Liz Elam of Link Coworking Talks about Her CoWorking Space
Where are you from originally?
I graduated from Westwood High School right here in Austin, Texas. My childhood was spent in Virginia and Vermont, where my Dad was an IBM Executive.
What university did you go to?
I have a Bachelors of Science from Texas A&M. I majored in journalism and minored in marketing.
What brought you to Austin?
I moved back to Austin from Italy in 2008 to open a coworking business here in Austin.
What is your group’s mission?
Link Coworking’s mission is to build a community that brings people together who share the need for a place to conduct their business in an interactive space.
What need does it fulfill?
We have a huge workforce that is conducting business from their homes or coffee shops and they desperately need a professional space.
What exactly does it bring to startups?
Link brings a supportive community for collaborate and support for a startup buisness.
What type of startup would benefit from your group?
Anyone who needs a professional space to conduct their business, wants to work amongst other knowledge workers and/or hold a meeting could benefit from Link Coworking.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the initiative?
Finding the right physical space for the business was a real challenge. I was looking for a space that was:
1. Less than a mile off of Mopac
2. Plenty of parking
3. First floor
4. Covered outdoor seating
5. Walking distance to retail spaces and restaurants
It took me about a year to find the ideal space, but once I found it, I knew in my gut it was right.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Follow your gut. Period. End of story.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
SCORE was critical to my success. I was immediately paired with a counselor who came from a similar industry. She was with me step by step through my business plan, and we even looked at lots and lots of possible locations until we found the one we both agreed was it. She listened, encouraged and celebrated my success and patiently helped me through the entire process.
The other resource I must mention is the Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club. ACRC is the younger hip version of your father’s Rotary club. My fellow Rotarians encouraged me, supported me and even built furniture with me. It is a great place to network and build business relationships. I even found my web designer and insurance agent through Rotary.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Maggie Miller is the founder of discover hope fund, a non-profit organization providing micro loans and education to impoverished women in Peru. These loans can be as small as $150 but they enable women to feed their families, send their children to school, and improve the communities they live in. When an opportunity to travel to Peru came along in 2004 Maggie went knowing that she was looking for her next move, but not knowing what that would be. She found the answer, what would become discover hope fund, by simply asking the Peruvian women what they wanted for themselves and listening to their answers. Discover Hope funds holiday of hope benefit is taking place next Wednesday, December 8, at Mercury hall. You can get more details at Discover Hope .
I think that the work you’re doing with Discover Hope Fund is really pretty amazing stuff. Explain how the program works.
The mission statement has two program goals; one of those goals is microcredit for women who are living on less than $2 a day, and the other one is training which is access to knowledge and information for those women. So microcredit is not a new concept; I wish I would have invented it but I didn't. It's the idea of giving these small loans, or access to credit, to women (traditionally world wide) and ill talk about that in a second. To initiate or grow their small businesses. And worldwide 97% of the borrowers are women and the reason for that is women have the ultimate care for their children at the end of the day. They have the responsibility to feed them and clothe them and educate them. And women in developing world also wont traditionally have access to other means of credit. Their only access would traditionally be a loan shark that would charge them up to 50-70% a day at times. So that first goal is really giving access to credit. The loans do look like, as you said, $100$150 to initiate and grow a small business. To me that's like the fishing pole, that old saying that we all have heard many times that I love which is teach a person to fish instead of giving them a fish. So microcredit is the fishing pole, it’s a tool, it’s an amazing tool used world wide to help lift people out of the situation of poverty. But at Discover Hope we really feel that there is a part 2. And that's when you give a tool to somebody that they've never had in their hands before, that you have the ultimate responsibility to teach them to maximize the potential of that tool. If I gave you a fishing pole and you've never fished before, you've never seen this thing you would not know how to use it. So what we do is we ask the women in our microcredit program “what else do you want and need to maximize yourself as a women, as a mother as an entrepreneur”. And then the trick is to listen. To listen to what they want.
What do they want?
What they say they want has been things like literacy for themselves, health education for themselves and how to care for their families. Issues like respiratory illness and disease, gynecology, those types of issues.
But how do those types of education, how does that help them run their businesses?
So those are two of the top personal things they ask for, so still kind of going down the line of what they want. The other areas have more focus towards their business, which is business particular classes they ask for business and finance classes. Now remember literacy is also mathematical literacy. And if someone doesn't know how to compute a day’s work, that is about $5, $10, then they don't know if they've lost or gained at the end of the day. So business classes, finances classes, classes that has to do with their type of business in general, that looks like veterinary workshops on how to care for their animals, a lot of them work in agriculture and husbandry. Creating artisan works, jewelry, t-shirt stamping, weaving, crocheting. Whatever they ask for. Last year we did 72 types of artisan classes alone. So again, it’s really about listening to what they want. One last big area is culinary as well. We have a lot of women who do fresh food production on the streets. They want to learn how to add to their menu, or bake cakes for Quincineras, or whatever they need. So again the high level goals are microcredit, that access to credit, and training which is access to knowledge.
Is the training typical among other microloan organizations, because I mean, that's really an amazing piece?
I wouldn't say it’s typical. It does exist. There are some really great organizations; one of my favorites is Freedom From Hunger out of Davis California. They have a credit plus education model that I think they really well developed. There are other microcredit borrowing mechanisms that are really just about you paying into the loan or the loan money itself. At Discover Hope we kind of have the stance that that’s just really not enough. And I think some of that comes from the background of being in the field and watching microcredit in action for several years and working with different organizations and seeing that the biggest question is how paternalistic can you be about a microcredit loan. Do you give $100 and make sure they go to the store and buy the goods that they said they said they wanted to buy for their business. So I guess the trick is that if you give the credits, the education side to the credit, you've actually given them a path for how to best maximize that tool. When a woman leaves our classes and she’s learned to make a pair of earrings, and she sells it on the street for $2 ten minutes later she’s going to go buy more jewelry materials. When a woman bakes a cake in a culinary class and sells it to her neighbor for her daughter’s event, her quincinera, she’s going to go invest in more product.
Tell us about actually the loan payback rate. These are women who haven’t had access to money before and now they’re getting it.
Absolutely. Worldwide microcredit is very successful. The payback rate in the world is %97 98% success and these are entrepreneurs that don't have any collateral at all. Its not like you can go take their home from them or their car from them. Our payback rate at Discover Hope is 100% and were really proud of that. And what I think that that speaks to is the ownership and the accountability that people are willing to take on for themselves to make a sustainable change for their families. Its not just like hey give me some money and I’m going to take off with this money. Its I’m willing to pay back this money in 4-6 months which is a typical loan cycle. So they may take $150 $100 depending on the interview you've had with them and what they want to do with that money and their going to pay back over 4 to six months. Now the way that that works is in a mechanism called the village bank. It’s also known as community bank or community groups, communal banks. That is a group of 6-8 women or 6-25 women (it matters what origination your working with). Ours is 6-25 women that basically borrow together as a unit. So they have each other’s backs so to speak and this is called social collateral and this is used world wide in micro credit.
Right and another key thing, what you just said about here in the United States. Now they are trying microcredit models in the United States but one of the keys that makes it work internationally is communities are not mobile like they are in the United States. When your born in a community, unless you have kind of gotten a break, gotten an education and gotten out of our community, you’re going to remain in this community for your entire life. So, the trust, and what people think of you, and your home unit and your family unit is always in that community which makes that social collateral bond really strong. So that's another big point about it working internationally.
That is so interesting. Maggie I want to find out how you came to do this work. So you have a Bachelors degree from George Washington university, a master’s of communication from San Diego state, you graduated summa cum lade from both, and you had a full athletic scholarship for soccer. So how did you come to help poor women in Peru?
So the short answer is the still small voice, that's my short answer and I’ll tell you what that means. After my masters I started working in San Diego for an amazing non-profit and what I did there, the mission was stop children from killing children. And my job was to create peace education for kids that are from gang families. For anyone that can see me in this interview I definitely don't look like I have… You know I’m white, I have blue eyes, I grew up in the mid-west, and I didn't have trouble in my family. And so my job was how to relate to kids that were really having difficult times in their family. No matter how they looked it was just different experiences. And the thing I learned the most from these kids was ask them what they want. So they wrote this curriculum, which was eventually called Peace works, and it still exists to this day in the organization in San Diego. Shortly after that, one day in quietude of my home, I heard this internal call, and that call was go see con otros ojos.
