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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
00:10:23,066 --> 00:10:24,766
continuing to enforce that

284
00:10:24,766 --> 00:10:27,666
and make sure the younger generation is aware that hey

285
00:10:27,666 --> 00:10:29,766
there's a lot of adults that dream

286
00:10:29,766 --> 00:10:31,800
and work hard every single day

287
00:10:31,966 --> 00:10:33,033
to work for themselves

288
00:10:33,033 --> 00:10:35,166
and to have that freedom and that flexibility

289
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,466
and you're at a unique point in time

290
00:10:37,466 --> 00:10:41,500
where you can start that before all of these problems

291
00:10:41,500 --> 00:10:42,700
not problems well

292
00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:44,833
sometimes the problems it depends on the day yeah

293
00:10:44,833 --> 00:10:45,900
I mean Nashville

294
00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:47,033
Athens of the south

295
00:10:47,033 --> 00:10:50,466
there's 120,000 college students in this town

296
00:10:50,466 --> 00:10:50,500
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

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