Recently visited a collaborative work space buzzing with entrepreneurs, tech start ups, and freelancers in the upper Midwest.
Hundreds of people who just don't fit in elsewhere gather here to work side by side and reap the synergies that emerge when inventiveness, innovation, and dreams dance together.
The majority of these solopreneurs and small businesses are attempting to attract venture capital.
However, when given an opportunity to have their business dreams featured by a multimedia conglomerate with reach into three states, none of these start ups jumped at the chance. They refused media coverage.
One after another turned down the opportunity to spotlight themselves to an audience that included deep pocketed angel investors- the very people with the means to turn start up dreams into reality.
After dozens of these entrepreneurs turned down media exposure I was afforded an opportunity to privately ask a media savvy liason to the group why?
I was told the majority of these start ups lack an understanding of the value in telling their story. While some simply do not understand how to do so, I was told others naively and arrogantly believe they are so special they'll be discovered without telling the world why they're special.
Later, a venture capitalist reacting to what I had learned told me this mindset is pervasive here and why some angel investors spend their time and invest their money elsewhere- where entrepreneurs are dying to show the world what they're creating.
I left the collaborative work space wondering how many of the great ideas there might die without ever being shared- secrets that should not be kept, or go unfunded, or hide when the world comes calling.
