Get Help For Things Unknown
We had a great special introductory session last week, with former Founder-in-Residence Jessie Garcia and former OnRamp Pitch Competition winners Genefer Baxter, Marco Locatelli and Jean Steinke, and our special guest entrepreneur, Founder Jose Puente, Managing Partner, Motiva Ventures.
As well as now being an investor in start-ups and a mentor, Jose is veteran of five start-ups, three extremely successful (he joined us from Madrid, spearheading through his current start-up, an operation for Santander Bank), and two, well, not so much. A few lessons here…first, I think every founder of a start-up has been through inevitable ups and downs, success in a new venture is rarely linear. Second, when asked what advice or information Jose wished he had known and followed early on in his entrepreneurial career, he immediately said that he very much wished he had recognized early on that indeed he couldn’t do everything — that there were things he was not good at or needed more study and information on, and wished that he had actively sought out help from experts or mentors. Jose was sure that by asking for help, he could have avoided many problems later down the road.
We Are One Start-up Community, Here to Help
While Jose’s comments were not planned, it occurred to me that his observations serve as a perfect introduction to the reason for OnRamp, and our weekly “deep dive” in the fundamental areas of business. How to present your business model, idea development, financial modeling, legal structure, etc. are all vital areas of knowledge for a start-up entrepreneur, but just as important are the contacts made with each guest lecturer session to come. A vital part of the journey is making contacts so you know where to go to get expert advice and support. I hope everyone leverages this opportunity during the course of the next eight weeks.
We are one community, all here to help each other, and I look forward to knowing you all in the weeks to come.
