites and applications alone don't create convenient ways for customers to interact with you and you with them. Well thought out and executed user experiences do.
Logo's and other brand communications don't increase your competitive advantage. They're not sustainable ways of "stealing" market share. Their needs to be a strategy behind it.
We're all apart of someones strategy. A unique experience was crafted just for us way before we ever laid eyes of the products and services we can't live without.
The next time you have a great idea you think the market place needs, keep in mind the ways you've been sold. Think about the products and services you could never do without. Consider the thought that went into that loyalty. Write down the steps of your decision making process. Adapt, augment, and reposition those steps to reflect the goals of your new idea. The most important step of them all is to complete these tasks from the view point of the consumers you are trying to provide value to. Never forget that step.....it's the first one.

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

The Strategy and Experience of You

You ever stopped for a second to consider how the brands you buy got your attention? Furthermore, have you every considered why you continue to buy?
I would argue that the answer to both of those questions is strategy and experience. The company that created whatever you bought actually had you in mind when it created it. Everything from the price to the colors of the packaging was designed to appeal to you and the circumstance you were in when you decided to buy it. Recognizing the frequency by which those particular circumstances would occur, led the company (or consultant in many cases) to design a user experience that would more often than not make you a repeat buyer.
Marketing and advertisement don't create loyalty and repeat customers. Well thought out and executed user experiences do. Websites and applications alone don't create convenient ways for customers to interact with you and you with them. Well thought out and executed user experiences do.
Logo's and other brand communications don't increase your competitive advantage. They're not sustainable ways of "stealing" market share. Their needs to be a strategy behind it.
We're all apart of someones strategy. A unique experience was crafted just for us way before we ever laid eyes of the products and services we can't live without.
The next time you have a great idea you think the market place needs, keep in mind the ways you've been sold. Think about the products and services you could never do without. Consider the thought that went into that loyalty. Write down the steps of your decision making process. Adapt, augment, and reposition those steps to reflect the goals of your new idea. The most important step of them all is to complete these tasks from the view point of the consumers you are trying to provide value to. Never forget that step.....it's the first one.

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Untitled

 

 

By a raise of hands, how many people have ever been paid to develop a good idea? Kudo’s to those of you that have, but if you’ve not been given that special privilege and you have an idea worth money, BetaFish is here. 

If you’ve ever wasted 3 months crafting an iron clad business plan, only to be smacked with the reality that no one cares about what you’re trying to sell them. BetaFish is here. 

BetaFish is an incubator on steroids. We’re combining the benefits of a Coworking space (community, collaboration, openness) with lean startup methodology, to connect smart and talented people to investment opportunities faster than ever before in Delaware.

The idea is to find five, 2 person teams with a super cool tech idea; pay their living expenses for 90 days; give them space at coIN to build their “widget” and collaborate; and also provide the opportunity to pitch to accredited Angels and V.C’s when completed.

Organizations like Y-Combinator in California, DreamIT Ventures in Philly, andTechstars in Boston, are killing it right now. Coworking spaces like Gangplank,IndyHall, and The Factory, all have an steroidal incubator too.    

I’d like to assume you already know what Coworking is, so I’ll briefly explain what lean startup methodology is all about.

Eric Ries is the grandfather of the term lean startup. He’s a 31 year old engineer,entrepreneur and blogger. The principles of the methodology are based on the lean manufacturing process, which was made famous by Japanese factories decades ago. The thought behind the methodology is to reduce waste, increase manufacturing efficiency, communicate with consumers to better understand their needs, and thus provide better value in a shorter period of time. BetaFish is no different. We’re all about building more and BS’ing less.

The Lean Startup process makes entrepreneurs focus 100% of their efforts on completing tasks that are absolutely vital to the progression of the idea. Traditional incubators teach startups how to write business plans, when in actuality, startups don’t need a business plan…they need a scalable, and repeatable business model. They need to focus all of their time on product and customer development. They need to rapidly test, fail, learn, and build new ways to generate money from day one so they can afford to perfect their products as customers give feedback.

There are 3 stages to the Lean Startup process:

• Customer Discovery: Ideation (You’ve found a problem. How do you solve it?) 

• Customer Validation: Who will Pay? (You’ve started building a solution, but who will actually buy it? Why?)

• Customer Creation: Growth (Products a hit. People love it. How do you sell more without going broke?)

Our 90 day program will lead participants down a straight and narrow path from idea-to-marketplace. We’re providing them with every resource they’ll need to formalize their idea, incorporate, set up their books, solidify their marketing plans, acquire early adopter consumers, build a scalable product, and connect with investors willing to invest. The only requirement we ask of our participants is that they are fully committed to nothing else, but building their product and perfecting their business models, as well as, working at coIN 3 days per week between Monday and Friday.

