Want to raise a Billion for Georgetown's Endowment? Support Startups First.

By Ryan Meyer (SFS ‘99) and Ryan Costello (COL ‘01)

How do we stack up?
It's no wonder that Stanford, with its deep ties to Silicon Valley, storied engineering school, and very public string of startup successes (Google, Instagram) was the first university to break the billion dollar, single-year fundraising mark in 2012.  In fact, Stanford raised an amount nearly equal to Georgetown's entire endowment in one year.

Rather than dwelling on the feelings of sadness and impotence these figures should elicit in anyone bleeding Hoya blue, let us instead examine commonalities and turn this into a learning exercise for the future.

When crunching the data, the reality is that Hoyas stack up.  Bloomberg Businessweek awarded our undergraduate business school top marks in the country for finance.  And according to a recent study by a prominent entrepreneur and hyper-active angel investor, Howard Marks, Georgetown ranks #9 in the nation when looking at VC investment dollars per founder.

Indeed, startup culture is thriving on the Hilltop, with a burgeoning entrepreneurship initiative, a proper business plan competition, and an h.innovation program series that is drawing national attention with much-needed hackathons.

The Hoya ecosystem, however, still lacks a common thread running through it.  Especially outside the university, where the ability to raise angel or venture funding and attract notable advisors is key to launching and growing any entrepreneurial venture.  This is where the Georgetown network, for all its power on Wall Street and in the nation’s top law firms, falls short.

We need a mafia mentality
We (Ryan COL ‘01 & Ryan SFS ‘99) met at SXSW last year, thanks to the independent efforts of Devon George (‘01) to pull together Hoya founders for dinner.  There we were, two Georgetown guys trying to leverage the ecosystem.  As luck would have it, we found real opportunity.  One of us has a startup raising money and the other has a funding platform for startups to help attract investors.  Go figure.

If Georgetown wants to strengthen its’ ecosystem, it needs to foment and facilitate encounters like these on a massive, multidisciplinary scale, instilling in undergraduates and alumni a mafiosa mentality when it comes to helping fellow Hoyas succeed.  Stanford has a “mafia”, even companies have mafias. Talk to any of our friends at Goldman Sachs recently?  The point is that these organizations have created incredibly strong cultures that people are proud of and they let the world know it.  So why not Georgetown?  Collectively we need to promote our university as an institution that breeds creators.  And we should broaden the notion of entrepreneurship outside of just “dot coms”.  We have world-class comedians, each of whom probably encountered the same hardships of startup life along the way.  The same is true for our alumni who pursue elected offices.

We have spent a lot of time discussing the Hoya ecosystem challenge and are committed to help fix it.   As part of that effort, we have an exciting announcement to share which we hope will help ignite others to join in our efforts and support Hoya startups.  

Event Farm is the first Georgetown startup to launch a fundraising campaign on the AlumniFunder equity platform.  Why does this matter?  It matters because it proves the Hoya ecosystem can work.  And in this case, it goes even further because we’re hoping to attract other alumni to join in.  It’s a great story for our school and we want our “mafia” to be proud of it.

As alumni, friends, and supporters of Georgetown, we encourage you to take a look at this opportunity.  But even if you’re not looking to make an investment in a startup, hopefully you’ll join us in supporting fellow Hoyapreneurs and ultimately our alma mater.   Our ecosytem needs to be bigger and louder.  Our story is just one successful outcome that needs to be repeated and amplified.  There are many more stories out there.  Who’s with us?

If you’re a startup and want help navigating funding, reach out to us.  If you’re an alumni looking to invest in Hoya innovation, take a look at the Event Farm campaign and/or reach out to us.  Ditto if you want to work for a startup or feel you could offer mentorship or real services to one, reach out to us.  And for those who’ve created successful endeavors, get involved and give back. 


About Event Farm
Event Farm is an online invitation, ticketing and guest registration platform used by corporations, non-profits, venues and events of all kinds around the world.  Currently Event Farm employs 16 full time employees 3 of which are Hoyas including co-founders Ryan Costello (COL ‘01) and Todd Cornett (COL ‘02).

www.eventfarm.com

About AlumniFunder
For entrepreneurs, AlumniFunder is a platform to activate accredited investors and alumni networks to invest in their startups.  For investors, AlumniFunder is a tool to access innovative startups at a lower risk threshold while outsourcing investment management. 

www.alumnifunder.com


Contact
Ryan Costello
ryan.costello@eventfarm.com
@costelloryan
LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-costello/32/615/a03/

Ryan Meyer
ryan@alumnifunder.com
@sryanmeyer
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/sryanmeyer

JP Morgan wants to Innovate

JP Morgan recently asked Event Farm to help them discuss/think about Innovation and things they can do internally to help encourage innovation.  They have been impressed with our story/product and how we approach the business of innovation. They sent over a few questions for us to answer.  I put together this quick home video for them and thought I would share.

