To this point, some agencies and sophisticated investors are taking note and want to give resources to the program which I think is great. The only advice that I give to any "adult" (whatever that means) is simple: slow down and listen.
My experience in the Foundry taught me that entrepreneurs don't have a resource problem but a RESOURCEFULNESS problem. When I first started Dash & Cooper, I thought that a substantial round of funding would help me solve all my problems. But thanks to the forced scarcity of the Foundry model and culture, I learned that there were a number of smaller, cheaper steps that I could take to incrementally move from the place I was (high ambiguity, anxiety, fear) to the place where most of my business classes start with (defined product perfectly matched with a defined market).
If I had been given a 5-figure investment at the beginning of the program in exchange for equity like most other accelerator/incubator programs do, my inevitable failure would have been amplified, not solved. I was (and still am) a diaper-baby and had no idea what I was doing. Forced to solve the problem with little more than $500, I broke through all the commonplace barriers that people use to explain why starting a company is hard. Being resource starved forced me to be resourceful and in the process I learned something new about myself.
Every person within every Foundry cohort faces this gauntlet. It also helps explain why the participants emerge unstoppable because we have seen (and created) what the world looks like when creative willpower combined with a social system committed to you (not just your company) gets applied to any "problem".
Of all the things that an entrepreneur can receive from the Foundry, the distinction of Resourcefulness (with a capital R) is the most valuable mainly because it costs you the person you thought you were. Which might help to explain why the underlying connection each cohort has with each other is the respect for this process - and why we, the participants, vehemently defend against thoughtless application of outside financing or other resources. Resources rob participants of the precious and painful opportunity to awaken something in yourself that wasn't there before.
They also attract the wrong crowd.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't have resources. There are some world class executives circling the Foundry and I would be delighted if the money showed up to bring these people in full-time. I'm sure Matt would appreciate better filming and editing equipment for his videos. Paid subscription to various software-as-a-service products, used laptops, computers, projectors and whiteboard pens have been the most useful for participants and administrators.
And food. Foundry has been known (allegedly) to run up monstrous tabs at Eva's, The Wild Grape and Dick n Dixie's - so I know that this would consume a large line item in any budget ;-)
These are the high leverage items in which resources would make a difference. And that's about it.
Now to address the issue of equity financing and attracting the wrong crowd.
Anyone that want to ports a seed fund on top of the program simply has no idea how a Foundry participant gets imprinted and this becomes the type of entrepreneur investors want to give resources to. Programs that offer resources attract people that want resources. Notice that Foundry doesn't offer resources...
The reason why Foundry participants show up, start companies, and help manage 80% of administrative tasks despite a schedule that juggles full-time school, full-time work, and family life is because they want to get what no other program offers (hint: not resources). Foundry's lightweight and methodical process of repeatedly bathing participants into the nit-and-grit of discovering businesses from scratch is the reason why it exists. It was born of unmet demand not fulfilled by other programs. Not that the other programs are wrong or not valuable - it's just that a year ago 20 of us wanted to start companies, looked around at what was available, voted with our feet and with the gracious help of Rob Wuebker, Matt Hoffman, Ken Krull, Todd Dauphinaus, Brent Thompson and Adam Slovik we invented the Foundry.
There are plenty of places for entrepreneurs to get resources, they are called business plan competitions. And we actually have a business that can help win any competition at will - CupAd. The Light brothers are happy to coach you to win competitions because we, the children, know that those things are not real life, just another variant of class - and thus don't treat them seriously.
There's nothing wrong with investing in strong teams progressing fundable ideas - Foundry is full of these types of teams and there's nothing wrong with being interested in and having financing discussions with a team or company that you want to invest in. There's also nothing wrong with getting a return on one's portfolio, it is the point of a seed fund and the fiduciary responsibility of its managers.
But if your motive is to profit from a bunch of 20-somthings or be a guy that "has a say" without regard to the process that produces the results that got you interested in the first place, then it is a signal to the *participants* that you are "Not Foundry". One earns this scarlet letter by clearly demonstrating that they don't understand (and not interested in understanding) what is involved in the 'forge' part when we say that "Foundry exists to forge entrepreneurs for life."
Focusing on the entrepreneur creates a fundable company as a catalytic byproduct. Fundable companies are the means, not the end.
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