Boosting Business Success Through Innovation and Strategic Growth with Jeff Standridge

WEBVTT

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Great. Perfect. What day is it? It's Friday.

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Yeah. It's live Friday. All day long. So I just

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messed up. All day long. I don't know anything

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about Jeff. Do you know anything about yourself,

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Jeff? I know a little about myself, but probably

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not as much as my wife knows about me. I want

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to guess where you're from. So welcome back to

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No Prep Needed. I've done zero work. Nothing's

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being done. I can hide behind my name right here

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if I want to. Nobody can see me, but I just want

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to say I'm very excited. So I, because I love,

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look, read underneath the founder of innovative,

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did I write it right? Innovation junkie. So I'm

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ready. I'm going to mute up and I'm going to

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have you introduce yourself. Very good. My name

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is Jeff Standridge. I am the managing director

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of Innovation Junkie and I'm glad to be with

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you today. I can't wait to learn more about Innovation

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Junkie, but where is your accent? I want to guess

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the South. It is I am from Arkansas, so I live

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in in right in the heart of America. Actually,

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it's kind of more the stomach. Probably if you

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think about where anatomically where it is. So

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just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, which

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is our capital city. in a little community called

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Conway. Oh, wow. I did get to spend a little

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time at Hot Springs, Arkansas. I did a four -month

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road trip with my daughter, and we were in Hope,

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Arkansas, and the cute girls at the restaurant

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were like, you need to go to Hot Springs, and

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wow. So I am from a small town 30 miles outside

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of Hot Springs, about 50 miles from Hope, so

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I'm from... from a little town that's between

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a place called Hope and a place called Hot Springs.

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And my wife actually graduated Hot Springs High

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School and she's on her way down there right

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now to see a friend, ironically. It is the coolest

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place to have half of the street be a state park,

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and the other half to be all the stores. It's

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amazing. And I did have a ghostly happening in

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the hotel, the Arlington Hotel. Very creepy,

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so not for today's discussion, because I don't

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want to scare everyone on Friday. But what a,

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what, so, oh, and if you don't, like I tell people

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all the time, go to Arkansas for vacation, because

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it's amazing. And okay, before we continue, how

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many homes does Bill Clinton have in Arkansas?

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That's like a museum. Yeah, you know, there's

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one in Hope. Of course, he had the governor's

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mansion here for a long time, but it's actually

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occupied by our governor since. But I believe

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he has a, I believe he has an apartment in the

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presidential library that is in Little Rock.

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Wow. Okay. So that's the only thing I missed.

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I did want to see his place. All right. So tell

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us about you. So now we know where you're from.

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What is innovation junkie? Yeah, so Innovation

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Junkie is a strategic growth consultancy, an

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innovation and strategic growth consultancy.

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It started because of another company that we

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have called Startup Junkie and Conductor. So

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they're two different brands, but a single team

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in two different locations. Startup Junkie is

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up in Northwest Arkansas where the Bentonville

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Walmart headquarters, JB Hunt, Tyson Foods headquarters

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is located. And I started a division of that

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here in Conway about two hours south. And the

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local community is kind of origins as a train

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town. So they wanted to call it the conductor.

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But it's a the startup junkie conductor is an

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entrepreneurial support organization that really

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secures third party sources of funding. so that

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we can provide sponsored consulting, coaching,

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mentoring, training, startup assistance, technical

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assistance to entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs

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and small business owners in Arkansas. And so

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it's kind of a social enterprise, a for -profit

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company, but a social enterprise. But we use

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third -party sources of funding to fund the work

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that we do on behalf of entrepreneurs. We started

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having, after doing that for about seven or eight

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years, we started having a number of larger companies

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around the world coming to us and saying, look,

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we need the same kind of help. We need to go

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back to our days as a startup and think like

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a startup, learning how to innovate, thinking

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about strategic growth. But they realized that

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they didn't qualify for those funded or sponsored

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services. So they said, look, just we'll pay

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you for it, come work with us. And so that we

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could keep those business models pure, in 2021,

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we launched Innovation Junkie as a billable consulting

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firm. And since that time, we have worked with

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some of the world's largest companies and we've

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worked with a lot of mid -sized companies as

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well. I love it. So would I be correct in saying,

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is this similar to like an incubator? So the

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conductor startup junkie was similar to an incubator,

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a co -working space with the incubator capabilities

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and we run a couple of accelerators. Innovation

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junkie is really more of taking that same kinds

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of content and applying it to larger companies.

