Our love letter to a favorite author and our partners in the region, wishing them the happiest of holidays. (And all it cost us was markers, poster board, $20 for a green drop cloth and a little of our dignity!)
We hatched in our region a wonderful plot to create, thriving young businesses where they were NOT! We all came together! We all had to rally! We started from scratch . . . this wasn’t Silicon Valley. Civic leaders right off saw startups’ potential but capital, they knew, was super essential. And along with dollars, assistance was needed, to accelerate growth of the companies seeded. Since both were important: the help and the cash; the region dove in and made a big splash.
We had just a few funds in 2004, but we’d build up our resources, then build up some more. Believing cleantech, healthcare, IT and bio could have a big impact on Northeast Ohio. "We support big ideas!" we started to cheer. "We want game-changing businesses growing up here."
To succeed, we’d extend critical invitations. "We must find partners in philanthropic foundations!"
And, soon help did appear from collaborators, both public and private, who got the appeal. And then, oh, the deals! Oh, the deals! Deals! Deals! Deals! That's one thing we wanted! More deals! Deals! Deals! Deals!
A culture, for startups, would continue to grow. And it’d grow! And it’d grow! And it’d grow! Grow! Grow! Grow!
It would grow with investors, and angels with dough. Which were things the region had been missing, you know. Accelerators and mentors alone wouldn’t suffice . . . Everyone brought something--from space to advice. We became a network, more than coexisting. We worked hand-in-hand, to do our best assisting. Assisting! And assisting! And assisting! -ING! -ING! -ING!
And the more this took off, the whole assist thing, the more we all knew there was still more to bring. “This is an ecosystem we’re building up now. We must continue the momentum, but how?”
Everyone had ideas. Different ideas. Everyone had wonderfully different ideas.
“So much we can do to give it some fueling. Like kick in some more entrepreneurial schooling.” Competitions and classes, “We’ll start them in college! Let them intern and pitch--all much-needed knowledge!”
And for real innovation, it takes the best minds: idea creators, generating great finds. Would labs spin them out? Yes! We had many here . . . many centers of research, with tech in their sphere. From hospitals with docs to professors at Case–even scientists whose work had touched outer space.
To commercialize tech, requires things to align, so great thoughts and great biz, don’t just die on the vine.
“Let’s all tell the stories as the region progresses. Learning some lessons and sharing successes.”
As companies hit milestones, enthusiasm swelled. Piquing media interest in the promise they held. It started off local, but soon word got out. Northeast Ohio’s young ventures were on the right route.
Then Obama visited with cabinet in tow. Small business, he knew, helps America grow! They all chatted and thunk on the needs of the nation to win the future and spur job creation!
Coatings!
Electric cars!
Algal oils!
Waste heat!
Nanosands!
Healing scars!
Claddings!
Software suites!
Yes, in the right hands, these were all gaining traction. Adding staffers, one by one: talent attraction! The people they were hiring, they had to be skilled . . . adaptively excellent themselves and strong willed. All determined, bar nothing, to get the biz built.
Sleep’s overrated when your cos on the grow. Surviving on takeout and strong cups of joe. But it’s the same thing for the other cos growing . . . staying up much too long and way over joe-ing! And at quarter past dawn, all the rest, still in beds, competition a-snooze . . . that’s when thoughts filled their heads. But they worked it out online with mentors, investors, their friends, and their team, resources, advisors, service providers!
Such an opportunity, a perk to do work through a free community. “New tools you can use,” we were happily sharing an online network that did much more than pairing. A virtual space, to work ‘round the globe, to work with your mentors while still in your robe and to consult on problems and share the load.
Things have changed, that’s for sure, from 2004. More support. More resources. Partners galore. And our region’s advances are starting to show. Where we came in low. We have started to grow...1,500 plus jobs, over a billion invested. Entrepreneurs on the go. The region, vested. Now 33 funds: angel and VC. Take a look! Great success and great diversity.
We’ve done much together. There’s even more in store. We’ll do things together, we’ve not dreamt before! Reinvention, you know, is worth shooting for. Accelerating potential requires change at the core.
And what happens now? Well...in Cleveland, this year, opportunities are coming through Third Frontier. It’s our region’s chance to add things we still need and give entrepreneurs more tools to succeed.
The year’s almost over. If we don’t see you in meetings, “Thanks for all you do, and season’s greetings!”