What it means to be an EIR
My thoughts on what an Entrepreneur in Residence is/should be as well as what being an EIR at Velocity means to me — Billy Boozer.
What’s an EIR?
EIR = Entrepreneur in Residence
In the context of a VC fund or, in this case, an accelerator with a fund, an EIR is an entrepreneur that dedicates his or her time and leverages their experience to assist the accelerator with evaluating companies, offer their domain experience to further those companies, and often times give the fund first access to their next company — all while exposing themselves to a network of investors and other entrepreneurs.
For many funds, the EIR role is a temporary position intended to bridge the gap for the entrepreneur by creating relationships with companies or investors and preparing them for their next business.
What it means to be an EIR
Being an EIR for me is an opportunity to share my experience as a developer, entrepreneur, and a startup founder with a group of newly created companies. These experiences have been a trial-by-fire schooling for all things I consider truths in business and technology. My goal is to take these experiences and share them with other companies with the hope that they can learn from my successes and, more importantly, my failures.
I say more importantly my failures because, although I think success gets your foot in the door with many important people, the failures are where you learn the most. For example, you learn how to choose a partner through failed partnerships, you learn how to pivot to the right idea through failed product attempts, and you learn how you’re users will use your product through your failed assumptions. In my opinion, behind every great entrepreneur and successful company there’s a graveyard of failures. My goal is to never let those failures die in vain but to resurrect them as the learning experiences that they are.
Finally, being an EIR at Velocity is my opportunity to bring a spotlight to the Birmingham tech community. We have some amazing technology entrepreneurs but there hasn’t been a great support system in place to empower them with capital and mentors — until now. Velocity is our chance to give Birmingham entrepreneurs the capital they need to get started and lead them in the right direction by connecting them with all the resources needed to succeed. It’s time to get some big wins Birmingham and Velocity is going to show you how to do it right.
Who are the EIRs for Velocity?
Me - Billy Boozer
Currently I’m a programmer and technology consultant. I’ve had the great opportunity to be co-founder of a couple of failed startups and have built some really cool software along the way. I also have a good bit of experience working with advertising agencies, which has helped me better understand everything it takes to bring a product to market. At Velocity, I’m focused on helping companies with their technology needs and guiding them to understand product market fit.
Jim is a serial entrepreneur and the former president of Iron Tribe Fitness. He has a passion for helping others and a keen mind for marketing & brand building. Currently, Jim’s an angel investor, co-founder of the beauty-on-demand app - GLOW, and an advisor to Randal Woodfin for Birmingham Mayor. Jim’s focus at Velocity is to share his amazing energy and wealth of experience building companies to the upcoming cohort.
If you’re interested in what we’re doing at Velocity or you want to just chat, you can ping me on Twitter: @billy_boozer
