It was a cool but sunny day on Iowa State University campus this afternoon, as I hosted an office hour, where anyone on campus could sign up for 15 minute meetings to ask any and all questions.
Office hours are a way for me to meet with individuals who are building something, or who want to build something. Most of these individuals are in their 20s and, while their college education is their top priority, they are starting to imagine a future where they start a business or a company—many of them have already started something as a side hustle.
Why do I want to meet these individuals and host office hours?
1. I believe that Iowa has A LOT of room to welcome more founders and more people. If someone starts a company while in college, and their team and customers are in that area, they’re that much more likely to stay in that area. That’s a win for all of us here in Iowa.
2. As I continue my journey in building Nebullam, I have an ability to recruit talented individuals who are past founders (I’ve recruited 5 CYstarters alumni so far). We all know that most companies don’t work out. What do the founders do next, or before starting another company? I hope they consider joining a startup such as Nebullam. Again, that’s a win for all.
3. I want to be the first check in, for many startups in the future. From my limited-but-budding angel investor career, I bet on the founder(s). Where do you go to get in front of thousands of great minds? Campuses are a good start.
Observations from Office Hours 1
· 5 meetings
· Industries included grocery, indoor farming, traditional farming, travel, and fashion
· Ideas included hydroponics and aquaponics products, reducing freight within the ag input supply chain, sustainably made and focused luggage, and a platform to save fashion designers time
· 3 of the 5 meetings mentioned competition. My response was to not worry about competition at all at this stage, especially if you’re pre-revenue
· 3 of 5 meetings mentioned IP and protecting ideas when talking with investors. My response was that you should openly be able to talk about the what, while keeping the how high level. You have to show people what you’re working on. And professional investors do not sign NDAs. The NDA-protect-your-idea mindset reduces innovation
· 4 of 5 meetings mentioned a top-down approach to their market (TAM, SAM, SOM). My response was that you should build a bottom up approach to the market. It shows you know who your customer is, and that you’ve put in the time to solve the math problem of how many of your customers exist, and what they’re willing to pay (hint: these numbers are arbitrary, but your story of how you arrive there is insightful)
· 5 of 5 meetings, I challenged the founder(s) to sell what they already showed me. Product demos were awesome, and there is no place for perfectionism in the early days of a startup
left: KinoSol dehydrator version 1. Ugly but they worked, so we sold the prototypes. No shame.
right: KinoSol dehydrator version 10. Commercial product. We wouldn’t have arrived at it without the transactions from prototype sales and real feedback, from real people, paying us real money.