The value of mentors

This morning, as we are about to embark on the first class of Launch Pad Ignition, I got to thinking about the mentors who are helping to get me to the finish line with Ignition, which is a startup itself.

I’ve had many mentors in my life, and now more than ever as we move into uncharted territory, I’m leaning on them, and they are responding.  A mentor is a person who:

  • sends you an email, asking “how’s it going?” out of the blue
  • shows up when its a big day for you, at a talk, a presentation or a pitch
  • responds to your email within minutes, not weeks
  • introduces you to people they think you should know, without you asking
  • and most of all… genuinely cares about your success

At SXSW and over the last week as Ignition is hitting its stride and the pressure & stress level rising, I felt my network kick in.

  • Schlaf was making connections to StartupBus folks, and making sure I got into the AOL Ventures party at SXSW
  • Jann Schwartz took me under his wing at SXSW, making great intros and being an advocate for what we are doing
  • Brad Feld emailing me at 10:30pm last night engaging me in Startup America
  • Leslie Jacobs helped us work through our term sheet
  • Elon Boms said “let’s make this happen in New Orleans”
  • Tony Ciaccio and Big Sam drove all the way from NOLA to make sure our party was a hit
  • Taylor Davidson swung by the NOLA party, shared where he was personally, and his excitement about engaging our founders
  • Eric Marcoullier pinged me to ask “how’s Ignition going?”  to which I replied “great! when are you coming down?”
  • Andrew Hyde made sure my core convo at SXSW went well, from the iPod tunes to start to keeping the convo flowing
  • John Barnett & Brent McCrossen hanging at Capdeville with Pete, constantly checking in with us

So, thank you to all of you. I feel the value of mentors.  People rooting for you to succeed, and making sure they are taking an active, not passive role in it.

I can’t wait to personally play this role and see the impact of it next week when Ignition kicks off.

Announcing Launch Pad Ignition

  • February 1st, 2011 /
  •  Chris Schultz /
  • 1 Comment

I am excited today to announce Launch Pad Ignition, our new startup accelerator program.

This is the culmination of several years of planning and preparation, and we are particularly excited to be launching as a part of the TechStars Network, and by extension the Obama administration’s new Startup America Initiative.

Ignition has been a personal passion project. The conversation started a year ago, after I wrote my open letter to David Cohen (see, they really work).  Andrew Hyde has been a huge supporter and Taylor Davidson has been instrumental in helping us model this out and make it happen. Thank you to the fantastic mentors who have already committed to being onboard.  If you’re interested, please contact me. I’m excited to be working with my co-founders of Barre Tanguis, Will Donaldson, Peter Bodenheimer and Mark Graffagnini, this really is like a startup itself.

An exciting leap for the New Orleans startup ecosystem, Ignition creates a framework to help founders refine their product offering, invigorate their business plans, and raise funding to fuel their growth.  So, if you are a startup in New Orleans, or willing to move to New Orleans to accelerate the growth of your company, definitely check out the info and get your application in before March 18.

Learn more about Launch Pad Ignition, the TechStars Network, and Startup America.  See more detailed information in our press release. We are proud to be playing a role in accelerating entrepreneurship.  Startups, start your engines!

Secrets to a 5 Minute Pitch

  • January 8th, 2011 /
  •  Chris Schultz /
  • 1 Comment

We’re doing a Five Minute Pitch on Wed at Launch Pad.  Here is the coaching guidance that I just sent out to the companied presenting.