Innovation from Event Farm on Vimeo.

What to get an entrepreneur for their birthday

It's August 5th and it's my birthday.  I'm 34 but I feel young, definitely more like 28 I would say...well screw it...make it 26!  In addition to all the Facebook love (thank you all), I'm energized by Event Farm beyond belief.  How could I not be…today is a big day!    Today is the day we relaunch Event Farm with our new brand and announce version 4.0 of the platform.  Deep down, I know this is a turning point for our company and these are days entrepreneurs never forget.  Getting to this point has been a grueling six months for all of us but today it's all worth it.  I'm probably most inspired by the fact that I can see where every single person on our team has left their mark on this company.  That's why you want to be a part of a startup in the first place right?

If you ask an entrepreneur what they want for their birthday, most will tell you they have everything they want.  That's what type A people do, they go out and get what they want and they make their dreams a reality.  But there are things out there that are only possible to get when a group of people create them together.   That's what I'm feeling today and it's powerful.  As you'll see on our new website, one of our core values at Event Farm is:  "Be You:  People make companies. Companies don't make people."   Collectively we have built a product and shaped our company.  We know what we stand for and we now have a brand that strongly represents that.  That's something an entrepreneur can't buy or go get on their own.   You have to earn it together. 

So on my birthday, I want to give a shout out "thank you" to the people that have given me this wonderful gift.  I'm humbled to be a part of a team that can create things this impactful.  Thank you - Todd, Justin, Rey, Nick, Tom, Brennan, Alex, Danielle, Stephanie, Christine, Elizabeth, Anthony, Claire, Taylor and from our rebranding team at Arnold Worldwide:  Meg, Kate, Brad, and Shannon.   You guys have made this a great birthday.

Have a look at the new Event Farm here:   www.eventfarm.com

App stores have changed our behavior and you probably didn't even know it

I am absolutely fascinated by the mentality shift between consumers that purchase in the "real world" market place versus the mobile "App" market place.  Why is it that when you purchase an App you're essentially opting in to a "take it or leave it" situation?  How does it make sense that lesser quality standards and expectations are acceptable just because a company sells their product on the App store? 

When purchasing a product in the traditional retail space, consumers are highly invested in their experience, product quality, and subsequent performance.  If I'm not happy with my purchase, I call up the company and let them know.   On the contrary, the centralized and invisible forum of the App marketplace seems to have trained consumers to lower their expectations, purchase blindly, and even accept disappointment.   It's like all rules of business have been thrown out the window.   Take it or leave it sucker!!!  Once you click that button see ya never!

Consider a trip to the actual Apple store to buy a computer.  You go in having done your research about the variety of products available.  While there, you interact with the salespeople, having all of your questions answered.  During your decision-making, you are able to test run and fully understand what you are buying.  Naturally, you’re allowed to take some time to contemplate before committing.  Once you’ve bit the bullet and made the purchase, you are welcome to return it if you're not happy.
   
Now take the “App” store.  You make an instant purchase on no more than a paragraph of description, an app icon, and perhaps recommendations from a friend who has it.  If you don’t like it or it doesn’t work – there is essentially nothing you can do about it.  There is no human interaction, consideration, nor reparation offered by the extremely popular App store – and we, the consumers, are fine with it!  Ever heard of someone returning an App?   I haven't.  The App Store has changed the way we consume.

Obviously one reason may be the prices.  While it may take you a month to purchase a car, there’s not much of a thought process behind throwing away $0.99 or $1.99 on a game that challenges you to slice fruit quickly.   Similarly, with a larger purchase you have invested your time and energy, while purchasing an App is as simple and easy as entering your password.  With minimal effort and low price, I guess the gains somehow seem well worth the “risk”.

