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speed to market is critical
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we we know that every single day
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whether you're bootstrapping or whether um
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you're that AI company
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trying to beat someone to the market
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to be able to establish you know
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brand dominance you gotta get there fast right
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so we're all racing very quickly
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welcome to the Parallel Entrepreneur
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this is a special series on innovation
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supported by Relationalary
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Marketing and the Chase Studios
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recorded at the Greater Nashville Technology Council
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Innovation Summit
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I'm joined today by guest host Johnny Anderson
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he's the entrepreneur in residence
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at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center
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sit back and join us for this special edition of
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Having Authentic Conversations with People That Care
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building a strong
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entrepreneurial city doesn't happen by accident
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it requires systems that actually work
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Dakota Simpson is the Chief Program Officer
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at Nashville's Entrepreneur Center
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where he leads five accelerators
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supporting founders at every stage
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his work sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship
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economic development and community impact
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Dakota is on a mission to nourish
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entrepreneurial spirit in Nashville
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what makes Dakota's perspective unique
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is how he thinks beyond individual companies
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he spent his career working in government
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nonprofit and cross sector environments aligning people
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programs and incentives so that people can flourish
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in our conversation we explore
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why entrepreneurial ecosystems
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must be intentionally designed
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not just enthusiastically supported
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and how building the right systems
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makes founder impact more sustainable
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let's just dive right into this conversation
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what does innovation mean
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and then specifically what does it mean to national
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I think everyone's answer to what does innovation mean
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um varies because it's a very ambiguous term for for me
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it's
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it doesn't necessarily imply creating something new
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I think it means doing something in a new way um
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I'm I'm a big fan of economic development
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and let's call it continuums of care
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so I don't think we should ever innovate in a vacuum
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so for me Nashville innovation
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what that means is
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are we connecting the dots across multiple
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disparate organizations in a meaningful way
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that drives impactful change in our city so
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that's a lot of hoopla
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so let's let's run with a tangible example right yeah
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I'm not sure that's hoopla
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what's a meaningful way to define that
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yeah yeah yeah
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so I think for instance
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like let's let's run through a founder's uh continuum
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so let's say um
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we've got a founder that's interested in the healthcare
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industry so they start a healthcare company
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that reduces friction within the healthcare sector
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we could say our jobs done
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they've started that company
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and they've got a business plan
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it's vetted seems viable
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we've connected with them with some advisors great
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but then what right
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they may need a chief technology officer
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or they may need to uh
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contract out with software developers
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then we may introduce
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them to the National Technology Council
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to really kind of run with that continuum
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and continue fostering that um
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startup and then from there it shouldn't stop either
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we should hand them off to the local
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chamber of commerce and make sure they're getting
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connected into the broader eco ecosystem
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and making sure uh
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they're landing clients and assisting HCA
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and then who knows
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it's almost like a feedback loop
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it's innovating reducing friction in a meaningful way
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that in the aggregate
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is more impactful than the invention
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or service that's been produced
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it's a tangible
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ripple effect across our entire community
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so all these um
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reflections of success and alignment
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how how would you describe something that's frustrating
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what's frustrating now
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that's really interesting Mark
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I don't know if I've been asked that lately
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what is frustrating
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I mean if you want me to be candid
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it's it's frustrating trying to keep up with the uh
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the energy we've seen but it's
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it's frustrating in a good way
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the the entrepreneurial energy we've seen post pandemic
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the explosion of entrepreneurial rates
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I mean it's through the roof and
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and really what's incredible about the data
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we were just looking at this last week is um
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it's not went down so
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you know what you would expect pre pandemic
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or what I would have hypothesized is oh
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a lot of people go remote
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they may have excess time on their hands
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they may um
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become you know
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unhappy with their employers
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and they may launch their initiatives
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okay that spikes up
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everything goes back to normal and
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you know then they return back to work
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but guess what happened it didn't go back to normal
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right we still have a lot of remote work
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we still have a lot of people that are innovating
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a lot of people still frustrated with their employers
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and we know adversity births entrepreneurship
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a lot of the time so
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it's been fascinating to watch that
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those entrepreneurial rates maintain
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and at the National Entrepreneur Center
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we graduated 118 founders last year
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the year before that it was about 90
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This year we're on track to graduate 200+ founders
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like we're getting ready to double the impact
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we have as an organization
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and that's a credit to Sam Davidson
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our leadership our board
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and all these people that are working
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hard behind the scenes but candidly
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it's also a credit to you know
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your everyday person that's deciding hey
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I wanna take my future and put that in my own hands