And it was in Spanish?
It was half Spanish half English. Go see con otros ojos—go see with other eyes. And being in San Diego, which was a beautiful place to live, working for a wonderful origination, doing fine financially. I loved the beach, the people, the friendships. And hearing something that kind of shifted inside me and made me uncomfortable, lets just say I wasn't happy about it. So for the next three months, I just kept inquiring internally about that call. What does this really mean? What does this mean for me? And at the end of that kind of contemplation period, what it really meant for me was going outside the boundaries of the United States and seeing myself from another perspective. And so at that point I shared this with my coworkers and gave an 8 month notice, ended up giving away all my things I sold everything I had, gave most of it away, paid off my debts, had nothing at the end, and I mean I had my health and goodness so you know I didn't have nothing but I took off on March 4, 2004 to the mountains of Peru with about $7000 in investor money. It was an investment in the idea that I would create a project once I got there. And once I did get there, I spent about the first three months asking women, “what do you want.” and they all said the same thing they all said, “We want a hand up and not a hand out.” We don't want you to give us something that's going to go away tomorrow.
Were they happy to talk to you? I mean here you are you've described yourself; I mean blonde hair blue eyed white chick from America. Are they happy to talk to you?
Someone asked me that recently, and I think the trick is really being in their situation with them and taking interest in what they were doing and went to the places that were important to them. In the markets, in the fields…
Did you just walk up to them and say, “Hi”?
Well I think that the confidence came from them seeing that I wasn't going away. I wasn't a week visitor, I wasn't two days visiting, I wasn't a month visiting. After about 3 weeks they were like this chicks sticking around you know, lets see what she’s all about. I think it's a funny part of the story, but my real name is Madelyn. So obviously in a very catholic nation the name Madelyn is a very revered figure, Mary Madelyn. So it was kind of an open door as well. “Oh well what’s your name”, oh Magdalena “oh well wow, you must be an angel. What are you doing in town?” So it was almost a kind of a conversation starter. And just asking about their families. I just didn't immediately say what do you want. You now, what is your life like, tell me about your business tell me about your family and creating friendship and trust that way.
And so then, its one thing to hear theses stories, its thing to make that real.
Right. So at about 6 months into the project I wrote the investors and said look, what I would like to do is create a microcredit pilot project. I started studying along this time microcredit models, and what microcredit meant and how it worked and just kept in touch with these folks. And all of them said do it, go for it. So what I did was start doing the first generation of loans to women and really for the next year and a half I ran this pilot project called hope bank and hope bank was the predecessor to Discover Hope, the non-profit. Hope bank was really the experiment of how microcredit really works in the field, programmatically, what does it really look like. A lot of people hear of microcredit but how it unfolds in the field is another story. Brining the bank to the people, which is the point of microcredit, not making people come to a bank. Getting to a rural bank in the mountains of the Andes or wherever it is it's a whole operation in itself. People exchanging $20 and
50 cents.
50 cents?
Yeah well a payment sometimes can look like $1.50 or whatnot so it’s really an amazing process to watch. And I ended up stunning with FIMCA who is out of Washington DC. FIMCA is a very large non-profit and this non-profit brought me to Guatemala to study with them. And what I saw was the questions that I was seeing as a small guy, small organization, were the same with the large organization. They had the same kind of questions of how to do microcredit best. So after 2 years time of being there I knew I had to come back to the US and legitimize the structure as a non-profit. And I did that in 2006 and Discover Hope was born.
Maggie share with us some of the success stories that you've seen thanks to these microloans from Discover Hope Fund.
Okay with our interest with time I’m just going to share what my favorite success story is. We track the income the women make based on the trainings they take with us. So they’ve taken a cake training, therefore, they've started making cakes they didn't make before and they’re selling them now. you could use any product. So we track that total, we ask women to report those totals, and what that looks for us now, is nearly $10,000 plus in income for women.
You mean one woman is making $10,000?
No no 10,000 total dollars. So if you’re talking about, at this point, 175 women with active loan cycles right now. So when you’re talking about somebody that's making $2 a day, to me it's a great success to know that, on the income side, their lives are totally changing. Where one of our women, for example, made maybe $20 a month total, she’s making $20 a week right now.
She’s one of our women that came to our chocolate making class and created a chocolate business out of it. And she got really fancy about it. Like for the holidays, mothers day, fathers day, Christmas, she does coffee mugs. And through our computer class, she learned to do some electronic images on the coffee cups with messages that she got done at a local printing shop, and stuffed some with her homemade chocolates. So her business is a total success something she didn't do before.
So she has quadrupled her income! So how does that translate to her family in terms of what they could now do that they couldn't before?
Right. So, where money usually goes that you’ll traditionally see as microcredit starts boosting a family they'll do several things with it. The first thing they'll do with it is make sure that their kids get food. They'll start replacing things like instead of eating a piece of bread for breakfast and lunch, or bread for breakfast and lunch, they'll add in some protein there if they can. So it happens to work through how their kids are eating. The second area is school. It's a catholic nation where school is free, supposedly, but all kids have to go to school in a uniform and they have to get supplies and so those supplies and uniform may equate to $30 a year. And its sometimes just money that they cannot get together. They can’t get ahead that much. And so they'll put it right into that school pot right away along with the food. And the third thing is really house improvement. You’ll see, it's a poverty indicator; the first indicator of poverty is floor type. So a family with a dirt floor will often finish their floor into concrete. Or the adobe walls, they'll finish their walls with paint or concrete. So that home improvement is kind of another area you’ll see as well.
How do the husbands feel about the women being the one to provide these types of things for their families?
Right. So a lot of the women we work with are either widowed or single, or they have different fathers to their children. I think there are a lot of interesting dynamics that we don't have to talk about today, but with women being in a less powerful situation and not always choosing their mates, and when they want to mate with somebody and then having children, and having the responsibility of their children and then not always having a collaborative partner to raise those kids. So a lot of our women are in those situations. Now when they do have a family unit, and the husband or partner is involved, I think the most important thing that you can do is engage that male in a conversation. What we do is called the pre interview, before a woman ever gets money. That includes asking about her family situation, socioeconomic situation, the husband has to be involved in that interview.
So making sure it will be successful before you give the money?
Right. We do the interview with everybody to make sure what they really need and they've thought through what they really need. If they need $30 really for what they propose they don't need $100. The end goal is to do no harm. You want to help not harm. So if someone needs 30 don't give them 100. If their propensity to pay is for a $50 loan don't give them a $200 loan.
What if there was a husband that was hostile to the idea of this? Does that factor into whether or not they get the loan?
Yea. It would because you don't want to put a women into a dangerous situation without a doubt. We’ve had very little situations like this. So, you have the interview with this family. If the husband is drunk or violent or if there is an issue there we talk with the women further is this really the best thing for you to do. It seems like a dangerous situation. Sometimes they’ll get handy and they'll borrow through like a family member will take the loan under their name. The other way we really befriend the male side is we do a lot of work with community leaders and neighborhood leaders, and these leaders are all males in this culture. So when you have the trust of those leaders, information travels by what we call passé la vois (pass the voice). Its old school you know, its not texting messages like “Maggie’s a good person, meet with her.” Its people passing the information on that you’re a good person doing a good thing and you’re organization can be trusted. If that passa la vois happens and it’s positive for you, it’s usually a-ok. Now the last thing is that if you’re engaging a male in the discussion and it's a family business, and a lot of it happens in agriculture and husbandry, they’re raising animals as a family unit, they’re getting grains to sell in the market, or they’re making wood structures a lot of the stuff is happening in the family—they have a family store. And if you just have that conversation with the family it’s often seen that it could benefit the family business rather than be a detriment. It’s not a power struggle it’s meant to lift a family.
Maggie December 8 is your Holiday of Hope Benefit Gala. Tell us about it.
Okay so on December 8, this is our last event of the year. Holiday of Hope is in our third year. What it will look like is just an evening of fun. Well have some Latin jazz, some wonderful food and drink, and a silent and live auction with some wonderful things that the community has kind of contributed to our organization. And if anyone would like any more information about that they can go to our website which you said is www.discoverhopefund.org.
How much are you hoping to raise?
Our raise goal for that evening is $20,000.
