WINSTON-SALEM – In an effort to further connect the startup communities spread across the Triad region, the organizers behind Startup Grind Winston-Salem are expanding their events to High Point, Greensboro and Davidson—all newly appointed chapters in the global Startup Grind network.
Starting now, alternating monthly events by the “Grinders” will be held in each city. Every other month on a Tuesday, there will be two events in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. For High Point and Davidson, events will be held every other month on a set Thursday.
In total, this will boost Startup Grind Triad from around 10 events per year to 24.
Flywheel Coworking Founding Partner Peter Marsh, who has led Startup Grind Winston-Salem for a few years as head organizer, says he became motivated to make the expansion in February at the 2018 Startup Grind Conference in Redwood City, California.
There, he witnessed the opportunities offered by the global organization in action.
More than 7,000 people were present, including angel investors and executives from top venture capital firms. The event featured numerous panels and fireside chats, pitch sessions, investor meetings, over 100 exhibiting companies, plus keynotes from the leaders of tech giants such as Google, Tesla, PayPal and Reddit. At the conference, Marsh met prominent figures including Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist and Canva chief evangelist (formerly of Apple).
Peter Marsh (left) stands with marketing specialist and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki at the 2018 annual Startup Grind Conference in Redwood City, California.
Marsh says he saw first-hand how the global Startup Grind organization is “a direct channel into the opportunity to get in front of leaders of the tech community on the West Coast and in front of top investment firms.”
“I came back and needed to kick this thing up to whole new level with a larger team,” Marsh added. Upon returning to the Triad, he wrote a blog post announcing the effort to expand throughout the Triad and began working to achieve that goal.
Marsh started with increasing the Startup Grind Triad leadership team with new members to cover communications and marketing, sponsorships and event logistics. The expanded team, says Marsh, will help present a “professionally delivered and designed event experience in each of the cities.”
Also leading the expansion is New Ventures Accelerator director and design strategy consultant Joel Bennett, who has operated the communications platforms for Startup Grind Winston-Salem.
Bennett says he hopes that the new chapters will promote a linkage between Triad counties to make it more of a connected region, rather than a collection of siloed cities with the same usual suspects attending each event.
“We really need new people all the time to have these happy collisions take place,” Bennett adds. “Startup Grind a good example of that.”
Advancing startup energy
The Startup Grind expansion is a strategic one, says Marsh. It involves curating a personalized experience to fit three entirely different markets—each at different stages in developing their own startup communities.
High Point is known for its furniture manufacturing and design industries, the guiding force behind North Carolina’s reputation as the Furniture Capital of the World. But the tech startup activity in the city is somewhat nascent in comparison to its Triad counterparts. With the new Startup Grind High Point chapter, Marsh hopes to intertwine the programming with that of High Point University and tailor the events to the city’s existing furniture markets, focusing on how tech intersects with industry.
Around 65 miles Southwest of High Point is the Lake Norman region, which surrounds the Davidson market. Marsh notes that the area almost as big as Greensboro and Winston-Salem from a population density standpoint with a heavy concentration of high-wealth individuals and entrepreneurs.
A key representative of the Lake Norman-area entrepreneurial scene is Davidson College. It recently transformed an old textile mill into a 23,000-square-foot startup launchspace, The Hurt Hub@Davidson. In March, Flywheel Coworking announced it would be expanding to a 9,700-square-foot space in the Hurt Hub. About 20 tech companies have signed on so far, plus Launch LKN, a network of entrepreneurs and mentors with locations in Huntersville and Davidson. The space will officially open on July 1.
In Greensboro, a large portion of the entrepreneurial activity is supported by programs from the city’s Chamber of Commerce. These include the LaunchLab accelerator, the Launch Camp Creative workshop, monthly IdeaLaunch pitch events and the signature Capital Connects program. Greensboro is also host to several physical spaces fueling startup growth, including coworking spaces HQ Greensboro and Co//ab, along with community makerspace Forge Greensboro.
Marsh says he hopes to build off of the momentum happening in these cities, collaborating with established organizations and networks to further grow the Triad startup community as a regional asset.
Marsh says that the new Startup Grind chapters will also serve as an added resource among existing startup support organizations in Winston-Salem, including his own organization, Flywheel Coworking.
In Winston-Salem, the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter serves a sort of hub for the entrepreneurial community, alongside organizations like Venture Cafe, which hosts weekly networking and discussion events, and Creative Startups Winston-Salem, which is currently searching for a new class of startups for its online accelerator program. Bennett’s organization, the New Ventures Accelerator, is also a key resource for Triad companies. Twelve finalists have been selected after a review of over 300 applications, and the new cohort will be officially announced on May 9.
Accessing Startup Grind’s global network
The new Startup Grind chapters will offer several unique opportunities for Triad-region startups to tap into the larger ecosystem.
Bennett notes that one major benefit is the association with Google for Entrepreneurs, Startup Grind’s main sponsor and partner. “There’s a tremendous amount of brand equity with this, and it carries a lot of weight,” he says.
This benefit is extended to the speakers at local Startup Grind events who can showcase their companies not just to their own communities, but beyond. [Startup Grind’s network also includes a growing presence in the Research Triangle.]
All Startup Grind events are professionally recorded, and the video content is then shared on the global network—a free PR and media boost for wider visibility.
The Startup Grind brand also creates new opportunities for the sponsors of the events.
“With an average of 50 to 100 people at these events, we’re reaching large audience with significant audience engagement,” Marsh says. “If you multiply that times four cities and the range our team is covering geographically, it’s an extensive media reach for sponsors in the startup community.”
A focus on diversity
For the new chapters, Marsh and Bennett are working towards a goal to advance the discussion surrounding diversity and equity in the Triad startup ecosystem.
Starting on this note, Startup Grind Greensboro held its first event recently featuring a fireside chat with Calvin Williams, founder of wealth management firm Freeman Capital, a recent NC IDEA grant finalist. Freeman Capital’s mission is to broaden access to financial planning and investments so that they’re available to everyone, not just typical accredited investors.
Event MC Matt Williams (right) interviews Freeman Capital Founder Calvin Williams (left) at Startup Grind Greensboro.
“We’re intentionally filtering speaker selections around women and minorities in entrepreneurship, with an eye towards broadening our audience to those who are walking the talk,” Marsh says.
In celebration of Female Founders Month, Startup Grind Triad will be hosting a fireside chat in Davidson on May 17 with Betsy Hauser Idilbi, founder and CEO of Southeast-wide coding education program Tech Talent South.
“We believe that the focus on diversity is important as core competency around innovation,” Marsh says. “We intend to be one of the leaders in the Startup Grind community in executing on that promise.”
