Starting
a new a business requires you to constantly walk into
the unknown. In order for an individual or a business
to succeed it needs to keep innovating towards that success.
Two months ago I looked at the growing incidence of business
incubators and clusters in the Bay Area and the benefits
they bring to local start-ups. This article looks at the
growth of these incubators from the vantage point of the
entrepreneurs who have experienced their support in this
walk into the unknown.
Nikko Clifford, the Director and Founding Member of
“Girls for a Change”, www.girlsforachange.org,
is currently celebrating the success of her organization’s
launch event. On October 10th “Girls for a Change”
brought together 1,035 girls from Silicon Valley to
begin their year-long commitment to the development
and implementation of community-based projects. From
start to finish the girls have access to mentors, community
developers and expertise they need to develop, fund
and bring their vision to fruition. This is a year that
will not only impact their communities but teach all
of these young women the power of having a vision and
what it is to have that vision become reality. One group
is developing a project to raise awareness in their
school about sexual harassment, create a charter and
educate their peers about the repercussions of harassment.
Another group who live in an unsafe neighborhood are
planning a Youth Safe Space – a small café
that allows them a place to “hang-out” and
have the freedom to socialize without threat.
Nikko has essentially built an incubator for these
young women. They girls are the idea generators; “Girls
for A Change” has built the needed resources,
structures, skills and tools around them. There is a
database of 200 women consultants, funding to apply
for, local politicians who want to help, schools signed
up. They have built the structure for the girls as Women’s
Technology Custer has built the structure for Nikko’s
organization.
When Nikko came to the WTC in San Francisco she had
a vision and an initial $100,000 grant. She knew her
goal but not how to navigate her way to it. WTC has
been pivotal in showing her how to use effective business
tools to run her non-profit. In this non-profit arm
of WTC’s incubator they teach the participants
how to speak the language of the for-profit world, how
to develop and use those business skills so that the
non-profit ventures are as successful as their for-profit
counterparts. Kim Fisher and the staff at WTC honed
her ability to write a business plan, generate marketing
ideas and learn to create a pitch she could use to access
VC money. The resources that she has found there have
saved her hundreds of hours of searching on her own
for exactly what she needed next. Access to other women
with organizations, which are innovative and growing,
has been invaluable for her. Camaraderie abounds. Half
of the members of the WTC came and helped her stuff
envelopes for her launch; many came to the launch to
celebrate her growing success. An entrepreneur on their
own often has few to celebrate with. At WTC no one’s
birthday’s goes by unnoticed, spontaneous get
togethers are the norm.
Through networking at WTC Nikko now has both Cisco
& Agilent working with them to bring their model
to the international market. From “a glimmer in
her eye” nine months ago when she joined WTC her
passion has blossomed into a growing company with a
potential global impact.
Lisa Marino, another WTC member, is CEO of “Cima
Systems”, www.cimasystems.net Founded 8 months
prior to joining, Lisa’s company was pre-revenue
and in product development. About a month after joining
WTC they finished their product, a computer-telephony
application offering state-of-the art messaging and
call management services to small and mid-size companies.
The WTC staff introduced them to investors and provided
mentorship both on a functional and executive level.
Lisa used these mentoring services for Q&A and testing.
With their help she could roll out products more quickly
and much better tested. When they found their beta testing
wasn’t going well, WTC mentors helped develop
a process to test the robustness and functionality of
the product. The mentors worked with their testers and
made recommendations – some did hands-on work,
some consulted and evaluated and gave them specific
procedures. They found a mentor to come in and roll
out all of their marketing materials, saving them months
of work and valuable capital.
Unlike some other WTC members, “Cima”
decided that they did not want to go after VC money
but instead were interested in obtaining Angel Money.
Although they haven’t raised money yet through
that channel WTC has gotten them airtime. Kim and the
staff worked with them on their business plan and helped
them hone their pitch to potential investors. After
only 7 months in the incubator, they are hoping to extend
their membership to the full two-year term. For on-going
challenges and goal setting the staff regularly bring
their prodigious resources forward to find what she
needs.
With a new baby and a technology that is different
from most of the more web-enabled products of other
WTC participants Lisa hasn’t used the community
to it’s maximum. But contact with mentors and
the resources WTC has offered Lisa have proven invaluable.
“Cima” has developed a horizontal product
for any industry that is appointment or service dependent:
auto, help desks, IT, Healthcare, Therapeutic Services,
Salon & Spa. Lisa says, “My schedule is now
full each day – WTC is not necessarily for everyone
but for startups new to entrepreneurship they have the
resources to get you off the ground.”
ister’s Headquarters is a new incubator in Oakland.
Their membership is mainly service and micro-etnerprise
based. Sherry Cartlett, the Founder and Executive Director
of The Oakland Jazz Foundation www.oaklandjazzfoundation.org
is a non-profit and a member. Her initial plan to open
a jazz club in Oakland with the help of the Small Business
Association transformed into a non-profit offering health
services to local jazz musicians and providing education
to the local community. Eight or nine months ago she
was looking for an office space so that she could keep
her business in Oakland. She discovered Sister’s
Headquarters. As she was starting out, it was important
for her to have a place to go, a place where other women
understood the needs of a growing business. Although
Sister’s does have office facilities, Sherry utilizes
them primarily for the conference room where she holds
her Board meetings.
At monthly networking meetings Sherry was impressed
to see business women in the Oakland community gather
to talk about their enterprises and find the counsel
they need to keep going. These meetings provide a forum
where women can practice speaking about their business
to others, share resources and discover options for
growing their endeavors. She sees her business as a
way to bridge cultural gaps within the Oakland community
while working to positively impact health care services
for musicians. Her vision of opening a jazz club is
still in the wings and one never knows if her contacts
at Sister’s will be in service to this dream.
OJF has worked through the Crafts and Cultural Arts
Department by offering jazz concerts at “Third
Thursday” at Frank Ogawa Plaza. She is currently
planning a joint venture with the East Bay Symphony
and Afro-Cuban Jazz Musicians to be held at the Paramount
on January 24th, 2003. There will be a pre-show fund
raising dinner at Central Park West in the Kaiser Building.
Ticket information is on their web-site.
Nadine Shaw-Landesvratt, 510-655-8264, the Founder
of “NIA for Action” offers coaching services
to the Oakland community. At Sister’s she has
found a warm environment and the camaraderie she needed
to get started. Her association there has broadened
her scope of contacts and serendipitously brought her
a speaking engagement for her other business, “Our
Colors”, a multi-racial Family Network. Since
beginning her membership in the spring, Nadine has used
their office facilities, attended on-going networking
meetings and used the conference room to meet with clients.
In addition, she volunteers when she can. As many others
have stated, having the opportunity to meet with other
business owners, to talk about the challenges of starting
your own business and watch other’s make it through
the growing pains continues to be invaluable to her.
Physics show us over and over again that the “sum
is greater than it’s parts”. These business
owners are using nature as a model and growing their
businesses, enlivening their dreams through mutually
beneficial growth. Collaboration is not only more fun
but essential in today’s business environment
as a means to foster development and use collective
creativity to answer challenges.
