On March 7, 2013 Startup Grind North Bay hosted Kirit Patel. Kirit has significant experience working in private equity and venture capital both internationally and in the US, with a focus on technology-driven business models. He is the managing partner of Tamalpais Ventures, a private equity firm, where he actively manages 6 portfolio companies. 

One of the key points that arose from the interview for Startup Grind between John Stayton and Kirit was that the core to being an entrepreneur is, “if your startup is your calling, then your passion will start to come through.” Kirit goes onto explain, “you need to have an appreciation for risk. If you go on to to start your own business, you don’t have the safety net of a salary to count on. What you may have is a war chest to live off of, but ultimately you will have to face the time when money is short.”

It is very true that the idea of losing a steady income is at the forefront of one’s fears when becoming an entrepreneur. According to brighthub.com, “the #1 primary risk is losing a stable income. Income potential simply means you may or may not earn money. You may have months of steady income but you also may have months of not having an income at all.”

In the face of an economy that has been struggling for the past 6 years after the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression, how is one supposed to approach this? I, for one think that Kirit is correct in his acknowledgment that your passion will come through if you are truly dedicated, especially when you consider what entrepreneurs are facing these days.

Another key point that Kirit made was that negotiations are extremely important. It is one of the fundamental qualities required by entrepreneurs and “asking for money is one of the hardest things in the world to do.” It is extremely important that you have to do your homework and know everything about the market space so that you can, “talk the same language,” according to Kirit. Kewmarketing.com says it best, “If your client doesn’t understand what you’re saying – you need to think, is it them or you? Most likely, it’s going to be you.”

The understanding of risk and negations are extremely important in order to succeed in the world of business. Kirit has demonstrated this in his career time and time again. He has a gift of overcoming these obstacles and the fact that he was able to share this information with the Startup Grind Community is invaluable. If you can’t pivot and learn from your mistakes, you won’t be a successful entrepreneur.

Jamie is an avid cyclist and bikes to work nearly every day. We don’t see him in the Hive (our common work area) very much because most of the time he’s in the back R&D warehouse working on Cadtrak’s products. Yesterday I ventured back there and we spent some time catching up. He told me about his new bike discovery which is what compelled me to write this post.

Jamie’s a real innovator at heart – always seeking new ways to use resources more efficiently (a perfect fit for Venture Greenhouse). He showed me how he has added a Dynamo Hub to the front wheel of his bike, which generates power for the bike’s lights. When the wheel is in motion, the light intensifies, and when the wheel stops, the light becomes slightly less bright. Apparently the lights have a capacitor which enables them to store some power so the light won’t completely fade when the bike stops (smart idea). He has 2 lights currently being powered by this “gadget” and intends to add a few more.

So, what’s the big deal you may ask – it’s not like he invented this, is it? Well no, he didn’t invent it, but he is smart enough to find the solution, implement it and use it. We appreciate the adoption of innovation especially when it is moving the dial toward smarter ways of doing things in life to use less resources. Go Jamie!!

Rajiv Patel joined Venture Greenhouse as an intern in January. He is currently an undergraduate majoring in International Business at Dominican University of California. During his time here he has focused on executing marketing strategies to promote Venture Greenhouse leading up to our new client application deadline of April 1st. He has worked on identifying suitable channels, establishing a stronger presence, and growing our network within the social media space.

We can’t say enough good things about Rajiv - frankly, he’s a rock star (see his photo). In two months he’s grown our facebook following by 33%, our twitter following by 34%, and our newsletter subscription list by 30%. He’s also helped to streamline our website and assisted with the production of many of our public events.

We like to think that Rajiv is benefiting as much as we are from him. He tells us that he’s learning a lot about how to promote an organization by staying true to the message of its mission. He’s also discovering new tools and techniques that can be used to organize and schedule social media promotions to ensure the posts reach the widest audience. He explains how using Tweetdeck and Bufferapp allows one to coordinate and time the release of the postings so that they are being delivered regularly and in a consistent manner. This helps to engage and keep the interest of subscribers.

