with its corporate leaders to speak to the future of networking.
The answer was overwhelmingly, your network. In the future, it will matter much less whether you have an iPad or a Kindle, a Nokia phone or one from Samsung. The power will be in the network you use with them and the connection to your content. Bells and whistles on the latest devices are great but the most important thing is how the network is able to connect you to your content—and to the relationships behind that content.
But let’s get back to the main event. Of the seven that presented last week, three of them stood out the most for different reasons. One is moving to Dallas because of its VentureSpur experience. A second was already profitable when it came to the accelerator. They just really valued the mentoring and networking they thought they would find there. And the third? Well, their story involves living in an RV parked outside the VentureSpure office.
Sparx Life is a Website that helps people figure out their “purpose” in life. Think Match.com, but instead of finding your mate, you learn about yourself. Sparx Life uses psychometric tools to assess a users strengths, passions, “awareness,” and relationship needs to suggest jobs and activities that mean the most to you. Shannon Meirs, a co-founder, announced that the startup, which is currently in beta, is moving to Dallas from Los Angeles. The word is getting out about our collaborative ecosystem here in Dallas.
I wouldn’t have expected Order My Gear, an online broker of sporting goods equipment and team uniforms, to be part of an early-seed accelerator. The Dallas-based startup was founded in 2008 and is already profitable. Still, Kent McKeaigg, its CEO, said the startup wanted to join VentureSpur for its network of mentors and investors before they launched into a expansion to schools, parents, boosters, manufacturers, and coaches.
Nicholas Seet and Ashok Kamal, have both founded successful startups before—Nick sold Auditude to Adobe—for as much as $120 million, according to media reports—in 2005. But with their latest project, SIVI, they acted as if this was their first time at bat. Nick and Ashok lived in an RV outside of the VentureSpur offices in order to save every penny they could to put back into the startup, which is an e-learning platform for aspiring entrepreneurs and startups. SIVI has partnerships with key startup groups such as the Rice Alliance, Surge Accelerator, Venture Spur Accelerator, and The Dallas Entrepreneur Center, which all see the value of providing education to people who are trying to start companies.
Rounding out the day were great presentations from companies like Zalongo, Toga Box, and Little Fish. Each are great examples of startups innovating in edtech, mobility and telecom, and banking/finance/insurance.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Haul Company, founded by Alexander Muse, who I consider one of the godfathers of Dallas’ startup scene today. I have had the pleasure of working with Alexander first hand while he was an advisor to Startup Texas, a division of the Startup America partnership, and he is also an advisor to and tenant of the DEC, where I am now CEO. Alex is a serial entrepreneur in online advertising and e-commerce and his latest startup, Haul, dives back into this space with a focus on “haulers,” the young women who model their shopping purchases in Youtube videos. These haulers have become a lucrative advertising corps for brands and Alex, though Haul, has found a way to connect them. (He’s even got Mark Cuban aboard as Haul is selling some products owned by the Dallas entrepreneur’s Mark Cuban Companies.)
In the last year, we’ve seen an explosion of startup activity in North Texas, including new incubators, co-working spaces, startup programming, and accelerators. The VentureSpur pitch day is just one example of a growing—and thriving—entrepreneurial scene in Dallas. For me, there is no question as to the entrepreneurial potential that exists for this region, and it will be fun to see all of the ways we are able to achieve and grow our ecosystem in the year ahead.
