The Denton Tech Community

I grew up in Denton. Like most people when it comes to their hometown, I have had a love/hate relationship with Denton. To be accurate, a hate that has turned into love relationship. One of the biggest reasons for the evolution into love for Denton is because of the tech community. They have welcomed me as one of it’s own even though I have no tech skills to speak of. They have encouraged me to use the skills I do have and grow them. Because of that reason and others I have a special place in my heart for the tech community of Denton and in the process, for Denton. They invited me to help start TechMill, a local nonprofit, that provides education on technology, supports the tech community, and provide resources for tech startups in Denton. I was brought on to be the treasurer and use my business skills in TechMill. TechMill has changed my life in wonderful ways that I’m sure I don’t fully understand yet.

We started TechMill with a focus on supporting startups, and we quickly realized… there weren’t many startups to focus on. Denton, as many towns in North Texas, has a strong history of small businesses, but startups are in a league of their own. To me, that was a defining problem in the beginning. Initially it was difficult to make a distinction between who was a small businesses and who was a startups. Eventually, we figured it out. Denton has a lot of small businesses who needs help bootstrapping their own businesses. By providing them with resources, education, and programming to help them bootstrap and grow their own business, this has been our mission, and TechMill continues to experiment with new ways to do so.

However, this is not what I’m passionate about. I come from a family of entrepreneurs who have built businesses by bootstrapping and we’ve had great success. But, I’ve been there, I’ve done that.TechMill has shifted it’s focus on what the community needs right now, focusing on education to grow the pool of technical talent, laying the foundation for new high growth tech startups. This is what Denton needs right now, and I fully support TechMill and this new initiative. But the truth is, I want to be that high growth startup. I don’t want to just build the launchpad, I want to build the rocketship.

And unfortunately, it takes a lot of time and energy to build a that rocketship, and this is why I’m stepping down from the board of TechMill. I can’t reiterate enough how much I believe and support the mission of TechMill, but as a co-founder of Kubos, we’re building a company that is changing the space industry, and by doing so, be one of those high growth startups as a leader in the Denton tech community. Everyone has a role to play, and I am proud to play mine.

So, thank you TechMill. I never would’ve been a part of this wonderful community or Kubos without you, and I have no doubt in the future that more people will have the same experience.

And of course, thank you to the Denton tech community for accepting a non-techie like myself into your beautiful, exciting and rewarding world.

Now, back to that rocketship.