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Post on 21-Jan-2015
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Building Informal Entrepreneurial Networks
Kirk R. HillFounder of the Maine Entrepreneurs Network
Watcha talking about Willis?
• Who Am I?– Background– Experience
• What defines an Entrepreneur?– Personality traits– Challenges
• How to foster collaboration amongst Entrepreneurs?
• Questions and Answers
Who Am I?
• Maine native – grew up in L/A• Attended MIT from 1990 – 1994• Started first company within a year• Started several other companies
– Real estate investment– Self defense training and seminar– Auto repair shop– Boston based startup– Business incubation company
What is an Entrepreneur?
• Adventures of an Incurable Optimist
• My Way or the Highway
• Let’s Head to the Races
• Never give up. Never surrender.
• Try, Try Again
• Acts like just drank 10 cups of coffee
Challenges for Entrepreneurs
• Find resources: time, people, money• Making critical business decisions
– Products and/or services– Revenue model– Compensation models– Company structure– Financing strategy
• Angel/VC funding• Bootstrap
– Marketing strategy
What’s In Common Here?
• Finding a needle in a haystack• Putting toothpaste back into the tube• Herding cats• Licking your elbow• Cutting down the mightiest tree …with a herring• These are all easier than
Getting a group of entrepreneurs to participate in a formal forum
Entrepreneurs Collaborating
• The Solution …
• Provide an informal forum in which entrepreneurs can discuss common issues, share ideas, and brainstorm solutions
• Maine Entrepreneurs LinkedIn Group
Why?
• Wanted to collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs
• Needed to find entrepreneurial expertise in Maine
• Looking for business partners
• No similar group existed
• Because I could
How the Group Started
• Created the LinkedIn group in July 2008 which grew to over 50 members in the first month
• First face-to-face in August 2008, 12 people came to the first meeting
• Monthly meetings ever since with attendance increasing to 40 – 60 people
• LinkedIn Group has over 650 people
Format of the Monthly Meetings
• Starts with ½ hour (or so) of networking
• Quick introduction of group
• 15 – 30 second elevator pitches
• Few words about the discussion topic
• Moderated group discussion– Keep alpha type personalities in check– Make sure everyone gets heard
Previous Topics of Discussion
• Differences between sales, marketing, and branding
• Revenue models – used mCaddie
• Pitching potential investors
• Marketing a product – used a specific product for the discussion
• Identifying and mitigating risk
• Creating a Board of Advisors
Between the Meetings
• Lively discussion boards at LinkedIn
• Promotion of additional events of interest to the group
• Meet with other entrepreneurs
• Promote the group at every chance– Twitter– Networking events– Business contacts
Summary
• Entrepreneurs are a rare breed
• Face many challenges
• Informal forums tend to work better than formal forums
• Strong moderation to keep alpha personalities in check
• Existing social media tools play important role
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