The following post was written by Scott Henderson, Managing Director of NMotion powered by gener8tor.
I love trick shots. The more difficult the better. If it’s possible and highly improbable, I’m like a moth to the flame and I go all-in.
Three summers ago, I was in north Georgia finishing production on The Tumbleweed Project, a real-time documentary about life in America during a global pandemic. It was my first documentary and I traveled across 15 states to interview 36 people.
After helping me set up interviews with Megan Elliott of UNL’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts and Mike Smith of Rabble Mill, Brian Ardinger and Susan Stibal knew my schedule was about to open up. So they contacted me to make sure I knew about another intriguing challenge.
NMotion and gener8tor had decided to launch a new investment accelerator in my home state and were looking for someone to run it…in the middle of a pandemic. After spending the last 20 years in Atlanta, Boston and central Indiana, working in, around and with startup accelerators, I accepted this juicy challenge to put my experience and knowledge at the service of State my family has called home since the late 1800s.
Since September 2020, I have led NMotion powered by gener8tor’s efforts to invest $3.4 million in 34 startups across the state while helping them grow revenue and raise additional investment. This is in addition to helping 10 other startups do the same through our no-investment accelerator program. During this time, we have collectively navigated through COVID and transitioned to post-COVID realities.
Looking back over three years and $3.4 million deployed, here are three lessons I’ve learned:
1. Big trees never grow alone
There are ZERO successful self-taught startup founders. Each of them received help – big or small – along their journey. Most importantly, successful startup communities are like vibrant forests. Other trees and shrubs provide protection for the canopy and help attract resources to the parts of the forest that need them. You can see people playing a range of roles that increase the opportunity surface for founders: mentors, early customers, early investors, community champions, and early employees.
One of the main reasons I took on this challenge is that we are fortunate to have business leaders in Nebraska who are investing their money and networks in these new businesses. Mike Dunlap of Nelnet, Mike Cassling of CQuence Health, and Paul and Annette Smith of Black Dog Venture are among the many other actors past and present who play this role. Working in collaboration with open-minded institutions like the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, the University of Nebraska (all four campuses), and the Nebraska Tech Collaborative, these leaders continue to invest in the vibrancy of the entire state.
2. Lots of “dark maybes”
No one can predict the future and certainly no one can predict the success of EVERY startup. High-growth early-stage startups carry many inherent risks: human, technical, commercial, economic and regulatory. I remember Chuck Norris sharing an analysis of the Nelnet startup investment portfolio and illustrating how impossible it really is to predict outcomes. Even those who had all the “right pieces” imploded while some they had lost all hope on found a way to successfully sell the business and create a wealth windfall.
You have to play the game to see what happens. Just as important, you need to ensure that no stone is left unturned in finding the best and brightest talent in the state. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that if you have enough naive ambition to become a startup founder, you have the chance to discover the most exciting leadership growth opportunity available. We also owe it to you, brave souls, who make yourselves vulnerable to the slings and arrows of creating the future, to be celebrated for your stumbles as much as you are for your triumphs. Lessons learned and shared help the entire forest.
3. Call the credit union early and often
This one seems so obvious. But because startups are new organizations looking for business models, some founders spend all their time building a complex, brilliant solution without thinking about selling it. Coastal startup communities are full of early-stage investors willing to take significant risks that fall far short of generating revenue. Meanwhile, the Midwest and Great Plains have much more conservative investors and sources of capital.
These investors generally made their money in traditional businesses where you had to call the register if you wanted to survive. While this conservative nature can be frustrating at times, it also serves as a competitive advantage for the region because it forces startup founders to focus on generating revenue early and often. The startup founders I’ve worked with who stand out above the rest know that the aim of the game is to create revenue, and then create more each month. Achieving profitability creates more options. And optionality is a founder’s best friend.
Even if your actual sales are low, a 20% month-over-month increase creates a fairly geometric curve. Perhaps this is one of the silver linings that COVID has given us: an appreciation for geometric curves. When it comes to Nebraska startups, the more we embrace the challenge of building high-growth startups, the better we will all become.
Final Thoughts
Great founders don’t wait for permission. If you’re thinking about getting into the startup game, do it. There are only upsides when it comes to the personal and professional growth you’ll experience from trying to build a business to solve real problems.