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And so it's more of a management consultancy.

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We do a lot of executive coaching, strategic

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growth planning, innovation sprints and what

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have you. I love it, are you? So I was chairwoman

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of SCORE. I've been involved with SCORE for eight

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years, just finally stepped down to become a

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guardian ad litem. very familiar with the incubator

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system, working here in our county. They have

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a really great program where, in essence, they're

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able to share resources, give information, and

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everyone comes together at the table, including

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the chambers, to talk about how to help businesses.

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So do you have support of your local government,

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your local county? We do, we actually have an

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MOU with our local chamber where we are their

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entrepreneurial support arm. So they're focused

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on. really existing businesses. They're focused

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on recruiting economic development, recruiting

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industry, and any small business owner that comes

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in to work with them, they say, look, you need

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to go meet with Jeff down at the conductor. We

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also have a contract with the state of Arkansas

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as the statewide technology commercialization

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center in Arkansas. Amazing, amazing. We have

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actually something similar here too. I'm in Daytona

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Beach, so we have the Embry Riddle. And they

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have the Microplex. So I loved all of that when

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I was involved in it. I love seeing businesses

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growing. Yes, we actually have that second set

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growth. So when they reach a certain point, they're

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almost given to another group of people that

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will take them and scale their business to that.

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next growth so that you really can follow them.

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No, it's such a great program. So, but when you

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said you got a call from someone, so you're in

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Arkansas, but are you saying that these companies

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can be from all over when it comes to innovation

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junkie? So you took that innovation junkie. Yeah,

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so so the billable consulting firm, it goes beyond

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Arkansas to wherever around the world. So yeah,

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we've worked with. We've worked with Fortune

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100 companies. We've worked with Fortune 5000

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companies and so but to work with us on the conductor

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startup junkie side of the house. They are Arkansas

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based companies for sure. And then do you have

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like an application process? How do you review

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and approve companies for innovation junkie?

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Well, so it's a traditional selling process,

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quite frankly. I mean, if they work with innovation

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junkie, then they come to us and we do some marketing

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as well. And they have a problem. We pitch them

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a proposal and a cost basis for that. And they

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either accept us or they don't, right? So on

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the innovation junkie side of the house, it's

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more of a... more of a traditional selling proposal

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process on the conductor startup junkie side

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of the house. Yeah, they come to us, they fill

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out an application, we do an onboarding, we do

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an initial onboarding call with them. And then

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we begin to refer them to resources that we have

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based upon whatever their need is. Amazing. And

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what were you doing before this? First of all,

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how long has conductor junkie been around? And

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then what did you do to like start? Startup Junkie

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has been around since 2007, 2008. I started the

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conductor in 2016 in partnership with Startup

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Junkie. So that's why it's kind of the same organization.

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I was working for a publicly traded company at

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the time, a technology company based here in

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Conway. And I was chair of the local chamber.

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And I started asking the question in about 2013,

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why is it that we don't have more startup activity

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occurring in our community? We have three institutions

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of higher education located here in Conway. We

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have at that time two very large technology employers,

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but we didn't have a lot of startup activity.

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So I put together a steering team. We started

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studying the problem, studying the challenges,

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and learned about this concept called entrepreneurial

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ecosystem building. We stumbled onto Startup

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Junkie. We brokered a relationship between Startup

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Junkie and the state university here called the

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University of Central Arkansas. And UCA retained

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Startup Junkie to do a feasibility study. And

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so over the course of that 2013 to 2016, a concept

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for the conductor kind of emerged as a real concrete,

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crystallized concept. And the University of Central

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Arkansas basically said, a very forward -thinking

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president said, I want to be the flagship funder

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to help get that off the ground. So they entered

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into a three -year contract. at which time I

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ended up stepping away from the publicly traded

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company to kind of be the founder of that. And

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since that time, we've secured funding from the

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U .S. Small Business Administration, a five -year

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regional innovation cluster program, the U .S.

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Department of Agriculture, the Arkansas Economic

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Development Commission. And most recently, two

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years ago last week, we moved into to a 12 ,000

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square foot facility just up the road that our

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local utility company acquired on our behalf,

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renovated it to our specifications. And I raised

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the money to fit out that space with furnishings.