What does $20,000 translate into in the way of loans?
So for us $20,000 would give us… We’d like to do at least 150 new loans next year, but were also taking care of the women that are still in our system. And so they’re in their second or third or fourth generation loans because you usually go 10 cycles with a women to get them some savings for their lives. So we have these 150 going and we want another 150 and then we want to do 375 trainings next year.
And you know longer term, maybe 3 years from now.
What are your goals for Discover Hope Fund?
So we have several high level goals. Longer term would be we have two sights waiting for us to come to them right now. One is in Peruvian Ecuadorian border, another area in Northern Andes that we have a local partner at that we need to raise the money ourselves to have these sites. So we want new sites. We’re also looking at Mexico for a site. And then another high-level goal is to package up the model of what we do a-z, how do you do the micro credit plus model anywhere in the world and to really make that an available published accessible piece for people.
So kind of like a franchise kind of thing. Like plug in and..
It won’t be us leading all those all over the world. It will be giving people the knowledge if they would like to assume that into their organization or build it themselves.
Is it a hot topic, meaning are there a lot of people looking to do this?
Oh I get probably 2-4 emails a month, hey I'm in this country, I'm working with this partner, how are you doing what you’re doing? So I think the question for us is how can we leave a legacy if were small and we’re roots and we cant go to all these places what is the legacy you can pass on and that's how you do it actually.
I think that the work you’re doing with Discover Hope Fund is really pretty amazing stuff. Explain how the program works.
The mission statement has two program goals; one of those goals is microcredit for women who are living on less than $2 a day, and the other one is training which is access to knowledge and information for those women. So microcredit is not a new concept; I wish I would have invented it but I didn't. It's the idea of giving these small loans, or access to credit, to women (traditionally world wide) and ill talk about that in a second. To initiate or grow their small businesses. And worldwide 97% of the borrowers are women and the reason for that is women have the ultimate care for their children at the end of the day. They have the responsibility to feed them and clothe them and educate them. And women in developing world also wont traditionally have access to other means of credit. Their only access would traditionally be a loan shark that would charge them up to 50-70% a day at times. So that first goal is really giving access to credit. The loans do look like, as you said, $100$150 to initiate and grow a small business. To me that's like the fishing pole, that old saying that we all have heard many times that I love which is teach a person to fish instead of giving them a fish. So microcredit is the fishing pole, it’s a tool, it’s an amazing tool used world wide to help lift people out of the situation of poverty. But at Discover Hope we really feel that there is a part 2. And that's when you give a tool to somebody that they've never had in their hands before, that you have the ultimate responsibility to teach them to maximize the potential of that tool. If I gave you a fishing pole and you've never fished before, you've never seen this thing you would not know how to use it. So what we do is we ask the women in our microcredit program “what else do you want and need to maximize yourself as a women, as a mother as an entrepreneur”. And then the trick is to listen. To listen to what they want.
What do they want?
What they say they want has been things like literacy for themselves, health education for themselves and how to care for their families. Issues like respiratory illness and disease, gynecology, those types of issues.
But how do those types of education, how does that help them run their businesses?
So those are two of the top personal things they ask for, so still kind of going down the line of what they want. The other areas have more focus towards their business, which is business particular classes they ask for business and finance classes. Now remember literacy is also mathematical literacy. And if someone doesn't know how to compute a day’s work, that is about $5, $10, then they don't know if they've lost or gained at the end of the day. So business classes, finances classes, classes that has to do with their type of business in general, that looks like veterinary workshops on how to care for their animals, a lot of them work in agriculture and husbandry. Creating artisan works, jewelry, t-shirt stamping, weaving, crocheting. Whatever they ask for. Last year we did 72 types of artisan classes alone. So again, it’s really about listening to what they want. One last big area is culinary as well. We have a lot of women who do fresh food production on the streets. They want to learn how to add to their menu, or bake cakes for Quincineras, or whatever they need. So again the high level goals are microcredit, that access to credit, and training which is access to knowledge.
Is the training typical among other microloan organizations, because I mean, that's really an amazing piece?
I wouldn't say it’s typical. It does exist. There are some really great organizations; one of my favorites is Freedom From Hunger out of Davis California. They have a credit plus education model that I think they really well developed. There are other microcredit borrowing mechanisms that are really just about you paying into the loan or the loan money itself. At Discover Hope we kind of have the stance that that’s just really not enough. And I think some of that comes from the background of being in the field and watching microcredit in action for several years and working with different organizations and seeing that the biggest question is how paternalistic can you be about a microcredit loan. Do you give $100 and make sure they go to the store and buy the goods that they said they said they wanted to buy for their business. So I guess the trick is that if you give the credits, the education side to the credit, you've actually given them a path for how to best maximize that tool. When a woman leaves our classes and she’s learned to make a pair of earrings, and she sells it on the street for $2 ten minutes later she’s going to go buy more jewelry materials. When a woman bakes a cake in a culinary class and sells it to her neighbor for her daughter’s event, her quincinera, she’s going to go invest in more product.
Tell us about actually the loan payback rate. These are women who haven’t had access to money before and now they’re getting it.
Absolutely. Worldwide microcredit is very successful. The payback rate in the world is %97 98% success and these are entrepreneurs that don't have any collateral at all. Its not like you can go take their home from them or their car from them. Our payback rate at Discover Hope is 100% and were really proud of that. And what I think that that speaks to is the ownership and the accountability that people are willing to take on for themselves to make a sustainable change for their families. Its not just like hey give me some money and I’m going to take off with this money. Its I’m willing to pay back this money in 4-6 months which is a typical loan cycle. So they may take $150 $100 depending on the interview you've had with them and what they want to do with that money and their going to pay back over 4 to six months. Now the way that that works is in a mechanism called the village bank. It’s also known as community bank or community groups, communal banks. That is a group of 6-8 women or 6-25 women (it matters what origination your working with). Ours is 6-25 women that basically borrow together as a unit. So they have each other’s backs so to speak and this is called social collateral and this is used world wide in micro credit.
Right and another key thing, what you just said about here in the United States. Now they are trying microcredit models in the United States but one of the keys that makes it work internationally is communities are not mobile like they are in the United States. When your born in a community, unless you have kind of gotten a break, gotten an education and gotten out of our community, you’re going to remain in this community for your entire life. So, the trust, and what people think of you, and your home unit and your family unit is always in that community which makes that social collateral bond really strong. So that's another big point about it working internationally.
That is so interesting. Maggie I want to find out how you came to do this work. So you have a Bachelors degree from George Washington university, a master’s of communication from San Diego state, you graduated summa cum lade from both, and you had a full athletic scholarship for soccer. So how did you come to help poor women in Peru?
So the short answer is the still small voice, that's my short answer and I’ll tell you what that means. After my masters I started working in San Diego for an amazing non-profit and what I did there, the mission was stop children from killing children. And my job was to create peace education for kids that are from gang families. For anyone that can see me in this interview I definitely don't look like I have… You know I’m white, I have blue eyes, I grew up in the mid-west, and I didn't have trouble in my family. And so my job was how to relate to kids that were really having difficult times in their family. No matter how they looked it was just different experiences. And the thing I learned the most from these kids was ask them what they want. So they wrote this curriculum, which was eventually called Peace works, and it still exists to this day in the organization in San Diego. Shortly after that, one day in quietude of my home, I heard this internal call, and that call was go see con otros ojos.
And it was in Spanish?
It was half Spanish half English. Go see con otros ojos—go see with other eyes. And being in San Diego, which was a beautiful place to live, working for a wonderful origination, doing fine financially. I loved the beach, the people, the friendships. And hearing something that kind of shifted inside me and made me uncomfortable, lets just say I wasn't happy about it. So for the next three months, I just kept inquiring internally about that call. What does this really mean? What does this mean for me? And at the end of that kind of contemplation period, what it really meant for me was going outside the boundaries of the United States and seeing myself from another perspective. And so at that point I shared this with my coworkers and gave an 8 month notice, ended up giving away all my things I sold everything I had, gave most of it away, paid off my debts, had nothing at the end, and I mean I had my health and goodness so you know I didn't have nothing but I took off on March 4, 2004 to the mountains of Peru with about $7000 in investor money. It was an investment in the idea that I would create a project once I got there. And once I did get there, I spent about the first three months asking women, “what do you want.” and they all said the same thing they all said, “We want a hand up and not a hand out.” We don't want you to give us something that's going to go away tomorrow.
