Join us as we dive into the common failures that all startups face with local entrepreneurs who have met, and overcome, these challenges. Our panelists will answer questions from the audience, share lessons learned, and motivate you with advice to get through the ups and downs of your entrepreneurial journey.
What You’ll Take Away: Be inspired by real stories of how industry pros overcame their failures, and gain insight to help you on the path to success.
Why It Matters: For every personal and professional success, there are countless failures leading up to it. Don’t let them discourage you or get in the way of your goals. Instead, find out how to celebrate and learn from these experiences so you can achieve progress and growth.
This event is taken completely online via Zoom. + You will need access to a laptop or computer with a working webcam and microphone as well as a strong internet connection. + To meet, network, and collaborate with other attendees, download the Plain Sight app now and check-in at the General Assembly House. + Event set up information will be emailed to all signed up around 24 hours before the event launches.
Joel McKay Smith, CEO Co-Founder,
Accelerant Business Solutions Provider
Joel McKay Smith is an active entrepreneur and connector who has a history of successfully launching and managing multiple products and businesses in the broadcasting, hospitality and tech verticals over a thirty year career including the establishment of contact centers in rural areas that currently employ about 250 people.
Professionally Joel is currently engaged in the creation, management and implementation of a variety of dynamic products, companies, projects, opportunities and relationships at AccelerantBSP.com (which he co-founded).
Accelerant features hub and spoke "opportunity hubs” colocated within coworking spaces (such as AccessSaltLake.com), strategic partners (such as 25Kjobs.com) with additional public/private venture locations in rural Utah communities in current development.
James Chapman, Founder & CEO,
Plain Sight
James Chapman is the Founder and CEO of Plain Sight, a mobile app for networking with like-minded people in virtual and physical spaces. The serial entrepreneur has a passion for helping other budding entrepreneurs. The Chattanooga native moved to Detroit for the opportunity to assist the Rock Family of Companies with helping local entrepreneurs start, grow, and scale their businesses.
This led him to launch the first ever Rocket Mortgage Detroit Demo Day. In just three years, Detroit Demo Day has provided nearly $4 million in funding to small businesses throughout the city; the majority of which have been minority and woman-owned. In Chattanooga, he ran a workspace from 6pm – midnight for side-hustlers that work full-time during the day. The attendees wanting to know the expertise of people at the space in real-time is what led him to start Plain Sight with his cofounders.
Scott Paul, CEO,
Wooly
Scott Paul is currently the CEO of Wooly, a platform for word of mouth commerce. Prior to Wooly, Scott was VP of Product at Disney after his startup company was purchased by Maker Studios (Disney) in 2015. He was also an advisor to Scan that sold to Snapchat that same year. In 2014, Scott exited his first company called ArmorActive, which produced hardware for tablets such as the iPad.
Scott is an active Angel Investor who is deeply rooted in the burgeoning Utah tech scene. He has done nearly 40 deals in companies like Neighbor, Prenda, Freeplay, Volley, Soon, Nomi Health, Gabb, Trace, Midnite. While in California, he invested in founders and companies such as CreatorIQ, Donut Media, and Wave Sports.
Scott is a proud LP of both Watertower Fund I and II. He is a graduate of the University of Utah where he did both BS in Economics and his MBA. He lives on a ranch near Park City, where his wife and 3 girls attempt to raise chickens, sheep, goats, and soon alpacas.
Tessa Arneson, Founder,
Maven District, Maven Create and Maven Strong
Maven District is a curated block of 40+ businesses that is 85% female founded and 100% local. Within our block we have over 70,000 square feet of retail, food, living, co-working, office and wellness spaces filled up with humans that are making more of their lives by Showing Up, Being Brave and Sparkling On. We believe in making SLC a cooler to live and do this through, community development projects that are local, inclusive, design and art driven, and focus on female startups. To our knowledge we are the largest neighborhood of female owned businesses in one square block in the country, which we are pretty stoked on.
2021 and 2022 will bring us 2 new expansion projects to quadruple the size of our district. Our plan is to keep doing what we do well by creating accessible spaces for more brave humans to start their own businesses and facilitating their growth through providing access to capital, education and mentoring.
David Weinstein, Founder & CEO,
Freshwater Advisors
David Weinstein is the founder and managing partner of Freshwater Advisors, a venture catalyst firm and corporate innovation consultancy that connects corporations to startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems through structured scouting programs and targeted advisory services. His clients have included: Exelon, Caterpillar, Northwestern Mutual, AbbVie, Allstate, Hyatt Corporation, Energize Ventures, Clean Energy Trust, Cummins, Microsoft, and CME Group.
From 2003 through 2010 David served as the founding CEO of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), which now operates 1871, one of the country’s leading incubators. During his tenure, the CEC provided advisory services to upwards of 1,000 entrepreneurs. David helped companies secure contracts in excess of $160 million and obtain seed and early stage financing valued at $120 million.
David was also a co-founder of the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund (I2A), a $10 million seed-stage venture capital fund. He led the fund’s formation and fundraising activities alongside I2A founding chairman and investor J.B. Pritzker. I2A portfolio companies include: Base (acquired by Zendesk), YCharts, SitterCity, DialogTech, SoCore Energy (acquired by Edison International), and Signal.
Prior to the CEC, David served as CEO of BlueMeteor, a technology company that provided enterprise software applications and infrastructure to Fortune 1000 businesses. David grew BlueMeteor to 110 employees and led the company in raising $31 million in venture capital. He executed strategic alliances with technology industry leaders Oracle Corporation, TIBCO Software, Sun Microsystems, and EMC Corporation.
From 1996 to 2000, David worked as chief technology advisor to the mayor of the City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley. In this role, he managed the City’s Technology Development Initiative which provided $70 million in financial incentives to build technology infrastructure and development projects in Chicago. Those projects included the financing of leading tech centers in Chicago including the Lakeside Technology Center and 600 W. Chicago (former Montgomery Wards HQ). He also spearheaded the creation of the Mayor’s Council of Technology Advisors (MCTA).
David has served on numerous company and civic boards throughout his career. He served as a founding Advisory Board member at Cleversafe (acquired by IBM). Currently, he serves as a board member at FinTEx Chicago and is a member of World Business Chicago’s ChicagoNEXT. In 2014, he was named to the Crain’s Tech 50. David previously served as one of the youngest members of the Chicago Plan Commission. He currently serves as a founding advisory board member at Ocient and Uptake.
David graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Amelia Wilcox, Founder & CEO,
Zenovate
Amelia Wilcox is the founder and CEO of Zenovate, the high-growth mental health platform that provides the easiest way to understand and manage employee mental wellbeing. The app provides HIPPA-compliant real-time employee data to companies and an on-demand mental health solution for employees. From teletherapy with licensed counselors globally, to comprehensive proactive care including meditation and coaching, Zenovate is a single platform to support the wellbeing of the whole employee - anytime, anywhere.
Prior to starting Zenovate, Amelia spent 15 years in the health and wellness industry specializing in massage, fitness, and nutrition. Amelia has been named to the 40 Under 40 and Inc 5000 lists, and spends her free time mentoring other female founders and raising her three daughters in Midway, Utah.