One of the things I’m especially happy to report is that Rajiv seems to have become very interested in sustainability. He told me that this was not a topic he was very familiar with before he started working here. Now, he says: “working for a sustainable organization has opened my eyes to the economic issues and challenges that communities face around the world, especially in emerging countries. Here at Venture Greenhouse I am seeing how social and environmental entrepreneurs are creating ways that lead toward a more efficient and better world.”

If Rajiv’s performance as an Intern here is any indication of things to come, I think he is probably going to be doing some spectacular things in this world - things that benefit our planet and our global community.

Everyday I work with clients who reach a moment of despair when a sudden and potentially big change happens. They dread the chaos of the transition process, forgetting that there is a way to smoother waters. Savvy leaders share information and design good conversations that build readiness from the beginning to the end of the journey.

Starting up a new green business takes courage, tenacious commitment and a big vision. Then it happens, the market changes and you have to pivot the business model. Chaos ensues.

Deconstructing management systems, supply chains, or engineering can be tough. Members of the team can get downright nasty in their resistance because after all, they spent months putting those systems in place. It's a bit like telling everyone to line up for the dentist chair! Progress stalls in bedlam, confusion and even anarchy, weakening enthusiasm and commitment.

You can draw on the power of this chaos to reorder what isn’t working into innovative solutions and break through results.

Is there ever a time when chaos is to be celebrated? Yes. Without the flowing movement of chaos things stay the same. Think of the still and murky pool – do you want to go for a swim? When change is called for, chaos is a natural part of the package. The more profound or radical the change – the wilder the chaos. Wise leaders turn rough water into a thrilling ride because they make use of one key skill: Building Readiness through Good Communication.

Successful entrepreneurs constantly build readiness by sharing information regularly in the market place and in their team so that when it is time to make a shift, they respond fluidly. Getting things done once meant avoiding the kind of discussions that would slow you down -- but now we recognize that acting without inclusion increases stress and reduces enthusiasm.

As Margaret Wheatley says in Finding Our Way, “People deal far better with uncertainty and stress when they know what’s going on, even if the information is incomplete and only temporarily correct. Freely circulating information helps create trust, and it turns us into rapid learners and more effective workers. The more affected we are by the situation, the more information we need.”

With knowledge, key players are ready to reach the one agreement crucial to success: “Yes, there really is a need to change.” People change from the inside out. Until they agree that a change is needed, they are not with you in the boat pulling on the oars, and it’s hard to move quickly in a new direction.

Design good conversations to bring out the emotional and analytic intelligence of the team. Open the meeting by inviting dialogue – an opportunity to connect and co-create new meaning in the midst of uncertainty. Develop readiness and form new agreements by asking questions like:

• What will stay the same?
• Why bother making a change? What do we lose? What do we gain?
• What is the best rate of change for different parts of the organization?
• What are needed resources and support?
• What other conversations do we want to invite? With whom?

Wise leaders take the natural process of building readiness into account from the get-go and design conversations that invite uncertainty and inspiration to shape a new direction. With simple care and honest talk, the turmoil of change can be a creative, messy, exhilarating, scary, tough, heart opening, strengthening, and natural process.

Jeff Klein highlights the value of quality interactions in Working for Good, “Dialogue is a particular form of communication in which we listen deeply and respond authentically, building on awareness to collectively foster an emerging new awareness. When we communicate this way, trust and connections deepen, relationships flourish, and collaboration ensues, releasing creativity and productive energy.”

Go slow to go fast. Remember you are not alone. When you talk with a trusted mentor or advisor to design a series of healthy conversations with key members of your team and stakeholder group, you’ll build more commitment and confidence. Good conversations evoke the collaborative wisdom you need to get all the way to your destination.

Each of us trying to keep our businesses upright, fluid, and responsive through the chaos of change face the choice – resist despair and frustration – or slow down and proactively engage with each other to ensure continued growth, prosperity, and mission impact.

All of us are faced with the tumultuous waters of change. For those who run a start-up, with hopes to make a mark in the world of green business, good conversations matter.

Karen Wilhelm Buckley is a member of the VGH Steering Committee. An Executive Coach and Consultant with Communicore Consulting, Karen’s clients, whether start-up or multi-national, develop wise leadership – the skills, strategies, and presence to cultivate committed performance and effectively drive needed changes.