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and I'm gonna be brave
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enough to go out there and launch a business
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so what's frustrating me at the moment is
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there's all of these amazing entrepreneurs
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and there's so many incredible ways to serve them
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but we're trying to balance like
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you know breadth
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but also depth of services
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because we wanna serve them all
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but we also wanna serve them all effectively
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and that's something new for us
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as we've seen this energy and explosion in the city
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um I have a theory that uh
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there's entrepreneurship
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there are people that we recognize as serial
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entrepreneurs one after another and
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and I've been working on a thesis
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and a research project and
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and exploring the identity of a parallel
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entrepreneurship experience
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more than one company at the same time
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and in that exploration I've noticed some trends
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I'm curious
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if you're seeing any trends here in Nashville
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related to the average age of the entrepreneur
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what's the demographic looking like
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and how has that changed uh
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in your experience and I'll share what my theory is
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but I wanna hear what your experience is
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this the do old guys have a chance question
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I like that question do you and I have a chance
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yeah no
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I mean I
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I would share well
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first off Johnny
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of course you've got a chance um yeah
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no I
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I would share that um
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typically we we see we're serving um
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founders of all ages um
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and from all demographics
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but I mean it's
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it's true if
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if you look at the trends and something we're seeing
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especially as we talk about perspective
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collaborations with um
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Metro National Public Schools or Belmont University
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Vanderbilt is um
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the entrepreneurial um
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participation by the younger generation
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Gen Z specifically is through the roof
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uh I believe it like last glance
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one out of every two um
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Gen Zers state that you know
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they're interested in starting a company
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and almost that many actually do in some form
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now it's it's not companies like
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you know um
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i i say we might think that implies i'm i'm y'all's age
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but just to be honest
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i've got an old soul so maybe i can kind of relate
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but you know
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we're not talking about starting healthcare companies
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we're talking about you know
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we might be operating a TikTok or you know
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we might be monetizing video games or you know
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it may actually be some more hands on stuff
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we see that and that's
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providing those individuals with revenue and money
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and and that is a business well
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and I'm seeing it as micro SAS services sure
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I'm seeing it as uh
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AI problem solving for one specific thing
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they really understand and it
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they just set it and forget it and it runs off yeah
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it's a subscription
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I'm seeing people excited about simple things like a
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simple like running a food truck sure
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I mean but I my but my theory
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I think it's being reinforced by this observation
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I think the younger you are
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the more likely you are to emerge into entrepreneurship
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as a parallel entrepreneur
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you've got one two
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three four things going this whole side hustle culture
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the the independent contractor perspective that
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that a lot of people bring
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and maybe
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I'm not saying that starting a healthcare company
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that's gonna become something
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the next big anchor in town is
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is not not possible I'm just observing this uh
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more more explosive more creative
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more deeply niche entrepreneur at a younger age
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with technical skills um
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really putting a some
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some dynamite in in
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uh in the entrepreneurial path
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I think yeah
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I mean and hey it
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it makes a lot of sense
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like if you really dive a little bit deeper right
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is they they grew up in that environment that's
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that's a skill that you know
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we had to train ourselves on
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but that was acquired by extension of
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you know their
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their environment right
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so that's that's something that's kind of ingrained
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in that population I mean
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if you think about it I
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I remember when um
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growing up I was
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I was raised by three incredible strong women
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and one of them was my great aunt
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I remember she had a Blackberry
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iPhones didn't even exist right
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so it's a whole different ballpark
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whenever you've actually
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grown up with those innovations
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around you and you've been
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Learned how to use them play with them
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test them from a young age
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but I'll I'll also share probably equally important
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if not more important is um
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the barrier to entry is way lower when you're younger
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you know I started a company whenever I was 16 um
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doing djing and event planning and running out venues
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well guess what
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it's a lot easier to do that
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when you're not paying rent every month right
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it's a lot easier to do that
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when you have excess time on your hands because yeah
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of course
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you go to school and of course you've got homework
280
00:10:15,633 --> 00:10:17,966
but you don't have all of the responsibilities of life
281
00:10:17,966 --> 00:10:21,166
that come down the road so I think you see that
282
00:10:21,166 --> 00:10:23,066
our job is to make sure we're
283
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continuing to enforce that
284
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and make sure the younger generation is aware that hey
285
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there's a lot of adults that dream
286
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and work hard every single day
287
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to work for themselves
288
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and to have that freedom and that flexibility
289
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and you're at a unique point in time
290
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where you can start that before all of these problems
291
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not problems well
292
00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:44,833
sometimes the problems it depends on the day yeah
293
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I mean Nashville