So that's it?  Selling inexpensive products means a business doesn't have to be responsive to its' customers?   No.  There are plenty of products we purchase for under $5 that we expect more from.   There's something bigger here.  The marketplace builds an emotional shield between consumers and the companies selling on it.   That's great news for the app developers out there that really don't give a crap and are psyched for their $0.66 checks they get from iTunes, but for companies that do care it's an ironic challenge to be able to reach out to their customers and offer a true service because their purchasers are already expecting the worst. We've even had customers offended when you try to help and humanize a mobile App purchase.   Crazy!

Co-writing credit to:  Emilie Bogrand

Why Startups Need Anthony Bourdain

It's getting to be a bit much that today you can't get through lunch without some sort of media outlet announcing that another Startup (probably with a .ly web address) got Series X funding or acquired with a REDONCULOUS valuation.  I get it.  Everybody loves the underdog story and when Startups "make it" it fuels the American dream in all of us.  Hell, I drink the same Koolaid.  But when the little guy comes up short, nobody wants to hear about it.  That's what I find so intriguing about what the anonymous blogger from "My Startup has 30 Days to Live" has done.

For those of you that don't know, "My Startup has 30 Days to Live" is a blog that started about 2 weeks ago that digs deep into how “through a series of unfortunate events, [he] took a bootstrapped (and profitable) Startup onto the VC rocket ship. Now it's crashing into the ground. Hard.”  He describes the reality of Startup life, good and bad.  There is talk about hope, passion, hustle – all the makings of a real crowd pleaser.  But at it’s core is the ugly truth; the grind, sacrifices, mistakes, expenses, and subsequent failures of a business.  It’s an honest portrayal of the harsh realities of Startup life, not the white-washed Cinderella story presented to us by the public.

In my opinion, this story is LONG overdue.  For most entrepreneurs, Startup life is a full throttle grind and everyday you deal with a mixture of fleeting emotions with a constant undercurrent of "are we going to make it?".  Ultimately that's why we love it!!  It's an incredible challenge, but I'm glad this blogger took the time to spill his guts for us.  The world needs to hear the real story of Startup life not the 1% that "make it".   Its more real and ultimately more entertaining.  Hell, look how the world (included me) was entertained by Anthony Bourdain's commentary on the restaurant world in Kitchen Confidential?  This is the true "underbelly" of the Startup industry and it's an incredible place!!  I would encourage you all to take look at what he has to say….I promise it'll be a refreshing break from your favorite tech blog.

How saying "NO" to clients can drive sales

It seems like most people in business still maintain that “yes is the only answer” and “the customer is always right”.  Of course the customer IS always right at the end of the day, but there's definitely more to the story.  Throughout my time working in sales-driven businesses, I’ve found that saying “no” to clients can be extremely effective in building long-lasting and trusted working relationships that ultimately have made the businesses I've been a part of more successful.   Admittedly, there are many times when "yes" is the right answer but here are few ideas I jotted down on my experience saying  “no”  to clients.  Hopefully it can help you better serve your customers.

 

"No" opens the dialogue

Too often there is a lack of communication between businesses and clients.  By saying “no”, it is evident that you are actively engaging in a conversation with your client.  You are not merely nodding your head yes at everything they say; you are listening to their needs and reacting accordingly.   You have to assume that your clients are engaging in business with you because they value the service/products you offer.  If that's the case, then an open dialogue will be incredibly effective.

 

"No"can establish trust

 There is an undeniable aversion from someone who always tells you what you want to hear.  Instead of a “yes man",  I've found that clients want someone who will be upfront and honest with them rather than being complacent.  If you can't offer what a client is asking for, tell them!   The end result will be infinitely better than setting unrealistic expectations that cannot be met, disappointing the client and causing your business to lose face.  To quote another cliché – honesty is the best policy!  Clients will know they can count on you rather than being on their toes to see if you come up short.

 

"No" can save time and money

Many times a client wants to pursue an unnecessary endeavor that will not benefit them or their purpose.  By telling them the reality of the situation, you can gain their confidence in that you have their best interests at heart.  They will be pleased that they are not spending money on superfluous crap, and you will be able to devote your attention to the more important needs at hand.

 

Turn “no” into “no, but…"

No doubt there will be times when “no” is a deal breaker with clients.  If you've gotten to this point, you obviously can't offer the specific service they want so it's time for the creative workaround.   Admitting you can't do exactly what they want is the first step, which manages expectations.  Turning a "no" into a "no, but…how about this?" is a great alternative here.  I think you'll be surprised how much clients appreciate the creativity and your commitment to finding solutions.  We even went so far with one client to help them use a competitor’s product.  Believe it or not they came back as a client when they had more business for us.