When all goes well, we’ll be kicking out 2-3 funded companies every 90 days! Delaware will truly never be the same!

Stay tuned for more information.     

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

How Exceptional Leaders Think

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Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Wilmington 2.0: What Do We Need To Make This City Prosper Again?

Recently, I have been doing a lot of research into crowdsourcing, to be more specific crowdsourcing in the sense where a community gathers together to revitalize the place in which they live, work, and play. It is a well known fact that cities across the country are in a fierce battle to attract the creative culture, in hopes of creating new business to aide in economic development and job creation. Wilmington, DE is no different than any other city, looking to make a name for itself within the creative culture. There has been some progress with places like: Red Mohawk, Public House, Poppycock, Urban Avenue, The Rebel, Kooma, and soon The coIN Loft. Many of these places can be credited to the fine work of Preservation Initiatives, Buccini/Pollin, and the State, however we need more. Being as it is that Verge advocates for change and the creation a Wilmington 2.0, where people will want to socialize after 5 PM, I wanted to open up a discussion on what others feel is needed in our city, or what problems should be confronted.

To help garner some thoughts. I'll suggest to think of 10 places/stores/things in general that are needed in our city, whether it be dining, housing, retail, or nightlife oriented. It might help to think of some of your favorite places in other cities you have been, or would like to go. The objective of this is to record everyone's thoughts to advocate for a new Wilmington, so please share your thoughts in the comment section. Also, pictures are always nice too, so if you want provide links to make sure your point is received in the way you are intending. Thanks for your input:)

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Just A Little While Longer....

We're very sad to confirm a delay in our grand opening. However all is not lost! Come out for the art loop on Friday....stop by Red Mohawk (228 W. 9th St.) to meet up and take a tour of The coIN Loft across the street (300 W. 9th St.) 

Please keep watch of our announcements over the next few weeks. If you have any interest in becoming a member of the loft, please get in touch with us via email to set up a tour. 

Thank you very much for your patience and support! Let's All Be Famous!

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Coworking Debuts in Wilmington

Verge Business Group Launches The coIN Loft with Open House on February 12, 2010

 

(January 26, 2010—Wilmington, DE) Wilmington’s Verge Business Group is pleased to announce the grand opening of The coIN Loft, Delaware’s first “coworking” office space, scheduled to open on February 5, 2010. Located at 300 West Ninth Street, in downtown Wilmington’s flourishing Design District, The coIN Loft (short for “community innovation,” with a bit of a nod to the city’s “IN” campaign) will offer 2,200 square feet of inexpensive working, meeting and innovating space to entrepreneurs, freelancers and other populations who typically work outside of a conventional office setting.  To celebrate the grand opening, The coIN Loft will host an open house on February 12, 2010 from 8am-12pm and 5pm-8:30pm.

 

Coworking is a movement that has taken the creative community by storm in the last five years. In many cities (almost exclusively in the United States), shared offices began to adopt the tenets of café culture, creating spaces where “laptopreneurs” could lease space on an at-will basis. In addition to offering month-to-month memberships (ideal for entrepreneurs for whom long-term leases may not be realistic), coworking spaces offered independent businesspeople relief from the isolation that comes from working out of a home office or from the road. Tangibly, a coworking space benefits its members in ways that a coffee shop does not—professional conference space, privacy for phone calls, late hours, reliable wifi, a place to spread out, lockers/limited storage, discounted parking, basic office supplies and complimentary water and coffee. 

 

As time went by, coworking professionals across the nation began to realize some unexpected gains from coworking.  These once-independent entrepreneurs—many serving as top level executives of their own businesses—were experiencing actualized benefits they could attribute to their collaborative efforts and the application of collective intelligence. From their hard work and single-minded pursuit of success blossomed a new culture all its own: Coworking (with a capital “C”), a culture defined by camaraderie and innovation.

 

Says coIN Loft/Verge Business Group co-founder Wes Garnett, “The coIN Loft is Verge’s plan to bring creative entrepreneurs to the city.” Entrepreneurs are who The coIN Loft founders (consisting of Garnett, Verge co-founder Steve Roettger, and “TheProsperMagazine.com” author Pedro Moore) know best—they make up 100% of Verge and TheProsperMagazine.com’s clientele. Knowing full well that Verge may be sacrificing future business by establishing The coIN Loft (since the inevitable collaboration that happens in coworking spaces may make Verge’s services superfluous), Garnett and Roettger can’t help but see the big picture. “I suppose it’s like a gas station offering electric cars to its customers. Despite the effect our venture may have on us economically, we believe it’s the right thing to do for Delaware’s entrepreneurs, that the time is now, and that we’re the people who need to do it.” Verge hopes to break even on The coIN Loft, and anticipates any profit to be reinvested into improvements and capacity-building exercises (typical for coworking spaces).