294
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Athens of the south
295
00:10:47,033 --> 00:10:50,466
there's 120,000 college students in this town
296
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that
297
00:10:50,500 --> 00:10:53,466
I suppose it should be natural that there would be any
298
00:10:54,166 --> 00:10:58,933
a real bloom in entrepreneurship at that at that level
299
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,400
entering the culture here in Nashville
300
00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,733
and then choosing to stay sure yeah
301
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,233
and you know what's really interesting too
302
00:11:05,233 --> 00:11:07,600
is just the entrepreneurship by acquisition
303
00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:08,866
we can I don't want to interrupt Johnson
304
00:11:08,866 --> 00:11:09,866
I want you to finish your thought
305
00:11:09,866 --> 00:11:11,000
but like let's
306
00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:12,433
let's go down that rabbit trail
307
00:11:12,433 --> 00:11:14,200
because we're seeing that trend as well
308
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:15,133
quite a lot
309
00:11:15,700 --> 00:11:17,900
well I think this is first conversation I've been in
310
00:11:17,900 --> 00:11:20,300
in weeks that AI didn't come up in the first like
311
00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:22,900
you know 3 questions but um
312
00:11:22,900 --> 00:11:26,300
it's a good segue specific to entrepreneurs
313
00:11:26,300 --> 00:11:29,533
what do you think AI's impact
314
00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:31,266
and this is gonna be a big question
315
00:11:31,266 --> 00:11:33,233
but what do you think the impact's gonna be
316
00:11:33,233 --> 00:11:35,800
or what are you seeing some of the impacts right now
317
00:11:36,300 --> 00:11:37,233
yeah I
318
00:11:37,233 --> 00:11:39,766
I really go back and forth on AI
319
00:11:39,766 --> 00:11:41,000
just to be candid with you Johnny
320
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:41,866
because
321
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,233
alright so let's start with the obvious
322
00:11:44,233 --> 00:11:46,666
AI has caused an immense explosion
323
00:11:46,666 --> 00:11:49,200
and entrepreneurship across the nation
324
00:11:49,366 --> 00:11:51,266
um but to your point Mark
325
00:11:51,266 --> 00:11:53,500
a lot of that entrepreneurship is
326
00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:54,033
you know we
327
00:11:54,033 --> 00:11:56,166
we call it AI rappers right
328
00:11:56,166 --> 00:11:59,200
these individuals are able to kind of vibe code
329
00:11:59,466 --> 00:12:02,100
if you will and create a
330
00:12:02,100 --> 00:12:03,866
B to B or B to C subscription
331
00:12:03,866 --> 00:12:05,166
that really
332
00:12:05,166 --> 00:12:07,233
a lot of consumers could probably get
333
00:12:07,233 --> 00:12:08,233
if they interacted with chat
334
00:12:08,233 --> 00:12:11,066
GPT in a meaningful way it's just easier for them
335
00:12:11,066 --> 00:12:13,233
because the friction's been reduced right
336
00:12:13,233 --> 00:12:14,233
and it's already been built
337
00:12:14,233 --> 00:12:15,900
so I go back and forth
338
00:12:15,900 --> 00:12:18,033
because we've seen an explosion of businesses
339
00:12:18,033 --> 00:12:20,066
and an explosion of energy around AI
340
00:12:20,066 --> 00:12:23,666
which is fantastic but also it makes me question how
341
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,066
how sustainable is that as ai continues to mature
342
00:12:27,300 --> 00:12:28,800
um and develop
343
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,000
like i've heard theories i'd
344
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,366
i'd love to hear y'all's thoughts on b to b sass is
345
00:12:34,366 --> 00:12:35,666
you know soon to be extinct
346
00:12:35,666 --> 00:12:38,266
cause why do you even need a software
347
00:12:38,366 --> 00:12:40,066
if we eventually get to an AI
348
00:12:40,066 --> 00:12:43,066
platform that is able to do all of that for you
349
00:12:43,066 --> 00:12:44,766
so think about Tableau for instance
350
00:12:44,766 --> 00:12:46,533
data visualization platform
351
00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:48,266
do you really need that platform
352
00:12:48,266 --> 00:12:49,566
to input all of your data
353
00:12:49,566 --> 00:12:52,100
and manipulate it into visualizations
354
00:12:52,100 --> 00:12:55,433
if you have a chat GPT bot or an AI
355
00:12:55,433 --> 00:12:57,166
bot that you're able to interact with
356
00:12:57,166 --> 00:12:59,766
and then it spits the visualization out to you right
357
00:12:59,766 --> 00:13:01,200
you've actually circumvented the need
358
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,500
for the enterprise platform altogether
359
00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:05,600
at that point so yeah
360
00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:06,466
it's a mixed bag for me
361
00:13:06,466 --> 00:13:08,366
Johnny and it's something we're still um
362
00:13:08,366 --> 00:13:09,766
observing at a high level
363
00:13:09,766 --> 00:13:10,800
what I share with my friends
364
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:12,533
whenever they ask me this question is
365
00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:13,766
I think in the long term
366
00:13:13,766 --> 00:13:16,666
AI is just like your iPhone it's not gonna replace you
367
00:13:16,666 --> 00:13:19,666
but it's a tool that you better become familiar with
368
00:13:19,666 --> 00:13:20,766
and you better learn to use
369
00:13:20,766 --> 00:13:23,966
because it's gonna be with us for quite some time yeah
370
00:13:24,066 --> 00:13:26,400
people deserve to have better tools
371
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,966
sure and
372
00:13:28,066 --> 00:13:29,366
everything that we talk about
373
00:13:29,366 --> 00:13:31,800
from a technology perspective is just a tool
374
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,500
I think wouldn't it be cool
375
00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:37,466
if we could just talk to the computer
376
00:13:37,466 --> 00:13:41,266
and spit out an app which I just spent 9 years building
377
00:13:41,266 --> 00:13:42,700
a company that built apps
378
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:45,700
you know wouldn't it be cool if you could vibe
379
00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:48,433
code your way into rapid innovation
380
00:13:48,433 --> 00:13:52,366
and I I think it's the speed of innovation that is um
381
00:13:52,366 --> 00:13:54,566
breathtaking right now yeah
382
00:13:55,166 --> 00:13:57,366
you there the barriers you called you said earlier
383
00:13:57,366 --> 00:13:59,166
the barriers to entry are lower
384
00:13:59,666 --> 00:14:01,900
knowledge is no longer a barrier to entry
385
00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:04,700
sure for almost everything um
386
00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:07,700
but I think knowing what kind of problems
387
00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:09,066
what kind of questions to ask
388
00:14:09,066 --> 00:14:11,733
and what kind of problems to address
389
00:14:12,233 --> 00:14:16,266
are probably where the solution meets
390
00:14:16,433 --> 00:14:18,500
financial success and
391
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,100
and really serves a lot more people faster
392
00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:21,766
I'm I'm
393
00:14:21,766 --> 00:14:23,766
but speak about speed
394
00:14:23,866 --> 00:14:26,700
talk about how fast this is happening to
395
00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:29,600
to in your observations to Nashville
396
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,700
with Nashville how fast is things going
397
00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:32,900
oh it's yeah
398
00:14:33,033 --> 00:14:34,800
um very fast
399
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:35,566
I mean
400
00:14:35,566 --> 00:14:38,400
just to speak once again about kind of the volume
401
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,233
um of individuals we're serving
402
00:14:40,233 --> 00:14:42,833
we're we're seeing those numbers go high
403
00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:44,533
I mean double right
404
00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:46,566
um and I know we're not the only organization
405
00:14:46,566 --> 00:14:48,500
experiencing that with the same staff yeah
406
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:49,500
yeah with the
407
00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:51,466
with the same staff um
408
00:14:51,466 --> 00:14:51,866
but you know
409
00:14:51,866 --> 00:14:53,700
we we roll up our sleeves and we work hard
410
00:14:53,700 --> 00:14:55,800
because we understand that the impact
411
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,266
while fulfilling on the individual level
412
00:14:58,266 --> 00:15:00,800
getting to work with individual startups is meaningful
413
00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:03,466
the impact is way larger than that
414
00:15:03,466 --> 00:15:05,033
I mean when we work with one startup
415
00:15:05,033 --> 00:15:07,766
we know small businesses drive um
416
00:15:07,766 --> 00:15:09,200
the economy right
417
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,766
so we're talking about ripple effects
418
00:15:10,766 --> 00:15:11,800
throughout the entire region
419
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:13,400
so we're small and mighty
420
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,266
but we're also determined um
421
00:15:15,266 --> 00:15:16,966
to make sure we we make an impact
422
00:15:16,966 --> 00:15:17,700
but yeah the
423
00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:19,366
the speed is incredible um
424
00:15:19,366 --> 00:15:19,700
Mark
425
00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:21,966
in terms of the amount of founders that are innovating
426
00:15:22,033 --> 00:15:23,200
in terms of um
427
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,800
the innovation how bold their ideas are and how
428
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:27,100
how much
429
00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:30,366
it just makes sense whenever you encounter these ideas
430
00:15:30,366 --> 00:15:31,666
and the amount of friction we're seeing
431
00:15:31,666 --> 00:15:33,166
reduced in our lives so
432
00:15:33,433 --> 00:15:34,533
but that's good right
433
00:15:34,766 --> 00:15:36,800
need the market is critical we
434
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,466
we know that every single day
435
00:15:38,466 --> 00:15:41,466
whether you're bootstrapping or whether um
436
00:15:41,466 --> 00:15:43,066
you're that AI company
437
00:15:43,066 --> 00:15:44,833
trying to beat someone to the market
438
00:15:44,833 --> 00:15:46,433
to be able to establish you know
439
00:15:46,433 --> 00:15:49,700
brand dominance you gotta get there fast right
440
00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:51,933
so we're all racing very quickly
441
00:15:51,933 --> 00:15:53,866
and yeah
442
00:15:53,866 --> 00:15:55,666
I think I've run out of breath just talking about it
443
00:15:55,666 --> 00:15:56,466
I mean it's pretty
444
00:15:56,466 --> 00:15:58,666
it's exhausting but it's in a good way right
445
00:15:58,666 --> 00:16:00,300
and I think that that's the challenge is like
446
00:16:00,300 --> 00:16:02,366
how do you keep up with the speed
447
00:16:02,366 --> 00:16:04,533
as an entrepreneurial support organization
448
00:16:04,566 --> 00:16:07,866
as a founder trying to inventory all of these resources
449
00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:10,500
as a consumer you know I um
450
00:16:10,666 --> 00:16:12,633
I love leveraging AI but it's like
451
00:16:12,633 --> 00:16:14,466
I find one AI chatbot
452
00:16:14,466 --> 00:16:16,266
and it feels like there's another one that's superior
453
00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:17,500
tomorrow than the next day
454
00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:18,233
than the next day
455
00:16:18,233 --> 00:16:21,100
and kind of wears you down a little bit
456
00:16:21,966 --> 00:16:23,033
haha you know
457
00:16:23,033 --> 00:16:25,300
on AI I find I just tell myself
458
00:16:25,366 --> 00:16:26,733
just dig into one
459
00:16:26,866 --> 00:16:30,000
