About the author: Cameron Cushman is an entrepreneurship manager at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Earlier this month, he helped organize a charter bus from Kansas City, Mo. to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest Interactive.
As I write this, I am sitting on a bus with about 25 entrepreneurs from around the Midwest. We took a busload of tech entrepreneurs to the annual South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival in Austin, Texas. Long known as a great place to launch ventures and build buzz for your startup, we thought it was important for the emerging tech scene in the Silicon Prairie to be well-represented at “South by.” So, we rented a bus (courtesy of the Kauffman Foundation) and drove down to the Lone Star State.
It’s amazing what you learn about people when you drive with them, through the night, about 15 hours each way. I work with entrepreneurs from all industry sectors on a daily basis, but I’m not sure I’ve ever spent so much “quality time” with technology founders. Here are a few of my observations after my trip to Austin on the ShowMeSXSW bus.
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(Left: Cushman and Katie McCurry at the Kauffman Foundation SXSW Sendoff event March 7.)
Entrepreneurs work hard
This may sound prosaic, but it is definitely true. I was astounded at the work ethic taking place on the bus and during the trip. The most common complaint on the bus was that the power outlets weren’t working or that the Wi-Fi was running slowly – not about bathroom stops or the lack of junk food. Why? Because at least half of the passengers were constantly on their laptops or phones pushing code, tweeting or writing press releases about their startups.
I’m pretty sure a couple of the entrepreneurs on the bus got close to pulling all-nighters. And that was the night BEFORE we reached SXSWi, which is not known for being an event where you get a ton of sleep. When you’re bootstrapping, trying to make it and believe deeply in what you are doing, you work unbelievably hard to bring your vision of the world to reality.
Startups “practice”
One of the entrepreneurs on the bus introduced me to the concept of practicing with a startup outside of his true business passion to prepare for the real thing. He wanted to make all of his mistakes in his first startup so that he would be more experienced and much smarter when he takes the leap to bring his true passion to life. An undergrad student with one year left, he has started a projection company that will aid in the process of clothing design. He is studying nanotechnology and plans to get a master’s degree and possibly a Ph.D. in the subject, so taking time to practice a startup fits with his life plan. I’ve met some young entrepreneurs who are overly confident they will be successful on their first try and not open to learning lessons in the process. It was refreshing for me to see this young entrepreneur playing the long game.
Founders balance multiple irons in the fire
Entrepreneurs do so many different things at the same time. Not only do they worry about whether their product works and where they will find customers, they also are concerned about their press strategy, their product rollout, expansion, hiring and a thousand other things. Founders wear many different hats. One of my favorite moments on the bus was helping one of the startups that was presenting at the SXSWi Accelerator with his press release sometime after midnight.
There also were a few founders on the bus who had started and were running multiple companies at the same time. “Two of my startups are white hot right now,” was heard on the bus. Running one business is difficult enough, but running two or more? You’d have to be crazy like an entrepreneur to even attempt to tackle that.
They value collaboration and trust
The largest single benefit from our bus trip was that we all got to know each other a little better. When you know someone, you feel more inclined to help them. When you help them and they help you, trust develops. And the most important thing in any business relationship is trust. Riding a bus for 30-plus hours in less than a week may not be the typical way to collaborate and build trust, but it certainly worked on our trip.
Entrepreneurship is contagious
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement at SXSWi. There is so much cool stuff to see, amazing people to meet and interesting things to do. Learning about each other’s startups and founding teams in a deeper way was insightful as well. But I didn’t anticipate that our enthusiasm would rub off on seemingly the most unlikely entrepreneur on our trip – our bus driver.
Our driver, who joined us in Edmond, Okla. (the trip was too long for one driver to make all the way), was inspired by her passengers. One night, on our way back to the hotel, she told us her story, and her business idea. It turns out that she recently had been homeless and driving a bus had enabled her to stabilize her life. But she held two other passions – cleaning houses and kids with disabilities. As she began to give us her pitch, which was clearly well thought out and had been practiced, there wasn’t a dry eye on the bus. Our enthusiasm for our startups had rubbed off on her. She trusted us and ultimately opened up by sharing her passion. It was the most fulfilling moment of the whole trip.
And, in true entrepreneurial style, a few folks on the bus got right to work on creating a new website for her startup.
Credits: Photos courtesy of Cameron Cushman.
About the author: Cameron Cushman is an entrepreneurship manager at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he focuses his efforts on strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Kansas City region. He leads the Foundation’s efforts on the Big 5 initiative to make Kansas City America’s Most Entrepreneurial City.
Find Cushman on Twitter, @cameroncushman.