 

More than just facilitating cross-pollination, coworking practically demands it; “community” is almost always used in any description of coworking, along with collaboration, openness, sustainability and accessibility.  The populations typically attracted to coworking spaces include: graphic designers, web developers, software programmers, industrial designers, architects, fashion designers, writers/journalists/authors/bloggers, e-commerce business owners, marketing/PR professionals, regional sales representatives (who can take part in reciprocal memberships with other cities’ coworking spaces), consultants, non-profit startups, and those pursuing creative internship opportunities. What coworking professionals often take away from the experience is collective intelligence, creative solutions and even new partnerships. Coworking environments are often targeted for “crowdsourcing,” wherein outsourced work is offered via an open call to a crowd of potential contributors.

 

Membership to The coIN Loft ranges from $25 (for a one-day drop-in), $300 per month (for full-time 24/7 access) and $650 for a private office. To make the best use of the 21 available workspaces, the number of basic and part-time memberships will be capped, with different workstations dedicated to full-time, part-time and drop-in activity.  The coIN Loft’s two floors of space are designed with a contemporary aesthetic and an open floor plan.  All members will have access to two conference rooms, one with a 47” plasma for multi-media presentations and a ten-seat conference table, the other with a four to six person table and a conjoined innovation-storming room. The innovation-storming room will use “IdeaPaint,” which turns every wall into a dry-erase board. A café on the street level of the building (called Copper, slated to open this summer), and will offer discounts on food, as well as catering for meetings.

 

Roettger explains the attractiveness of coworking, “We have heard from a lot of entrepreneurs about the challenges of working from home. Whether it’s playing Xbox at one in the afternoon, rearranging the spice rack, or Facebooking, the home office is fraught with distractions. And, just like the stay-at-home parent, the entrepreneur may simply need to interact with other adults sometimes.” Not that The coIN Loft will be bereft of stress-relieving activity. Roettger says there will be cable television and video game consoles, adding, “We plan to offer weekly mixers/socials, allowing members to introduce their clients to their coworking colleagues’ services, recruit new members and just plain have fun.”

 

It is typical for coworking spaces to be populated with the sustainability conscious: the cost to heat, cool and light a house so that one person can work can be much higher than the cost of leasing full-time coworking space.  Not just for entrepreneurs, coworking spaces can also be useful to larger and more-established businesses that have a need for seasonal or short-term office space to accommodate temporary staff or during transition periods. 

 

Wilmington is positioned to be a leader in the Coworking movement for cities our size.  Somerville, Massachusetts is a city close in population to Wilmington, and like Wilmington, is situated a short distance away from a larger city; Somerville is already home to two Coworking spaces. Wilmington is ahead of the pack in some cases: Fort Collins, Colorado (less than an hour outside of Denver) is twice Wilmington’s size and is launching its first coworking space in 2010; Corvallis, Oregon (25% smaller than Wilmington, and similarly situated between multiple large cities) will follow Wilmington in opening a coworking space.  Some of the most successful coworking sites in the country are IndyHall in Philadelphia, New Work City in New York and Affinity Labs in Washington, D.C., leading Verge to believe that reciprocal memberships for Delaware members will be valuable, and that the time for The coIN Loft is now.

 

In 2010, The coIN Loft will also welcome some neighbors: several artist lofts will be opening up a few blocks away. Coworking spaces complement artist lofts—where an artist may need good light, stain-proof flooring and seclusion, an entrepreneur (even an artist who is putting on a business hat) needs good technology, a place to have professional meetings and interaction with other human beings. Both attract “the creative class.” How they differ is that coworking spaces have an open-door policy. Verge describes coworking communities as a “tribe,” one with enthusiastic leaders who perpetuate coworking’s values and evangelize the mission, and with members who ultimately create a culture of success, camaraderie, and innovation.

 

ABOUT THE VERGE GROUP

Garnett and Roettger met in 2008 while working at a financial services firm, which happened to be Roettger’s first post-degree job. Once they jumped ship, they began to pursue not only their technology work (soon to become Verge Business Group), but also to follow through on an idea they had been kicking around since the inception of their company.  This was known as the “Community Innovation Project” when it was presented as a seminar at the University of Delaware, and has been reincarnated as The coIN Loft.

Though they remain focused on the technology industry, the two feel as though they have “made a 180 degree turn away” from their earlier work together, with a profound desire to “be a part of important stuff.” Verge is a firm that helps entrepreneurs of all types identify, develop and commercialize innovative consumer products and services, as well as web-based technologies using a unique blend of creative and analytical problem-solving and chutzpah (a process they've named Agile Disruption Method). While you won’t find any information on Verge Business Group prior to 2009, Garnett and Roettger are no greenhorns. Since launching Verge in March 2009, they have been hired by a half-dozen clients for long-term software development and business architecture projects in various stages of execution.  For one client, Verge identified the technology that could be applied and leveraged to solve problems in the culinary arts industry (in the words of the programming team it “will revolutionize the entire industry”), and was subsequently hired to help create a national business plan and develop a software program slated for a 2012 launch.