The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is the leading business plan competition for budding social entrepreneurs, produced through a partnership between UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Columbia Business School and several global partner universities. There are five regional competitions that send finalists to the global competition, held in Berkeley. The Southeast Asia regional competition, hosted by Thammasat University, is held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dominican’s Green MBA, which I cofounded, has had a partnership with Thammasat’s International MBA program for several years. I annually teach a short course for them. This year I was asked to schedule my course to coincide with the regional GSVC so that I could participate as a judge.

Wednesday…no Thursday…wait what day is it?

I left home in Sonoma County at 6:30am on Wednesday, March 6. I arrived at my hotel in Bangkok at 1am on Friday, March 8, missing the judges’ welcoming dinner by about 7 hours. I think that calculates to 28.5 hours of travel time. The next activity was scheduled for 5 hours later, an optional bike tour of Bangkok meeting at 6am in the hotel lobby. I have been to Bangkok several times, so why would I show up for a bike tour after a 28 hour travel day and less than four hours of sleep?

Friday

Because I am nuts. I especially thought that about myself at 6am, the only person in the lobby because the other judges had decided at dinner the night before that 7am was a more sane hour to meet. But I am glad I went for it – we rode through back alleys and farmers markets, along the river and onto boats. We chatted and got to know each other while we got some exercise. When we finished the ride at the bike tour company, they served us a lunch of barbecued chicken while those of us who were brave enough stuck our feet in a tub full of little fish that feasted on our dead skin cells. (In case you were wondering, it feels really weird.)

Meanwhile, the competing social entrepreneurs had their own activity – they were randomly combined onto teams and did a scavenger hunt through the streets of Bangkok. We met them for dinner, where they presented pictures of the day’s exploits and received prizes (everyone won something).

Then the actual competition began. The 11 teams competing were selected from the dozens of business plans submitted from across the region, so the process to get to Bangkok had already been very competitive and these were the select few. One of the requirements is that a member of the team needed to have been enrolled in a graduate program within the last two years, so applicants were generally in their twenties. Friday night’s activity was the 60-second pitch competition. It didn’t actually count toward who made it to Berkeley, but it was an opportunity for us to see the teams in action.

We also had their business plans to review before morning. If you suffer from jet lag and can’t get to sleep, I have a surefire cure: read business plans in bed.

Saturday

Saturday was the day of the competition. Each team played a short video, made a 10 minute pitch, and had 10 minutes to answer questions from the judges. All of the teams were excited and anxious, and gave it their best. There were about 100 people in the room, and the audience participated by voting for the best video award (again, this didn’t count toward who went to Berkeley).

At the conclusion of the presentations, at 5pm, the judges went into a conclave to decide which two teams would be sent to the finals in Berkeley in April. The consensus-based selection process was facilitated by Paul Herman, founder and CEO of HIP Investor, a leading impact investing firm based in San Francisco. The other 8 judges included several successful social entrepreneurs from around the world. Paul facilitated a discussion about all of the 11 social ventures and within two hours we made our selections. Munching Box CSA is converting small Thai farms to organic methods, and providing markets for their rice and produce to Bangkok’s LOHAS consumers. They already have 350 subscribers and are growing rapidly. WEDU provides opportunities for mentoring and higher education to impoverished girls who show promise for leadership. They have selected their first five girls from Cambodia and Myanmar and are planning to scale.

The awards were announced that evening over drinks and dinner. The winners were ecstatic, especially the Italian guy from WEDU who gave all of the judges huge hugs and then came around and did it again in case he forgot anybody the first time. I finally hit the wall of exhaustion I had been staving off at about 8:30pm, right after the awards were announced, so I missed partying with the other judges until the wee hours.

Sunday

Sunday’s symposium was held at the Thai Stock Exchange. That’s right, the Stock Exchange of Thailand was a sponsor. What was that like? Freezing cold. Bangkok was having weather that was even more hot and humid than usual, but most of the weekend in the hotel and Stock Exchange, I was too cold. I wore the same sport coat, the only sleeves I brought, for three days. The symposium had a couple hundred people, mostly students, in the audience.

