Where are you from originally?
I was born in NE Kansas. I was a Farm boy before I moved to San Antonio when I started high school.
What university did you go to?
I went to UT where I received a BS-ASE and MBA.
What brought you to Austin?
UT and the Austin environment/lifestyle brought me here.
What is your passion and strength?
The challenge of taking a company from an idea to a viable commercial company and all of the stages, steps and resistances encountered along the way. I am a generalist by nature with a strong curiosity to learn new things and apply that broad knowledge and experience to solving the problems of growth and change. My specific skills are in finance/accounting, management information systems and manufacturing operations/ lean manufacturing.
What need does it fulfill?
I find statisfaction in achievement and the pride of being associated with an exciting product or service.
What exactly do you bring to startups?
Broad experience in multiple industries. In both high growth as well as turnaround/change environments. My total systems orientation lets me see the big picture of a company’s markets, management, operations and financial stability and put strategies and tactics in place to address the issues.
What type of startup would benefit from your strengths?
Ones that complement or relate to real estate, manufacturing (electronic and aerospace), and oil & gas.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Clearly and succinctly identifying the value proposition and getting a team identified and committed that has the demonstrated skills and expertise to help ensure success. With those elements in place it is easier to get and receive help and to show investors your path to success.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Don’t give up, keep refining and honing your idea, build your team, get all the help you can from as many sources as you can. There are many groups in Austin and on the internet to research.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
I don’t have one best. There are many networking and entrepreneurial organizations in Austin. There is one for almost any type of company and stage of development from idea to seed round funding to B round, etc. The more networking one does the better the focus becomes on what groups or individuals can be most beneficial to their specific needs.
Best regards,
Hall T.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
JC Otero and Team Talk about the Austin Social Innovation Hub
JC Otero and Team Talk about the Austin Social Innovation Hub
Where are you from originally?
JC: San Antonio, Texas
Matt: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Martin: New Braunfels, Texas
James: Houston, Texas
What university did you go to?
JC: I graduated from St. Edwards University with a double major in Business
Administration and Management.
Matt: I have a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, a M.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems from St. Edward's University.
Martin: First part Blinn Junior College in Bryan, then Concordia University
in Austin. Majored in management and human resources with many classes in
entrepreneurship and social work.
James: I was a triple major/quadruple minor at the University of Texas at
Austin. Hook 'em!
What brought you to Austin?
JC: I feel that destiny brought me here--perhaps with a little push from my
parents who commanded me to attend college in any city except for San
Antonio--and now that I'm here I can't see myself leaving anytime soon.
Matt: I came to Austin in 1998 to attend the University of Texas. I
originally majored in Electrical Engineering but after taking a year off and
some soul searching, I decided that I was more interested in studying human
cognition. After a brief stint in Philadelphia to get my Masters degree in
Psychology, I had trouble finding a job and decided to get back into
computer programming. A friend of mine encouraged me to apply to work at an
Austin start-up as a computer programmer...and I have been here ever since.
Martin: I was recruited to help with a national non-profit that catalyzes
college students to create social change. They had a presence here.
James: The University of Texas initially pulled me in; the eccentricity and
vibrancy kept me here.
What is the idea behind your startup?
Catalyzing the entrepreneurial community to develop innovative solutions
for social challenges is at the heart of what we do. We believe that anyone
can be a change agent--sometimes they just need a little help.
What need does it fulfill?
There are many people in Austin who have innovative solutions to the problems that plague our society. But what's lacking is a structured ecosystem that enables these great ideas to become real solutions. The Austin Social Innovation Hub is stimulating this ecosystem by making resources available to social innovators, providing the network that enables them to connect, educating the public and new social innovators, and doing the research and advocacy to support social innovation in Austin and beyond.
What exactly does your product do?*
Our purpose is to catalyze innovative solutions to social problems.
We have four offerings:
- *Incubation*: launch and accelerate innovative social enterprises from
idea to cash flow
- *Networking*: facilitate collaboration between social innovators and
social enterprises in Austin both online and face-to-face settings
- *Education*: educate individuals and enterprises on how to create
social impact
- *Research*: research and advocate for social innovation in Austin and
beyond
Specifically, we're creating physical hub for social innovation that serves as a co working and incubation space and a website that enhances collaboration among Austin’s key stakeholders and concentrates resources on promising social innovators and enterprises.
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in creating social impact.
The hub is meant to be highly inclusive; individuals of all backgrounds and
enterprises at all stages of development are invited to join the community. Our members and partners have diverse interests: creative capitalism, social
entrepreneurship, social business, corporate social responsibility, blended
value enterprise, double and triple bottom line accounting, microfinance, and sustainability, among others. But their unifying characteristic is their passion for social innovation, which has several definitions, but one is "an initiative, product or process which profoundly changes the basic routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of any social system. Successful social innovations are therefore disruptive and have durability, impact and scale." [Frances Westley, University of Waterloo]
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Everyone has great ideas but not everyone wants to do the work to make it a
reality. For us the most challenging aspect of getting starting has been
getting a committed team to work for sweat equity to actualize our long-term
vision. Considering that everyone involved is still working full-time jobs
or in other revenue generating ventures, it's been difficult to coordinate
schedules and hit some set goals. Fortunately, we're all bootstrappers and
we're comfortable making magic happen with the resources we do have.
