View from the FishBowl: Noodling…

I have been noodling a little. No, not this kind: wikipedia.org/wiki/noodling … yikes! The kind in the photo above. Grandma Fisher always warned me that this could be dangerous; however, I think I survived it without a lot of cerebral damage (you can’t damage what you don’t have). What I have been noodling about is…

About the Author: William Fisher, a partner at Treetop Ventures in Omaha, is a regular guest contributor to Silicon Prairie News. In his series, View from the FishBowl, Fisher calls on his experience as a business executive and technology investor to lend his advice to entrepreneurs in the Silicon Prairie.

Fisher has served as a director for several prominent public companies and private firms, and he currently serves on the boards of Prism Technologies, Lodo Software and FTNI. To read his full bio, including a listing of companies he has been involved with, visit treetopventures.com.

Contact Fisher at fish@treetopventures.com.

Subscribe: View from the Fishbowl RSS. (Paste URL into your Google Reader.)

Photo by Imo via Flickr

I have been noodling a little. No, not this kind: wikipedia.org/wiki/noodling … yikes! The kind in the photo above. Grandma Fisher always warned me that this could be dangerous; however, I think I survived it without a lot of cerebral damage (you can’t damage what you don’t have).

What I have been noodling about is how to get our local infrastructure kick-started for start-up companies. From what I can tell, in order to have what they have in other parts of the country (Austin, Boulder, Cambridge, Palo Alto, etc.), we need five things.

  1. We need a supportive legislative body that understands that jobs come from startups. I submit that the recent legislation to give tax incentives to angel investors is clearly a start in the right direction. However, we need to meet with them and tell them how much it is needed and what things they can think about to help the community even more.
  2. We need a strong University program that supports research. We have a very strong state University system known for its medical and agriculture research; we need a little more emphasis on technology and business and I see signs they are moving that way.
  3. We need a strong local support ecosystem. Firms like the AIM Institute, Scott Technology Center are great starting points. These are the ‘formal ones’; we also have the informal structure which includes a number of law firms, angel investors, local businesses, etc., but we aren’t formally organized with a common mission.
  4. We need firms that are willing and able to invest capital. Typically, these are venture capital or private equity firms and although we are not totally void here, we are woefully short. Most of the time, Omaha based firms go to either coast to find these firms.
  5. We need an incubator that supports entrepreneurs and provides the right kinds of assistance in order to help them be successful. Ok. I will give you that it isn’t as clear a need as the first four; however, I think it is the missing link that will help facilitate the development of the total ecosystem. Just saying…

Before anyone accuses me of being forward-thinking or creative, I want to explain that I didn’t come up with these revelations on my own. I took a look at the successful models already in place around the country.

I am going to encourage you to take a look at one such program. Spend a few minutes at this web site: techstars.org.

I will save you a little reading to make a couple of points.

Techstars is an incubator or an accelerator. It gives entrepreneurs a place to hatch their ideas along with some money and other resources that entrepreneurs find really scarce. It is a pretty simple process. Founders apply, and if chosen, they are provided some minimal funding ($18,000), a place to work and people who understand how to evaluate ideas, products and funding alternatives.

Some stats:

Since starting in the summer of 2007, they have concluded seven three-month sessions averaging 10 companies a session (actually, 69 in total). Of this 69, six of these startups have failed (hey, it happens!) and seven have been purchased by other companies. Of the 56 remaining, 40 have raised capital to roll out their idea ($48 million in total). They have employed 392 full-time employees in these companies. I submit that as these companies achieve success and grow, they will end up employing many times this number of highly paid professionals in their companies.

Where did the money come from for the office space, computers, cash assistance, and furniture? It comes from investors (most of the VC’s in these markets who invest and get a nice pipeline of future possible), local professionals (several law firms both invest and provide free counseling to these companies and they know it will lead to future clients), previous entrepreneurs (people who like to help and want to see companies be successful), etc. They take a small amount of equity in each of the small companies they help; entrepreneurs are very willing to give this equity up for the amount of assistance they will receive. Actually, it isn’t the money or the space or internet connectivity that makes these outfits work. It is the staff that is employed (some mentoring; some hired hands) that can help them formulate and articulate their idea, organize their company, capitalize their company, etc. This is truly what is needed locally and is missing in our current environment.

Here is my ‘noodling.’  I like the idea; not sure we could do it in the same scale or have enough candidates as these other cities but I like it. I actually think it could be the thing that would attract VCs to open offices here. We know we have the entrepreneurial spirit; we know we have locals who have created incredible companies from just an idea (Solutionary, West, FDC, ACI, InfoUSA, Sojern and Hayneedle, just to name a few). We have a legislative body that is trying very hard to help us attract companies who employ our citizens; we have a strong university who is supportive. You couldn’t ask for better organizations than AIM or the Scott Technology Center; try to find these in other cities! Our local Chamber has been very active in supporting how we attract talent to our area. We have an entrepreneurial spirit that has to go back to our settler roots. What is more entrepreneurial than the family farm? What we don’t have is a solid group of VC firms willing to invest and my noodling says we can possibly attract them if we can create a successful incubator/accelerator. My plan is to look for opportunities to talk with local business leaders regarding how we might be able to create an infrastructure locally that provides entrepreneurs with as much assistance as possible to turn their idea into something that benefits us all.

Ideas? Thoughts? Criticisms? Want to help? Let me know what you think. I am not hard to find.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

Get the latest news and events from Nebraska’s entrepreneurship and innovation community delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

One response to “View from the FishBowl: Noodling…”

  1. Rylee William Avatar

    Good article… Thanks for sharing