The event opened with a band playing rock music on traditional Thai instruments. They were apparently runners up in the Thai version of American Idol. They were awesome. But what was truly awesome was hearing the stories of the social entrepreneurs with whom I had been riding bikes, eating meals and judging a social venture competition. I finally got to find out more about the people I had been hanging out with all weekend. They included the founders of Rags to Riches, (Reese Fernandez), and Hapinoy (Mark Ruiz) from the Philippines (who are now married); Sam Goldman from d light design (who have replaced a million kerosene lanterns with solar lights in households without electricity); Michelle Kreger, Senior Director from Kiva, and Su Mon from Proximity Designs in Myanmar (who provide all kinds of resources to increase the incomes of poor rural farmers in the country formerly known as Burma). They gave deeply inspiring talks about their stories and the stories of their social ventures. Some of them were prior GSVC finalists. This really shows the value of GSVC. Whether or not the two finalists we sent to Berkeley win, they will have global exposure.

They are already winners.

There comes a point when spreadsheets just don’t cut it anymore. I’m talking about keeping track of leads, opportunities and sales. My business partner and I realized that we needed something that would help us keep track of all our sales calls and follow-ups with the ability to view reports and pipelines by category or stage.

As I’m sure many of you will agree, it’s a daunting task taking on a CRM system. First there’s the research required, then once you’ve decided on a platform there’s the setup and customization. Then there’s the importing of all the spreadsheets that you’ve created, and finally the adoption of the tool itself so that you can finally discard the spreadsheets. So the best approach is to start with the right CRM to begin with (we’re on our second platform and believe me, it’s not fun).

For those seeking a “light CRM”, Insight.ly is a good choice because it requires minimal setup time and maintenance and is not as overwhelming in features and jargon as some of its counterparts (Zoho, Salesforce etc). It’s free for up to 4 users, is cloud based, and offers complete integration with Google products including Contacts, Docs, Calendar, and Gmail. The features I found especially useful are the ability to link contacts to organizations, the option to add tags, and the ability to create custom filters in the opportunities tab (or reports) which we use to view opportunities as a report by category and stage.

The Details

Website: http://insightly.com
Cost: Free (for up to 4 users)
Time to setup: 30 mins-hours depending on setup

Tell us what you think and let us know of any great tools we should highlight for the community.

On March 1, 2013 the Sequester started its process to cut spending $85 billion dollars in many areas that will affect the economy. These cuts will primarily hit education, defense and social programs. The question of how this will impact small businesses and entrepreneurs is clearly a top concern as well.

According to Entrepreneurs For Growth, “the Small Business Administration is set to be hit with a $902 million reduction in loan guarantees.” This will impact the ability to hire new employees, expand small businesses and provides a highly unpredictable climate for future plans. Predictability and access to cash flow are what makes a business thrive. Entrepreneurs already have voluntarily entered a harsh world where 85% of startups fail and this only increases their odds of failing.

So what happens next? The National Small Business Association (NSBA) reports that “the Congressional Budget Office has projected the sequester could eventually cost 750,000 jobs in 2013 and reduce the gross domestic product by half a percentage point.” The real deadline and a fear of government shutdown is March 27th and the chances of this happening are increasing everyday.

Entrepreneurs just can’t seem to catch a break. Over the past 5 years they have dealt with the worst recession of a generation: bank meltdowns, a huge credit crisis, and now the battle with sequestration.

In order to survive in this environment an entrepreneur has to face the realities of what lays ahead. Here are a few tips from Bloomberg Businessweek:

• Cut payroll, but be creative. Forego bonuses and offer days off, early Fridays or telecommuting benefits.
• Barter for services if you can’t do them on your own.
• Renegotiate vendor relationships and reduce the unnecessary add-ons with leases or contracts.
• Liquidate unnecessary inventory
• Tighten the belt a bit with cost-cutting measures. For example, use internet phone services to make a call instead of a traditional carrier.
• Get a cash-flow projection from your bookkeeper or accountant each month to allow you to micromanage your cash position.