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And so we have a 11 ,000 and change 12 ,000 square

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foot co -working space. with conference rooms,

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a big training room, and then we have some rentable

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office space upstairs for small startup companies

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that really can't afford their own space yet,

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but need to be together, teams of three to five

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to seven, and still need the free services of

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the conductor. So wait, so the space you're talking

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about, is this Innovation Junkie space? No, it's

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Startup Junkie. Okay, I was kind of curious how

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many square feet, so thank you for answering

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that without me even asking. Yeah, it's called

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the Arnold Innovation Center. So obviously this

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is needed in many communities. And I'm glad that

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in our community, we have a lot of startups and

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also a lot of like the SBDC, you're right. There's

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a small business. There's a lot of companies

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coming together. Actually, our local city. of

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Ormond Beach actually got involved with a fast

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track program and myself and a few people were

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trained to deliver the fast track program for

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about four times. I think that we've been able

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to do that but reaching out and at like for these

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grants and I have a kind of a side but you see

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a lot of uh, people saying, oh, you got a company,

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I could get you a grant, but it, can you explain

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that it's not, first of all, to be very careful

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who really gives a grants. And since you really

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have been doing this, maybe some tips on what

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to look for to make sure that you are dead. You're

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not getting scammed. Yeah. Nobody's going to

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give you money to line your pockets as an entrepreneur.

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Um, now if you are, if you are formally certified

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as a disadvantaged business, either a woman -owned

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business, a veteran -owned business, a minority

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-owned business. The biggest benefit of some

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of those certifications is that if you intend

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to do business with state and federal governments,

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then there are some carve -outs that are available

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there that they have to carve out a certain dollar

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amount of their contracts to award to these disadvantaged

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businesses. the grants and contracts that we

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go after are to produce specific outcomes for

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those agencies. So for instance, if the regional

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innovation cluster grant or contract was specifically

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to drive innovation in 12 rural counties in Arkansas.

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And so we were able to go and competitively apply

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and compete for that funding. And then we had

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to deliver metrics, performance metrics every

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quarter back to the US Small Business Administration

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in exchange for that continued funding. Same

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thing with the state of Arkansas. Now there are

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some grant programs like the Small Business Innovation

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Research Awards, which are SBIRs. They're usually

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sponsored by federal agencies. but you have to

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have a product or a service or some research

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that specifically solves a need that that industry

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is looking to solve. For instance, the Department

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of Defense is doing a lot of work around traumatic

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brain injuries. or limb amputations and how can

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we improve the lives of veterans in that regard

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and there's some research out there coming from

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some of the academic health sciences centers

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and as a result of that you might qualify for

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an SBIR but I will start off by saying is if

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or continue by saying is if it sounds too good

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to be true it most definitely is in 99 % of the

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cases and if someone tells you that they can

00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:33.669
write a business plan for you for a mere $1 ,500

00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:36.090
to help you secure a lot of federal funding.

00:14:36.529 --> 00:14:39.210
As my granddad used to say, run like a scalded

00:14:39.210 --> 00:14:46.629
dog. Yep. Go ahead. I've had people come to me

00:14:46.629 --> 00:14:49.929
before with their business idea, and I say, do

00:14:49.929 --> 00:14:51.809
you have a business plan? And they say, oh, yeah,

00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.919
right here. They plot down a beautifully comb

00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:58.240
-bound, spiral -bound document that's beautifully

00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.659
paginated and graphically designed. And they

00:15:01.659 --> 00:15:03.200
plop it down on the table and say, there's my

00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.299
business plan. And I say, tell me what's in it.

00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:08.500
And they go, they don't know what's in it because

00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:12.220
they didn't write it. And they paid 12, 11, 12,

00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.279
$1 ,500. And so I say, do the work. As an entrepreneur,

00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:21.980
do the work. You can't outsource. you can't outsource

00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:23.820
the creation of your business to someone else.

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.399
But you can get a free score mentor that way.

00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.139
I've worked with so many because what I found

00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:32.600
what I'm really good at is going to like kind

00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.100
of like that swap part or the lean Canva to really

00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:37.000
ask the questions because I'd be like what's

00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.419
the risk what let's talk about your risk. I don't

00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:41.580
have a risk and I'm like oh Okay, we're going

00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:43.379
to talk about risks even more now because you

00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:45.279
think you don't have risks. Who's your ideal

00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:48.159
client? Oh, everybody is. Well, if everybody's

00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.100
your ideal client, you're going to go broke before

00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:52.559
you sell anything. Or how many, who are your

00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.259
competitors? Oh, there aren't really any competitors.