become as comfortable an expert with one
460
00:16:30,100 --> 00:16:32,666
I've heard a lot of people move from oh
461
00:16:32,666 --> 00:16:35,166
this one shiny object and then this one
462
00:16:35,166 --> 00:16:36,366
it does a little something better
463
00:16:36,366 --> 00:16:38,400
and I got some friends who are pretty sharp at this
464
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,200
and they they set up
465
00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,400
playgrounds and sandboxes for the different AI
466
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,300
tools to interact with one another
467
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:48,700
and some CEOs that I know
468
00:16:48,833 --> 00:16:52,400
are spending an extraordinary amount of time in AI
469
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,666
like maybe more time in AI than and
470
00:16:55,666 --> 00:16:56,800
and in product planning
471
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,700
and in sort of just really defining the direction
472
00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:00,966
of the company than I've
473
00:17:00,966 --> 00:17:02,733
than I've experienced in the past
474
00:17:02,866 --> 00:17:06,800
because they're tech oriented and they're smart people
475
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,966
um but they're digging in really deeply
476
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:11,000
uh
477
00:17:11,666 --> 00:17:13,566
and then I hear an occasional
478
00:17:13,566 --> 00:17:15,900
story about somebody who lost their job recently
479
00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:17,300
and has been looking around
480
00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:21,266
and has spent the last 6 months pouring into AI
481
00:17:21,500 --> 00:17:23,833
and their level of excitement
482
00:17:23,833 --> 00:17:24,966
they don't feel unemployed
483
00:17:24,966 --> 00:17:27,233
they feel like they're about ready to take on the world
484
00:17:27,233 --> 00:17:29,500
so it's like an empowering thing
485
00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,300
it's a deep dive thing
486
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:34,066
and it's also like it's an experience
487
00:17:34,066 --> 00:17:35,466
it's a living experience
488
00:17:35,466 --> 00:17:36,800
it's just one of the most exciting
489
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,400
things that's happening in our culture right now
490
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:38,966
I think well
491
00:17:38,966 --> 00:17:40,800
in some of our conversations we've
492
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:42,500
we've we talk AI
493
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:43,900
we go straight to the technology
494
00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:45,466
and the technology companies
495
00:17:45,633 --> 00:17:47,600
but at the Entrepreneur Center
496
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,000
we've watched a pasta sauce lady
497
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,100
yeah that has leveraged AI to get her faster to market
498
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:56,900
to get remove some of those friction points
499
00:17:56,966 --> 00:17:58,933
that an entrepreneur might spend
500
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,766
four weeks and 10
501
00:18:01,766 --> 00:18:03,766
15 $20,000 on
502
00:18:03,766 --> 00:18:05,400
getting their statement of work together
503
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,666
or their contract components
504
00:18:07,666 --> 00:18:09,266
or their terms and conditions
505
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,933
and in a lot of ways we we often forget that
506
00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:16,133
there's a lady out there making pasta sauce
507
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,900
and the faster she can get that pasta on the shelves
508
00:18:19,033 --> 00:18:21,033
the better let's not forget those
509
00:18:21,033 --> 00:18:22,833
the world still needs ball bearings
510
00:18:22,833 --> 00:18:24,466
sure and I
511
00:18:24,466 --> 00:18:28,000
I'm I get as excited about that component as I do the
512
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,200
technology itself and Mark
513
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,566
I think it's to your point
514
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:32,700
it's a tool for people
515
00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:35,600
let's not forget that it's not the thing unto itself
516
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,633
it's it's a tool for people and it
517
00:18:37,633 --> 00:18:39,700
it's a tool that opens up a lot of opportunities
518
00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:42,200
I mean to to your point about um
519
00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:44,633
Gina right there there's another um
520
00:18:44,633 --> 00:18:47,566
entrepreneur that that we've served a Jason Reeves
521
00:18:47,566 --> 00:18:50,266
who came in with a photography company
522
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,066
but he left with an AI company
523
00:18:52,066 --> 00:18:53,700
yeah so I mean
524
00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,000
he he from
525
00:18:55,066 --> 00:18:58,966
he leveraged AI in unique ways that really helped his
526
00:18:58,966 --> 00:19:01,166
service based business and before you know it
527
00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:03,400
he's sharing that thought leadership with
528
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,033
individuals that were members of his cohort
529
00:19:06,033 --> 00:19:07,366
and he realizes hey
530
00:19:07,466 --> 00:19:08,633
there's an opportunity here
531
00:19:08,633 --> 00:19:12,200
maybe I should be instructing people on how to use AI
532
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:12,766
to really
533
00:19:12,766 --> 00:19:15,133
assist their small and medium sized businesses
534
00:19:15,266 --> 00:19:18,266
now that's predominantly his main gig
535
00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:20,866
so opportunity there you just discovered
536
00:19:20,866 --> 00:19:23,766
you just like lifted up the covers
537
00:19:23,766 --> 00:19:25,600
on a topic about listening
538
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:31,300
um he in this example saw an opportunity
539
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:34,966
he's listening participating in a market and listening
540
00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:37,000
what are some of the things that you'd like to see
541
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,366
people listen to more hmm
542
00:19:44,266 --> 00:19:46,166
I think broadly I would say
543
00:19:46,166 --> 00:19:49,066
I would like to see people not only listen to
544
00:19:49,066 --> 00:19:51,666
but validate others ideas a little bit more
545
00:19:51,666 --> 00:19:53,966
and then I'll I'll get a little bit more of a specific
546
00:19:53,966 --> 00:19:54,666
answer for you Mark
547
00:19:54,666 --> 00:19:57,433
but what I'm saying is we see time and time again
548
00:19:57,433 --> 00:19:58,366
regardless of AI
549
00:19:58,366 --> 00:20:00,966
this is pre AI and this is now even with AI
550
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,500
the No. 1 reason startups fail are product market fit
551
00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:05,633
time and time again
552
00:20:05,633 --> 00:20:08,433
they experience a problem of their own and they think
553
00:20:08,433 --> 00:20:10,366
oh I'm gonna solve this issue
554
00:20:10,366 --> 00:20:11,766
and everyone's got this issue
555
00:20:11,766 --> 00:20:13,100
so now we can move forward
556
00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:15,366
often times that's not the case
557
00:20:15,366 --> 00:20:17,000
and then they struggle to find a market
558
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:17,766
yeah so
559
00:20:17,766 --> 00:20:20,866
you know just listening to others more broadly
560
00:20:20,866 --> 00:20:23,433
like I think Jason did a fantastic job of that
561
00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:24,600
it wasn't enough to say hey
562
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,266
I'm struggling with this in my service based industry
563
00:20:27,266 --> 00:20:28,000
it's hey
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00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,466
let me actually talk to other founders
565
00:20:29,466 --> 00:20:30,600
and better understand
566
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,266
if they're struggling with the same concepts
567
00:20:32,266 --> 00:20:35,100
or there's other areas I can encounter right
568
00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:37,166
and he kind of took that and really ran with it
569
00:20:37,166 --> 00:20:39,633
utilizing AI so I mean
570
00:20:39,633 --> 00:20:40,400
I don't know selfishly
571
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,400
I'm a I'm a community and economic development guy
572
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:43,366
like if you look at my resume
573
00:20:43,366 --> 00:20:44,666
that's what I've done my whole life
574
00:20:44,666 --> 00:20:46,933
I wish people would look at more um
575
00:20:47,266 --> 00:20:49,766
more micro economic um
576
00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:51,866
issue so on a city wide level
577
00:20:51,866 --> 00:20:53,766
and lean into that with innovation
578
00:20:53,766 --> 00:20:57,400
um I'm excited about the recent boring announcement
579
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,233
like I think that that's an innovative way to get US
580
00:21:00,233 --> 00:21:02,566
transportation transporting individuals
581
00:21:02,566 --> 00:21:04,700
but that's not enough right
582
00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:06,766
and I think affordable housing
583
00:21:06,766 --> 00:21:08,800
like all of these like buzz topics
584
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:09,700
but they're
585
00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:11,766
they're main topics for a reason because people
586
00:21:11,766 --> 00:21:13,100
are experiencing them every day
587
00:21:13,100 --> 00:21:16,100
and like I I watch and I encounter it in our community
588
00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,600
I'd love to see people listen to those problems more
589
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:20,633
and actually step up and demonstrate ownership
590
00:21:20,633 --> 00:21:21,633
and truly innovate
591
00:21:21,633 --> 00:21:23,400
and drive some more meaningful outcome
592
00:21:23,866 --> 00:21:24,033
hey
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00:21:24,033 --> 00:21:26,766
thanks for listening to another episode of The Parallel
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00:21:26,766 --> 00:21:29,833
Entrepreneur and thank you to our sponsors
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00:21:29,833 --> 00:21:32,600
partners and the special team behind the scenes
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00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,000
that make it all possible
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00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,100
be sure to like follow
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00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:39,566
or subscribe to our podcast and get the latest updates
599
00:21:40,233 --> 00:21:41,966
and to learn more about this growing
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00:21:41,966 --> 00:21:43,666
community of entrepreneurs
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00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,233
our mastermind and companion program
602
00:21:46,233 --> 00:21:48,933
for your parallel entrepreneur journey
603
00:21:49,233 --> 00:21:51,800
visit Parallel entrepreneur.com
604
00:21:51,866 --> 00:21:55,433
and of course thank you to all the visionary guests
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00:21:55,433 --> 00:21:58,100
who trust us to share their stories
00:00:00,166 --> 00:00:02,000
speed to market is critical
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we we know that every single day
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whether you're bootstrapping or whether um