Verge’s inspiration came from a coworking success story outlined in Entrepreneur magazine: that of Seattle web developer David Brunelle, who went from a distracted, Xbox-playing home-based entrepreneur to the founder of a 5,000 square foot coworking space, Office Nomads. (Two days after reading about Brunelle, Verge presented a six-page proposal including three-year financial projections to contacts at the University of Delaware and various entrepreneurial development organizations in Delaware.)  The coIN Loft literally brought Verge’s many infatuations under one roof: entrepreneurs, technology, collective intelligence, collaborative innovation and crowdsourcing.  While an entrepreneur could opt for a business-incubator-type of office space, it is important to note that incubation is not synonymous with coworking (which doesn’t offer the financing and mentoring of an incubator).  Regardless, Verge does see The coIN Loft’s potential as a research and development lab where local companies, entrepreneurs and students can work together to test new ideas.

Garnett is confident that The coIN Loft’s mission “naturally drives members toward activities that revitalize the city.” Verge believes that entrepreneurship is the backbone of a great economy.  This may be why The coIN Loft’s most enthusiastic supporters include the Mayor’s Office, the City of Wilmington’s Office of Economic Development and Preservation Initiatives, an urban development firm with thirty years of success in visionary revitalization efforts including Miami’s Art Deco district.

For more information on The coIN Loft, visit www.thecoinloft.com, call 302.668.5265 or email coinloftde@gmail.com.

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Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Delaware: A Startup Ecosystem?

Yesterday, a trending topic that encouraged a lot of good discussion from the people I follow from Philadelphia, was sparked by a blog posted by @bjennelle in regards to Fast Company searching for the five best cities in the country to launch a startup. In Blake's post he posed some really good points as to why Philly is a good place for a startup: (1) because they have "one of the tightest startup communities of significant size in the country"; (2) Philly's entrepreneurial and creative scene have been built grassroots by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs; (3) Philly has had success in grassroot help-groups for entrepreneurs like Philly Startup Leaders , Indy Hall, Barcamp, Ignite, Technically Philly, MakePhilly, The Hacktory, Hive76, Refresh Philly, etc. Even though it seems with all these resources Philly has a great startup ecosystem already in place, the people that commented on the post, as well as Blake all still feel that the city needs to make a good amount of changes to catch up to elite cities like New York, San Francisco, Boulder, Seattle, and Austin. The unanimous feeling was that Philly has made some good strides, but as far as being a great city for startups, it is just in the infancy stages.

Naturally as I read through the comments, I started to think about where Delaware (Wilmington) would be on the food chain for great startup cities. As many of you all from Delaware know, our state is not the most receptive to new ideas or businesses. I can say this since Wes and I are in the process of launching an untraditional business (The coIN Loft) in Delaware, and have found it more of an uphill battle, even though it can do so much good for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It seems that things that are adopted in the elite cities, take forever to make a splash in this state, don't believe me, just take a gander at the small number of people really using social media to their advantage. I find it kind of embarrassing that this is the way things work here, however I also find it encouraging, mostly because this means that this state is leaving it open for new leaders to step up and pull this state to where I know it can be. Like Governor Markell said in something I read yesterday about the future of business in Delaware, "Delaware needs to be and can be the best place in the country to start and grow a business." 

My first reaction to this quote by Markell is: Wow, this is awesome; it looks like Delaware is finally going to be placed where it should be, but then reality sets in and I realize that this is something that is not going to happen very soon if some action doesn't take place NOW. One of my biggest pet peeves is the type of people that just complain and point out all the negatives, so instead of me being one of "those people", I'm going to suggest my opinions on what Delaware needs to do ( Wes and I included) to make Governor Markell's statement ring true.

(1) We need new ideas. This was very evident in Wes and I's talks with Mayor Baker, who said that Delaware is in dire need of new ideas because the traditional businesses are becoming obsolete. Unfortunately, the inability to remain relevant has led to many of these places closing or downsizing,  thus creating a rise in unemployment.

(2) We need to be open-minded. Needing new ideas is one thing, but when these NEW ideas are generated, we need to be open-minded and embrace the ones with potential (not just potential we're comfortable with either). A perfect example of this was an innovative tech company Wes and I were working with last year, that could not and did not get the proper help/funding from the state. This company was forced to leave the state in order to be successful, and sadly once they reach success, I can pretty much guarantee they will not return.

