Year End Community Celebration (Dec. Social) Recap

Last Thursday, December 6th, 65+ local entrepreneurs, community members, and business owners gathered at the American Legion in Blowing Rock for the Silicon Hollar Year End Community Celebration! The night started with open networking, drinks, pizza (Carolina Pizza Co.) and cookies (Appalachia Cookie Co.). Because of our awesome drink sponsors we had beer, cider, wine and mead flowing all night long! Thanks again to our monthly drink sponsors, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Blowing Rock Brewing Co., Booneshine Brewing Co., & Lost Province Brewing Co.

Sam Glover, Co-Founder of Startup High Country opened us up with a quick overview of special guest speakers and by thanking our drink, food and raffle sponsors.

Christy Hemenway from Run Amok Mead took the floor to discuss her new business adventure coming soon to a mountain near you and a Mead Label Art Contest that is underway now! Learn more here. Everyone enjoyed sampling the Mead at this event as well!

Doc Hendley, Founder of Wine to Water (WTW) was next up to the floor to discuss the work his local nonprofit does worldwide to help provide clean drinking water for all. Doc explained several different ways to get involved and support the cause. An easy way to support the efforts of Wine to Water is to grab some food or drinks at Ransom in downtown Boone and support WTW through their cost-sharing efforts! Everyone enjoyed Wine to Water wine at the celebration as well!

Jeffrey Scott, Founder and Facilitator of Velocity Labs then took the floor to discuss his recent 12 week startup course and Cohort 1. With the recent NC IDEA grant funding Startup High Country received, there will be a Spring Velocity Labs course in 2019! Stay tuned for details!

Four startup businesses from Velocity Labs Cohort 1 pitched their business idea or venture to the room. Jeremy Bollman Co-Founder of Hatchet Coffee pitched first. Jeremy discussed problem solution fit along with customer discovery, validation and creation. Hatchet Coffee hopes to grow and expand into other markets in the future. Jeremy also said he learned more about company building and leadership development from the Velocity Labs 12-week course.

Next up was Courtney Baines, Executive Director of local nonprofit Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA). During the course, Courtney focused on the High Country Food Hub, a project of BRWIA. She was able to track significant customer growth in a year and has worked on new marketing initiatives to promote shopping and supporting local food and artisan products in the High Country.

Holly Denise, Founder of SilverBarre pitched next. She was able to find a good customer market for her education product here in the High Country. Holly pivoted and changed ideas several times throughout the 12-week course but is now ready to implement her first SilverBarre class.

The last pitch was from Brandon Hall, Co-Founder of ChurchLearn. His team discovered that churches need a volunteer workforce and software to train the volunteers. They have a huge target market and are already reaching out to churches all over the US.

Our last speaker of the night was special guest Thom Ruhe, President/CEO of NC IDEA. NC IDEA is a private foundation that has their own money and flexibility to take risks in the market. NC IDEA provides grants and programs to help and promote entrepreneurship and customer validation. He and his team are always trying to figure out ways to get people capable of entrepreneurial and critical thinking. Thom discussed how local entrepreneurs and companies are now competing with kids in other countries, therefore we have to show resilience. Ruhe said, “Not being able to think entrepreneurially is the new illiteracy.” We must try to redefine the ecosystem innovation.

Our team is grateful for the outstanding support and attendance at this event! Thanks for always supporting our entrepreneurial efforts here in the High Country. Stay tuned for information regarding our January Startup Social.

Cheers to 2019!

Check out these images below from David Rogers of Blowing Rock News.

November Startup Social Recap

40+ entrepreneurs, students, business owners and community members gathered at Ransom in downtown Boone for our November monthly Startup Social last night! Ransom provided drink tickets for everyone in attendance as well as an awesome spread of appetizers and pizzas! Folks were able to mingle and network for the majority of the night. We were thrilled to have Andy from Cavendish Brewing Co. out of Gastonia, NC. Andy shared some information about the brewery and also shared samples with everyone. Stop by Ransom to try one of their beers on tap now!

Sam, Startup High Country (SHC) team member welcomed everyone and thanked Ransom for their great hospitality. He also invited everyone to attend our upcoming Year End Community Celebration at the Blowing Rock Legion on December 6th from 6-8:30 PM. Everyone is invited to attend and celebrate all of the great successes Silicon Hollar and Startup High Country have accomplished this year! We are excited and honored to announce that our special guest speaker for the Year End Celebration will be Thom Ruhe!