The heart of business entrepreneurship and what makes our country tick is at risk again. In the end, the avoidance of a government shutdown is of paramount importance. This means that both parties in Congress and the Administration need to come to an agreement despite their differences. This may create short-term pain, and result in an agreement that is far from ideal from anyone’s standpoint. But as a result, our government can continue to work and entrepreneurs can have at least some stability and predictability in what is already an extraordinarily challenging endeavor.

Startup Grind’s North Bay Chapter hosted social entrepreneur Jeff Klein at Venture Greenhouse on March 7th. Led by interviewer Julianne Maurseth, Jeff shared his perspective and insights gained from working with businesses toward social change. Jeff has consulted for the Esalen Institute, the National Geographic Society, GlobalGiving, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences, among others, and currently facilitates many initiatives including Working for Good; Conscious Capitalism, Inc. and beinghuman.org. He authored the award-winning book, Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, and the newly released book It's Just Good Business: The Emergence of Conscious Capitalism & the Practice of Working for Good.

One of the topics that I found particularly compelling was about the emergence of a paradigm shift from the prevailing model of business as we know it today, which focuses only on the financial return to shareholders, to “conscious capitalism” where businesses focus on their primary purpose of existence which is to bring value to all its stakeholders. To illustrate this point, Jeff shared a compelling metaphor from a colleague: “Every human being has to produce red blood cells to survive, but that doesn’t mean that the purpose of a human being is to produce red blood cells. Similarly every business needs to generate a profit to persist over time, but that’s not its purpose. That’s just a function it has to fulfill.” I realized at this event how much I have been assuming the old paradigm and am relieved to realize that the main function of business is to fulfill its purpose to benefit society.

Jeff went on to explain that conscious businesses recognize that a business is an interconnected ecosystem, and embrace their responsibilities to all stakeholders, while at the same time using their purpose to guide them in business. These are two of the four principles of conscious capitalism: higher purpose and stakeholder orientation. Watch this video to hear Jeff talk about these principles of conscious capitalism.

Jeff distinguishes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from Conscious Capitalism (CC). CSR is usually an “add on strategy” to the primary focus of making money, while CC is about acting responsibly not for strategic reasons, but because it is an expression of the business and the people who work there, and because the business embraces the community as a stakeholder.

Jeff also shared a couple of examples of businesses that are embodying this new movement. Both of these examples, Whole Foods and Bon Appetit, have relentlessly maintained a clear focus on their purpose. He explained how this is one of the key factors to their success and how profits come from creating value for others.

In February I attended the first ever 2013 Startup Grind Global Event and represented Venture Greenhouse. Startup Grind is a robust and vibrant network of over 15,000 entrepreneurs from all over world. Venture Greenhouse has represented the North Bay Chapter since August 2012.

The 2013 Startup Grind Global Event had founders and speakers from all over the world including Brazil, Atlanta, Singapore and Boston. They all gave their time and energy to support all those involved with Startup Grind. There were 25-Chapter Directors represented that gather local entrepreneurs on a monthly basis in their local cities.

A couple of the themes that seemed to emerge on numerous occasions were to be smart about your startup team and that building a startup is not something that you do on your own.

One particular presenter that stood out to me was Mark Suster, who spoke about How to Build Out Your Early Team in a Startup Environment. Some of the insights into a smart startup he shared were to:

1. Be careful about having too many co-founders and the risk of dilution that is involved
2. Keep the team small – Ideal team should have a CEO and 4-5 engineers
3. Don’t hire people that are all the same as you – having diversity in a startup team matters

Another amazing speaker was Carlos Martins of the Language Institute. He spoke about the founding of his company, how he overcame the negative thoughts of others; especially those who were close to him, and what drives him to achieve every day.

Forbes writes in an article titled, Can Teaching Brazilians New Languages Turn 'Wizard' Into A Billionaire?, “His Grupo Multi has grown into a massive company boasting about $1.4 billion in revenues in 2010. It has 45,000 employees throughout Brazil and 3,500 school franchises servicing 1.4 million students a year. Last year it announced that an investment branch of Brazil’s Banco Itau was investing R$200 million (about $125 million) in Grupo Multi for a 15% stake in the company. Now there are talks of a potential IPO, something Martins says could happen this year or next.”