(3) We need to build a close-knit entrepreneurial community. Selfishness is a thing of the past, that does not exist in a world that embraces collaboration and community, due to the mass transparency social media brings us today. Just take a look at the people trying to sell you something on Twitter, they do not retain many followers since they have nothing real to say, and often times make an ass of themselves, thus diminishing their reputation. When everyone bands together and realizes the power a "crowd" can breed, that is when we (Delawareans) will create the type of ecosystem that is conducive to startups. New entrepreneurs need to see that there is a community that will welcome them and help them grow. When ego is dropped at the door, it is miraculous what the mind of many can conceive.

(4) We need to embrace and harness the young talent.  This is something that goes beyond words, the young talent is going to be the future of the city, so it should be paramount that it is embraced and encouraged now. One of the biggest problems Delaware has it that it does a poor job of retaining the graduates of its schools. We are losing very smart and talented people to these other cities because they do not see the same opportunity in this state compared to the others. I can speak from experience on this because Wes and I would often travel to New York, Boston, and Philly when we launched Verge because we related to the entrepreneurial community in the other states much more than the experiences we had in Delaware. We had thoughts of just doing business in other states because we felt Delaware just wasn't moving at the speed we wanted. It was not until we began launching The coIN Loft, that we truly felt Delaware had a lot of potential. What I am trying to say is that by embracing the younger generations and letting them give their input, it would make this state a lot more attractive. For that reason alone, we've opened the doors of coIN to high school and college students exploring the idea of entrepreneurship while they're still in school. 

(5) We need experience in today's economy/hot industries. Experience is something that is very much needed in our state, and I am not talking about just any experience, I am talking about the people who have their hands on the pulse of the hot industries and the ones who have launched successful scaling startups in this decade. This may seem like a dig, but I think everyone can agree that the business world today is a thousand times different than what it was years and years ago. Experience like this is invaluable, take a look at the dream team Foursquare, a New York startup put together.  

(6) We need true startup/early-stage capital. It doesn't matter how great of a startup ecosystem you have, if there is no access to early-stage capital. Ultimately, a startup is going to go where the money is, since it is money that will be the spark that will allow them to scale. Delaware has a few resources for capital, however these resources need to look at alternative investments and new ideas. Now, it is easy to say that they shouldn't be so risk averse, because it isn't my money, however the angel groups and VCs that took risks on early-stage investments such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc. will be receiving large returns, thus placing more money in the trough for the next homerun idea. It sounds like this wish may actually be underway, as I saw last night that Ernie from First State Innovation will be launching a fund for startups. One idea we've been kicking around internally is a local stock exchange. This isn't the time to talk about this, but I think it brings balance back towards the people, rather than a select few. A crowdfunding model specifically for startups would also be a great idea (this is apart of the vision of The coIN Loft). 

(7) We need leadership and most importantly ACTION. Like Andrew Carnegie said, "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." I felt this quote was important because in order to make Delaware into a great environment for startups, people are going to need to stand up and lead this change, not just by words, but by action. Philly has done a great job of this thus far with entrepreneurs launching the groups I spoke of before. 

My point in writing this post is to hopefully envoke response to what others feel is needed to put Delaware on the map as a great place for startups, or to tell me I am completely wrong. Some discussion is better than no discussion, so I encourage the people that read this to PLEASE leave a comment. Let this be the beginning of an avenue to voice your opinion on doing business in Delaware. 

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Marketing Isn't About Solutions

If you've ever read Seth Godin's work, you'll know he is a huge evangelist of doing remarkable things people like enough to tell their friends about. Launching The coIN Loft has taught me a valuable lesson-although coIN will solve a lot of problems for people, it doesn't mean people will like what we're doing. People need to find their own value in your doing.

Marketing is the perception of value people identify with your "stuff", not the solutions you tell them it will provide. In other words, your "stuff" doesn't even have to work, nor does it have to be used for the purposes it was designed to be a valuable part of people's lives. 

Who remembers Power Wheels? When I was growing up, every kid on my block wanted one. Even though most of us could run to whatever destination the person was driving to three or four times before they got there, we felt just like Michael Knight we were sitting behind the wheel of our very own Trans-Am. The marketing made us think we could drive like our parents did-as fast as they did. In reality, the product actually wasted time. The battery charge would die thirty blocks from our house, which left us to use every muscle in our 80lb bodies to push the 150lb clump of plastic home...alone. 

Marketing is frustrating. Marketing rarely ever makes much sense. Marketing is people. People don't want solutions, they want perceptions. 

