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I've got some news hot off the press for all you Sacramento Venture and Accelerator folks out there! Sacramento isn't just about growing trees anymore. It's all about the tech scene here, and let me tell you, the roots are strong. You might have thought of Sacramento as the old stomping grounds of the Gold Rush days, but guess what? It's time to give this city some credit for its silicon technology footprint. Sacramento's tech industry is booming, and it's not slowing down anytime soon! Now, when it comes to snagging the best talent, it's all about the culture. I'm talking about perks, benefits, you name it. Did you know that a whopping 78% of tech employees are sticking around longer when they're offered a sweet benefits package? ! So, if you're a tech company in the Sacramento area, chances are you're rubbing elbows with some of the big players in the industry. And hey, if you're not, now's the time to jump on board! Let's get together and cook up a strategic plan for 2024. It's time to ride the wave of this technology rush and make some serious moves. Let's make it happen! https://lnkd.in/gNgYNZy2

Our Juicy Startup Went Sour: A Bittersweet Goodbye to Watermelon 🍉Esteban Dalel R and I are heartbroken to share that Watermelon Tools (Techstars '23) is winding down its operations. First off, a huge shout-out to everyone who stood by us—our investors, users, contractors, open-source contributors, and all our cheerleaders: Thank you! Your support was the spark that ignited our creativity and brought our visions to life. So many startup post-mortems echo each other, so I'll keep this brief: - We ventured into a category known for late monetization (dev tools), which meant we had to gear our strategy towards fundraising. - Unfortunately, as the former CEO, fundraising was not part of my skill set.  - A hard lesson learned: Founders must live in the Bay Area, not just occasionally, but all the time. Especially in the dev tools category. - Our reluctance to embrace this was a misstep. - We built some pretty cool products that even caught a viral wave at times. - However, transforming a free user base into a sustainable, non-churning enterprise clientele required more time and sales acumen—two things I admittedly struggled with. - The opportunity for solving the lack of code context problem is huge, but it requires a lot of patience to nail it. Let's keep in touch and see where the journey takes us next!

I started (co-founded) a company in 2016 with a really close friend who I knew for over 10 years, only to break it off in a year. It was a gruelling 12 months that we spent together. And it made me anxious and miserable. There were numerous clashes. Being friends, our egos were hidden and pacified by all the fun times. But when it came to serious work, that used to be at the forefront. We were a perfect recipe made for a disaster. I realised that our business personalities were so different and couldn't align in how we transacted. It was almost like a new person who I was interacting with. After a year of working together, we called off our business partnership and parted ways. For the last 4.5 years, we have been building communities. And when we started onboarding partners, we had similar issues such as work ethic, delivery timeline, quality of work, trust or competency etc. These issues never cropped up in the initial days or maybe were hidden, which we also turned a blind eye to them. After working together and spending over 6 months on projects, we started to understand each others' working structure, strengths and weaknesses. And that's when the problems started. A few of us were able to sync and resolve these issues. But in a few cases, the baseline virtues didn't align and eventually led to killing the community. We are all inherently different, but there are middle ground and certain boundaries that we work within. After all these experiences, as a thumb rule today, we ensure we spend at least 6 months working together before we onboard anyone as a cofounder or a partner within our communities. That stands as one of the core community policies today. I have worked with my partners in the communities I am a part of for more than a year before we incorporated our ventures. Community Venture Studio | Moses Sam Paul Johnraj #CommunityPolicies

A recent study found that 50% of startup founders report feel isolated during their journey. When you're wearing all the hats and working long hours, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one dealing with the pressure. But the truth is, half of the founders out there are feeling just as isolated. That’s why it’s crucial to build a network—whether through mentors, peers, or even online communities. After all, it’s easier to push through the tough times when you know you're not the only one going through it.

🎂 This May (starting tomorrow) we will celebrate the 5th #anniversary of the launch of Enterprise League. As many of you have been asking me about the journey, throughout the month of May I want to share a little bit about our journey in this 5 years. But first, lets take a moment to look back at the key #milestones that have defined our journey before the launch date. 🚀 January 2018: The journey began! I started searching for a software development consultancy to get estimates for the idea. In 2 weeks spoke with 20+ consultancies from across the world. Each and every conversation was a learning journey and with some I have stayed in touch in the years after. Shoutout to Vladyslav Somik GBKSOFT Iryna Tarasova Uran Company Mateusz Łach Railwaymen Ready4S - Custom Software and System Integration Ekaterina Chernel Karol Wegner itCraft - and many many more! ✈️ March 2018: Took a significant step forward by traveling to Poland with Irina Georgieva to meet with the incredible team at Gecko Dynamics. During the trip we had a workshop to clarify the requirements. Their expertise was crucial in shaping our platform. Thank you! Michael Grubka Alex Tarasiuk 🎙️ January 10, 2019: Conducted our first interviews for a pivotal role — our Content Creator. This marked the beginning of our commitment to delivering valuable content to our users and the birth of the Enterprise League Blog. Fun fact: Since then I've conducted 300+ interviews in my career! 📈 March 13, 2019: Welcomed our first employees to the Marketing department. A special shoutout to Claudia Nikolova, our first hire, who has been instrumental in setting up our Enterprise League Blog. We also set up our first office in my hometown - Strumica in Macedonia, fostering our team's growth until we transitioned to fully remote work a year later. 👩💻 May 2019: The team grew stronger with the addition of our first in-house engineer - Sara Mitevska, and Boris Malinov, who both evolved into key players in our #TechLead and #SEO roles. Their contributions have been invaluable. 🎉 May 2019: With over 2000 pre-registrations waiting eagerly, we officially launched Enterprise League. While I can’t recall the exact date (need to check those Bitbucket commits!), feel free to guess in the comments! What a ride it's been! #startup #entrepreneurship #startupjourney PS. Here’s a look at how far we've come — check out our landing page on the day of launch versus now. What a difference 5 years make!

