Personal Encounters with Startups in the Spotlight
Entrepreneurs, High Technology, Innovation Posted Jun 16, 2017 by chenpr
Earlier this week I was at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge’s annual Startup Spotlight, a fun competition between thirty or so entrepreneurial ventures from Massachusetts and elsewhere in the region. The competition part of the event is to be named, by attendee vote, as the company most likely to become a unicorn, develop a cult following, or the company you’d most enjoy sharing a beer with.
But really, the goal for each of the companies there is to tell their stories is to make a connection that will play a role in the venture’s success. Being named a potential unicorn is fun, but when a potential investor, partner, key employee or customer takes an interest—that’s the real prize.
As I walked around to check out the different and innovative approaches to tackling different problems I realized that the first few companies I was drawn to all had something in common: each solved a problem that I had a personal connection to.
The first, DropZone for Veterans, aims to make navigating the enormous number of services and benefits available to U.S. Armed Services veterans a simple process. Talking with DropZone founder Courtney Wilson, herself a U.S. Army vet, I was struck by the unflappable enthusiasm she had for her mission. I’m U.S. Navy veteran and I posed a question that started us on conversation that was eye-opening for me.
“What do you offer for vets like me who did their four years, left physically and mentally intact and who simply want to move on to the next phase of their lives?”
My intended implication was to address the false impression that many young men and women have that the only services available are for the unfortunate ones left injured. Courtney quickly educated me with a brief taste of the many services—offered through government and private organizations—that range from complicated bureaucratic engagements to the plethora of private services and gestures intended to supplement benefits or simply say “thanks for your service.”
DropZone says it can help its users “access thousands of resources tailored to veterans and their families.” After talking with Courtney, I have no doubt that it can. And I wondered why it took so long for someone to do what Courtney has done.
The next company that caught my attention was Blink, maker of a wireless, remote security video camera for keeping tabs on what’s going on in and around your home.
A few weeks ago, there was a suspicious incident at my house that played out very much like a casing. The police officer who spoke with my wife and daughter suggested as much and, while there was no damage done, nerves were frayed and my wife purchased a product like Blink’s, but that turned out to be more promise than delivery.
As I shared my story and asked my questions based on that experience I learned that Blink was developed in response to similar frustrations with the products available and in response to a similar situation. I texted my wife and, in a fit of buyer’s remorse, we both agreed that we wish we’d known of Blink at the time.
There were other encounters during which I learned of personal connections that made the resulting conversation more meaningful and so business cards were exchanged with a promise of re-connecting in order to possibly make a helpful introduction. Who knows what will come of such conversations, but when I left it was with the satisfaction of having played a small part in an enjoyable event charged with positive and productive energy.
As for the winners of the three categories, those shook out as follows:
- Company I Want to Have a Beer With: the good folks at Blink (and well-deserved!);
- Future Unicorn: online data storage service Wasabi; and,
- Most Likely to Develop a Cult Following: Toon Crier, developer of “emotional virtual reality” tech.
Congratulations to them and to all those entrepreneurs who mustered the gumption to participate.