Thom is President and CEO of NC IDEA. He is an entrepreneur, investor, mentor and works with entrepreneurs, governments, universities and NGOs around the world to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset needed to grow vibrant economies.
During his seven-year tenure at the Kauffman Foundation, he directed the Foundation’s programs addressing entrepreneurial education, mentoring, access to capital and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems. Thom also led Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation, a school dedicated to advancing community deployed experiential-based entrepreneurial education.
Thom has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Entrepreneurship, addressed the United Nations Assembly on Entrepreneurship, lectured at conferences around the world and serves on multiple boards including Innovation Fund America and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina.

Carolyn Clark, Communications Specialist & Consultant announced that Ransom will continue to host our Silicon Hollar weekly Pop-Up Coworking sessions through the month of December! We are so excited to share their awesome workspace with entrepreneurs, dreamer, thinkers and doers for another month! Our next coworking session will be on Thursday, November 29th from 8 AM - 2 PM, join us! Learn more here.

Angela Heavner from 180 Float Spa pitched their upcoming December 12th Boone event, showcasing their Local Public Offering (LPO) and hosted by Mountain Bizworks. Get details about this event by visiting, https://www.180floatspa.com/ and signing up for Event Details! 180 Float Spa is offering you the opportunity to invest in your wellness and our community through a LPO. 180 Float Spa is only the second LPO to be approved for Investment crowdfunding in NC! Learn more about investing here.

Kat Dolan, Performance Poet & Mental Health Advocate from local nonprofit, Out of Your Mind discussed upcoming Open-Mic events and opportunities in Boone! The next Performance Poetry Event is “Get Lit,” at Boone Saloon on November 28th from 7-10 PM and Kat is the Featured Performer! Learn more here.

We would like to thank Ransom again for hosting and providing an awesome Startup Social atmosphere this month! Our next Startup Social will be combined with the big Silicon Hollar Year End Community Celebration on Thursday, December 6th from 6-8:30 PM at the Blowing Rock Legion! Please RSVP here.

View more images from last night by clicking through below!

October Startup Social Recap

On Thursday, October 18th, 60+ student entrepreneurs, local business owners, aspiring startups, and community members gathered at the HOW Space for the monthly Silicon Hollar Startup Social. This collaborative networking event brought together three local organizations and their followers; Startup High Country, High Country Local First, and Appalachian State University’s Association of Student Entrepreneurs (ASE).

The ASE provided snacks from Carolina Pizza Co. and Appalachia Cookie Co. for all to enjoy. Tim Herdklotz from Booneshine Brewing Co. was in attendance serving local beers along with Jeremy Bollman & team members from Hatchet Coffee serving cold brew and hot coffee!

Several Student Entrepreneurs presented their startup businesses to the crowd. Erich Schlenker, from Appstate’s Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship announced the upcoming 15th Annual Carol Moore McLeod Entrepreneur Summit. This event is happening Friday, November 2 on the campus of Appalachian State University. No matter where you are on your entrepreneurial journey, this Summit has something for you. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

Other pitches were made by members of the Silicon Hollar/Startup High Country Team including Madelyn Hjertmann, Chris Grasinger and Sam Glover. The team announced and unveiled new branding, logo and t-shirt designs for the organization. They also announced that Startup High Country recently received a $100,000 grant from NC IDEA. With this grant funding Startup HC will be able to host the Velocity Labs 12-week Accelerator Course for the next 3 years!

John Austin from NC IDEA was in attendance and pitched to the crowd about the recent grant and other great entrepreneurship opportunities through his organization.

Angela Heavner from 180 Float Spa pitched her startup company to the room and announced her Local Public Offering. 180 Float Spa is offering you the opportunity to invest in your wellness and our community through a Local Public Offering (LPO). Local Public Offerings became effective in 2017 under the North Carolina PACES Act to help provide access to capital for new and early stage businesses. 180 Float Spa is only the second LPO to be approved for Investment crowdfunding in NC. Investment crowdfunding has been growing significantly around the nation, with over 100 million dollars raised. Now it's our turn North Carolina! Learn more and invest here!

Everyone enjoyed this collaborative event at the HOW Space and many solid connections were made! Special thanks to all those who attended and helped plan this event!

Stay tuned for information about our next Startup Social happening in November!

Click below to view photos from October’s Startup Social!

