Marc Nager: Money isn’t the problem! How to start a “Startup Ecosystem”

Submitted by Jason Evanish on Tue, 05/25/2010 - 7:09am

All too often I hear people mutter, “It’s just so tough to get funding here,” or “Our startup is doing well, but people just don’t ‘get it’ here,” or “We’re going to have to move to Silicon Valley if we want to ever make it.” Most of the time, they’re wrong. Here is my un-scholarly perspective from my experience after seeing over 400 new startup ventures launched in over 40 cities. 


Problem = in-action & complaining

Solution = action


Remember in grade school when someone said, “It’s freezing in here.” Confirmation and complaints spread faster than the yawns in history class. Nothing got accomplished by doing that unless someone, who probably wasn’t cold in the first place, went and bumped the thermostat up a few degrees. Point - generally most people are really good at complaining about extremely obvious things, and luckily, for our friends in skirts or flip-flops in January, there’s always a few people that actually get out of their seat and do something about it.


Whether you are in Grand Rapids, Michigan or you are in Santa Monica, California, you can find every single ingredient required. I bet the first thing that popped into your mind when I said “ingredients” was “money,” right? I’m so tired of the prevailing thought s that you can’t do anything without money and using it as an excuse. Yes, its part of the equation, but I will fight to keep it out of the focus of any conversation. We all know about LeanStartup principles and how you can start a business for practically nothing these days, but one thing for sure is that there is no shortage of money out there. There is however, a much higher shortage of people who have money that do not understand the startup culture and ecosystem.


Building a “startup ecosystem” isn’t rocket science

All too often I see what seems to be a broken, over engineered system for delivering money to individuals and teams that are willing to kill themselves to reach unrealistic goals.  We’re lucky enough in the US to have everything it takes to support a healthy ecosystem in any city. It is not some complex machine, but rather it is a way of thinking and acting, a culture. A simple paradigm shift and network of community support that instills that “yes, you can start today” - not in a few weeks, or when you save enough money, or when the time is ‘right,’ but today. 


Main ingredients: 1. Smart People 2. Mentors (smart & successful people) 3. Physical Location 4. One Successful Startup


Since all of these ingredients exist in every community, we just need to get the right mix to foster a culture that supports entrepreneurship, risk-taking, innovation, and startups. 


Events like Open Coffee, Lunch 2.0, Startup Drinks, and Founder Dating are amazing networking events where you are sure to rub shoulders with some of the community’s brightest. Educational events and workshops like Ruby on Rails, Google App Engine, .Net, Mobile Developers, Investor Pitching, Business Plan Writing, etc. are an amazingly essential aspect to helping educate and expand the skill sets of potential entrepreneurs.
 
Next you need programs that focus on tangible results by merging the networking aspects with real world applications like Startup Weekend which help encourage, incentives, and mentor individuals and teams willing to forgo talking and start executing. Of course, once you have some people actually executing, there needs to be some support structures that help lower the barriers to starting a company such as local incubators, co-working spaces, mentoring programs, etc. 


There is an obvious need for a physical location for these events to be taking place that is convenient, accessible, and has a great energy. A successful company or location with successful companies truly becomes the nexus of startup culture in communities. It takes success to breed success, and more often than not, offices of successful startups absolutely reek of fun and creative energy. There needs to be more offices where you can play video games, grab a drink, or just hang out after those long bootstrapping early days. More open and creative workspaces truly foster the “community” of entrepreneurs that then set the tone of the entrepreneurial culture.


So, what about the money? 

Once you have enough people executing, starting, and supporting other startups with little to no money but a whole ton of passion, it is only a matter of time before rich Uncle Jimmy, who gave you $1,000 to help you pay your mortgage, realizes that their is something special happening and a legitimate chance that you are not actually dealing drugs. Start inviting all of Uncle Jimmy’s friends to your office or to your next event as this is truly an educational experience for them. They will realize that something needs to change when they show up and are the only person wearing a suit, yet they leave with the biggest smile on their face after getting a taste of the amazing creative energy and culture developing in their community. They’ll be back sans suit and money in hand. I’ve seen it happen a dozen times, but you’ve got to convince them that it no longer takes $100million and an 80 page business plan to get a legitimate startup off the ground.
 
Most everyone knows about these ecosystem members and community players, but there is still a difference between someone who talks about them, and someone who actually does them. 


What can you do if you want to get more involved? 

  • Join a mailing list, community group, or meetup and go to a new event that interests you. If one doesn’t exist, start one. (greenhornconnect.com, meetup.com)
  • Start talking to other people about your ideas. Find people that are interested, GET FEEDBACK on your ideas. (startup drinks, open coffee, lunch 2.0, Founder Dating, etc.)
  • Find a co-founder. You’re idea can’t be the next Google alone. (Startup Weekend)
  • Start building. TODAY! Challenge yourself.
  • Reach out for advice. Get mentors.
  • Invite a local Angel or VC to attend one of your events.  

If you don’t believe me already, you need to realize that you have everything it takes right in your backyard, and you can start doing little things today that helps breed a completely new level of passion and inspiration. This is the beginning of a culture that understands and fully supports anyone crazy enough wanting to start building the next “big thing.” Harvesting moon water just became a reality. Next is Mars. 
 
 
Marc Nager is the co-founder of Startup Weekend, a weekend-long event for startupers from diverse backgrounds (developers, designers, business development, lawyers, etc) to try to launch a business in a single weekend. They have held this event in cities all over the world. 

 

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