EETennessee

Paul Singh, Co-founder of Disruption Corporation and Crystal Tech Fund and Partner at 500 Startups, told it like it is at Everywhere Else Tennessee on Thursday.

“If you’re going to swing, swing for the fence.”

That was one of Singh’s final comments of his presentation. And he’s certainly done so. Singh has invested in over 650 startups hailing from almost every one of the fifty states in, give or take, less than five years.

“Early stage startups have changed. It is ‘everywhere else’ now,” he said, speaking on entrepreneurship outside of the well-known hubs like San Francisco and New York.

Paul highlighted the ideas that small businesses are easier to start now more than ever before, the importance of tech companies and their impacts on local economies, and the difference that can be made when there are concentrated pools of smart people in one place at one time.

“YOU CAN BUILD A BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY FROM YOUR COUCH IN A T-SHIRT” read one his slides. “It used to cost $5 million to start a tech company in 1999. Now you can start an entire internet service company for less than $5,000,” he said.

The investment world has changed, too. “Back then there were only twenty or so investors that really mattered. It was really, really hard to get $50,000…But we’ve seen this ‘rise of the angels [investors].’”

“Guess how many jobs are created when you bring one tech job to town,” he posed to the audience. “4.6. 4.6 jobs are created for every tech job. Did you know that? If you can realize that, you can get important people to [care] about you. And you can do it while you’re making the world a better place, too.”

“Technology is the fundamental driver of growth in the industrialized world. We haven’t figured out how to communicate our value to the rest of the world.”

He hit on the concept of what could be referred to as “smart people clusters” – the fact that smart people want to be around other smart people. “Even the idea of co-working didn’t exist four years ago. Now you see it everywhere,” he mentioned. “And if [a city] makes bringing these smart people to [the city] a priority, watch what kind of affluence will result…Proximity is valuable.”

Singh also made what could be considered by some to be quite a bold statement in the startup world: “Stop calling yourselves startups,” he said. “You are tech-enabled small businesses.”

So, next time you step up to the plate, do the ‘Babe Ruth point-your-bat-at-the-outfield’ and knock it out of the park. Then sit back down on your couch (in your t-shirt) and do it again.

Paul is the founder of Disruption Corporation, which provides tools, research and advisory services to corporations, angel investors and venture capital firms. Previously, he was a Partner at 500 Startups, a 4 year old “super angel” fund headquartered in Mountain View, CA and has overseen the investments in 500+ companies across 35+ countries. He is currently serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and DHS/USCIS. Follow Paul at @paulsingh.

Building a company isn’t easy.

One of the common themes at this year’s EE Tennessee conference was that most of the speakers spoke about utilizing failure. The benefits to failing, it seems, can be the probiotics for your eventual success.

Jared Steffes used his failure to take his company to a new market. Nicole Glaros encourages failure as an entrepreneurship development strategy. Tony Monteleone used his failures in the corporate world to become the progressive entrepreneur he is today (even in shorts and a T-shirt).

A trail of failure can mean a launch pad for success if you know how to use it as motivation.

Here are the top four things you should take away from your failures according to the speakers at EE Tennessee:

• Re-Evaluate Your Strategy
Why did you fail? How can you correct those measures? Was it really a bad company idea or was the idea just poorly executed?

Steffes’ original strategy wasn’t working because his company simply wasn’t in the right market. So he moved to a new market, a market that had interest in what his company was aiming for.

• Develop Better Relationships and Learn How To Communicate
Glaros said that 65% of startups fail due to poor communication, which means poor relationship management. Monteleone’s first startup failed because he couldn’t communicate well with his other cofounders.

Your company will depend heavily on communication and good relationships. You have to be able to talk to your team regardless of whether you’re failing or succeeding.

• You Have To Have Metrics
How can you measure your success, or your failure, when you have no statistics? Why don’t you have users? Why aren’t you getting unique hits? Why is your bounce rate so high? But don’t strangle your company with those metrics. Choose one to three and use that data to move your company forward.

• Tap in to Resources
Community is key to bouncing back. Your failure will be the end of the line for your endeavors if you don’t have a support network, peers, mentors, and community resources to fall back on and help you bounce back up and get going again.

Laura Whitener is the Managing Editor for Firmology.com, a technology news and resource site for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Follow them on Twitter!

In a panel discussion moderated by Taylor McLemore, founder of Techstars Patriot Bootcamp, Mark Morris, CEO and Founder of MyGigline, Tameesha Desangles-Wilson, CEO and Founder of Wedding Worthy, and Jen Pilcher, CEO and Founder of Military One Click, gave us some real, in-depth insight about what it’s like to have military DNA and work in the civilian world. The following are quotes from Taylor, Mark, Tameesha, and Jen.

Jen (on some of the challenges facing veterans and families of veterans): “Every two years you’re moving, and that’s a ton of turnover…I have a team of 7 different virtual teammates, so we can work whenever and wherever we want.” 

