Editor’s note: Veteran entrepreneur and blogger Joe Procopio, who also is an executive at Durham-based Automated Insights, talks about playing “matchmaker” and helping create a new startup. “Ten years to get to one moment,” he says, recounting the story.
DURHAM, N.C. – Last night I played matchmaker.
After a couple weeks of wrangling the schedules of two particularly busy people I know well and respect, I finally sat down for a few beers with them. One of them has an idea and some means of getting it executed, the other has a ton of talent and an itch.
It took just minutes for these two personalities to gel and another half an hour for this idea to go from so-crazy-this-just-might-work to so-stupid-this-is-going-to-dominate. I got to sit back and watch it all happen.
Names changed to protect anonymity.
Floyd is looking to disrupt an industry that he’s been working in for the past 10 years. He’s become an authority and he’s frustrated at how little progress is being made bringing his science into the mainstream.
Sarah is a techie who has dabbled in Floyd’s industry as a hobby — call it a fascination — and before she got into tech she spent a few years out of college working at the fringes of Floyd’s industry.
She didn’t stay long because the industry sucked — no innovation. So she’s got ideas of her own, and getting to hear Floyd’s thoughts on her ideas pushed just the right buttons, giving her the confidence to expand upon those ideas in a technical arena.
I have no doubt that Floyd’s ideas will drive the company and Sarah’s skills will push the tech to new limits. I got to sit back and watch and translate when necessary. It turned into a play-by-play of a startup formation and it was a beautiful thing.
Here’s how it went down.
http://joeprocopio.com/this-is-what-the-beginning-of-a-startup-looks-like.asp
(C) Joe Procopio