Were they happy to talk to you? I mean here you are you've described yourself; I mean blonde hair blue eyed white chick from America. Are they happy to talk to you?
Someone asked me that recently, and I think the trick is really being in their situation with them and taking interest in what they were doing and went to the places that were important to them. In the markets, in the fields…
Did you just walk up to them and say, “Hi”?
Well I think that the confidence came from them seeing that I wasn't going away. I wasn't a week visitor, I wasn't two days visiting, I wasn't a month visiting. After about 3 weeks they were like this chicks sticking around you know, lets see what she’s all about. I think it's a funny part of the story, but my real name is Madelyn. So obviously in a very catholic nation the name Madelyn is a very revered figure, Mary Madelyn. So it was kind of an open door as well. “Oh well what’s your name”, oh Magdalena “oh well wow, you must be an angel. What are you doing in town?” So it was almost a kind of a conversation starter. And just asking about their families. I just didn't immediately say what do you want. You now, what is your life like, tell me about your business tell me about your family and creating friendship and trust that way.
And so then, its one thing to hear theses stories, its thing to make that real.
Right. So at about 6 months into the project I wrote the investors and said look, what I would like to do is create a microcredit pilot project. I started studying along this time microcredit models, and what microcredit meant and how it worked and just kept in touch with these folks. And all of them said do it, go for it. So what I did was start doing the first generation of loans to women and really for the next year and a half I ran this pilot project called hope bank and hope bank was the predecessor to Discover Hope, the non-profit. Hope bank was really the experiment of how microcredit really works in the field, programmatically, what does it really look like. A lot of people hear of microcredit but how it unfolds in the field is another story. Brining the bank to the people, which is the point of microcredit, not making people come to a bank. Getting to a rural bank in the mountains of the Andes or wherever it is it's a whole operation in itself. People exchanging $20 and
50 cents.
50 cents?
Yeah well a payment sometimes can look like $1.50 or whatnot so it’s really an amazing process to watch. And I ended up stunning with FIMCA who is out of Washington DC. FIMCA is a very large non-profit and this non-profit brought me to Guatemala to study with them. And what I saw was the questions that I was seeing as a small guy, small organization, were the same with the large organization. They had the same kind of questions of how to do microcredit best. So after 2 years time of being there I knew I had to come back to the US and legitimize the structure as a non-profit. And I did that in 2006 and Discover Hope was born.
Maggie share with us some of the success stories that you've seen thanks to these microloans from Discover Hope Fund.
Okay with our interest with time I’m just going to share what my favorite success story is. We track the income the women make based on the trainings they take with us. So they’ve taken a cake training, therefore, they've started making cakes they didn't make before and they’re selling them now. you could use any product. So we track that total, we ask women to report those totals, and what that looks for us now, is nearly $10,000 plus in income for women.
You mean one woman is making $10,000?
No no 10,000 total dollars. So if you’re talking about, at this point, 175 women with active loan cycles right now. So when you’re talking about somebody that's making $2 a day, to me it's a great success to know that, on the income side, their lives are totally changing. Where one of our women, for example, made maybe $20 a month total, she’s making $20 a week right now.
She’s one of our women that came to our chocolate making class and created a chocolate business out of it. And she got really fancy about it. Like for the holidays, mothers day, fathers day, Christmas, she does coffee mugs. And through our computer class, she learned to do some electronic images on the coffee cups with messages that she got done at a local printing shop, and stuffed some with her homemade chocolates. So her business is a total success something she didn't do before.
So she has quadrupled her income! So how does that translate to her family in terms of what they could now do that they couldn't before?
Right. So, where money usually goes that you’ll traditionally see as microcredit starts boosting a family they'll do several things with it. The first thing they'll do with it is make sure that their kids get food. They'll start replacing things like instead of eating a piece of bread for breakfast and lunch, or bread for breakfast and lunch, they'll add in some protein there if they can. So it happens to work through how their kids are eating. The second area is school. It's a catholic nation where school is free, supposedly, but all kids have to go to school in a uniform and they have to get supplies and so those supplies and uniform may equate to $30 a year. And its sometimes just money that they cannot get together. They can’t get ahead that much. And so they'll put it right into that school pot right away along with the food. And the third thing is really house improvement. You’ll see, it's a poverty indicator; the first indicator of poverty is floor type. So a family with a dirt floor will often finish their floor into concrete. Or the adobe walls, they'll finish their walls with paint or concrete. So that home improvement is kind of another area you’ll see as well.
How do the husbands feel about the women being the one to provide these types of things for their families?
Right. So a lot of the women we work with are either widowed or single, or they have different fathers to their children. I think there are a lot of interesting dynamics that we don't have to talk about today, but with women being in a less powerful situation and not always choosing their mates, and when they want to mate with somebody and then having children, and having the responsibility of their children and then not always having a collaborative partner to raise those kids. So a lot of our women are in those situations. Now when they do have a family unit, and the husband or partner is involved, I think the most important thing that you can do is engage that male in a conversation. What we do is called the pre interview, before a woman ever gets money. That includes asking about her family situation, socioeconomic situation, the husband has to be involved in that interview.
So making sure it will be successful before you give the money?
Right. We do the interview with everybody to make sure what they really need and they've thought through what they really need. If they need $30 really for what they propose they don't need $100. The end goal is to do no harm. You want to help not harm. So if someone needs 30 don't give them 100. If their propensity to pay is for a $50 loan don't give them a $200 loan.
What if there was a husband that was hostile to the idea of this? Does that factor into whether or not they get the loan?
Yea. It would because you don't want to put a women into a dangerous situation without a doubt. We’ve had very little situations like this. So, you have the interview with this family. If the husband is drunk or violent or if there is an issue there we talk with the women further is this really the best thing for you to do. It seems like a dangerous situation. Sometimes they’ll get handy and they'll borrow through like a family member will take the loan under their name. The other way we really befriend the male side is we do a lot of work with community leaders and neighborhood leaders, and these leaders are all males in this culture. So when you have the trust of those leaders, information travels by what we call passé la vois (pass the voice). Its old school you know, its not texting messages like “Maggie’s a good person, meet with her.” Its people passing the information on that you’re a good person doing a good thing and you’re organization can be trusted. If that passa la vois happens and it’s positive for you, it’s usually a-ok. Now the last thing is that if you’re engaging a male in the discussion and it's a family business, and a lot of it happens in agriculture and husbandry, they’re raising animals as a family unit, they’re getting grains to sell in the market, or they’re making wood structures a lot of the stuff is happening in the family—they have a family store. And if you just have that conversation with the family it’s often seen that it could benefit the family business rather than be a detriment. It’s not a power struggle it’s meant to lift a family.
Maggie December 8 is your Holiday of Hope Benefit Gala. Tell us about it.
Okay so on December 8, this is our last event of the year. Holiday of Hope is in our third year. What it will look like is just an evening of fun. Well have some Latin jazz, some wonderful food and drink, and a silent and live auction with some wonderful things that the community has kind of contributed to our organization. And if anyone would like any more information about that they can go to our website which you said is www.discoverhopefund.org.
How much are you hoping to raise?
Our raise goal for that evening is $20,000.
What does $20,000 translate into in the way of loans?
So for us $20,000 would give us… We’d like to do at least 150 new loans next year, but were also taking care of the women that are still in our system. And so they’re in their second or third or fourth generation loans because you usually go 10 cycles with a women to get them some savings for their lives. So we have these 150 going and we want another 150 and then we want to do 375 trainings next year.
And you know longer term, maybe 3 years from now.
What are your goals for Discover Hope Fund?
So we have several high level goals. Longer term would be we have two sights waiting for us to come to them right now. One is in Peruvian Ecuadorian border, another area in Northern Andes that we have a local partner at that we need to raise the money ourselves to have these sites. So we want new sites. We’re also looking at Mexico for a site. And then another high-level goal is to package up the model of what we do a-z, how do you do the micro credit plus model anywhere in the world and to really make that an available published accessible piece for people.
So kind of like a franchise kind of thing. Like plug in and..
It won’t be us leading all those all over the world. It will be giving people the knowledge if they would like to assume that into their organization or build it themselves.
Is it a hot topic, meaning are there a lot of people looking to do this?