One of my favorite feedback I got about our cofounder program: « It felt very comforting that I didn’t need to look outside the cohort to get the help I needed. Product, design, sales, tech... All the expertise around launching a tech startup was present in the cohort. Even if I wouldn’t match with someone, people would systematically spend an hour or 2 with me to help on a certain topic.  » ➡️ Joining the co-founder boat isn’t just about finding your cofounder, it’s about joining a community of game-changers who have each other’s back. If you’re looking to launch your startup and you’re not sure where to start, Hook is a great place for that. 👉 Applications are open for our next cofounder boat starting on the 30th of September. Application link in the comments.

It’s time to be brave and talk about….being brave.😬 I’ve always loved the Build in Public Movement. It’s something I wanted to do with Strivin but, being completely honest, I just wasn’t brave enough. I’m happy to admit I had no idea what I was doing when I started Strivin nearly three years ago, I just knew what I wanted to achieve and I had an idea of how to get there. I was scared to share because I thought:  🤨everyone would judge me,  🫤everyone would find out I had no idea what I was doing,  🫣they’d realise I didn’t have the right to build a company  🤯and…. the list goes on. Three years later, I still battle with imposter syndrome but I feel braver about sharing. After all, you never know, it might just help someone else who’s struggling. So I’m taking the dive and finally giving it a go…. With Book Boxes (https://lnkd.in/gTFwzdUG - a Strivin and Swag N Send collaboration) I’m going to take a Build in Public approach. Share the good, the bad and the ugly in the hope that it helps anyone else that’s currently building a startup or is considering going out on their own. If there’s anyone else who is considering a Build in Public approach but maybe isn’t feeling brave enough right now, reach out. We can help each other on this journey. (And if you want to know more about the Build in Public Movement, check out the links I’ve shared in the comments 👇)

Ted Velie You are absolutely right! I think we don't acknowledge how active we truly are in the Midwest. It could be that "work hard, stay humble culture" that we have developed, but it is great to see that the active voice we so liberally use with sports teams has started permeating into the startup culture. Because you know what the Midwest is? Young and Restless... "Anyone who has spent any time in and around innovation circles within the Midwest has certainly heard about the things we lack as compared to the coasts. Founders will tell you that “there just isn’t enough capital.” Investors will say “the quantity and quality of the startups” doesn’t compare. And someone looking in from the outside might let you know that “there just isn’t the talent” needed to create scalable businesses." - Dug Song co founder of Duo Security In his substack Finding The Verbs at Michigan Tech Week Ted Velie points out that we need to spend more time thinking about verbs here in the Midwest: "Now I’ve got thoughts on all three of those sentiments, but it’s certainly true that those “nouns”: Capital, Startups, Talent are what we often hear about when discussing the shortfalls of the region’s startup communities. Dug, god love him, likes to remind us that we can’t forget about the verbs when we’re talking about building ecosystems. And you don’t need to know that I used to be an English teacher to know I’m into the verbs: Connect, Promote, & Advocate." - Ted Velie Co-founder Midwest House Full article here: https://lnkd.in/ewFkW9GY I am proud to startup here with Alisio, to advocate for startups with Plug and Play Tech Center, and to promote the Detroit ecosystem with Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council and City of Detroit 🎥 Midwest House 🎵 Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony "C-Town" #DetroitHustlesHarder #DetroitStartups

65% of start-ups fail because of this reason: Issues between the co-founding team. Having solid chemistry between co-founders is one of the main things investors look for when funding. But sadly, the number of start-ups I have seen failing because of this issue is shocking. You need : - Trust - Transparency, - Adaptability & - Positive attitude All the members involved need a similar value system and vision. Any disconnect in these areas leads to the eventual failure of the company. How to prevent this: - Sign a stakeholders agreement. - Clearly state what happens if the founding team splits. - Spend time knowing people first. - The length and depth of the relationship matter. - Define roles and touch base consistently. - Don’t assume everyone is on the same page. - Instead, touch base regularly to discuss priorities. - Find partners with complementary skill sets As a non-technical founder, it is key to have co-founders who has the technical know-how to steer the product. Do a test project or have an expert vet the CTO candidates. - Know their strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t know much about coding use assessment tests like Codility or Hacker Rank. Are you a non-technical founder looking for a technical partner to launch your SAAS product? We have helped multiple founders like you launch and succeed. Get in touch to see if we are a good fit. #startuphelp #startuptechfounder #saasdevelopment #technicalpartner