Entrepreneurs: Get in the Game

Entrepreneurs have asked me consistently how to raise capital.

As a professional venture capital investor, they were expecting secret-sauce advice in actionable black-and-white terms. The answer has consistently been: “This game is more art than science, so Get in the Game.”

Consistently, they have been disappointed. I don’t blame them, though.

Despite that most entrepreneurs need – or think they need – capital to grow their business, time is often more scarce. Just like capital, time is a limited resource that must be invested wisely.

No one would invest money in anything where the projected return was, “Not sure, but I’m certain it will pay off soon.” So why invest time the same way?

Because after 20 years in this game, I have found that Getting in the Game consistently pays off.

Getting in the Game is another way of saying get involved locally. Be at every entrepreneurship event. Participate. Have a presence.

Put yourself in a position – to use the colloquialism adopted by the Wichita entrepreneurial ecosystem – to let a Creative Collision happen, because they just don’t occur sitting at your desk.

Take advantage of the resources offered by the ecosystem, which has united ferociously in the last year alone for your benefit. And do all of this regardless of whether a payoff is apparent, or even conceivable for that matter.

Not yet convinced? Let’s make this real.

 

There are three local entrepreneurs who took the initiative to Get in the Game and reaped substantial rewards that would not have been conceivable at the onset.

For example, if Trevor Crotts – CEO of BuddyRest and PupIQ – asked me why he should invest time to present at 1 Million Cups when most of his customers and partners are far outside Wichita, the honest answer would have been, “Not sure, but I’m certain it will pay off soon.”

The answer, “Because it will pay off by acceptance in the e2e Accelerator, leading to a relationship with Damon John and BuddyRest acquiring three companies before the end of the year,” would have lacked any conceivability whatsoever at the time.

Yet this exact payoff did happen, and it all happened within nine months.

Steven Werner, co-founder of Lawn Buddy, participated in Wichita State University’s Shocker New Venture competition. That led to mentorship opportunities, winning $17,000 in the Cox Business Get Started Wichita competition, negotiations with a Fortune 500 partner and eventual launch.

Marquetta Atkins and her Destination Innovation camp got in the game by becoming involved in the Entrepreneurship Task Force.

So, whether you are looking for capital, customers, partners or whatever the case may be, the best course of action remains to Get in the Game; make your Creative Collisions happen.

It consistently pays off.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Entrepreneurs: Get in the Game."