Oh I get probably 2-4 emails a month, hey I'm in this country, I'm working with this partner, how are you doing what you’re doing? So I think the question for us is how can we leave a legacy if were small and we’re roots and we cant go to all these places what is the legacy you can pass on and that's how you do it actually.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Bart Bohn of the ATI Talks about the Texas Wireless Summit
Bart Bohn of the ATI Talks about the Texas Wireless Summit
Where are you from originally?
Grew up in Houston.
What university did you go to?
Went to college at Trinity University in San Antonio and to UT-McCombs for my MBA.
What brought you to Austin?
After college I spent six years in Houston in strategy consulting. Through that time I grew a passion for working with clients and found the startup and incubator space to be the most rewarding. Austin’s entrepreneurial community and the ATI in particular was a great place to launch a new phase in working with the high-tech startup ecosystem. My entry point was UT, where I got an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship.
What is the idea behind your group?
Texas Wireless Summit is an industry-focused conference to provide a platform for industry leaders to discuss emerging technologies and business models that give insight on the next three or more years of the wireless industry’s trajectory. ATI-Wireless and UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group will focus on technology and startups that will enable the continued innovation surge in the wireless industry.
What need does it fulfill?
On the Austin level it provides an event to bring together the wireless and mobile community. Additionally it provides a conduit for WNCG, ATI-Wireless and the startup community to interact and exchange ideas with the traditional leading wireless companies.
What exactly does your group do?
TWS is and industry conference that showcases the most compelling wireless technologies and research.
Who is it for?
Attendees are industry executives, investors, media, startups, technologists and the service companies critical to the industry.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the group?
I didn’t start it. The greatest challenge in keeping it going, as with any front-line technology sector, is continuing to provide cutting-edge content and discussion points.
What is the next step for you and your group?
TWS is only half-way to taking over the world, so that’s a good question. Our next step is to continue to reinforce our position as the go-to event for compelling wireless technology, innovation and discussion.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Something that will be on full display at this year’s TWS is the collision of the internet- and web-based startup culture with the traditional “heavy-iron” wireless industry culture. You’ll see keynotes and panels from the legacy players and a host of startups showcasing their web-based technologies that will highlight how the industry is enabling this collision and benefiting from it.
Depending on the specific nature of your technology and the way it needs to be commercialized, be aware of the dynamics of that collision. On the surface you have the apps space, which Google and Apple have created by collaborating with the traditional telecomm-infrastructure folks that provide the core communications platform and services. Either strata is navigable, but the path through each of them is different. As a wireless entrepreneur, you need to be aware of which level you’re on.
Tell me more about your upcoming event.
Early bird pricing ends Nov. 5, so sign up now.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
The ATI-Wireless Incubator and UT’s WNCG are the premiere catalysts for wireless entrepreneurs in Central Texas.
Where are you from originally?
Grew up in Houston.
What university did you go to?
Went to college at Trinity University in San Antonio and to UT-McCombs for my MBA.
What brought you to Austin?
After college I spent six years in Houston in strategy consulting. Through that time I grew a passion for working with clients and found the startup and incubator space to be the most rewarding. Austin’s entrepreneurial community and the ATI in particular was a great place to launch a new phase in working with the high-tech startup ecosystem. My entry point was UT, where I got an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship.
What is the idea behind your group?
Texas Wireless Summit is an industry-focused conference to provide a platform for industry leaders to discuss emerging technologies and business models that give insight on the next three or more years of the wireless industry’s trajectory. ATI-Wireless and UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group will focus on technology and startups that will enable the continued innovation surge in the wireless industry.
What need does it fulfill?
On the Austin level it provides an event to bring together the wireless and mobile community. Additionally it provides a conduit for WNCG, ATI-Wireless and the startup community to interact and exchange ideas with the traditional leading wireless companies.
What exactly does your group do?
TWS is and industry conference that showcases the most compelling wireless technologies and research.
Who is it for?
Attendees are industry executives, investors, media, startups, technologists and the service companies critical to the industry.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the group?
I didn’t start it. The greatest challenge in keeping it going, as with any front-line technology sector, is continuing to provide cutting-edge content and discussion points.
What is the next step for you and your group?
TWS is only half-way to taking over the world, so that’s a good question. Our next step is to continue to reinforce our position as the go-to event for compelling wireless technology, innovation and discussion.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Something that will be on full display at this year’s TWS is the collision of the internet- and web-based startup culture with the traditional “heavy-iron” wireless industry culture. You’ll see keynotes and panels from the legacy players and a host of startups showcasing their web-based technologies that will highlight how the industry is enabling this collision and benefiting from it.
Depending on the specific nature of your technology and the way it needs to be commercialized, be aware of the dynamics of that collision. On the surface you have the apps space, which Google and Apple have created by collaborating with the traditional telecomm-infrastructure folks that provide the core communications platform and services. Either strata is navigable, but the path through each of them is different. As a wireless entrepreneur, you need to be aware of which level you’re on.
Tell me more about your upcoming event.
Early bird pricing ends Nov. 5, so sign up now.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
The ATI-Wireless Incubator and UT’s WNCG are the premiere catalysts for wireless entrepreneurs in Central Texas.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Business Plans vs. Business Models
In starting a new venture, most start by trying to write the business plan because everyone tells you how much you need one. So you sit down to write the business plan and you start through your checklist. Typically this is how it goes:
“Management team -- well so far, there’s only me, so I’ll just add two more positions to be determined later. Next, it’s Problem to be Solved. Well, that’s an interesting question. I’m solving so many problems, I’ll just say, we’re going to save the customer time, and make it easier for him to do his job. That should cover it. “
If the above description sounds familiar it should because most everyone starts by trying to write the business plan but there’s just not enough information to carry it through at the early stage. There are too many decisions still to be made. There’s too much information not yet accumulated.
Instead of working on the business plan from day one, work on the business model. Focus on how you are going to generate revenue and what will be your core costs. If you figure out this, then you have the key elements of a business plan. You can fill in the other pieces based on the business model. For example, the management team positions will become clear once you know the business model. The problem you are solving is much clearer and so it goes with the other elements of the plan.
Best regards,
Hall T.
Friday, October 15, 2010
5 Common Misconceptions About Starting Your Own Business
Starting your own business is extremely appealing for a lot of reasons. Being your own boss, running things the way you want to, and doing something you love are key reasons why people seriously consider making the immense investment in time and money -- and taking on the significant risk of failure. This risk can be minimized if you actually know what you're getting yourself into. Here are 5 common misconceptions of starting your own business with a dose of reality to clear up any confusion.
1. If I have my own business I won't have to work as much. That is completely false, especially when getting your idea off the ground -- and turning it into profit. Expect longer hours, more tasks, and in all likelihood more headaches than when working under someone else. Even if you have staff, you still have to set them on the right course, deal with payroll, hiring and management, etc., etc.
2. I'll be able to set my own hours and create my own schedule. To some extent that is true, but a business' priorities lie with customers and clients. You, and your business, have to be there for them. And as head of a business, you have to be there for your employees as well, ready to assist at all times in any way necessary to keep your business running well. Running an online-based business allows some more flexibility, and to learn more check out these Great Resources for Online Entrepeneurs.
3. It will be easy to attract investors and customers to my business. Unfortunately, there's a lot of competition out there for peoples' dollars, whether those dollars be from investors or customers. You have to sell to both of these groups, and often, there is no such thing as an easy sell. Be prepared for some slow (and low on revenue) times and be prepared for lots of "no"s. To make yourself more attractive to investors and customers, just be prepared: have a polished, well-thought out plan to present to potential investors and have an equally thoughtful and high-quality product available for potential customers and clients.
4. The books will be easy. Taxes, payroll, and money management can be difficult. There are a lot of numbers to keep track of and (hopefully) a lot of money to be accounted for. Make it easier on yourself, if you have the resources, by getting an accountant and Human Resources personnel.
5. Business owners are rich and someday I will be too. It's a nice thought but the reality is that many business owners are just scraping by, hoping to keep their business and personal finances just barely in the black. Sacrifices will be necessary until the business becomes profitable, and unfortunately, many businesses never do. Starting your own business can be an incredibly rewarding and exciting venture, but it takes a lot of hard work and does not always lead to equal rewards.
