The Ten Noble Acts of a Silicon Rhody
We are on a mission to create a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Rhode Island.
While the vision of a revitalized Downcity filled with young startups will take time to fully realize, there are a few noble activities we can all undertake to put that vision into action.
- Believe in and take care of yourself
This is one that I learned on a NOLS expedition years ago in the far reaches of Alaska. It’s the concept of self-leadership. The fundamental idea here is that you are responsible for getting yourself out of bed, making sure you are healthy, and keeping track of your shit. If you don’t make sure that you are “good,” then you can’t take care of those around you. When you are on an expedition, you can hurt the whole team if you don’t take care of yourself first.
It’s easy to lose yourself in your entrepreneurial endeavor, but if you let your self-care fall by the wayside, your chances of carrying out the mission successfully will fall drastically.
We want you to succeed, so start with taking care of yourself and knowing why you are doing what you are doing. Believe in yourself and take care of yourself first, only then can we build a better future together.
2. Engage and grow The Lively Experiment community
Now that you’re “good” (or working towards it), it’s time to be part of the wider expedition. For now, this takes the form of a facebook group we’ve created called The Lively Experiment.
Invite your friends and connections who want to be a part of the movement to turn Rhode Island into an entrepreneurial powerhouse. Make a post, introduce yourself, ask a question, make a point.
Actionable: Invite 5–10 friends to the group.
This is your platform now, and the larger you grow it the more it will benefit everyone in the ecosystem #networkeffect
3. Come to a meetup
In the coming weeks, we’ll be organizing our first meetup. Come through, bring a smile, bring a friend. Let’s leverage technology to bring people together in the real world so that you can bounce into old friends and make new ones all around a shared vision for what can be.
These meetups are not only casual gatherings that we self-organize but also events such as the Howell Open Coffee, the soon to be launched Venture Cafe, the Rhode Island Coalition of Entrepreneurs meetings (and upcoming startup day), and the numerous events held by SEG, Sprout, RI Inno, the RI Business competition, and COX.
Let’s show up in force, it’s by far the best way to meet people.
Join the FB group (or put your email down on the website) so you’ll know when this is all happening.
4. Take people with a startup idea seriously, and provide them early support
It takes chutzpah to start something new.
If you come across some wide-eyed person who is super enthusiastic by their next trillion dollar idea, don’t lecture them about all the reasons they will fail (we all know there are plenty). Instead, have them write it down and send it to you. Take 10 minutes to read it so you can point a flaw or two, and then encourage them to keep thinking it through. Your (actual) help will increase their actual chances of success.
By tearing someone down, so you might actually be stopping an awesome idea (or entrepreneur) by crushing their dreams too early in the process.
Sure not every startup has legs, but let the customers do the talking.
5. Find a local mentor / Mentor a next-generation entrepreneur
Instead of tearing someone down, offer to help them. If you are the brilliant person you believe yourself to be (and I’m sure you are), don’t use your brilliance to tear down others, but rather to raise them up and guide them. Help those around you. I believe that entrepreneurs finding success and climbing the ladder should help others climb up too. Here in Rhode Island, it’s vital that those with experience share what we know with the next generation. Consider this our collective brain trust.
If you’re thinking about starting a company, don’t think you already have all the answers (you don’t). Be humble and find someone with more experience than you. At my own venture (pangea.app), we have a network of 20+ advisors who know VASTLY more than we do. They see things that we don’t. And by building a relationship with them, they’ve learned they can be honest with us without hurting our feelings. Their honesty has allowed us to course correct several times over before we failed. At the same time, their belief in us has given us the energy to persevere.
One mentor of mine is Barrett Hazeltine. He once told me “Adam, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason… stop talking and start listening.” That was an incredibly valuable piece of advice. If you’re starting a venture, find several mentors and listen to what they’re saying.
(Btw this last sentence is a good example of why I use Oxford commas in other places. Feel free to debate me around this anytime, but loser buys the beers)
6. Write and post about the local ecosystem
Never before have individuals been so empowered to say something and be heard. With the internet, social media, and platforms such as medium, it has never been more accessible to publish and share your opinion.
If we want Silicon Rhode to manifest itself we must talk about all the elements that go into it. Whether it’s a cool company you know about, your thoughts on corporate governance, your pick of favorite bars in PVD, or your thoughts on Fane Tower (actually curious as to your thoughts on this one), get out there and say something. We must all become thought leaders in order for the broader ecosystem to even know that Entrepreneurship in RI is real, and it is awesome.