00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:58.299
Well, at the very least status quo is your competitor.

00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:03.120
So true. Or even questions like, so what are

00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:04.740
you thinking for your business? Do you have an

00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:08.929
exit strategy? For sure. Yeah, it's going to

00:16:08.929 --> 00:16:11.470
be sold. And so we see that all the time. But

00:16:11.470 --> 00:16:13.769
you're right. We have the SPD. We always kind

00:16:13.769 --> 00:16:16.289
of think with score. We get them prepared, get

00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:18.809
their business plans so that they can go forward

00:16:18.809 --> 00:16:21.509
to look at any kind of funding, though. Let's

00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:23.789
be honest with each other. The grants make sense.

00:16:23.889 --> 00:16:26.409
It's very hard to go to a bank if you've only

00:16:26.409 --> 00:16:29.029
been in business for like a year and ask for

00:16:29.029 --> 00:16:31.190
a loan. But you can ask for a personal loan.

00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:33.809
You can guarantee it. But like. I think that

00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:36.190
it is really important. What makes me sad is

00:16:36.190 --> 00:16:38.090
businesses that want to start and they have a

00:16:38.090 --> 00:16:41.289
great idea, but then everyone that they reach

00:16:41.289 --> 00:16:44.389
out to is asking them for money. Yeah. And so

00:16:44.389 --> 00:16:45.970
before they could even kick off their business.

00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:48.490
So it sounds like you're the, and I love the

00:16:48.490 --> 00:16:50.210
name innovation junkie. I think that's great.

00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:54.190
Conductor junkie that you have to pay something.

00:16:54.230 --> 00:16:56.389
I think that that's okay, but that you're not

00:16:56.389 --> 00:16:58.279
like they're, they're getting they're getting

00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.340
the service for what they are because $1 ,500

00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:03.799
to pay for a business plan that you would that

00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.000
you've not actually done yourself. I totally

00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.000
agree with you. I didn't even realize that people

00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.359
would charge that much money. It is crazy. So

00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:14.559
how could we like, so when my daughter and I

00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.380
did the four month road trip, which ended us

00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.980
in Arkansas, but we were driving through so many

00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:21.240
small communities and I'm like, Oh, I wonder

00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:24.640
if they have anything like this. So like in the

00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.019
United States, do you have an idea of how many

00:17:27.860 --> 00:17:31.039
incubators or these kind of the. Like how many

00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.299
are there? Well, I can. I don't know in the United

00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:36.599
States. I can tell you about Arkansas. You know,

00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:38.640
and in fact one of the initiatives I'm focused

00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:43.460
on is to try to organize these accelerators incubators

00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:46.000
onto ESOs, entrepreneurial support organizations

00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.720
into a membership type of organization. We actually

00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:52.299
have a summit. We call the ESO Summit every year

00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:54.859
and we have a call that's orchestrated every

00:17:54.859 --> 00:18:00.140
month and and there's. There's anywhere from

00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:03.960
75 people, 45 to 75 people on the call every

00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.420
month. And when we have our ESO summit, we end

00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:10.839
up having a couple of hundred people there, but

00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.859
they're loosely organized. And so we're in the

00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:17.200
process of trying to create that membership organization

00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.700
for them so we can provide ongoing professional

00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:25.339
development and what have you. In terms of accelerators,

00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.880
There's several hundred of those around the country.

00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:34.579
Incubators, there's probably a few, not as many

00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:37.339
as there are accelerators. And then entrepreneurial

00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.819
support organizations are people who see as part

00:18:40.819 --> 00:18:43.000
of their mission doing entrepreneurial support,

00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:49.039
probably several thousand of those. In your conductor

00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:52.460
junkie and your innovation junkie, when you hold

00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:54.700
courses, let's say how to write a business plan

00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:57.359
or a boot camp, whatever that may look like,

00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.160
is that open to the public or just for your members?

