Blog

September 7By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

The 5 Things I Learned on the HSC Next Team This Summer

As a Fort Worth native, the opportunity to work in our entrepreneurial ecosystem and startup scene has been very fulfilling. But when I started this internship, I didn’t know how much I would learn about my hometown, myself, and the business world beyond our city limits. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work for Sparkyard and HSC Next as my first internship. Regarding introductions to professional life, I would say that mine was pretty stellar. Writing about what I learned this summer without launching into a full novel is challenging because the amount of experience and understanding I've gained...

September 4By Kendel RogersComments OffRead more...

11 Free Entrepreneurial Training Courses (That You Should Take)

Entrepreneurship training is a type of educational program or course that is designed to teach people the skills and knowledge they need to start and run their own businesses. These programs can be offered by educational institutions, business organizations, or independent trainers, and can take a variety of forms, including in-person classes, online courses, workshops, and seminars. Entrepreneurship training programs typically cover a wide range of topics, including business planning, market research, financial management, sales and marketing, and leadership and management. They may also include practical exercises, case studies, and real-world examples to help participants apply what they have learned. There are...

August 31By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

Emerald City vs. Cowtown Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

From 2015-2020, 16 cities raised over one billion dollars in early-stage capital. Of those cities, nine of them have less than one million people, similar to Fort Worth. Removing the well-established startup cities from the equation, we are left with Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, Oakland, Washington, DC, and Nashville. However, these six cities have an average population of 604,706 (about half the population of Hawaii): roughly 350,000 less than the estimated population of Fort Worth in 2023. If Fort Worth is the 13th most populated US City, why is our entrepreneurial ecosystem not reflecting its size? Last summer, we analyzed what makes...

August 24By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

5 Unexpected Lessons From This Summer

Last summer, I dove headfirst into the workforce a few weeks following my high school graduation. And I guess you could say I had an okay experience because I ended up coming back for a second summer—and better yet, I was able to work with them full-time.  As I enter the last week of my internship, I can’t help but feel somewhat perplexed as to where I should start my end-of-summer blog. Since this is my second summer with HSC Next, (you can see my takeaways from last summer here) I’m forced to be a little more creative with my points...

August 22By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

Atlanta as an Entrepreneurial City

From 2015-2020, 16 cities raised over one billion dollars in early-stage capital. Of those cities, nine have less than one million people, like Fort Worth. Removing the well-established startup cities from the equation, we are left with Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, Oakland, Washington, DC, and Nashville. However, these six cities have an average population of 604,706: roughly 350,000 less than the estimated population of Fort Worth in 2023. If Fort Worth is the 13th most populated US City, why is our entrepreneurial ecosystem not reflecting its size? Last summer, we analyzed what makes Nashville a great entrepreneurial city, and the aspects of...

August 9By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

Training an Innovation Workforce

Workforce development. It seems like everywhere I look someone is talking about developing our local workforce to meet the demands of today’s employers. But what does this really mean and more importantly, how do we actually develop our local innovation workforce? If you ask just about any local entrepreneur or CEO, they will tell you that hiring the right kinds of employees is one of their biggest challenges. It’s a challenge for BNSF and Lockheed Martin to hire qualified rail line and manufacturing workers. It’s a struggle for retail establishments to hire front line workers and restaurants to hire cooks. But...

August 2By Kendel RogersComments OffRead more...

Hiring is Hard. Sparkyard’s New Jobs Board is Here to Help!

Here at Sparkyard, we keep a close eye on Fort Worth's local economy, and recently, we have noticed astronomic growth. You may have heard that Fort Worth is the 13th largest city in the nation, but did you know that it is the #1 city in the country for raw population growth, with approximately 53 people added each day? Cowtown is predicted to have a million residents by 2030 and surpass Dallas in population by 2045. With this explosion of new residents, our economy is expanding to accommodate the city's needs. The mix of major corporations and a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem...

July 19By Marco JohnsonComments OffRead more...

When to Ask an Investor to Sign an NDA

Most of us have seen the movie The Social Network that shows how Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for what eventually became Facebook. We know that entrepreneurs are protective of their ideas, but this scenario recalls the familiar adage in the startup world: ideas are cheap; execution is priceless. Zuckerberg didn’t just steal the idea. He actually improved the platform and made it work better. That’s execution. Investors care more about execution than ideas, so asking them to sign anything that protects your idea may actually do more harm than good. When it comes to protecting intellectual property (IP), it makes...

June 28By Guest AuthorComments OffRead more...

Why Not Fort Worth?

The necessity of entrepreneurs and their impact on a city's economy is often underestimated. More people are learning that Fort Worth is one of the fastest growing cities in Texas, and they assume that means all aspects of the city are thriving. While that is true in some respects, Fort Worth’s support for and investment in new companies lacks in comparison to the city’s wealth and population. Thus began Sparkyard’s mission: to connect entrepreneurs with resources and information regarding the local startup community. The main purpose of the platform is to help business owners navigate the entrepreneurial growth process. Startups five...