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| This Way to the Summit! |
Day 1of the
Sandbox Summit was jam-packed with great keynote speakers, great workshops, an exciting pitch contest, and so much networking that it was impossible
not to connect or learn something new.
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| Desh Deshpande Giving Inspiring Keynote |
Inspiration came from everywhere, starting with the inspiring keynote from Desh Deshpande, co-founder of the
Deshpande Foundation. He told the story of his entrepreneurial journey from India to Canada to the USA and from failed start-up to multiple successful start-ups. And he really means it when he talks about "Entrepreneurship for All".
Just a few of the nuggets of wisdom I noted from his keynote:
- For entrepreneurs, every problem creates a new opportunity.
- Naivete is one of the greatest attributes of the entrepreneur.
- You go places you never knew you could go when you become an entrepreneur.
- Entrepreneurship isn't just tech. It is creative problem solving in context. Every individual is ultimately positioned to solve problems.
- When you get feverish about a problem you figure out a way to solve it.
- We need both technical innovation and social innovation.
- If there's no risk, it's really not an entrepreneurial opportunity.
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| Nonspec Networking in the Lobby |
Networking was non-stop from breakfast through the end of the day. I spotted people meeting with potential investors and mentors in the hallways and the lobby. So much happened outside the structured agenda.
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| Pitching Workshop |
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The lunchtime keynote was Ahkil Nigam from MassChallenge, another inspiring speaker. Two things struck me about Mass Challenge, the diversity of entrepreneurs and the commitment to community.
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| Ahkil Nigam Keynote |
The picture that Ahkil Nigam painted of the entrepreneur "scene" in
Boston is far different from what most people think of when they think
"start-up" or "entrepreneur." The entrepreneurs at MassChallenge are all kinds of people in all kinds of fields, not just 20-something techies. 70% of MassChallenge companies are non-tech. 21% of MassChallenge founders are 40 or older. Who knew? How do we get the word out to the world?
MassChallenge is about building a community, not just running a competition. It's all of us working together that will change the economy. If the whole ecosystem grows, we all win. The major nugget of wisdom I took away from his talk is "It's not about my piece of the pie, it's about the whole pie." That resonates deeply with the values I grew up with. I'm psyched to get out there and bring the community together around creating jobs and solving real problems.
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| Mentoring Workshop |
The break-out panel sessions/workshops provided great insights and interaction with other attendees. Spread throughout the day, they offered a chance to learn from other people's experiences. I attended one on pitching (insert baseball joke here :-)), one on mentoring, and one on starting a social impact enterprise. I was having insights right and left and up and down like crazy. I should do a whole blog post on each topic.
In summary:
- Pitching has a lot in common with slam poetry.
- Mentoring is important.
- After all these years I finally appreciate that my mother is a social impact entrepreneur.
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| Cheryl Hajjar Pitching Indigo Pixies |
It was great fun for me to run into so many people I know from previous Merrimack Valley Sandbox events and from Mass Innovation Nights. I loved catching up with everyone and hearing how they have fared since last I saw them. The best thing was seeing how everyone had improved their pitches. This was particularly evident in the first pitch contest - local + consumer product + retail ideas.
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| Increment |
The pitch contest featured three scheduled presenters and
two wildcards. Cheryl Hajjar of
Indigo Pixies, Maeve Jopson and Cynthia
Poon of
Increment, Lucky Henry of
CollegePower were the scheduled
presenters and the wildcards went to Nkese Applewhite of
Oshun Undies
and Jessica Valentin of My Creative Learning Center.
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| Nkese Applewhite |
Maeve and Cynthia passed the O-rings among the crowd and folks were
having so much fun they didn't want to give them back. All the
presenters engaged well with the audience, which was good because we all
got to be judges -- winner decided by fan voting.
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| Real Time Voting |
The voting went right down to the wire, with Indigo Pixies and College
Power neck in neck. Watching the bars change on the slide in real time
was tense but exciting. College Power barely edged out Indigo Pixies.
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| Challenges of Starting a Social Impact Enterprise |
At the end of the day, I went home thoroughly inspired.
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