I’m a Startup Incubator Failure

No shame in my game and worth six months out of my life!

So, my six-month residency at Bunker Labs in their Veteran In Residence program just ended today and I am bittersweet about the entire experience. Initially accepted into the Denver in-person cohort then transferred to the “Virtual-Mountain 6” cohort simply for the fact that I just could not make the commitment or 6-hour commute each way (on a good day) up and back to Denver from Taos for the in-person group meetings, especially in Winter.

The experience was great, even though my personal performance was less than stellar! It was all me not them. The Bunker Labs program was exceptional and I gained valuable, up-to-date education and guidance on a wide array of startup-related topics.

Even though I’ve been a serial entrepreneur for over 40 years with several successful exits, my latest failure bears witness to the fact that old dogs need to learn new tricks and that yesterday’s successes do not guarantee ongoing successes. Not by a long shot! I dare say that many of the Billionaire startup founders (#notags) of today got there by simple luck as opposed to actual skill and knowledge and one should not point to them as actual successes despite their stock option values. The startup I took to the program failed for many reasons as follows:

1. ) I did not secure financing within a short 90-day option.
2. ) I entered into the option agreement in the middle of a national disaster (Calf Creek/Hermit Peak wildfire) that has yet to be resolved by FEMA some 13 months later.
3. ) I trusted a co-founder I’ve known for 35 years and bootstrapped the startup capital with only a verbal agreement of “first in — first out” basis and that only works when there actually is something to take back out.
4. ) I suffered a debilitating pulmonary embolism two months into my six-month residency at Bunker Labs.

What I got from the Bunker Labs program was a community of like-minded Veteran business founders that I can draw upon for the rest of my life in just about any situation business or personal and it didn’t cost me a dime. It opened the doors for me to give back to my fellow Veteran business founders through formal mentoring on the Veterati platform as well as American Corporate Partners and I’ve started working with veteran business owners on both platforms.

So, if you are a veteran or military spouse business owner seeking an excellent support program do not take my failure and a failure of the Bunker Labs Veteran In Residence incubator program. Once I get back on my feet and come up with another startup I will re-apply and highly recommend you do as well!