 

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

From Grief to Greatness

The crowd stared in frightened anticipation as the the 6 foot guard took the most gloriously painful shot of his life. As the ball bounced off the backboard and fell through the net, the player, exhausted and drenched in sweat, fell to the floor of his high school gym. The crowd erupted as they watched players from the visiting team and their home team rally around the almost lifeless body of the player. The joy of accomplishing his goal was overwhelming. Scoring 61 points in a single game was no small feat; especially during a tumultuous time like this. Every ounce of energy  the played possessed in heart, mind, and body was left on the floor. The brutal murder of his 61 year old Grandfather had been avenged. The player honored the death of his best friend the way his Aunt had requested. He scored 1 point for every day his Grandfather lived. 

The player was Chris Paul (CP3) of the New Orleans Hornets. 

The day after his Grandfather was robbed and brutally murdered  by gang of teenagers, Christ Paul's senior year basketball season began. Fueled with pain and anger he refused to sit out of the game. On the way to the game he asked his Aunt what he should do to honor his Grandfather's death; surprisingly, his aunt replied, in a very matter of fact way, "score 61 points". Astonished by answer, he asked her to repeat herself. Again, in the same tone she repeated, "score 61 points, 1 for every day your Granddad lived on this Earth". Chris repeated her exact words under his breath as if to say yeah, OK, I'll try. 

Between the car ride to the gym and the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, Chris found the courage to turn his doubt in to audacious belief. During the interview I was watching on espn's "Homecoming", Chris recanted his feelings during the game. He said he became fixated on his goal..."nothing was going to stop me". In the context of the story his words really resonated with me. During the toughest time of his life, Chris dug deep to turn his grief into greatness. He used his fears to carve out a success story for the history books. 

Most of us will never come face-to-face with a situation like Chris Paul; however, we've all had our share of "61st point" moments. For Steve and I, The coIN Loft is our moment. It is the second one we've had to endure as partners. The first was our decision to take a leap of faith to start Verge. The difference now is that we can rely on the support of an entire community to see us through the tough times. The difference for you is that now, through our coworking community, you too have a soft place to land when tough times arise. You no longer have to pace the hallways of your house or nervously sip coffee after coffee when things don't go your way and need to be fixed. You can simply reach out to your neighbor to discuss and collaborate on solutions. Times like these will arise often during your days as an entrepreneur. Let's get through them together. 

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Don't Panic! (your brain might get stuck that way!)

We've all heard the fabled warnings of our mothers about not making faces because they might just get stuck that way. Until today I never thought those words, now pearls of wisdom, had any validity.
Over the weekend I watched "Bad Company", a spy/thriller film staring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. The basic premise of the film is Chris Rock, unbeknown to him, had twin brother that was killed in the line of duty as a government agent on a high profile case. Anthony Hopkins works for the same department the twin did. The department tracks Rock down, sequesters him, then trains him to pick up where his brother left off.
During one of the scenes, Rock is suddenly abducted in his sleep by agents and brought to an interrogation room as a part of his training. After a short bit of dialogue about the ordeal, Hopkins explains to Rock how the brain shuts down during times of fear/panic. As a young entrepreneur, those words stuck with me. I asked myself "if fear impairs my brain function during times of anxiety, how is it effecting my ability to think clearly about my business?" I would challenge you to consider the same.
Fear is one of our most basic and vital survival tactics. What we consider as our "fears" is made possible by the amygdala, a small almond shaped organ near the base of the brain. It's primary role is to process and store our emotional reactions. In other words, when we are faced with situations that increase our anxiety the amygdala produces an involuntarily compulsory reaction which tells us to run, fight, or freeze. Consequently these reactions may not be beneficial to dilemma at hand, but it's what we've unknowing conditioned our brains to do. Over time, the reactions become hard-wired into our psyche. This process is referred to as fear conditioning.
What am I getting at?
Our business ventures present us with stressful situations on a daily basis. One day it's the need for process innovations or increased efficiency of operations, the next day it's the need to diversify our product line, while the next day we could be faced with the decision to use twitter to reduce the cost and time of our marketing strategy. During these times of excessive anxiety, we need to take a second to consider our options, rather then allowing ourselves to simply react. Consider prototyping your way through the problem with quick sketches, mind maps, analogies, and metaphors. Another sure fire way to hedge off detrimental compulsory reactions is to frequently discuss your business with a trusted colleague or friend. Their perspectives can help you approach things in a more rational way. Remember, how you think is what will be!

Posted via email from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

At One Time DE Was A Truly Innovative Leader In The Country

When I saw the tweet earlier today about the glory days when Delaware was considered one of the true innovative leaders in the country, accompanied by some encouragements to inspire the state to recapture its position; it immediately reminded of a post I wrote about a month ago, Why Coworking? Why DE? Why Now? The premise of this post was to discuss the reasoning behind Wes and I's decision to bring coworking to Delaware. In that post our reasonings were based mostly off of us envisioning Delaware as a clean slate, waiting for people to decide what happens next. Now, I see this picture of Delaware as a good thing, and as a bad thing. The good being, Delaware would seem like a very conducive place for new ideas and start-ups. The bad being, Delaware is going to have to either find some way of attracting these new ideas and start-ups, or inspire the people currently in the state to become these new ideas and start-ups. Either way, I see it as a tough path since it seems other states now have a formidable lead on us (Delaware), due mostly to us (Delaware) being content to only be known for financial institutions and incorporation services. 

