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September 22By Comments OffRead more...

Business Relocation Spotlight: SmartAction

Gary Davis, the President and CEO of SmartAction, recently made an appearance on the Innovate Fort Worth podcast to discuss his company’s relocation to Fort Worth.  SmartAction uses artificial intelligence – or rather, algorithmic intelligence – to improve companies’ customer service. A “virtual agent” is trained to engage with customers in specific ways that are entirely driven by that customer’s typed or spoken response – think of it like an algorithmic “choose your own adventure” of solutions and answers to customer problems.   Gary had hoped to return to his Texas roots after running SmartAction from El Segundo, California, for several years, he...

September 16By Comments OffRead more...

10 Ways Sparkyard Can Help Your Business

Sparkyard, you have heard of it, but do you know the man behind it? Meet Marco Johnson, the “Entrepreneurial Cat Herder” and main Spark Plan builder at Sparkyard. What you may not know is Marco has vast experience in entrepreneurship and economics. I sat down with Marco and wanted to share our conversation so you can learn more about the Spark-Man himself. My first career was in international development where I lived in 8 countries over 15 years and worked in a variety of sectors, including humanitarian work with refugees, microfinance, private equity investment, agricultural development, and impact investing. While I lived overseas, I was a...

September 13By Comments OffRead more...

Startup Capital Series: Angel Investors vs. Venture Capital

All startup companies require capital of some kind. In the initial stages of a company, funding can be hard to find. Most founders get started by using personal funds, bootstrapping money from personal savings, loans and credit cards, or using revenue from the company's profit to reinvest back into the company (known as sales-led growth strategy). When businesses need to scale at a faster pace than these methods provide, they will often turn to outside investors to fuel the growth of their company.  It is important to note that less than 1% of all companies raise angel or venture capital. The companies that do are typically launching a hot new technology and they need a...

September 8By 0 CommentsRead more...

Is a Nonprofit the right road for you? 

Are you considering starting a nonprofit? Pam Cannell from BoardBuild breaks down the road map for deciding if a nonprofit is the best road for you to take.   You see a problem, you think you have a solution, so you say to yourself, “I think we should start a new nonprofit.”  Do you have a unique solution? First you should verify that your ideas are different from the more than 7000(!!!) nonprofit organizations already operating in Tarrant County and, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the 1.5 million nonprofits registered in the United States. Surely the mission and services...

August 12By Comments OffRead more...

Dallas Startup Week – Here’s What Happened!

Dallas Startup Week, hosted by The DEC Network, is a vibrant conference focused on innovation and entrepreneurship in Dallas. Sessions include educational classes, workshops, networking opportunities, and much more. I was able to join The DEC Network on Monday to attend sessions in person at Cox Business School at SMU, as well as follow throughout the week – virtually! Overall, I love that Dallas Startup Week’s setup was designed to be accessible online or in person. This gave more opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn, connect, and find new opportunities. Disrupt Dallas This event was a full day dedicated to diversity and inclusion during Dallas Startup Week. Its reputation precedes itself as a pillar of what makes Dallas Startup Week great. I love that the event happens on Sunday, so people with full time jobs can attend...

July 21By 0 CommentsRead more...

Accelerator vs. Incubator: Which One is Right for You?

An entrepreneur has several different options to choose from when it comes to getting help with their scalable startup. Sometimes they need a mentor. Other times they need a developer, an accountant, a lawyer, or funding. In the end, entrepreneurs will almost always need some kind of help to either get their business off the ground or to grow and scale it. Two commonly used options are an accelerator and incubator. You may have heard these two terms thrown around before, but what are they, and what are the main differences between them? Accelerator The goal of this program is to “accelerate” the growth of these companies by preparing them to be attractive to early-stage investors in a short amount of time. An accelerator is a program that...