Speaking to a crowd of 75 this morning as part of Springfield Business Journal’s 12 People You Need to Know series, 1 Million Cups Springfield co-organizer Devin Dillon said the Queen City is in the midst of establishing its entrepreneurial identity.
“We have not found ourselves yet, but we are in the right direction,” Dillon said of the startup community he considers less than 2 years old.
Dillon said programs like 1MC are educating entrepreneurs and putting them in front of investors. Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation created the national program centered on connecting and educating entrepreneurs over conversation and coffee. Springfield’s 1MC - which brings in around 100 guests per session - has become the third largest behind KC and Fargo, N.D., he said.
However, Dillon said there’s still room to grow.
“Something that’s been missing from our startup community has been large corporate sponsors. I think they really help define and mold that startup community,” he said. “Since we’ve launched, there’s been a lot of activity in the investment pool area. I think it’s all critical for the growth of the community, not just the entrepreneurship/startup community.”
He suggested the southwest Missouri startup community could become defined by urban, organic farming.
“I think it’s highly underestimated, especially here because we take it for granted. Travel to any of the coasts, travel abroad, and things are different,” he said. “I think that could have an effect on our startup community, but right now, it’s just too early to define that.”
To foster entrepreneurs and young professionals, Dillon said Springfield should play to its strengths - such as a low cost of living and high quality of life - to make up for its lack of venture capital funds or a thriving tech community.
Speaking to his experience with 1MC, Dillon said 70 percent of the roughly 150 companies that have come through the weekly event are seeking funding. And though he said the money is out there, many businesses are not ready.
“That’s the chicken and the egg of business. You need money to get started, but you can’t get started until you have money,” he said.
Of those seeking capital, he said 90 percent of them aren’t even ready to take on funding because they haven’t set up an investable platform. Most, he said, are in the seed phase or earlier, where they are seeking money from friends or relatives that those investors might never see again.
“They might think that they need money, but they are not set up realistically to take on investment,” he said.
He challenged leaders to ask the question of what they want the community to be.
“People my age, or under 35, if they don’t see true opportunity here, they will go to where the opportunity is. If they can’t find the jobs that are producing the salaries and the opportunities of advancement and benefits that this demographic - the millennials and younger - want, they’re gone,” he said. “We continue to see that brain drain. It’s up to us to change that if that is what we want to change.”