On the other hand, I do also see this as the most opportune time to take action, otherwise I would probably be employed in the financial services industry, unfortunately. So, do I think Delaware will be able to regain its position amongst the other leaders in innovation, you ask. I would have to say yes, but only if we as Delawareans join together as a community to force this progress, you see many is always better than a few, and WHEN this community begins to make progress, others will follow and the rest will be history. 

LETS ALL BE FAMOUS!

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Don't Let Age or Experience Shatter Your Dreams

I have wanted to follow up watching the biography of Ferdinand Porsche with a post, however I couldn't think of what to talk about until it hit me this moment, so here it goes:

While watching the biography, the most interesting thing that stuck out to me was the resiliency and creativity Ferdinand possessed at such a young age. For instance, he was tinkering with his own inventions revolving around electricity and batteries at age 12, nowadays your typical 12 year-old would only think about tinkering with his PS3 or ipod ( and not the inventive type of tinkering of course). Then, by age 25 Ferdinand developed what was the first ever hybrid car, using two electrical/gas engines that powered each front tire of the then enormous carriage-looking car. And as if making it a hybrid wasn't enough, he also created a car that at the time was considered one of the fastest, reaching a blazing 9mph top speed. Of course, after all of this he went on to create Porsche which I am sure you all have heard about.

So, my point to this story is that age is simply just a number when it comes to new innovations. If you don't believe me look at Mark Zuckerberg, or Elon Musk, or Kevin Rose, or even the dudes from Youtube. The parallel between all these people is that they all had great ideas, but little experience in each of their respective industries. This lack of experience or their age, however did not deter them from seeing their idea to fruition. Now, you might say, well the reason each of these people succeeded to the point they are today is because they got their idea into the hands of the right people or the people with the experience to make their ideas scale. My response would be that I agree, although I would also say that the thing that separates this group from everyone else, is that they actually had the nerve to turn that great idea into something the experienced people (i.e. VCs) would want to be part of.

To close, I would just like to reiterate that age and experience should not mean that you cannot make your dream happen. Look at Wes and I, I am sure you probably have heard the story of how we went from reading an article on coworking in Entrepreneur Magazine, to putting together a team that could help us bring coworking to DE in just under 3 months. And what's my age again? .......... That would be 23.

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

TNT: coIN Loft brings coworking to Wilmington

According to Wes Garnett, Delaware is the only mid-atlantic state that does not have a coworking space.

“It’s not just because no one has started it,” he says, “but because no one has even heard of coworking.”

Much like many Philadelphians, Garnett sees a northern neighbor taking technology talent from his city when there are plenty of reasons to stay home. Though Delaware is well-known as a tax shelter for large corporations, the state hasn’t exactly been rolling out the red carpet for entrepreneurs, something Garnett and his partners hope to change through coIN Loft.

“In 2007, Delaware was ranked 50 out of 50 for attracting entrepreneurs. The next year we jumped to 35,” he says. “Either way we suck.”

The life-long Delaware resident, along with business partners Pedro Moore and Steve Roettger, is leading the charge to create coIN Loft, a coworking space in Wilmington, Delaware.  The trio is anticipating opening in March and the space will have 17 desks available in three tiered memberships: basic (a few times per month), part-time (two to three days per week) and full-time. Members of coIN Loft will also be eligible to participate in crowdsourced client projects.

The origins of coIN Loft – short for “community innovation” – stemmed from a October article in Entrepreneur Magazine citing coworking as an upcoming trend in the startup world.  Both Roettger and Garnett saw the space as a chance to change Delaware’s lack of an entrepreneurial mindset as well as a way to attract clients to Verge, their Wilmington-based company that offers consulting services to early-stage startup companies.

The business partners began immediately looking for a space. Something that, as any of the Indy Hall founders would tell you, should come only after a community is established, something Garnett acknowledges.

The floor plan for coIN Loft. (click to enlarge).

“We did everything backwards, it’s in our nature to be running really fast to the things we want to do,” he says.

In researching a space, the group also came across a real estate developer shopping around a coworking space dubbed the name “Verge Coworking,” ironic given coIN’s consulting gig.

“It’s like in school when you wanted to talk to a girl you thought was hot and she turned out to be your best friend’s girlfriend,” says Garnett. “It was like the Twilight Zone.”

That coworking space eventually fell through, but that won’t stop coIN Loft’s urgency. The group just signed a year lease, and the group, using roughly $25,000 of outside investment and $25,000 of their own funds, and is beginning to renovate the space as weather allows.