  • format – we are going to hold you to 5 min, so be sure to keep your pitch tight and focused.  this is plenty of time if you are rehearsed and gives you an opportunity to communicate about your company or project in a way that will keep the audiences attention and hopefully spark conversation with you afterwards.
  • goal – what do you want to accomplish?  start there, think about that deeply.  are you trying to raise funding, attract users/customers, generate press? utilize this forum to accomplish something for your business. focus on achieving that goal and don’t worry if your pitch isn’t broad enough to be interesting to everyone.  that’s why we’re keeping them to 5 min. this is not an exercise, this is an opportunity to accomplish something for your business.
  • ask – close (and maybe open too) with your ask.  be specific and be clear.  ie: 1) we’re looking to find new school customers, so if you know anyone in education, please refer me to them. 2) we’re currently raising a seed round of $500k and have $200k committed.  3) we are looking to generate awareness about our platform so please follow us @yourname and tweet about us 4) we’re looking for beta users to please sign up on www.yourwebsitename.com for an invite.
  • practice – please, please, please give your pitch out loud, standing up.  if you don’t you will run too long.  You will have 100x improvement in your pitch by giving it several times, getting feedback, doing more of whats working, less of whats not.  ask for candid feedback.  treat this as the real-deal, not a practice.  you want to be proud of your pitch.
  • show, don’t tell – if you have a product, show it, demo it if you can do it very quickly.  1-2 min videos are great, b/c you can prepare them in advance and they can be extremely professional. live demos are difficult to do, if you are going to do it, please have someone else to “drive”.  screenshots of your product are actually much better than a live demo.  remember, the audience doesn’t know your product nearly as well as you do, so showcase the “wow” factor, but don’t expect them to understand it and don’t try to do a deep dive about how it works.  focus on the sexy and sizzle.
  • elevator pitch arc – there are lots of blog posts about what people want to hear in an elevator pitch.  this obviously varies depending on what your goal is.  but have a clear outlined format, don’t just talk. you’ll be judged by the audience as much on your professionalism and clarity in approach as you will on your product.  remember to touch on things like: problem, solution, market, team, traction, business model.
  • deck –  i’d recommend keeping it to 5-8 slides, unless you are able to run your preso very tightly and succinctly.  don’t read whats on the slide, use the slide for backup and then give context, explanation or tell a story.  make sure that what you are saying connects with the slides but you are not reading bullet points, nothing is more dull.
  • get excited! relax and have fun – the coaching advice here is to help you be prepared and confident. practicing beforehand will give you confidence and help you relax. make sure your excitement about your company comes through, excitement is contagious. this is a friendly audience, everyone is rooting for you. you will be great.

Here are some resources that I like:

Keep, Start, Stop: A framework for New Year’s resolutions

A lot of us are thinking today about 2011 and making New Year’s resolutions. I’m thinking a lot about what I want to achieve in 2011 and reflecting on 2010.  As I’m reflecting today, I’m drawn to a framework for feedback that Peter Bodenheimer taught me and we use in feedback sessions with clients.

Make three types of resolutions:

  • Keep doing
  • Start doing
  • Stop doing

My resolutions this year are going to be less about goals for 2011 and more about doing more of what’s working, less of whats not.  The Keep, Start, Stop framework helps me isolate my resolutions and change behavior and set plans to achieve them.

Happy New Year! Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful 2011.

Join me for a NOLA Startups Home for the Holidays build

  • November 30th, 2010 /
  •  Chris Schultz /
  • 1 Comment

I want to invite you to join me on Dec 17th to spend the day hanging out and volunteering to help get a New Orleans family home for the holidays.

I did my first build with the St. Bernard Project as part of TribeCon and it was a blast and felt really good.  We painted and swapped brainstorms for businesses… it really was a lot of fun to get a chance to have in depth conversations about startups while helping to rebuild a home damaged by Katrina and get a family home.

I really believe in the St. Bernard Project and their mission to get people back into their homes that were damaged by Katrina.  At the orientation for our TribeCon build, I learned:

If reconstruction of all the houses damaged by Katrina by all of the organizations involved continues at the current pace, then all families who want to move home will be able to get home in 16 years.

St. Bernard Project Day for TribeConWow, that’s not good enough. This is a really motivating projection to me.  It makes me want to do more.  And I can tell you it really feels good to step away from the computer and volunteer at a family’s house where you can see the impact of your work at the end of the day.

After a great day of volunteering our time to bring someone home for the holidays, we’ll all head to the 2nd Annual Launch Pad Holiday Party to celebrate the spirit of the season with a few cocktails.  You’ll be so radiant with goodness no mistletoe will be required.

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