Yesterday, I was invited to participate in the Launch NY LaunchHour Twitter chat with fellow Vilcap community members. We had a wonderful and vibrant conversation addressing some serious questions facing entrepreneurs and investors everywhere.
The top tweets are embedded for each answer based upon favorites or retweets. At Sultan Ventures, we really see efforts like LaunchHour as critical kicking off points of even more meaningful dialogue with long-term learning, and change where necessary.
I hope you enjoy the summary rundown! Make sure and catch the next twitter chat from our friends at Launch NY! You can find all the tweets searching twitter on hashtag: #LaunchHour and #ReInventVC. For the full post and tweet stream, you can see the LaunchNy.org post.
About to start #LaunchHour Our panelists @villagecapital @TheWaterCouncil @sultanventures @MarnieLaVigne2 of @Launch_NY & @GoPropeller
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Q1 Why is 69% of venture capital distributed to only three metro regions (Boston, New York, San Francisco)? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 1: Key Takeaways include that as technology improves, the barriers that were insurmountable in the past are much more achievable. Investors prefer to deploy capital within close geographic proximity (although data suggests this may be changing).
A1 Very limited risk capital sources here, &investors prefer to deploy close to home or via local partners not here yet #launchhour
— Marnie LaVigne (@MarnieLaVigne2) April 20, 2016
A1 Historically, #entrepreneurs & #VCs had to be in close proximity – #founders needed like-minded risk takers & #investors had #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A1 …to check in on their #startups. No longer a need for this with today’s #technology. #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
Q2 How can cities outside of the three major tech hubs support entrepreneurs? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 2: Key takeaways are to leverage regional strengths, and success depends on collaborating with various stakeholders.
@Launch_NY Change the face of venture capital: diversify the pool of investors to better reflect society #LaunchHour #ReinventVC
— Ross Baird (@rossbaird) April 20, 2016
@rossbaird @Launch_NY Civic and Business leaders need figure how to increase the appeal of their geographic areas to VC/tech investment
— Douglas Tonto (@DTont) April 20, 2016
A2 Take a holistic approach: work with #government, #students, #university (pivotal source of #innovation), & be collaborative #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
Q3 What is the competitive advantage of your city? And why? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 3: Key Takeaways include, amazing things are going on everywhere! From agtech, foodtech, to med tech. Beauty of VilCap communities is the diversity with talent from coast to coast including Buffalo, Milwaukee, and of course, Honolulu.
.@Launch_NY Could look to Ag, Ed, Healthcare, Water… but really it’s our people. Social capital. SUCH supportive networks here #LaunchHour
— Rob Lalka (@RobLalka) April 20, 2016
A3 #Hawaii is a #StartupParadise. We are working with @villagecapital & some of the nations best #startup #venture #accelerators #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A3 – #Milwaukee has 200+ water tech companies like @AOSmithHotWater @badger_meter @oxymem @RexnordCorp @watrhub #reinventvc #launchhour
— Scott Mosley (@ScottFMosley) April 20, 2016
A3 #Hawaii also has a strong need for #agtech with amazing #startups tackling #food #innovation #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
Q4 How can cities attract investment capital? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 4: Key takeaways are be you – do what you do best. Goal isn’t to be Silicon Valley, it’s to learn and leverage strengths. Plus, culture matters. A fail-forward attitude is necessary.
Q4 How can cities attract investment capital? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
A4 Money follows #innovation & #talent. Cities should support sources of these resources (e.g. #Universities). @XLR8UH #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A4 – create an environment where failure is seen as an opportunity to learn and not as a blackmark on a career. #reinventvc #launchhour
— Scott Mosley (@ScottFMosley) April 20, 2016
@Launch_NY A4: For example, Baltimore’s hospitals = #HealthIT. Kansas City’s wide charter school network = #edtech. #LaunchHour #ReinventVC
— Ross Baird (@rossbaird) April 20, 2016
Q5 How can we increase the amount of venture capital distributed to women & minority founders (currently 8% women | 3% minority) #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 5: Key takeaways are that biases exist and we can do better – we must do better. That being said, there are shining light examples (including Hawaii) where women are leading the charge in many ways.
Impt to expand access to capital for women & minority-owned small biz. #ScaleUpAct would help more of our entrepreneurs compete. #LaunchHour
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) April 20, 2016
A5 Highlight role models like woman and minority led @Empiregenomics whose startup challenges helped spawn @Launch_NY #launchhour
— Marnie LaVigne (@MarnieLaVigne2) April 20, 2016
A5 – offer programs designed to foster #womenentrepreneurs like @warf_news Upstart program and grad @jillsalltrades #reinventvc #launchhour
— Scott Mosley (@ScottFMosley) April 20, 2016
.@Launch_NY In #venturecapital, if you’re not being intentionally inclusive, you’ll unintentionally exclude. #LaunchHour #ReinventVC
— Rob Lalka (@RobLalka) April 20, 2016
A5 @firstround decade analysis found #startups with female founders performed 63% better than those with all-male founding teams #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A5 #StartupParadise #Hawaii: @Energy_Excel @HVCA808 @BlueStartups @hawaiiangels @sultanventures @XLR8UH all have #Women leads! #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
Q6 How does the VilCap Communities program help your community support entrepreneurs? #LaunchHour
— Launch NY (@Launch_NY) April 20, 2016
Question 6: Key takeaways can be summarized as VilCap provides resources, access, and democratizes entrepreneurship connecting budding innovation hubs around the country.
A6 More broadly @villagecapital model democratizes #entrepreneurship nationally & globally. No longer do you have to be born #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A6 @villagecapital provides access to all #startups & #founders with an #innovative idea. #launchhour
— Sultan Ventures (@sultanventures) April 20, 2016
A6 Thank you @VCCommunities @village capital team for your participation and vision in tackling the @RiseofRest mission! #launchhour
— Marnie LaVigne (@MarnieLaVigne2) April 20, 2016