5 Reasons Closing the Business Doors taught me why tight-knit communities are the place to start a company
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TL;DR
I started a company in college, another after graduation, and am one of the youngest founders to graduate from a startup accelerator that accepts less than 1% of applicants. A few months ago I received news that Spark Boulder, where I learned how to start our company, was shutting its doors. I’m thrilled about it and here’s why.
I recited two “go to” messages as I walked hundreds of students through Spark Boulder for an official tour of the co-working space. First, I’d explain what the founders set out to accomplish:
When I started at CU, Boulder had six times more high-tech startups per capita than the nation’s average, but even as an over eager freshman, I had no idea. That’s why Spark was built, as a bridge between the students and the startup community. Spark acts as a central hub for students to gain awareness about entrepreneurship and startups to interact with students.
I’d explain this as I walked them along the wall with the Bitcoin ATM, conference full of students furiously whiteboarding, and bathroom doors that adorned Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor’s faces (they kindly sponsored the lavatories).
These tours of Spark reminded me of why starting a student co-working space has its advantages (catch the founder’s how to guide here). But more importantly, this post helps to explain why starting any community driven project in a small town has big advantages.
Reason #1: You can practice rallying the support of top leaders
When Spark’s founders sent out a call for donations to the Boulder community, several months later they got back 30 yes’s totaling $140,000 to begin building the space. But this wasn’t just any old donation. In Boulder, an investment into the next generation of entrepreneurs isn’t just capital, it’s sharing the wisdom and advice we were all craving.
Down in the basement of College Avenue, Spark employees balanced taking out the trash and scrubbing the kitchen with hosting people like Don Hazell and Brad Bernthal for roundtable discussions. During that time I forged mentor relationships that led to my current company creating partnerships that 2x-ed our customer base.
Reason #2: You can build a community of future leaders
Sure, you can do this in the big cities, but it’s less concentrated. You might gather an group of interesting people, but you won’t have every single entrepreneurial student in the university under one roof.
Some of Colorado’s greatest companies started in the basement of College Avenue…
SecureSet was built by a Masters student and Professor at CU. They have raised $6 million from top funders to build a first of its kind cybersecurity education company.
You might know Shinesty from their ridiculous suits featured on the Today Show or you may have caught an episode of their new MTV series, but they aren’t so different from the rest of us. They got their start at the Catalyze CU Accelerator in Spark.
….and hire them (Reason #3)
I hired Jake Hurwitz as an Associate at Spark. Within a year he created his own creative agency. And a year after that, The Startup Vault…
Now that I’m out in the ‘real world’ I call on my fellow Sparkers to help me when I’m in a bind and sometimes to even cofound a company.
Reason #4: You can impact an entire community (and get an award named after you)
4 years ago SecureSet and Shinesty were just ideas, CU’s New Venture Challenge was just getting started, there was no such thing as the Fletcher Richman Award named after Spark’s founder, and there wasn’t….
11.5M in Revenue created by ventures that have called Spark home
11.3M Funds raised by Spark ventures
187 Local Jobs created by Spark ventures
146 Students placed in local jobs by our Internship and Classes programs
215K in donations over the last three years has resulted in 17M added to the Boulder economy, that’s an 80x return. Let’s break down that impact…
The GDP of Boulder was $23.4B in 2015. Spark impacted .074% of the economy with $17M.
Compare that to the $319M that would be needed to impact that same percentage of San Francisco’s $431.7B GDP.
The experience of starting something that impacts a community at this level is worth it 1000x over for the people involved. Spark’s founders were simply a group of eager students, who wanted to create something.
Their determination was undoubtedly a key part of Spark’s success, but personally, I think it was the small community of Boulder that allowed them to spark a big fire.
Reason #5: You can achieve what you set out to accomplish
As the last part of my tour, I’d circle back to the giant “SPARK” letters that claimed the front entry. Undoubtedly, there would be a set of eager eyes staring back at me. I’d remind them,
“It’s the odds of probability. If you spend enough time around people who are doing interesting things, odds are you’ll end up doing some pretty interesting things yourself.”
The odds of probability played out as a crucial part of my journey to starting my own company. Through spending countless hours in the basement of Spark, I met my first cofounders, was introduced to the accelerator that took my company to the next stage, and formed relationships with the leading Venture Capitalists, who are helping my business grow.
A few months ago, Spark officially accomplished its mission. It bridged the gap between the startup community and the university.
Thanks to Spark’s founders, the students that come after me don’t have to stray as far to increase their odds of probability.Now, every student at CU has the opportunity to accomplish those same things through the lessons we learned at Spark…
- Spark created a mini makers space, CU built Idea Forge
- Spark made the coworking space, CU has a coworking space in a freshman living space, Williams Village
- Spark built Ignition’s coding and design school, CU expanded the Technology Arts and Media degree
- Spark brought in top mentorship, CU hired leaders from Techstars
- Spark incubated Catalyze CU, Catalyze CU is now across campus
- Spark began incubating companies from CU students, a CU company has been accepted to Techstars every year since
This type of response was more than any of expected when Spark began and we have the Boulder community to thank. San Francisco and the coasts undoubtedly have things that you’ll never find in a small town, but if you ask me, there is nothing like Sparking something in a new startup community.
Spark made the hard decision to close its doors in June 2017, but the team did it with pride, knowing that it has accomplished its goal and impacted thousands of lives.
If you want to learn about building community in a small town, reach out to me a@sigmend.com