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you're that AI company
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trying to beat someone to the market
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to be able to establish you know
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brand dominance you gotta get there fast right
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so we're all racing very quickly
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welcome to the Parallel Entrepreneur
10
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this is a special series on innovation
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supported by Relationalary
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Marketing and the Chase Studios
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recorded at the Greater Nashville Technology Council
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Innovation Summit
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I'm joined today by guest host Johnny Anderson
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he's the entrepreneur in residence
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at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center
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sit back and join us for this special edition of
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Having Authentic Conversations with People That Care
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building a strong
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entrepreneurial city doesn't happen by accident
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it requires systems that actually work
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Dakota Simpson is the Chief Program Officer
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at Nashville's Entrepreneur Center
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where he leads five accelerators
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supporting founders at every stage
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his work sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship
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economic development and community impact
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Dakota is on a mission to nourish
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entrepreneurial spirit in Nashville
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what makes Dakota's perspective unique
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is how he thinks beyond individual companies
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he spent his career working in government
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nonprofit and cross sector environments aligning people
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programs and incentives so that people can flourish
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in our conversation we explore
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why entrepreneurial ecosystems
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must be intentionally designed
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not just enthusiastically supported
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and how building the right systems
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makes founder impact more sustainable
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let's just dive right into this conversation
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what does innovation mean
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and then specifically what does it mean to national
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I think everyone's answer to what does innovation mean
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um varies because it's a very ambiguous term for for me
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it's
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it doesn't necessarily imply creating something new
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I think it means doing something in a new way um
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I'm I'm a big fan of economic development
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and let's call it continuums of care
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so I don't think we should ever innovate in a vacuum
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so for me Nashville innovation
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what that means is
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are we connecting the dots across multiple
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disparate organizations in a meaningful way
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that drives impactful change in our city so
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that's a lot of hoopla
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so let's let's run with a tangible example right yeah
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I'm not sure that's hoopla
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what's a meaningful way to define that
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yeah yeah yeah
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so I think for instance
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like let's let's run through a founder's uh continuum
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so let's say um
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we've got a founder that's interested in the healthcare
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industry so they start a healthcare company
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that reduces friction within the healthcare sector
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we could say our jobs done
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they've started that company
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and they've got a business plan
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it's vetted seems viable
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we've connected with them with some advisors great
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but then what right
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they may need a chief technology officer
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or they may need to uh
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contract out with software developers
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then we may introduce
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them to the National Technology Council
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to really kind of run with that continuum
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and continue fostering that um
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startup and then from there it shouldn't stop either
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we should hand them off to the local
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chamber of commerce and make sure they're getting
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connected into the broader eco ecosystem
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and making sure uh
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they're landing clients and assisting HCA
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and then who knows
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it's almost like a feedback loop
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it's innovating reducing friction in a meaningful way
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that in the aggregate
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is more impactful than the invention
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or service that's been produced
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it's a tangible
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ripple effect across our entire community
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so all these um
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reflections of success and alignment
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how how would you describe something that's frustrating
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what's frustrating now
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that's really interesting Mark
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I don't know if I've been asked that lately
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what is frustrating
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I mean if you want me to be candid
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it's it's frustrating trying to keep up with the uh
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the energy we've seen but it's
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it's frustrating in a good way
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the the entrepreneurial energy we've seen post pandemic
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the explosion of entrepreneurial rates
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I mean it's through the roof and
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and really what's incredible about the data
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we were just looking at this last week is um
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it's not went down so
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you know what you would expect pre pandemic
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or what I would have hypothesized is oh
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a lot of people go remote
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they may have excess time on their hands
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they may um
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become you know
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unhappy with their employers
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and they may launch their initiatives
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okay that spikes up
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everything goes back to normal and
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you know then they return back to work
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but guess what happened it didn't go back to normal
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right we still have a lot of remote work
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we still have a lot of people that are innovating
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a lot of people still frustrated with their employers
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and we know adversity births entrepreneurship
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a lot of the time so
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it's been fascinating to watch that
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those entrepreneurial rates maintain
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and at the National Entrepreneur Center
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we graduated 118 founders last year
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the year before that it was about 90
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This year we're on track to graduate 200+ founders
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like we're getting ready to double the impact
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we have as an organization
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and that's a credit to Sam Davidson
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our leadership our board
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and all these people that are working
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hard behind the scenes but candidly
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it's also a credit to you know
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your everyday person that's deciding hey
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I wanna take my future and put that in my own hands
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and I'm gonna be brave
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enough to go out there and launch a business
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so what's frustrating me at the moment is
