Three things I learned about Boulder Startup Week
Last week was one of the best weeks of 2014. Boulder Startup Week occurred thanks to Andrew Hyde, the countless volunteers, and sponsors. This event showcases all the great entrepreneurs, the various startups, and how we think community first in Boulder. After getting to attend a lot of different events there were three things that stood out to me. #1. The University of Colorado Is The Farm Team to The Big leagues of Startups
It is baseball season so I might as well pay tribute to one of the best baseball movies of all time, Field of Dreams. The quote "If you build it, he will come" doesn't always hold true with startups but in the case of the University of Colorado, it seems there are three areas at the University of Colorado that are getting some traction. From the additions of Spark Boulder- the off campus work space for CU students to the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship to the up and coming "Idea Forge" that the engineering school is launching, there is a lot of innovation occurring on campus. These three areas and the many others mentioned this week are great farm leagues to help young entrepreneurs get to the next level. The community support for these programs has been instrumental in getting them up and running. To help foster innovation in a younger generation, we need to do a better job of reaching out to the campus to help. I plan on mentoring more and see what other ways I can get involved with these groups. #2. One Common Boulder Entrepreneur Slogan: Get Shit Done There was one mantra that many of the speakers at BSW embodied. It may be the best entrepreneurial philosophy out there. It's called G.S.D. or "Get Shit Done." When all else fails, set aside your feelings about the work and get started doing it. One panel that discussed this a lot was the "Early Stories at Big Companies" presentation. There we heard the stories from companies like Twitter, Github, and Sendgrid and the ways in which these companies were able to move the needle when they were still considered a startup by not being afraid of failure and trying to get things done. #3. Embrace Failure The most interesting presentations at Boulder Startup week were on the failure track. It is against our internal motives to talk about our failures but there is so much you can learn when you open yourself up to talking about it. Making failure socially acceptable makes us more open and creative. Mistakes are part of taking healthy risk. They provide us with new ways of thinking and give us new insights into how we can improve as leaders. Real failure doesn't come from making mistakes; it comes from avoiding errors at all possible costs, from fear to take risks and from the inability to grow. Being mistake free is not success. Still, we avoid challenges and hide mistakes. We don't like to talk about them and bring attention to them. It's safer to look the other way or sweep them under the rug. That's why so many leaders have the same struggles over and over again. Thank you BSW for making us all think of failure a little differently this week.
All in all it was a great week. Let's all keep the momentum going. And start getting ready for Fort Collins Startup Week and Denver Startup Week
Brian Schmitt Founder Belay Capital