What is the next step for you and your startup?
The next step is to solidify our business and organization model and begin
testing it in Austin. To do that, we need to continue to build our team and
secure initial funding. We expect to launch the incubator component in 2010.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Have faith in yourself, your skills, your strengths, and the possibilities
around you. If you are passionate about something stop talking about it and
do it! Beware of what the naysayers say; if you believe in it, then go for
it and don't give up. And, most importantly, don't underestimate the
willingness of others in your reach to help you with accomplishing your
goals.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
The Austin entrepreneurial community as a whole has been absolutely amazing.
Their willingness to brainstorm with us, review our developing model, and
provide psychological support has been instrumental in moving us forward.
It's incredible what you can accomplish when you align with a group of
dedicated individuals towards a shared, powerful goal. And what better place
to be for socially-minded innovation and entrepreneurship than in Austin,
Texas!
Best regards,
Hall T.
Where are you from originally?
JC: San Antonio, Texas
Matt: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Martin: New Braunfels, Texas
James: Houston, Texas
What university did you go to?
JC: I graduated from St. Edwards University with a double major in Business
Administration and Management.
Matt: I have a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, a M.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems from St. Edward's University.
Martin: First part Blinn Junior College in Bryan, then Concordia University
in Austin. Majored in management and human resources with many classes in
entrepreneurship and social work.
James: I was a triple major/quadruple minor at the University of Texas at
Austin. Hook 'em!
What brought you to Austin?
JC: I feel that destiny brought me here--perhaps with a little push from my
parents who commanded me to attend college in any city except for San
Antonio--and now that I'm here I can't see myself leaving anytime soon.
Matt: I came to Austin in 1998 to attend the University of Texas. I
originally majored in Electrical Engineering but after taking a year off and
some soul searching, I decided that I was more interested in studying human
cognition. After a brief stint in Philadelphia to get my Masters degree in
Psychology, I had trouble finding a job and decided to get back into
computer programming. A friend of mine encouraged me to apply to work at an
Austin start-up as a computer programmer...and I have been here ever since.
Martin: I was recruited to help with a national non-profit that catalyzes
college students to create social change. They had a presence here.
James: The University of Texas initially pulled me in; the eccentricity and
vibrancy kept me here.
What is the idea behind your startup?
Catalyzing the entrepreneurial community to develop innovative solutions
for social challenges is at the heart of what we do. We believe that anyone
can be a change agent--sometimes they just need a little help.
What need does it fulfill?
There are many people in Austin who have innovative solutions to the problems that plague our society. But what's lacking is a structured ecosystem that enables these great ideas to become real solutions. The Austin Social Innovation Hub is stimulating this ecosystem by making resources available to social innovators, providing the network that enables them to connect, educating the public and new social innovators, and doing the research and advocacy to support social innovation in Austin and beyond.
What exactly does your product do?*
Our purpose is to catalyze innovative solutions to social problems.
We have four offerings:
- *Incubation*: launch and accelerate innovative social enterprises from
idea to cash flow
- *Networking*: facilitate collaboration between social innovators and
social enterprises in Austin both online and face-to-face settings
- *Education*: educate individuals and enterprises on how to create
social impact
- *Research*: research and advocate for social innovation in Austin and
beyond
Specifically, we're creating physical hub for social innovation that serves as a co working and incubation space and a website that enhances collaboration among Austin’s key stakeholders and concentrates resources on promising social innovators and enterprises.
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in creating social impact.
The hub is meant to be highly inclusive; individuals of all backgrounds and
enterprises at all stages of development are invited to join the community. Our members and partners have diverse interests: creative capitalism, social
entrepreneurship, social business, corporate social responsibility, blended
value enterprise, double and triple bottom line accounting, microfinance, and sustainability, among others. But their unifying characteristic is their passion for social innovation, which has several definitions, but one is "an initiative, product or process which profoundly changes the basic routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of any social system. Successful social innovations are therefore disruptive and have durability, impact and scale." [Frances Westley, University of Waterloo]
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Everyone has great ideas but not everyone wants to do the work to make it a
reality. For us the most challenging aspect of getting starting has been
getting a committed team to work for sweat equity to actualize our long-term
vision. Considering that everyone involved is still working full-time jobs
or in other revenue generating ventures, it's been difficult to coordinate
schedules and hit some set goals. Fortunately, we're all bootstrappers and
we're comfortable making magic happen with the resources we do have.
What is the next step for you and your startup?
The next step is to solidify our business and organization model and begin
testing it in Austin. To do that, we need to continue to build our team and
secure initial funding. We expect to launch the incubator component in 2010.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Have faith in yourself, your skills, your strengths, and the possibilities
around you. If you are passionate about something stop talking about it and
do it! Beware of what the naysayers say; if you believe in it, then go for
it and don't give up. And, most importantly, don't underestimate the
willingness of others in your reach to help you with accomplishing your
goals.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
The Austin entrepreneurial community as a whole has been absolutely amazing.
Their willingness to brainstorm with us, review our developing model, and
provide psychological support has been instrumental in moving us forward.
It's incredible what you can accomplish when you align with a group of
dedicated individuals towards a shared, powerful goal. And what better place
to be for socially-minded innovation and entrepreneurship than in Austin,
Texas!
Best regards,
Hall T.
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