If you do like to write and have an idea or thought you want to get out there, let me know if you’d like to use this Medium publication as your platform. My contact is at the bottom of the article.
If you don’t feel like writing, please do share this article with your network.
7. Bring on an intern this summer (or intern here if you’re a student)
We need to develop the workforce and create a pipeline of opportunity here in RI so that all these smart kids who come to school here don’t leave when they graduate. Sure they may have never expected to stay here, but I bet we can convince them to. (We are after all about to lose one of our two seats in the House of Representatives…)
If you have a venture here in RI, use it as a vehicle to teach someone in high school or college about what it’s like to run an early stage company. There are plenty of awesome students looking for summer internships (and if you need help finding them let me know). Let’s show the future workforce that there are awesome opportunities right here in RI.
If you’re in school, I can personally say that spending a summer in PVD/RI is an incredible thing to do. We have great beaches, rent is cheap, and RI really comes alive in the summertime. We also have a ton of awesome startups where you can get real hands-on experience building and launching products and not going on coffee runs.
Maybe you’ll realize that Rhode Island is actually a pretty awesome place to live. I stuck around after graduating from Brown and I’m very happy I did.
BTW we actually have awesome coffee here (Nitrocart and Borealis ftw)
8. Support other local startups as vocal advocates
We have so many cool startups here in RI. From Impact Everything to Rentsons to Whatsgood (and many many more) there are a ton of amazing companies and founders to support. Talk them up, send people their way, promote their services, understand their mission. The more successful they are, the more successful Rhode Island as a whole is. If companies can’t succeed here, then the vision for Silicon Rhode won’t come to fruition.
The Lively Experiment is predicated on the aggregated success of everyone in the system. It’s easy to tell your friends to shop local and share the mission of all the wonderful entrepreneurs we have in this state (and I guarantee you’ll make those entrepreneurs day by doing so).
9. Invest in other startups (either as a client, or an angel investor)
Go a step beyond telling your friends about an awesome local company, and actually buy their product or service. A friend doesn’t ask an entrepreneur for free things or favors but rather helps their friends who are entrepreneurs by monetarily supporting their business. These early-stage companies need validation so that they can stay in business (and create paying jobs). Your purchase also creates local economic velocity which is absolutely vital to the ecosystem. Their services are also great.
Side-plug (keeping in line with nobles acts 8 AND 9): I’ve been using a service run by a local startup called Freshprep and it keeps me fed for an unbeatable price (and thus allows me to work on my actual venture while still feeling great). If you have time to cook, use Whatsgood to get fresh local produce delivered to your door.
Now if you are at the stage in your life where you’ve already found success and want to help others succeed, I know many worthy early-stage companies here in RI who need early-stage funding in order to get off the ground. There is a dearth of early-stage funding in RI, and you can play a vital part in ensuring these young ventures have the fuel they need to get moving.
After all, cars don’t run without fuel.
10. Raise investment capital (or bootstrap a sustainable business), and create jobs
This is the holy grail for a Silicon Rhody; to ultimately stimulate the economy by helping to produce companies that are investable and/or generate a lot of early revenue so that that capital can be invested here in RI. That money will go towards creating high paying jobs, scaling up businesses, and generally providing a huge net influx of capital to the state. It’s that capital that we will need to build the Innovation District.
Side rant: I mean really I can’t think of another city that has as much developable land right next to downtown. Let's put some super cool stuff there (but let’s make sure Nick-a-nees stays forever. They are after all the only bar in town that has live bluegrass music every Wednesday). Now back to the point…
If we entrepreneurs can find market validation, and connect with the true believers who believe in our own missions as much as we do; perhaps we can raise 10k-1m-100mm. We’ll be empowered to carry out our missions to make the world more beautiful, and in the process create enormous economic opportunities for the people of this state and all the talented people who would otherwise leave RI to find opportunities elsewhere.
Imagine what RI would be like if Airbnb, Casper, and Sir Kensington's had stayed…
Let’s not lose the next unicorn to a city that doesn’t need it.
Feel free to shoot me an email if you want to be connected with anyone, write a blog post, or simply like what we’re putting down.
Email: Adam@Pangea.app