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Joseph Gustav is a guest blogger for Pounding the Pavement, an up-and-coming outlet for career-oriented expression. An ambitious freelancer, Mr. Gustav also contributes articles about call center management careers for Guide to Career Education.
1. If I have my own business I won't have to work as much. That is completely false, especially when getting your idea off the ground -- and turning it into profit. Expect longer hours, more tasks, and in all likelihood more headaches than when working under someone else. Even if you have staff, you still have to set them on the right course, deal with payroll, hiring and management, etc., etc.
2. I'll be able to set my own hours and create my own schedule. To some extent that is true, but a business' priorities lie with customers and clients. You, and your business, have to be there for them. And as head of a business, you have to be there for your employees as well, ready to assist at all times in any way necessary to keep your business running well. Running an online-based business allows some more flexibility, and to learn more check out these Great Resources for Online Entrepeneurs.
3. It will be easy to attract investors and customers to my business. Unfortunately, there's a lot of competition out there for peoples' dollars, whether those dollars be from investors or customers. You have to sell to both of these groups, and often, there is no such thing as an easy sell. Be prepared for some slow (and low on revenue) times and be prepared for lots of "no"s. To make yourself more attractive to investors and customers, just be prepared: have a polished, well-thought out plan to present to potential investors and have an equally thoughtful and high-quality product available for potential customers and clients.
4. The books will be easy. Taxes, payroll, and money management can be difficult. There are a lot of numbers to keep track of and (hopefully) a lot of money to be accounted for. Make it easier on yourself, if you have the resources, by getting an accountant and Human Resources personnel.
5. Business owners are rich and someday I will be too. It's a nice thought but the reality is that many business owners are just scraping by, hoping to keep their business and personal finances just barely in the black. Sacrifices will be necessary until the business becomes profitable, and unfortunately, many businesses never do. Starting your own business can be an incredibly rewarding and exciting venture, but it takes a lot of hard work and does not always lead to equal rewards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph Gustav is a guest blogger for Pounding the Pavement, an up-and-coming outlet for career-oriented expression. An ambitious freelancer, Mr. Gustav also contributes articles about call center management careers for Guide to Career Education.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Josh Hare of Hops and Grain Talks About His MicroBrewery
Josh Hare of Hops and Grain Talks About His MicroBrewery
Where are you from originally?
I’m originally from Abilene, TX. Lived there most of my life until graduating from college.
What university did you go to?
I went to Abilene Christian University. Graduated with a degree in Eduction and a minor in Environmental Science. I also spent 3 years in the ACU College of Business Administration.
What brought you to Austin?
I moved to Austin from Boulder, CO as an aspiring triathlete. I had a number of years experience in specialty retail and upon moving here, met with a local entrepreneur and opened a specialty running store in East Austin called Rogue Equipment. I served as the general manager of the store for two years before leaving to open a microbrewery.
What is the idea behind your startup?
The idea behind my startup is to provide handcrafted beer and dog treats to the people of the Hill Country making sustainable decisions both in terms of the environment and the business. All of our beers are packaged into aluminum cans, the most recyclable container on the planet. We handcraft our dog treats form the malted barley that has been used in the brewing process. Brewing has stripped the grain of it’s sugar but a significant portion of fiber and protein still remain.
What need does it fulfill?
There is an underserved craft beer market in Austin with absolutely no brewery packaging their product in cans. Many of the outdoor activities and festivals that take place in Austin prohibit glass. Craft beer in cans is seeing incredible sales growth and many attribute this to the ease and portability of aluminum cans.
What exactly does your product do?
My products provide a high-quality local option that saves energy and supports locally by allowing great margins for retail and restaurant establishments.
Who is it for?
The beer is for anyone of legal drinking age looking for a full flavored, handcrafted beer. The dog treats are for anyone looking for a healthy and local alternative to many of the sugar and preservative filled dog treats that are currently on the market.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
The most challenging aspect of starting the business has been the fundraising. There have been many economic factors that have made it fairly challenging to find investors. Because we chose to avoid any debt financing and offered a fairly low entry investment option it has required a substantially larger amount of meetings and presentations that would have otherwise been required.
What is the next step for you and your startup?
The next step is to raise the remaining investment capital to cover operating expenses during the first year. The equipment has been purchased and the warehouse space has been secured. Both of these pieces will come to fruition in December and the brewery will begin operating in January of 2011.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
My biggest piece of advice is to get to know the community that you plan to market to. Get to know your customers and find out what communities they are a part of. There is sure to be a common thread. Lastly, utilize social media to the utmost. It’s free and an incredibly effective way to create a personal connection with your customers.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
I have found many of the local Austin websites and discussion forums to be very helpful in researching my target market. There are a number of magazines that cater to the active community and these have been very helpful in the start up phases.
Where are you from originally?
I’m originally from Abilene, TX. Lived there most of my life until graduating from college.
What university did you go to?
I went to Abilene Christian University. Graduated with a degree in Eduction and a minor in Environmental Science. I also spent 3 years in the ACU College of Business Administration.
What brought you to Austin?
I moved to Austin from Boulder, CO as an aspiring triathlete. I had a number of years experience in specialty retail and upon moving here, met with a local entrepreneur and opened a specialty running store in East Austin called Rogue Equipment. I served as the general manager of the store for two years before leaving to open a microbrewery.
What is the idea behind your startup?
The idea behind my startup is to provide handcrafted beer and dog treats to the people of the Hill Country making sustainable decisions both in terms of the environment and the business. All of our beers are packaged into aluminum cans, the most recyclable container on the planet. We handcraft our dog treats form the malted barley that has been used in the brewing process. Brewing has stripped the grain of it’s sugar but a significant portion of fiber and protein still remain.
What need does it fulfill?
There is an underserved craft beer market in Austin with absolutely no brewery packaging their product in cans. Many of the outdoor activities and festivals that take place in Austin prohibit glass. Craft beer in cans is seeing incredible sales growth and many attribute this to the ease and portability of aluminum cans.
What exactly does your product do?
My products provide a high-quality local option that saves energy and supports locally by allowing great margins for retail and restaurant establishments.
Who is it for?
The beer is for anyone of legal drinking age looking for a full flavored, handcrafted beer. The dog treats are for anyone looking for a healthy and local alternative to many of the sugar and preservative filled dog treats that are currently on the market.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
The most challenging aspect of starting the business has been the fundraising. There have been many economic factors that have made it fairly challenging to find investors. Because we chose to avoid any debt financing and offered a fairly low entry investment option it has required a substantially larger amount of meetings and presentations that would have otherwise been required.
What is the next step for you and your startup?
The next step is to raise the remaining investment capital to cover operating expenses during the first year. The equipment has been purchased and the warehouse space has been secured. Both of these pieces will come to fruition in December and the brewery will begin operating in January of 2011.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
My biggest piece of advice is to get to know the community that you plan to market to. Get to know your customers and find out what communities they are a part of. There is sure to be a common thread. Lastly, utilize social media to the utmost. It’s free and an incredibly effective way to create a personal connection with your customers.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
I have found many of the local Austin websites and discussion forums to be very helpful in researching my target market. There are a number of magazines that cater to the active community and these have been very helpful in the start up phases.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Irene Mwathi of the NBMBAA Talks about their Upcoming Funding Forum
Where are you from originally?
I was born and raised in Kenya until my teenage years. Thereafter we lived in Europe before I came to the United States for College.
What university did you go to?
I did my bachelors in James Clark School of Engineering – University of Maryland and McDonough School of Business – Georgetown University
What brought you to Austin?
I visited a friend of mine during her graduation and fell in love with the city. I later moved my consulting firm here and have loved it ever since.
What is the idea behind your group?
National Black MBA Association, Austin Chapter: http://www.austinblackmba.org/
The mission of Austin Chapter of the NBMBAA is to lead in the creation of educational opportunities and economic growth for African American Professionals in Central Texas. Our Chapter is comprised of a network of business professionals, business students, and entrepreneurs whose goal is to share knowledge, build business skills, and generate employment opportunities in management fields. The NBMBAA Austin Chapter was established in December 2006 and since then has continued to educate its members both on the professional and entrepreneurial pursuits.
What need does it fulfill?
The need for this event is to provide minority business owners who are set for their next challenge an avenue to take their businesses to the next level. By bringing VCs and AIs and minority innovators together we hope to enrich the community as well as educate our entrepreneurs.