Taylor: “…Veterans are generally over-educated and under-employed.”

Mark (on his experience getting into startups in his transition back into civilian life): “When you’re in the military, that’s all you focus on…When I started getting back into the transition into civilian life, they told me ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go to the SBA and they’ll help you out.’ That didn’t work.”

Taylor (on qualities of veterans): “I’ve heard people say, ‘Don’t be afraid to tackle the general.’ They’re not afraid to make things happen.”

Tameesha (on qualities of veterans): “There’s no question that the mission has to be accomplished…There isn’t a rule book you can follow, so you have to be creative…”

Jen (on qualities of military spouses): “Military spouses don’t take no for an answer, either.”

Jen (on starting to build the company): “I just wanted to get it going because we didn’t know if we were going to be moving in three months.”

Mark (on what makes veterans different): “Creative problem solving. We’re used to operating with limited resources and under extreme stress, so you have to figure out how to get the job done…You learn both leadership and followership…You’re thrown in the fire as soon as you start [in the military], and I had 20 guys 20 years my senior under my wing. I had to lead.”

Taylor (on hiring veterans and military spouses): “The turnover rate is a lot lower…You’re building truly loyal entities.”

Mark (on stereotypes of veterans): “We don’t all have PTSD. Just get us incorporated into the world…back into civilian life. Don’t treat us differently.”

Tameesha (on Military-based leadership): “Military people have very high expectations for what leadership looks and feels like. If [the boss] isn’t living up to those standards you’re going to hear about it.”

Jen (on hiring veterans and military spouses): “They want to work. And you don’t have to look far. They’re all around you.” 

Jen (on how military DNA operates when it comes to tech): “The military community is very tech-based because we have to use it. That’s usually the only way I can talk to my husband.”

The moral of the story: veterans are extremely loyal, hardworking, and versatile potential employees, and you don’t have to look far to find them. 

Follow each of them here: Mark and MyGigline at @mygigline; Tameesha and Wedding Worthy at @WeddingWorthy; Jen and Military One Click at @military1click; and Taylor and Patriot Boot Camp at @T2theMac.

EE Tennessee attendees mingle at Startup Ave.

Community size can flux, but for entrepreneurs it’s not the size that matters, it’s how real it is. Community means vitality, which means loyalty early and later down the line.

At EE Tennessee, the first three speakers of the morning all spoke about one common idea: community being vital to a business. Jared Steffes, founder and president of FuryWing, Ryan Hoover, co-creater of Product Hunt, and Mike Muhney, co-founder of ACT!, all spoke about tapping in to community, pre-existing or not, to build their success.

Building a community, or falling back on one, is the best survival tool a startup can have tucked in their belt and there are four key components to building up and maintaining one of the best assets for your startup:

• Be Genuine

Branding yourself as the guy who simply sends out a spammy Tweet or email with a link to “read more!” won’t get you far.

Meaningful relationships, or at least communication, is the foundation for gathering a community of potential users, early adopters, and brand loyalists.

If you don’t have something meaningful to say or if you can’t put in the time to maintain a conversation with someone, are you really contributing to a community or are you spam marketing?

• Don’t Be Afraid To be Accessible

Just because you’re based in Chicago, Silicon Valley, or New York doesn’t mean that you have instant access to a community who is ready and willing.

No one can be everywhere at once, but you can be mobile and move to where your audience is. Host a meet up. Go to a conference and mingle.

Making yourself visible and accessible opens a lot of doors for community builders.

• Find Your Best Means of Communication

Can’t meet up in person? You can still maintain genuine contact. Email or other one-to-one sources of getting and staying in touch can promote a more personal feel.

Even if you’re sending out a simple form-style email, by directly addressing that member of your community, you’re more likely to get a response because you’re establishing a connection instead of automating a process.

• Gather Loyalty Before the Product

Building your community before your brand means gathering the loyalists before a product. Your community can be a vital tool for bringing your business from garage-based startup to office-based success by simply hosting conversations about your brand.

Involving your community from the beginning gives both you and your followers something to talk about, which gets other people talking. Drive interest by creating interest. Those early adopters can drive the voice and the life of your community.

According to Hoover, a loyal community member is the best marketing for your business: they’re more likely to Tweet about, Facebook about, and talk about your business, and with a little schwag you even can make them feel like a valuable member of your business’s community.

Without community, or clients, or users, or customers, businesses don’t work. Build a better community to build your brand.

Laura Whitener is the Managing Editor for Firmology.com, a technology news and resource site for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Follow them on Twitter. 

#EETN officially has liftoff.

With 200+ registered attendees, a successful kickoff party in downtown Memphis and the first speaker, Jared Steffes, President and Founder of Furywing and Co-Founder of Tap.Me, in the books and Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt on the stage now, we have begun.

We’ve got a full lineup of speakers for the next two days, which you can see here, each of which is sure to bring some excitement to the stage. Follow the action live on Twitter with the #EETN tag (or by clicking here), and we’ll see you soon.