The following post was written by Scott Henderson, Managing Director of NMotion powered by gener8tor.
I love trick shots. The more difficult the better. If it’s possible and highly improbable, I’m like a moth to the flame and I go all-in.
Three summers ago, I was in north Georgia finishing production on The Tumbleweed Project, a real-time documentary about life in America during a global pandemic. It was my first documentary and I traveled across 15 states to interview 36 people.
After helping me set up interviews with Megan Elliott of UNL’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts and Mike Smith of Rabble Mill, Brian Ardinger and Susan Stibal knew my schedule was about to open up. So they contacted me to make sure I knew about another intriguing challenge.
NMotion and gener8tor had decided to launch a new investment accelerator in my home state and were looking for someone to run it…in the middle of a pandemic. After spending the last 20 years in Atlanta, Boston and central Indiana, working in, around and with startup accelerators, I accepted this juicy challenge to put my experience and knowledge at the service of State my family has called home since the late 1800s.
Since September 2020, I have led NMotion powered by gener8tor’s efforts to invest $3.4 million in 34 startups across the state while helping them grow revenue and raise additional investment. This is in addition to helping 10 other startups do the same through our no-investment accelerator program. During this time, we have collectively navigated through COVID and transitioned to post-COVID realities.
Looking back over three years and $3.4 million deployed, here are three lessons I’ve learned:
1. Big trees never grow alone
There are ZERO successful self-taught startup founders. Each of them received help – big or small – along their journey. Most importantly, successful startup communities are like vibrant forests. Other trees and shrubs provide protection for the canopy and help attract resources to the parts of the forest that need them. You can see people playing a range of roles that increase the opportunity surface for founders: mentors, early customers, early investors, community champions, and early employees.
One of the main reasons I took on this challenge is that we are fortunate to have business leaders in Nebraska who are investing their money and networks in these new businesses. Mike Dunlap of Nelnet, Mike Cassling of CQuence Health, and Paul and Annette Smith of Black Dog Venture are among the many other actors past and present who play this role. Working in collaboration with open-minded institutions like the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, the University of Nebraska (all four campuses), and the Nebraska Tech Collaborative, these leaders continue to invest in the vibrancy of the entire state.
2. Lots of “dark maybes”
No one can predict the future and certainly no one can predict the success of EVERY startup. High-growth early-stage startups carry many inherent risks: human, technical, commercial, economic and regulatory. I remember Chuck Norris sharing an analysis of the Nelnet startup investment portfolio and illustrating how impossible it really is to predict outcomes. Even those who had all the “right pieces” imploded while some they had lost all hope on found a way to successfully sell the business and create a wealth windfall.
You have to play the game to see what happens. Just as important, you need to ensure that no stone is left unturned in finding the best and brightest talent in the state. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that if you have enough naive ambition to become a startup founder, you have the chance to discover the most exciting leadership growth opportunity available. We also owe it to you, brave souls, who make yourselves vulnerable to the slings and arrows of creating the future, to be celebrated for your stumbles as much as you are for your triumphs. Lessons learned and shared help the entire forest.
3. Call the credit union early and often
This one seems so obvious. But because startups are new organizations looking for business models, some founders spend all their time building a complex, brilliant solution without thinking about selling it. Coastal startup communities are full of early-stage investors willing to take significant risks that fall far short of generating revenue. Meanwhile, the Midwest and Great Plains have much more conservative investors and sources of capital.
These investors generally made their money in traditional businesses where you had to call the register if you wanted to survive. While this conservative nature can be frustrating at times, it also serves as a competitive advantage for the region because it forces startup founders to focus on generating revenue early and often. The startup founders I’ve worked with who stand out above the rest know that the aim of the game is to create revenue, and then create more each month. Achieving profitability creates more options. And optionality is a founder’s best friend.
Even if your actual sales are low, a 20% month-over-month increase creates a fairly geometric curve. Perhaps this is one of the silver linings that COVID has given us: an appreciation for geometric curves. When it comes to Nebraska startups, the more we embrace the challenge of building high-growth startups, the better we will all become.
Final Thoughts
Great founders don’t wait for permission. If you’re thinking about getting into the startup game, do it. There are only upsides when it comes to the personal and professional growth you’ll experience from trying to build a business to solve real problems.