What exactly does your group do?
In addition to providing professional, leadership and entrepreneurial development to our members we also have a leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program, a high school mentoring program that has helped to expand the overall number of minority leaders in corporate America by providing mentor/leader relationships with business executives and high school students in the community. We also have the Rising Stars Collegiate Program launched on Oct. 13th, 2009 in partnership with Huston-Tillotson University. Local business professionals and leaders serve as volunteer mentors to students, one mentor per student. Events such as the upcoming event help us identify successful entrepreneurs who can mentor entrepreneurial innovators in our chapter.
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in the progress of minorities in Austin.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the group?
The most challenging aspect of starting a group is finding the resources to support the organization’s initiatives and also finding the right people who have enough time to volunteer and help execute the vision and initiatives of the organization.
What is the next step for you and your group?
Since we have only been existence for four years and the main focus has been getting started in the right direction, the next step is creating awareness about the organization in the Austin community and growing the chapter in membership and sponsorship. Building value for our members is our key focus 2011.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Austin has wonderful resource organizations to support your dreams. Joining such organizations as AEN, BootStrap Austin, Texas Venture Labs, Tech Ranch and leveraging RISE Alliance conferences, start-up conferences you are sure to network with like minds to take you to the next level.
Tell me more about your upcomingevent
This upcoming event program highlights different avenues for funding and sessions from some of Austin’s business leaders. We also plan to have a VC and AI funding symposium which will be the main feature after the luncheon, where at least 5 participants will get to pitch in front of an audience for funding between $150K – 5M. Keynotes include The path to entrepreneurship featuring Bijoy Goswami and luncheon keynote featuring Corey Bell on Serial Entrepreneur. The details are:
Event Location: AT & T Executive Center – UT,
Time: 8.00AM – 4.00PM
Date: November 12th, 2010
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
AEN and ABJ are the most helpful as they keep entrepreneurs connected and well informed on what is going on in the city. There’s never a shortage of business development ideas at their events and connecting with like minds helps keeps you innovative.
I was born and raised in Kenya until my teenage years. Thereafter we lived in Europe before I came to the United States for College.
What university did you go to?
I did my bachelors in James Clark School of Engineering – University of Maryland and McDonough School of Business – Georgetown University
What brought you to Austin?
I visited a friend of mine during her graduation and fell in love with the city. I later moved my consulting firm here and have loved it ever since.
What is the idea behind your group?
National Black MBA Association, Austin Chapter: http://www.austinblackmba.org/
The mission of Austin Chapter of the NBMBAA is to lead in the creation of educational opportunities and economic growth for African American Professionals in Central Texas. Our Chapter is comprised of a network of business professionals, business students, and entrepreneurs whose goal is to share knowledge, build business skills, and generate employment opportunities in management fields. The NBMBAA Austin Chapter was established in December 2006 and since then has continued to educate its members both on the professional and entrepreneurial pursuits.
What need does it fulfill?
The need for this event is to provide minority business owners who are set for their next challenge an avenue to take their businesses to the next level. By bringing VCs and AIs and minority innovators together we hope to enrich the community as well as educate our entrepreneurs.
What exactly does your group do?
In addition to providing professional, leadership and entrepreneurial development to our members we also have a leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program, a high school mentoring program that has helped to expand the overall number of minority leaders in corporate America by providing mentor/leader relationships with business executives and high school students in the community. We also have the Rising Stars Collegiate Program launched on Oct. 13th, 2009 in partnership with Huston-Tillotson University. Local business professionals and leaders serve as volunteer mentors to students, one mentor per student. Events such as the upcoming event help us identify successful entrepreneurs who can mentor entrepreneurial innovators in our chapter.
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in the progress of minorities in Austin.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the group?
The most challenging aspect of starting a group is finding the resources to support the organization’s initiatives and also finding the right people who have enough time to volunteer and help execute the vision and initiatives of the organization.
What is the next step for you and your group?
Since we have only been existence for four years and the main focus has been getting started in the right direction, the next step is creating awareness about the organization in the Austin community and growing the chapter in membership and sponsorship. Building value for our members is our key focus 2011.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Austin has wonderful resource organizations to support your dreams. Joining such organizations as AEN, BootStrap Austin, Texas Venture Labs, Tech Ranch and leveraging RISE Alliance conferences, start-up conferences you are sure to network with like minds to take you to the next level.
Tell me more about your upcomingevent
This upcoming event program highlights different avenues for funding and sessions from some of Austin’s business leaders. We also plan to have a VC and AI funding symposium which will be the main feature after the luncheon, where at least 5 participants will get to pitch in front of an audience for funding between $150K – 5M. Keynotes include The path to entrepreneurship featuring Bijoy Goswami and luncheon keynote featuring Corey Bell on Serial Entrepreneur. The details are:
Event Location: AT & T Executive Center – UT,
Time: 8.00AM – 4.00PM
Date: November 12th, 2010
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
AEN and ABJ are the most helpful as they keep entrepreneurs connected and well informed on what is going on in the city. There’s never a shortage of business development ideas at their events and connecting with like minds helps keeps you innovative.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Aaron Lyons of McCombs School of Business Talks about Texas Startup Meetup
Where are you from originally?
I’ve lived all over the country, but have called Austin home for the last 15 years.
What university did you go to?
I received my undergraduate degree from UT in 2005, and am currently in my second year of the full time MBA program at UT focusing on entrepreneurship.
What brought you to Austin?
I grew up in Austin but moved to Dallas to work after school. I moved back to Austin for school and to get back into the entrepreneurship scene.
What is your passion and strength?
Other than family and UT football, my biggest passion is entrepreneurship and taking things from an idea to reality. I think this passion, along with my creativity and the ability to understand and relate to the consumer, are the biggest strengths I bring to the table.
What need does it fulfill?
Anytime you’re starting a company or working for a start-up, you better have passion. Lack of resources forces you to be creative, and if you don’t understand the consumer there’s no way you’ll succeed.
What exactly do you bring to startups?
Because of my diverse experience and background, I have the ability to adapt, learn quickly, and wear multiple hats. In a startup environment you play different roles every day, so it’s important to be able to step outside of your comfort zone and take on whatever challenge may present itself.
What type of startup would benefit from your strengths?
Any company that is truly customer centric. It’s easy to say you’re customer centric, but I mean companies that revolve around and engage the customer in every aspect of the business.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Well since I’m going through the process now, I can tell you that investing the time and resources up front to validate the market opportunity is difficult and exhausting, but it’s something that must be done and is often overlooked.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, don’t be afraid to share your ideas and goals, spend as much time as you can up front validating your market
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
There is no shortage of them, that’s for sure. AEN, ABJ, AAS are all fantastic at reporting the latest happenings in the Austin entrepreneurial community. Paying attention to the calendars and going to networking events like Start Up Meet Up (SUMU) is ultimately the most valuable thing you can do as an entrepreneur in Austin.
I’ve lived all over the country, but have called Austin home for the last 15 years.
What university did you go to?
I received my undergraduate degree from UT in 2005, and am currently in my second year of the full time MBA program at UT focusing on entrepreneurship.
What brought you to Austin?
I grew up in Austin but moved to Dallas to work after school. I moved back to Austin for school and to get back into the entrepreneurship scene.
What is your passion and strength?
Other than family and UT football, my biggest passion is entrepreneurship and taking things from an idea to reality. I think this passion, along with my creativity and the ability to understand and relate to the consumer, are the biggest strengths I bring to the table.
What need does it fulfill?
Anytime you’re starting a company or working for a start-up, you better have passion. Lack of resources forces you to be creative, and if you don’t understand the consumer there’s no way you’ll succeed.
What exactly do you bring to startups?
Because of my diverse experience and background, I have the ability to adapt, learn quickly, and wear multiple hats. In a startup environment you play different roles every day, so it’s important to be able to step outside of your comfort zone and take on whatever challenge may present itself.
What type of startup would benefit from your strengths?