“In Delaware things just take forever,” he says of coIN Loft’s urgency. “People really want to see things change but most people just sit on sidelines.”

coIN Loft’s organizers say it has a handful of verbal commitments for full-time members and has seen interest in the Wilmington community as a next step for the city finding its identity. The community, which has already held two Ignite events, even created an entire neighborhood dedicated to housing creative professionals.

“If we could build the reputation of coIN up,” he says, “it will make people say: ‘These guys [in Wilmington] are just as talented as anyone else.”

Every Monday, Technically Not Tech will feature people, projects, and businesses that are involved with Philly’s tech scene, but aren’t necessarily technology focused. See others here.

Full Disclosure: Independents Hall co-founder Alex Hillman is a current sponsor of Technically Philly.

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?

Fear is Contagious...Get Out From Under the Pressure

The topic of fear seems to be very prevalent through Wes and I's posts, so I figured since we are living in a transparent world I would give you a little bit of a personal story about our journey with fear as our copilot. It seems that fear is everywhere and is very contagious among everyone, even if you cannot recognize its presence, believe me it is not too far away.

Our journey began almost two years ago when I had just finished up my senior year of college at the University of Delaware, and started my working career at a financial services firm. It was at this firm that I met Wes, and within a week or so of working there, we already started scheming ways to better the so-called process to success. Now, its not because we just wanted to be defiant, rather we saw this process as something that may or may not create success for some people. It seemed also that this process was giving others an excuse to remain mediocre, and paralyzing them in an optimistic state, dreaming that someday one big deal would come that would catapult them out of mediocrity. It was at this moment that we needed to make a decision: should we conform and be stuck in the ever so contagious fearful environment or develop our own thing. Being it as though we are both very ambitious, we felt that conforming would just not suffice, so we began creating our own process of shooting for the stars. One thing that gave us a little encouragement along the way, was something Wes' dad had said to him, "If you go after the the big things and fail, you will learn the steps to reach the top, but if you never try, you will never know what the top is or how to get there." With this encouragement and various small successes, we became students of our industry and derived a process that seemed to get us into places and meet people that we would have never expected. It was the lessons from our time at that firm, that Wes and I will never forget and will carry alongside of us throughout our working lives.

So, not to soon after we started our own thing, came the time when we realized that financial services was not either one of our true callings, and that we were meant to do bigger things; thus the planning for Verge became our nights and weekends for the next 4 months. Now, if you ask does it really take that long to plan a business, my answer would be NO WAY. The reason that it took us this long was that (1) we didn't know exactly what we were going to do, and (2) fear and pressure were hanging above our heads. It took until the beginning of March until we finally mustered up the courage to quit our jobs to venture out on our own. I cannot tell how great of a feeling it was to clear my desk and walk out of the corporate world to become my own boss, but that feeling soon became HOLY $*@T, I am my own boss. I honestly don't think I got too much sleep that night, thinking about all the "What Ifs?", and the feeling of "What do I do now." Then I remembered this saying I once heard, "You should embrace fear or the feeling of butterflies, because that feeling is when you can tell you are on the path to growth." It is simple little things like this that I continue to tell myself along my entrepreneurial journey.

Since this post is to be transparent and talk a little about fear, I will give a little insight to how fear affects me to this day. To be quite honest, every step towards the goal of launching The coIN Loft have had their ups and downs. Immediately upon reading into the concept of coworking, I felt that this was something I needed to be part of in some sort of way. After finding that there were no spaces in Delaware, the decision became that Wes and I were just going to have to start a space ourselves. At the time it seemed like a no-brainer, however soon after reality caught up and I started to think is Delaware the right place, maybe there isn't a space in Delaware for a reason, would anyone in Delaware see the same value that I did by working amongst other like-minded individuals, etc. Then came the money part, this is a big investment in a business that does not seem to be very easy to break-even in. These thoughts continue to be in my head at all times, a lot of times depriving me of sleep, however each morning I wake, pumped to be one day closer to satisfying the goal of launching Delaware's first coworking space. You see I am more scared of the feeling of regret, than the feeling of failure. Both Wes and I are the type of people that want the ball at the end of the game knowing we need to make something happen, and we have found that this pressure and fear is actually our internal drive that will ultimately make us successful. The coIN Loft is our way of introducing change, and encouraging the people of Delaware that as a community we can make some really cool stuff happen, key part being that community is the catalyst.

I know this post has been kind of erratic but the point of what I am trying to say can all be summed up in a quote I thought of this morning: "Fear is contagious and sometimes crippling, but it is how you channel that fear that can ultimately make you wildly successful." 

Posted via web from Wes & Steve are The Dumb Kidz?