What Am I Missing?

As the Director of ITEN, I am very fortunate to have a unique vantage point from which to view the emerging tech start-up scene here in the 'Lou.   I get to meet with a bunch of new start-ups nearly every month, I see companies doing their investor pitch to our Mock Angel group, I attend the Arch Angel meetings and see those presentations, and every day I have the opportunity to communicate with investors, mentors, and many different folks thinking about starting something new or interested in participating in ITEN in some way.

All of the new companies that are being formed naturally seek ways to maximize the chances for success for their new venture, and many of them are hoping to get investor dollars to help them grow bigger, better and faster.  I've written here (see my earlier blogs below), and countless others have written more eloquently than I about some of the basic "must haves" for a successful venture: a venture that can execute successfully and can attract other people's money. 

One of those must-haves is credible (read: experienced) management.  I've had many investors tell me they'd sooner invest in a mediocre idea lead by a great team, than a great idea that has a mediocre team in charge.  Investors are very reluctant to put their money into a new entrepreneur's on-the-job training program, there's just too much extra risk.  Knowing how to build a successful company is not a skill we're born with; it's a learned skill, and a tough one to learn at that.   Sure, there are stories about first-time entrepreneurs getting a couple of million dollars and going on to fame and fortune, just like there are stories about high school kids playing ball in the park and soon starring in the NBA.  Good luck betting on that scenario!

So how can ITEN help an entrepreneur with not enough past management experience get over this funding hurtle and get their venture off and running?   We thought long and hard about this problem and in the end came up with one idea that we now call our C-Level program (you can read about it on the ITEN website).  The new program has gotten off to a great start in terms of providing a number of very well qualified more senior-level management folks interested in joining an early-stage tech company.  One of our candidates has already signed-on with an established ITEN company.  In most cases the candidates are open to non-cash compensation arrangements.

If you're an entrepreneur trying to get your company launched, building a management team has to be right up at the top of your list along with launching your product or service.   Many if not most first-time entrepreneurs make a mistake by trying to go it alone or with a partial team.  Why do they do this?   It must be either out of a lack of understanding about how investors look at start-ups, or out of over-estimation of their own abilities, or low "idea-esteem" (not believing enough in their own idea).  Too many entrepreneurs seem to be keeping heads-down doing the part of business creation with which they're most comfortable, while the equally important stuff they don't like to do gets totally ignored.   If your venture doesn't already have management team members that among them have past experience in the business side of building a company, then you really need to get busy finding that person or people and getting them into the company.   Even if you don't need outside investors to get your company going, you still need experienced leadership that can build a company. 

We've already vetted and circulated the resumes of 5 C-Level candidates to all of the registered ITEN companies.   These folks are asking to join an ITEN company because they have experience, skills, connections, and in some cases money to invest of their own.  Some of you (but not a lot of you) have seized this unique opportunity and gotten with one or two of them to see if there's a good fit with your needs.   Of course not every match is going to work, but one has already joined a team and is adding value to the company they've joined.

The C-Level program is very new.  Maybe we need to improve or modify it in some way.   Do you have any ideas?

We've put a lot of thought into creating the C-Level program, and we've put some really good candidates forward who are eager to connect.   Do we need to change the way we're doing this? 

You can click on the orange (it's orange on my screen) title of this blog and then scroll down to the bottom to post a comment or any further ideas you've got.   Thanks!