Any company that is truly customer centric. It’s easy to say you’re customer centric, but I mean companies that revolve around and engage the customer in every aspect of the business.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Well since I’m going through the process now, I can tell you that investing the time and resources up front to validate the market opportunity is difficult and exhausting, but it’s something that must be done and is often overlooked.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, don’t be afraid to share your ideas and goals, spend as much time as you can up front validating your market
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
There is no shortage of them, that’s for sure. AEN, ABJ, AAS are all fantastic at reporting the latest happenings in the Austin entrepreneurial community. Paying attention to the calendars and going to networking events like Start Up Meet Up (SUMU) is ultimately the most valuable thing you can do as an entrepreneur in Austin.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Shaun Tinoco a SATOP Technical Consultant Talks about NASA Support Startups
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Thousand Oaks in Southern California enjoying the great weather, beaches and mountains. The Dallas Cowboys used to hold their training camp in T.O., so I was always a fan and now I can watch them every weekend here in Texas. It’s still nice to visit my family out there, but it’s just not affordable anymore.
What university did you go to?
After being a Nuclear Plant Watch Officer in the Navy, I went to UC San Diego to get my BS Mechanical Engineering degree. I also attended the IC2 Institute here at UT-Austin in 2002 to obtain my MS in Technology Commercialization. This is the program that has led me down my present day path.
What brought you to Austin?
As I mentioned before, the affordability of California is difficult and the other side of my family, at the time, had family in Georgetown so we headed east. The timing was good and I landed a position at Applied Materials, but had to endure two separate layoffs in 1996 and again in 2001. So let’s say, I’m not looking to work there anymore.
What is your passion and strength?
Being in the Tech Commercialization field I thoroughly enjoy working with entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses. These people have such great ideas, but unfortunately not always novel. I attempt to find another use or twist for their technology to keep the possibilities alive, but not at a financial or time cost. If it’s not good I recommend that they stop and move onto something else. I have covered many deserving technologies through IC2 and working at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Tech Transfer Office. By seeing so many it becomes easier to find ways to improve and implement them.
What need does it fulfill?
My desire helps to solve the need or “pain” that the people I work with have. Many are obviously engineers with tremendous intellect for solving technical issues, but don’t have the expertise to solve the business aspects to complete the technology’s lifecycle. I have been an engineer involved with design, quality, manufacturing, implementation, customer support and many other tasks, but now I am on the other side addressing market and risk analysis, partnerships, marketing and licensing.
I am able to understand my customers and then provide services to satisfy them.
What exactly do you bring to startups?
Presently I bring opportunity both through my expertise and with the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP).
Recently I was in Corpus Christi and spoke at the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center promoting SATOP. There are a number of start-ups housed at their incubator and they were so excited learning about the 40 hours of FREE technical support from NASA that they could get by simply signing up. I had a waiting line after the presentation and signed up three companies that afternoon with three more now working a little more diligently to get their technology ready to be reviewed.
By sitting with them I was able to understand what they were working on, but also heard that they needed technical and business support. They weren’t sure what the next step best may be.
What type of startup would benefit from your strengths?
I’ll start with, definitely not a software or an IT company. I’m a hands-on person and have worked from the bottom of ships to the highs of NASA space technologies.
I enjoy learning about new technologies and how best to apply them. They can be in materials, systems, biotech, nanotech, energy, etc. It doesn’t really matter because I absorb it all and bring the best methods to the table.
Being at NASA has me constantly thinking of ways to use space technologies originally designed for the rigors of harsh environments and how to now implement them down here on Earth. Let’s say I want to bring technology to earth.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Getting paid. I have done plenty of pro bono work while starting up, but now it’s paying off. When you’re on your own you have to constantly be looking for the next customers to work with. Through the SATOP program I have been traveling and telling as many organizations and networking groups about it. This has been double good; small entities are getting free assistance to get them over a barrier and I get to network and develop relationships where I can continue with them during commercialization.
I look forward to talking with any of your entrepreneurial network members to determine what services I can provide for them.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Take advantage of real free opportunities and sign up for the SATOP program at www.spacetechsolutions.com. It’s funded by NASA with no cost to you. For once, a free government program that you can take from.
Network and get known. You never know when the next opportunity will happen.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
My strongest relationship in Austin is with the IC2 Institute. Our alums are in so many different industries that there is always someone that can provide a quick answer.
Of course the Austin Entrepreneur Network and Austin Inventors & Entrepreneurs Association have been helpful in supporting my work with SATOP.
Thanks,
Shaun
I grew up in Thousand Oaks in Southern California enjoying the great weather, beaches and mountains. The Dallas Cowboys used to hold their training camp in T.O., so I was always a fan and now I can watch them every weekend here in Texas. It’s still nice to visit my family out there, but it’s just not affordable anymore.
What university did you go to?
After being a Nuclear Plant Watch Officer in the Navy, I went to UC San Diego to get my BS Mechanical Engineering degree. I also attended the IC2 Institute here at UT-Austin in 2002 to obtain my MS in Technology Commercialization. This is the program that has led me down my present day path.
What brought you to Austin?
As I mentioned before, the affordability of California is difficult and the other side of my family, at the time, had family in Georgetown so we headed east. The timing was good and I landed a position at Applied Materials, but had to endure two separate layoffs in 1996 and again in 2001. So let’s say, I’m not looking to work there anymore.
What is your passion and strength?
Being in the Tech Commercialization field I thoroughly enjoy working with entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses. These people have such great ideas, but unfortunately not always novel. I attempt to find another use or twist for their technology to keep the possibilities alive, but not at a financial or time cost. If it’s not good I recommend that they stop and move onto something else. I have covered many deserving technologies through IC2 and working at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Tech Transfer Office. By seeing so many it becomes easier to find ways to improve and implement them.
What need does it fulfill?
My desire helps to solve the need or “pain” that the people I work with have. Many are obviously engineers with tremendous intellect for solving technical issues, but don’t have the expertise to solve the business aspects to complete the technology’s lifecycle. I have been an engineer involved with design, quality, manufacturing, implementation, customer support and many other tasks, but now I am on the other side addressing market and risk analysis, partnerships, marketing and licensing.
I am able to understand my customers and then provide services to satisfy them.
What exactly do you bring to startups?
Presently I bring opportunity both through my expertise and with the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP).
Recently I was in Corpus Christi and spoke at the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center promoting SATOP. There are a number of start-ups housed at their incubator and they were so excited learning about the 40 hours of FREE technical support from NASA that they could get by simply signing up. I had a waiting line after the presentation and signed up three companies that afternoon with three more now working a little more diligently to get their technology ready to be reviewed.
By sitting with them I was able to understand what they were working on, but also heard that they needed technical and business support. They weren’t sure what the next step best may be.
What type of startup would benefit from your strengths?
I’ll start with, definitely not a software or an IT company. I’m a hands-on person and have worked from the bottom of ships to the highs of NASA space technologies.
I enjoy learning about new technologies and how best to apply them. They can be in materials, systems, biotech, nanotech, energy, etc. It doesn’t really matter because I absorb it all and bring the best methods to the table.
Being at NASA has me constantly thinking of ways to use space technologies originally designed for the rigors of harsh environments and how to now implement them down here on Earth. Let’s say I want to bring technology to earth.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
Getting paid. I have done plenty of pro bono work while starting up, but now it’s paying off. When you’re on your own you have to constantly be looking for the next customers to work with. Through the SATOP program I have been traveling and telling as many organizations and networking groups about it. This has been double good; small entities are getting free assistance to get them over a barrier and I get to network and develop relationships where I can continue with them during commercialization.
I look forward to talking with any of your entrepreneurial network members to determine what services I can provide for them.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Take advantage of real free opportunities and sign up for the SATOP program at www.spacetechsolutions.com. It’s funded by NASA with no cost to you. For once, a free government program that you can take from.
Network and get known. You never know when the next opportunity will happen.
What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
My strongest relationship in Austin is with the IC2 Institute. Our alums are in so many different industries that there is always someone that can provide a quick answer.
Of course the Austin Entrepreneur Network and Austin Inventors & Entrepreneurs Association have been helpful in supporting my work with SATOP.
Thanks,
Shaun
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sales 101--The Three Basic Qualifiers
In sales, there are three basic qualifiers that indicate you’re on the path to a successful sale.
The first is confirming the need for your product or service. They must have a real need in order to go through with purchasing the product.
The second is to ensure the person you are talking to can make the decision to buy. If they can’t make the decision then you have to start over again with someone else.
The third is determining if they have a budget for the product/service you have to offer. If they don’t have the funds available then you’ll be convincing someone to buy your product who has no ability to actually proceed.
Best regards,
Hall T.
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