Where is the capital for startups?

Where is the capital for startups? A view of the funding landscape in WNC:

Chris Grasinger, Mountain Bizworks High Country Regional Manager
 

As many of us know, successfully launching a business takes an immense amount of energy on the front end. Research and development, building your team, creating a minimum viable product, crafting a marketing strategy – all of these elements take time and hard work. There are an infinite amount of road maps and influencers that are telling you how to reach launch, but sorting through different strategies and advice can push you to capacity as well. All the while you have to keep cash flowing into your household and paying for your own personal bills. You can peak 14 hour days pretty quickly if you are not effectively prioritizing your actions.

In many cases, your business will reach a stage where you have to find money to launch or grow the business to a desired point. There are many triggers that can lead to this moment - whether that is finally paying the people doing the work, buying a crucial piece of equipment, or hiring a developer to build the software you need. So where does this capital come from?

Self-funding or Bootstrapping –

Sourcing funds from savings of the founders or pulling the needed capital from your own excess cash that the business is generating.

Friends & Family –

This source of capital is just what it sounds like. Sometimes you may receive money from folks within your natural network as a donation or maybe it will come with certain terms. A word of caution is to always be very clear on the expectations of all parties with this type of funding – you don’t want to get to a point of misunderstanding that could taint a relationship with someone close to you.

Crowdfunding –

Utilization of a traditional donation based crowdfunding platform like Kickstarter or using one of the new equity-based crowdfunding platforms like Wefunder.

Angel Investment –

Angel investment can come in a number of forms but is typically defined as an individual or group of individuals that make early investments into companies, to fund the startup or early growth stages. An angel investor could actually be someone in your friend or family network. A new angel investment group specifically serving our area is the High Country Impact Fund. This group was formed to invest in entrepreneurs and companies, with high growth and local economic impact potential.

Traditional Debt Capital -  

These are the traditional lenders that we all know, such as Wells Fargo, First Citizens or BB&T. Many of these banks have excellent services for startup businesses, such as checking and mobile deposit. But they oftentimes lack the ability to fund a startup, due to federal regulations and risk grade.

Alternative Debt Capital –

There are a number of different types of lending institutions that are designed to make high risk loans. A localized version of this type of lender is Mountain Bizworks - a community development financial institution, focused on funding Western North Carolina startups and existing businesses.

July Startup Social Recap

Last Thursday, July 19th, 50+ local entrepreneurs, investors, small business owners, technology professionals, and community members gathered at Hatchet Coffee's new roasting facility on Den Mac Dr. in Boone for the monthly Silicon Hollar Startup Social. 

Three local breweries were in attendance and provided beer for the event including, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Booneshine Brewing Co., and Lost Province Brewing Co. Hatchet Coffee also provided a nice selection of hot coffee and nitro cold brews. 

Attendees were able to socialize and network among each other and then everyone came together to learn more about Startup High Country and our wonderful event sponsor, Mountain Bizworks. Several Mountain Bizworks representatives were in attendance including Matt Raker, Director of Community Investments & Impact. Matt shared information about business courses and investment opportunities through Mountain Bizworks. Their upcoming Foundations Course will be held in Boone August 6th – Sept 17th on Mondays from 1-4pm, with Madelyn Hjertmann facilitating. To learn more and register please visit, https://www.mountainbizworks.org/event/boone-foundations-mondays-august-6th-sept-17th-9am-to-12pm-with-madelyn-hjertmann/

When the floor was open to discussion, several pitches were made by those in attendance including, PubCycle of Boone, High Country Radio, 180 Float Spa, Wilderness Yoga, ChurchLEARN, Appalachian Enterprise Center, boonies, Appstate Student Careers, and several others!

Jeffrey Scott, team member of Startup High Country, discussed Silicon Hollar's upcoming Velocity Labs, a 3 month startup accelerator for founders & partners of pre-revenue and/or early stage high growth companies focused on accelerated growth of $5-7M in three years. The course will begin on September 4, 2018 and run through November 16, 2018. For more information and to apply please visit, http://www.siliconhollar.org/velocity-labs/.

As always, a big thank you to our sponsors, our host, and all of those that attended and contributed to the July Startup Social. We invite you to join us for our August Social at Booneshine Brewing Co.'s new facility on Industrial Dr. in Boone! Stay tuned for the date to be announced soon!

Check out these awesome images below courtesy of Gladco Media!