It seems that Carlos Martins is very close to becoming a billionaire, but he keeps one thing close to him and that is his family. That is what drives him each and every day, he concluded in his presentation.

The importance of family was a common theme throughout the 2013 Startup Grind Global Event. Ann Miura-Ko, founding partner of Floodgate, gave a very touching presentation on how she could not have gotten where she is without the support of her parents, husband, and even her executive assistant.

At the beginning and at the end of the 2013 Global Event, Startup Grind Founder Derek Anderson mentioned that he could not be where he is without the support of his wife. On Valentine’s Day he wrote, “During my corporate America 4-year career I can count my 1am+ work nights on one hand. I’ve had 15 in the past month. Sound familiar? I’ve never heard Erica complain. We run Startup Grind from our garage and when 7pm rolls around and usually with about 5-minutes notice, Erica has magically cooked dinner for the team. This past week I absolutely needed her help. So she boarded a plane to San Diego with our two boys, dropped them off, boarded another plane and returned. After 24/7 work for a week she boarded a plane, flew to San Diego, picked them up, and returned home again with two children in tow.” Read More

This was an event that brought some of the smartest and most successful minds from around the world together for two amazing days. They shared their personal stories of successes, failures and triumphs. Every single speaker mentioned in some way that they could not have built their startup by themselves and that this is extremely important to remember in a climate where you often feel alone.

We’re very excited to introduce you to our 13 new Affiliate ventures. On February 7th we kicked off the four-month Affiliate program at full capacity with Bay Area entrepreneurs representing many different business models and a wide-range of products and services. It is inspiring to see the unique approach each entrepreneur is taking to create value and positively impact the world. 

Some of the businesses are focusing their attention on local solutions:

Concrete Newthink - transforms concrete rubble into 100% recycled, elegant, landscaping products.
Happy's Greenhouse - provides education for children about healthy organic food at the national level.
LilypadSGS - provides individual rental units remodeled into existing houses in Marin County.
Ogo Now - makes local, organic and healthy food available through drive-thru, walk up and bike up locations.
Women's Well - is a women's wellness center in the East Bay community that provides nurturing of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health of women.

Other businesses are addressing issues on a national or international level:

Earth Friendly Manufacturing (working name) - is developing natural, non-toxic materials to be used for manufacturing (including medical devices).
Eco Farm Growers - is developing a vertical farming system to grow vegetables in urban environments.
Good Green Moving - is providing sustainable moving services using bio-diesel trucks.
LEAN Energy (local energy aggregation network) - provides resources and expertise to local governments, advocacy. organizations, and individuals wishing to launch CCA in their own states and communities.
My American Pantry - is an interactive atlas and a future marketplace of American artisan food and drink.
Responsible Energy - is a waste recovery plant that converts wine industry waste and manure into carbon neutral transportation fuel, electricity, and organic soil amendments, with no waste products.
Support4orgs - helps non-profits grow by providing them the tools they need to take their organization to the next level.
Rainforest Connection - is a monitoring platform that generates real-time data on deforestation activity in tropical rainforests.

Welcome to our new Affiliate entrepreneurs. We are looking forward to seeing your businesses take shape and accelerate to success.

For those of you curious to meet these incredible people, come to one of our Thursday events, Startup Grind or Eco-Leadership Series held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 6.30-8.30pm.

For those of you who don’t know already, the Affiliate program is one of two programs offered at Venture Greenhouse. It differs from the resident program in a few ways and I’ve included a chart to help clarify these distinctions:

Both Programs Offer:

• Professional services at discounted rates
• Exposure to business and investor networks
• Access to guest speakers, workshops and events
• Collaborative, innovative environment

Resident Client Program:           

• Resident           
• One year            
• Office & meeting facilities           
• Weekly session with dedicated team of mentors, advisors and coaches           

Affiliate Program:

• Non-resident
• Four months
• Bi-monthly workshops
• Monthly coaching and mentoring sessions