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there's all of these amazing entrepreneurs
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and there's so many incredible ways to serve them
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but we're trying to balance like
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you know breadth
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but also depth of services
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because we wanna serve them all
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but we also wanna serve them all effectively
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and that's something new for us
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as we've seen this energy and explosion in the city
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um I have a theory that uh
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there's entrepreneurship
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there are people that we recognize as serial
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entrepreneurs one after another and
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and I've been working on a thesis
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and a research project and
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and exploring the identity of a parallel
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entrepreneurship experience
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more than one company at the same time
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and in that exploration I've noticed some trends
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I'm curious
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if you're seeing any trends here in Nashville
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related to the average age of the entrepreneur
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what's the demographic looking like
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and how has that changed uh
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in your experience and I'll share what my theory is
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but I wanna hear what your experience is
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this the do old guys have a chance question
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I like that question do you and I have a chance
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yeah no
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I mean I
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I would share well
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first off Johnny
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of course you've got a chance um yeah
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no I
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I would share that um
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typically we we see we're serving um
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founders of all ages um
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and from all demographics
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but I mean it's
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it's true if
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if you look at the trends and something we're seeing
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especially as we talk about perspective
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collaborations with um
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Metro National Public Schools or Belmont University
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Vanderbilt is um
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the entrepreneurial um
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participation by the younger generation
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Gen Z specifically is through the roof
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uh I believe it like last glance
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one out of every two um
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Gen Zers state that you know
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they're interested in starting a company
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and almost that many actually do in some form
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now it's it's not companies like
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you know um
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i i say we might think that implies i'm i'm y'all's age
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but just to be honest
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i've got an old soul so maybe i can kind of relate
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but you know
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we're not talking about starting healthcare companies
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we're talking about you know
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we might be operating a TikTok or you know
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we might be monetizing video games or you know
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it may actually be some more hands on stuff
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we see that and that's
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providing those individuals with revenue and money
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and and that is a business well
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and I'm seeing it as micro SAS services sure
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I'm seeing it as uh
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AI problem solving for one specific thing
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they really understand and it
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they just set it and forget it and it runs off yeah
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it's a subscription
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I'm seeing people excited about simple things like a
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simple like running a food truck sure
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I mean but I my but my theory
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I think it's being reinforced by this observation
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I think the younger you are
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the more likely you are to emerge into entrepreneurship
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as a parallel entrepreneur
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you've got one two
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three four things going this whole side hustle culture
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the the independent contractor perspective that
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that a lot of people bring
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and maybe
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I'm not saying that starting a healthcare company
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that's gonna become something
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the next big anchor in town is
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is not not possible I'm just observing this uh
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more more explosive more creative
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more deeply niche entrepreneur at a younger age
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with technical skills um
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really putting a some
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some dynamite in in
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uh in the entrepreneurial path
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I think yeah
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I mean and hey it
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it makes a lot of sense
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like if you really dive a little bit deeper right
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is they they grew up in that environment that's
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that's a skill that you know
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we had to train ourselves on
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but that was acquired by extension of
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you know their
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their environment right
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so that's that's something that's kind of ingrained
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in that population I mean
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if you think about it I
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I remember when um
257
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growing up I was
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I was raised by three incredible strong women
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and one of them was my great aunt
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I remember she had a Blackberry
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iPhones didn't even exist right
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so it's a whole different ballpark
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whenever you've actually
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grown up with those innovations
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around you and you've been
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Learned how to use them play with them
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test them from a young age
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but I'll I'll also share probably equally important
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if not more important is um
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the barrier to entry is way lower when you're younger
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you know I started a company whenever I was 16 um
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doing djing and event planning and running out venues
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well guess what
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it's a lot easier to do that
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when you're not paying rent every month right
276
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it's a lot easier to do that
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when you have excess time on your hands because yeah
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of course
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you go to school and of course you've got homework
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but you don't have all of the responsibilities of life
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that come down the road so I think you see that
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our job is to make sure we're
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continuing to enforce that
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and make sure the younger generation is aware that hey
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there's a lot of adults that dream
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and work hard every single day
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to work for themselves
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and to have that freedom and that flexibility
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and you're at a unique point in time
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where you can start that before all of these problems
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not problems well
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sometimes the problems it depends on the day yeah
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I mean Nashville
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Athens of the south
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there's 120,000 college students in this town
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that
