eROI Days Email Agency

Kevin Tate, a buddy of mine, had an awesome analogy featured on the front page of the Oregonian today in the article “Tech entrepreneurs defy recession” by Mike Rogoway.  Here’s the excerpt from the article with Kevin’s quote that really got me thinking from a different mindset:

“Portland fosters the creation of small, furry mammals rather than dinosaurs — the really big things,” said Kevin Tate, 35, CEO of StepChange Group, a social media advertising and marketing specialist in the Pearl District. The “dinosaur” model of big corporate campuses and regimented software development (think Microsoft — or even Google) is going by the wayside, Tate said, in favor of more informal and collaborative arrangements. Portland’s current high-tech foment positions the state well to capitalize when the recession ends, provided its technology entrepreneurs have the appetite to take it on.  “What happens when things start coming back?” Tate asked. “Will the small, furry mammals evolve?”

Nearly 9 years ago, 7 mainly tech start-up entrepreneurs co-founded a group called Starve Ups.  We all survived the dot com implosion, but were influenced by really wanting to scale our companies for growth.  Some Starve Ups companies have grown a little faster than others, but many contain a desire to do something world-changing with our companies through software, social good, amazing company culture or all of the above.  I really like Kevin’s quote because it is accurate and represents a strong contingent in Portland’s software community, but I think we need to be honest with ourselves that our dream is to do something bigger and be more like a lion than a forgettable Chihuahua.  So, how do we get there? Lack of capital is usually at the top of the list, but our biggest limitation is our mindset. Let’s grow game-changing, sustainable software businesses in Portland and tout Portland’s livability and balance as a BONUS, not a detriment to growth.

Comment below with your ideas of a more representative furry mammal for Portland.

My hat goes off to a Portland entrepreneurial group called Starve Ups that I have been involved with for the past 7 years. John Friess, our leader with unbelievable entrepreneurial passion, wrote a really meaningful email to the group just now and I copied my response below his email.

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From: John Friess
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 10:35 PM
To: List
Subject: Starve Ups 7 Years Later

Everyone,

Seven years ago this evening 7 companies met at the offices of Rumblefish in downtown Portland and founded Starve Ups. The founders of these companies (AssetExchange, Versation, eROI, viaLanguage, CoolerEmail, Rumblefish and wired.MD) met for about four hours that day as we discussed exactly what Starve Ups should be, what it should accomplish and where it should go.

That evening we decided that the group should be about providing one another feedback, resources and networks to propel our businesses forward. We decided that what it should do is make success the only business model worth pursuing and that eventually we should all get to our exit or existence strategy as defined by our teams.

Well since that time all 7 founding companies, though some have had name changes or have undergone corporate restructuring, have survived and have made it to profitability. One has been acquired and more are sure to be acquired within the next two years. We have collectively employed hundreds, we have sold product to tens of thousands and we have earned tens of millions. We have built two Inc. 500 companies and have provided viable business solutions in 6 of the 7 continents.

To date we have had a total of 32 membership companies, 27 of which are still in business and building or selling products and solutions. This is an 84% success ratio amongst our membership companies, where the national average after 7 years is approximately a 16-18% success ratio. We have built a brand with a single purpose and that is to ensure that we all succeed in our businesses through paying it forward. We have done exactly that as a group, as a team as Starve Ups.

Thank you all for a great 7 years.

John

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My response:

This is awesome! And the cold, hard truth of it all is that Starve Ups would not exist if John Friess wasn’t driving it forward each and every day – you’ve done far more than you give yourself credit for.

With that said, congrats collectively to everyone on this list – we need to appreciate and celebrate our accomplishments – John’s email above shows all of us that we have legitimate things to be proud of with our companies.

Cheers,
Ryan

Lessons Learned
When you go through an emotional and professional journey like this one, it only makes sense to share my mistakes and the few things I did right. There are hundreds of lessons in just this one story, but I’ll share my top five:

1. As a business owner, never assume that informal socializing with employees is good enough. You must regularly meet one-on-one with your employees in a professional, confidential environment where true sharing is encouraged and rewarded. Additionally, I learned that employees that seem to get along socially do not necessarily respect one another professionally.

2. Take action quickly.

3. If your company is out of alignment, listen to your employees and let them know you are listening by sharing their suggestions with the whole company.

4. Get advice from other entrepreneurs. I was fortunate to have co-founded a group of 18 founders of high-growth startups called Starve Ups and received a lot of trusted advice from the trenches. Additionally, I am part of another group of advertising agency owners called Agency Owner Roundtable which is run through the Portland Advertising Federation. Both of these groups gave me pointers of real-world experiences on employee advice, branding advice, and strategic direction that I couldn’t get anywhere else.

5. You think you’ve delegated and given up a lot of control of your company, but you haven’t. If you want your company to soar, embrace delegation on every level and truly give key pieces of control to your employees. The Process Team is a result of this.

Bonus: Celebrate success when it happens.

BuildaBusinessinaDay.com

I got this email from a friend of mine that details an incredibly cool event that takes “The Apprentice” to a whole new level in Portland.

“Starve Ups: Build a Business in a Day
What do you need to build a business? A product? A marketing strategy? A sales team? A series of distribution channels? A brand? What if you could help launch a business by bringing all of these elements together with the help of over 35 entrepreneurs and 3 entrepreneurial organizations. What if it you could compress executing upon all of these elements into a single day. What if it didn’t financially cost you anything as a business owner except for some manufacturing time. Move over Donald and make room for “The Johnold.” RSVP to participate in this free 24 hour event by sending an email to contactus@starveups.com.

In October 2005, Starve Ups, an entrepreneurial organization of 18 of the hottest young startups in Portland, started a business event called “Build a Business in a Day.” On that fateful Saturday morning, 24 entrepreneurs gathered around and listened to the Johnold outline their task for the day. 24 people split into 4 teams and each team had to sell 3,000 Mardi Gras necklaces (Beads for the Bayou). Each team had $250 cash for product development (add stickers or bling bling to the necklaces), marketing, and building out the sales channel. Whichever team brought in the most revenue won. The grand prize was pride, second place less pride, and last prize was utter embarrassment. Long story short, all 4 teams brought in nearly $7,000 which was all donated to the Red Cross Katrina Relief effort.

It’s now March 2006 and the stakes are higher. The event is a 24-hour event now. We will gather at 3:30pm on Friday, March 31st at. However, this time we know what we are branding and selling. Earthly Food Delights Company is donating its VEGAN chocolate energy bars and kitchens to the cause. On that Friday, each team among the 6 teams will concoct their own ingredients and look to the energy bars, create packaging, branding and marketing strategies, and return the following morning (Saturday, April 1st) to launch their new product to the Portland market. Each team will be judged on two equal criteria – how the company is branded and on total sales per team.

Let the games begin…”