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I suppose it should be natural that there would be any
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a real bloom in entrepreneurship at that at that level
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entering the culture here in Nashville
300
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and then choosing to stay sure yeah
301
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and you know what's really interesting too
302
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is just the entrepreneurship by acquisition
303
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we can I don't want to interrupt Johnson
304
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I want you to finish your thought
305
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but like let's
306
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let's go down that rabbit trail
307
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because we're seeing that trend as well
308
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quite a lot
309
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well I think this is first conversation I've been in
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in weeks that AI didn't come up in the first like
311
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you know 3 questions but um
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it's a good segue specific to entrepreneurs
313
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what do you think AI's impact
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and this is gonna be a big question
315
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but what do you think the impact's gonna be
316
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or what are you seeing some of the impacts right now
317
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yeah I
318
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I really go back and forth on AI
319
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just to be candid with you Johnny
320
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because
321
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alright so let's start with the obvious
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AI has caused an immense explosion
323
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and entrepreneurship across the nation
324
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um but to your point Mark
325
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a lot of that entrepreneurship is
326
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you know we
327
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we call it AI rappers right
328
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these individuals are able to kind of vibe code
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if you will and create a
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B to B or B to C subscription
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that really
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a lot of consumers could probably get
333
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if they interacted with chat
334
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GPT in a meaningful way it's just easier for them
335
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because the friction's been reduced right
336
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and it's already been built
337
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so I go back and forth
338
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because we've seen an explosion of businesses
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and an explosion of energy around AI
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which is fantastic but also it makes me question how
341
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how sustainable is that as ai continues to mature
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um and develop
343
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like i've heard theories i'd
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i'd love to hear y'all's thoughts on b to b sass is
345
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you know soon to be extinct
346
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cause why do you even need a software
347
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if we eventually get to an AI
348
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platform that is able to do all of that for you
349
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so think about Tableau for instance
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data visualization platform
351
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do you really need that platform
352
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to input all of your data
353
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and manipulate it into visualizations
354
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if you have a chat GPT bot or an AI
355
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bot that you're able to interact with
356
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and then it spits the visualization out to you right
357
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you've actually circumvented the need
358
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for the enterprise platform altogether
359
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at that point so yeah
360
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it's a mixed bag for me
361
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Johnny and it's something we're still um
362
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observing at a high level
363
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what I share with my friends
364
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whenever they ask me this question is
365
00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:13,766
I think in the long term
366
00:13:13,766 --> 00:13:16,666
AI is just like your iPhone it's not gonna replace you
367
00:13:16,666 --> 00:13:19,666
but it's a tool that you better become familiar with
368
00:13:19,666 --> 00:13:20,766
and you better learn to use
369
00:13:20,766 --> 00:13:23,966
because it's gonna be with us for quite some time yeah
370
00:13:24,066 --> 00:13:26,400
people deserve to have better tools
371
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sure and
372
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everything that we talk about
373
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from a technology perspective is just a tool
374
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I think wouldn't it be cool
375
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if we could just talk to the computer
376
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and spit out an app which I just spent 9 years building
377
00:13:41,266 --> 00:13:42,700
a company that built apps
378
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:45,700
you know wouldn't it be cool if you could vibe
379
00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:48,433
code your way into rapid innovation
380
00:13:48,433 --> 00:13:52,366
and I I think it's the speed of innovation that is um
381
00:13:52,366 --> 00:13:54,566
breathtaking right now yeah
382
00:13:55,166 --> 00:13:57,366
you there the barriers you called you said earlier
383
00:13:57,366 --> 00:13:59,166
the barriers to entry are lower
384
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knowledge is no longer a barrier to entry
385
00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:04,700
sure for almost everything um
386
00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:07,700
but I think knowing what kind of problems
387
00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:09,066
what kind of questions to ask
388
00:14:09,066 --> 00:14:11,733
and what kind of problems to address
389
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are probably where the solution meets
390
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financial success and
391
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,100
and really serves a lot more people faster
392
00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:21,766
I'm I'm
393
00:14:21,766 --> 00:14:23,766
but speak about speed
394
00:14:23,866 --> 00:14:26,700
talk about how fast this is happening to
395
00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:29,600
to in your observations to Nashville
396
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,700
with Nashville how fast is things going
397
00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:32,900
oh it's yeah
398
00:14:33,033 --> 00:14:34,800
um very fast
399
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:35,566
I mean
400
00:14:35,566 --> 00:14:38,400
just to speak once again about kind of the volume
401
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,233
um of individuals we're serving
402
00:14:40,233 --> 00:14:42,833
we're we're seeing those numbers go high
403
00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:44,533
I mean double right
404
00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:46,566
um and I know we're not the only organization
405
00:14:46,566 --> 00:14:48,500
experiencing that with the same staff yeah
406
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:49,500
yeah with the
407
00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:51,466
with the same staff um
408
00:14:51,466 --> 00:14:51,866
but you know
409
00:14:51,866 --> 00:14:53,700
we we roll up our sleeves and we work hard
410
00:14:53,700 --> 00:14:55,800
because we understand that the impact
411
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,266
while fulfilling on the individual level
412
00:14:58,266 --> 00:15:00,800
getting to work with individual startups is meaningful
413
00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:03,466
the impact is way larger than that
414
00:15:03,466 --> 00:15:05,033
I mean when we work with one startup
415
00:15:05,033 --> 00:15:07,766
we know small businesses drive um
416
00:15:07,766 --> 00:15:09,200
the economy right
417
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,766
so we're talking about ripple effects
418
00:15:10,766 --> 00:15:11,800
throughout the entire region
419
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:13,400
so we're small and mighty
420
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,266
but we're also determined um
421
00:15:15,266 --> 00:15:16,966
to make sure we we make an impact
422
00:15:16,966 --> 00:15:17,700
but yeah the
423
00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:19,366
the speed is incredible um
424
00:15:19,366 --> 00:15:19,700
Mark
425
00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:21,966
in terms of the amount of founders that are innovating
426
00:15:22,033 --> 00:15:23,200
in terms of um
427
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,800
the innovation how bold their ideas are and how
428
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:27,100
how much
429
00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:30,366
it just makes sense whenever you encounter these ideas
430
00:15:30,366 --> 00:15:31,666
and the amount of friction we're seeing
431
00:15:31,666 --> 00:15:33,166
reduced in our lives so
432
00:15:33,433 --> 00:15:34,533
but that's good right
433
00:15:34,766 --> 00:15:36,800
need the market is critical we
434
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,466
we know that every single day
435
00:15:38,466 --> 00:15:41,466
whether you're bootstrapping or whether um
436
00:15:41,466 --> 00:15:43,066
you're that AI company
437
00:15:43,066 --> 00:15:44,833
trying to beat someone to the market
438
00:15:44,833 --> 00:15:46,433
to be able to establish you know
439
00:15:46,433 --> 00:15:49,700
brand dominance you gotta get there fast right
440
00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:51,933
so we're all racing very quickly
441
00:15:51,933 --> 00:15:53,866
and yeah
442
00:15:53,866 --> 00:15:55,666
I think I've run out of breath just talking about it
443
00:15:55,666 --> 00:15:56,466
I mean it's pretty
444
00:15:56,466 --> 00:15:58,666
it's exhausting but it's in a good way right
445
00:15:58,666 --> 00:16:00,300
and I think that that's the challenge is like
446
00:16:00,300 --> 00:16:02,366
how do you keep up with the speed
447
00:16:02,366 --> 00:16:04,533
as an entrepreneurial support organization
448
00:16:04,566 --> 00:16:07,866
as a founder trying to inventory all of these resources
449
00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:10,500
as a consumer you know I um
450
00:16:10,666 --> 00:16:12,633
I love leveraging AI but it's like
451
00:16:12,633 --> 00:16:14,466
I find one AI chatbot
452
00:16:14,466 --> 00:16:16,266
and it feels like there's another one that's superior
453
00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:17,500
tomorrow than the next day
454
00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:18,233
than the next day
455
00:16:18,233 --> 00:16:21,100
and kind of wears you down a little bit
456
00:16:21,966 --> 00:16:23,033
haha you know
457
00:16:23,033 --> 00:16:25,300
on AI I find I just tell myself
458
00:16:25,366 --> 00:16:26,733
just dig into one
459
00:16:26,866 --> 00:16:30,000
become as comfortable an expert with one
460
00:16:30,100 --> 00:16:32,666
I've heard a lot of people move from oh
461
00:16:32,666 --> 00:16:35,166
this one shiny object and then this one
462
00:16:35,166 --> 00:16:36,366
it does a little something better
463
00:16:36,366 --> 00:16:38,400
and I got some friends who are pretty sharp at this
464
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,200
and they they set up
465
00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,400
playgrounds and sandboxes for the different AI
466
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,300
tools to interact with one another
467
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:48,700
and some CEOs that I know
468
00:16:48,833 --> 00:16:52,400
are spending an extraordinary amount of time in AI
469
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,666
like maybe more time in AI than and
470
00:16:55,666 --> 00:16:56,800
and in product planning
471
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,700
and in sort of just really defining the direction
472
00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:00,966
of the company than I've
473
00:17:00,966 --> 00:17:02,733
than I've experienced in the past
474
00:17:02,866 --> 00:17:06,800
because they're tech oriented and they're smart people
475
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,966
um but they're digging in really deeply
476
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:11,000
uh
477
00:17:11,666 --> 00:17:13,566
and then I hear an occasional
478
00:17:13,566 --> 00:17:15,900
story about somebody who lost their job recently
479
00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:17,300
and has been looking around
480
00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:21,266
and has spent the last 6 months pouring into AI
481
00:17:21,500 --> 00:17:23,833
and their level of excitement
482
00:17:23,833 --> 00:17:24,966
they don't feel unemployed
483
00:17:24,966 --> 00:17:27,233
they feel like they're about ready to take on the world
484
00:17:27,233 --> 00:17:29,500
so it's like an empowering thing
485
00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,300
it's a deep dive thing
486
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:34,066
and it's also like it's an experience
487
00:17:34,066 --> 00:17:35,466
it's a living experience
488
00:17:35,466 --> 00:17:36,800
it's just one of the most exciting
489
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,400
things that's happening in our culture right now
490
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:38,966
I think well
491
00:17:38,966 --> 00:17:40,800
in some of our conversations we've
492
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:42,500
we've we talk AI
493
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:43,900
we go straight to the technology
494
00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:45,466
and the technology companies
495
00:17:45,633 --> 00:17:47,600
but at the Entrepreneur Center
496
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,000
we've watched a pasta sauce lady
497
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,100
yeah that has leveraged AI to get her faster to market
498
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:56,900
to get remove some of those friction points
499
00:17:56,966 --> 00:17:58,933
that an entrepreneur might spend
500
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,766
four weeks and 10
501
00:18:01,766 --> 00:18:03,766
15 $20,000 on
502
00:18:03,766 --> 00:18:05,400
getting their statement of work together
503
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,666
or their contract components
504
00:18:07,666 --> 00:18:09,266
or their terms and conditions
505
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,933
and in a lot of ways we we often forget that
506
00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:16,133
there's a lady out there making pasta sauce
507
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,900
and the faster she can get that pasta on the shelves
508
00:18:19,033 --> 00:18:21,033
the better let's not forget those
509
00:18:21,033 --> 00:18:22,833
the world still needs ball bearings
510
00:18:22,833 --> 00:18:24,466
sure and I
511
00:18:24,466 --> 00:18:28,000
I'm I get as excited about that component as I do the
512
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,200
technology itself and Mark
513
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,566
I think it's to your point
514
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:32,700
it's a tool for people
515
00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:35,600
let's not forget that it's not the thing unto itself
516
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,633
it's it's a tool for people and it
517
00:18:37,633 --> 00:18:39,700
it's a tool that opens up a lot of opportunities
518
00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:42,200
I mean to to your point about um
519
00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:44,633
Gina right there there's another um
520
00:18:44,633 --> 00:18:47,566
entrepreneur that that we've served a Jason Reeves
521
00:18:47,566 --> 00:18:50,266
who came in with a photography company
522
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,066
but he left with an AI company
523
00:18:52,066 --> 00:18:53,700
yeah so I mean
524
00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,000
he he from
525
00:18:55,066 --> 00:18:58,966
he leveraged AI in unique ways that really helped his
526
00:18:58,966 --> 00:19:01,166
service based business and before you know it
527
00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:03,400
he's sharing that thought leadership with
528
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,033
individuals that were members of his cohort
529
00:19:06,033 --> 00:19:07,366
and he realizes hey
530
00:19:07,466 --> 00:19:08,633
there's an opportunity here
531
00:19:08,633 --> 00:19:12,200
maybe I should be instructing people on how to use AI
532
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:12,766
to really
533
00:19:12,766 --> 00:19:15,133
assist their small and medium sized businesses
534
00:19:15,266 --> 00:19:18,266
now that's predominantly his main gig
535
00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:20,866
so opportunity there you just discovered
536
00:19:20,866 --> 00:19:23,766
you just like lifted up the covers
537
00:19:23,766 --> 00:19:25,600
on a topic about listening
538
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:31,300
um he in this example saw an opportunity
539
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:34,966
he's listening participating in a market and listening
540
00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:37,000
what are some of the things that you'd like to see
541
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,366
people listen to more hmm
542
00:19:44,266 --> 00:19:46,166
I think broadly I would say
543
00:19:46,166 --> 00:19:49,066
I would like to see people not only listen to
544
00:19:49,066 --> 00:19:51,666
but validate others ideas a little bit more
545
00:19:51,666 --> 00:19:53,966
and then I'll I'll get a little bit more of a specific
546
00:19:53,966 --> 00:19:54,666
answer for you Mark
547
00:19:54,666 --> 00:19:57,433
but what I'm saying is we see time and time again
548
00:19:57,433 --> 00:19:58,366
regardless of AI
549
00:19:58,366 --> 00:20:00,966
this is pre AI and this is now even with AI
550
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,500
the No. 1 reason startups fail are product market fit
551
00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:05,633
time and time again
552
00:20:05,633 --> 00:20:08,433
they experience a problem of their own and they think
553
00:20:08,433 --> 00:20:10,366
oh I'm gonna solve this issue
554
00:20:10,366 --> 00:20:11,766
and everyone's got this issue
555
00:20:11,766 --> 00:20:13,100
so now we can move forward
556
00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:15,366
often times that's not the case
557
00:20:15,366 --> 00:20:17,000
and then they struggle to find a market
558
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:17,766
yeah so
559
00:20:17,766 --> 00:20:20,866
you know just listening to others more broadly
560
00:20:20,866 --> 00:20:23,433
like I think Jason did a fantastic job of that
561
00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:24,600
it wasn't enough to say hey
562
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,266
I'm struggling with this in my service based industry
563
00:20:27,266 --> 00:20:28,000
it's hey
564
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,466
let me actually talk to other founders
565
00:20:29,466 --> 00:20:30,600
and better understand
566
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,266
if they're struggling with the same concepts
567
00:20:32,266 --> 00:20:35,100
or there's other areas I can encounter right
568
00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:37,166
and he kind of took that and really ran with it
569
00:20:37,166 --> 00:20:39,633
utilizing AI so I mean
570
00:20:39,633 --> 00:20:40,400
I don't know selfishly
571
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,400
I'm a I'm a community and economic development guy
572
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:43,366
like if you look at my resume
573
00:20:43,366 --> 00:20:44,666
that's what I've done my whole life
574
00:20:44,666 --> 00:20:46,933
I wish people would look at more um
575
00:20:47,266 --> 00:20:49,766
more micro economic um
576
00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:51,866
issue so on a city wide level
577
00:20:51,866 --> 00:20:53,766
and lean into that with innovation
578
00:20:53,766 --> 00:20:57,400
um I'm excited about the recent boring announcement
579
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,233
like I think that that's an innovative way to get US
580
00:21:00,233 --> 00:21:02,566
transportation transporting individuals
581
00:21:02,566 --> 00:21:04,700
but that's not enough right
582
00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:06,766
and I think affordable housing
583
00:21:06,766 --> 00:21:08,800
like all of these like buzz topics
584
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:09,700
but they're
585
00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:11,766
they're main topics for a reason because people
586
00:21:11,766 --> 00:21:13,100
are experiencing them every day
587
00:21:13,100 --> 00:21:16,100
and like I I watch and I encounter it in our community
588
00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,600
I'd love to see people listen to those problems more
589
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:20,633
and actually step up and demonstrate ownership
590
00:21:20,633 --> 00:21:21,633
and truly innovate
591
00:21:21,633 --> 00:21:23,400
and drive some more meaningful outcome
592
00:21:23,866 --> 00:21:24,033
hey
593
00:21:24,033 --> 00:21:26,766
thanks for listening to another episode of The Parallel
594
00:21:26,766 --> 00:21:29,833
Entrepreneur and thank you to our sponsors
595
00:21:29,833 --> 00:21:32,600
partners and the special team behind the scenes
596
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,000
that make it all possible
597
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,100
be sure to like follow
598
00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:39,566
or subscribe to our podcast and get the latest updates
599
00:21:40,233 --> 00:21:41,966
and to learn more about this growing
600
00:21:41,966 --> 00:21:43,666
community of entrepreneurs
601
00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,233
our mastermind and companion program
602
00:21:46,233 --> 00:21:48,933
for your parallel entrepreneur journey
603
00:21:49,233 --> 00:21:51,800
visit Parallel entrepreneur.com
604
00:21:51,866 --> 00:21:55,433
and of course thank you to all the visionary guests
605
00:21:55,433 --> 00:21:58,100
who trust us to share their stories