00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.359
No, no, no, no. It's open to the public. So for

00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:06.599
conductor and startup junkie, everything we do

00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:10.490
is free and open. Everything we do. Wow. For

00:19:10.490 --> 00:19:13.049
innovation junkie, that's more traditional consulting

00:19:13.049 --> 00:19:15.549
engagements, one client at a time, right? But

00:19:15.549 --> 00:19:20.650
on the conductor startup junkie side, it's open

00:19:20.650 --> 00:19:24.210
to anybody. Now, we do have a membership program

00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:27.609
for our coworking space over at the Arnold Innovation

00:19:27.609 --> 00:19:31.450
Center. So basically, we have about 150 members

00:19:31.450 --> 00:19:36.269
that pay $25 a month. And for that $25 a month,

00:19:36.309 --> 00:19:40.150
they have unlimited coworking space. They have

00:19:40.150 --> 00:19:43.470
access to about five hours a month of conference

00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:46.450
room time, free coffee, free snacks, monthly

00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.970
luncheon. Of course, it's more convenient for

00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:51.130
them to go to a lot of our events because they're

00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:53.710
right there. But people can come that aren't

00:19:53.710 --> 00:19:55.470
members of the Arnold Innovation Center can come

00:19:55.470 --> 00:19:57.890
in and go to those events as well. You know,

00:19:57.890 --> 00:20:00.170
I love the whole idea of it. I think of like,

00:20:00.569 --> 00:20:02.670
you're like if you had if you had your arm was

00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:04.509
broken, but you had kidney problems and you had

00:20:04.509 --> 00:20:07.180
a heart. And now you have to go to every single

00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:09.339
office, but here you've got everything all at

00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:12.539
once so that if you get accepted, it's a big

00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:14.779
deal because now you have access to all these

00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:16.940
resources and you don't even have to really travel

00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:19.599
and you can get them right in your backyard.

00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.059
I mean, that's amazing. And you have, you have

00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:24.259
boundaries. Like, is there like a certain amount

00:20:24.259 --> 00:20:26.720
of time? Like, is there like, okay, I'm, I'm

00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.640
a new member now, innovation junkie. I've got

00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.980
my office, I move in and I'd like to have 10

00:20:31.980 --> 00:20:35.740
hours of free consulting. Is there a limit? No,

00:20:36.259 --> 00:20:39.779
no. So, and then what about marketing? Well,

00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:41.940
we coach them on marketing. They do their own

00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:43.920
marketing. Okay. So you kind of give that. So

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.119
you bring in other speakers to talk about the

00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:48.180
different aspects. We have what we call the conductor

00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:50.700
connect, which is a group of subject matter experts

00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:54.440
that, uh, that are business people in the community

00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:58.160
who, who volunteer anywhere from two to four

00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.059
hours a month. And they come and hold office

00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:03.140
hours and, and people can book 30 minute meetings

00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:05.220
with them. We have. A couple of digital marketing

00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:08.000
experts, we have a couple of software development

00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.319
experts, we have a managed services technology

00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.140
person, we have an attorney, a couple of CPAs,

00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:16.619
several bank loan officers, and they're part

00:21:16.619 --> 00:21:20.789
of our subject matter expert network. So like

00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.369
the one thing with score, and just to be honest,

00:21:23.509 --> 00:21:26.230
I mean, after score after eight years, 400 hours

00:21:26.230 --> 00:21:29.109
of voluntary a year, I needed to step down because

00:21:29.109 --> 00:21:32.049
I'm still I always said to score our local office,

00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:35.150
I am your risk. You know, I am I am the threat

00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:38.609
because I still work. So any time I'm not retired,

00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:40.869
so I may leave. And that's exactly what I had

00:21:40.869 --> 00:21:43.509
to do so I can build my own business. But is

00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:46.710
there is do the people that are volunteering,

00:21:47.369 --> 00:21:49.589
coaching and consulting, they're paid for it.

00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.880
or are they coming in to donate that time, but

00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.299
can they also turn it into business or are they

00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:58.500
like a conflict of interest? What does that look

00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:01.660
like? Yeah. So basically they are donating their

00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:05.160
time for the conductor and we tell them that,

00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:09.279
look, it is highly likely that some of these

00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:12.599
clients that you coach with free, might end up

00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:14.380
being paid clients of yours. But here's the only

00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:17.099
thing that we ask. We ask that you don't have

00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:20.519
that conversation in your free coaching engagement,

00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.440
right? And you decide upfront, how many hours

00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.500
can any one person consume from you? Is it two

00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:29.799
hours? Is it one hour? Is it three hours? What

00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:32.480
is it? And if they say, hey, I really want to

00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.859
hire you to do this for me, we ask you to respond

00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:37.980
in somewhat of a similar fashion where you say,

00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:39.779
hey, you know what? I'd be happy to do that.

00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.240
Let me get back to my office and I'll send you

00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.099
an email and we can follow up on that outside

00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.559
of here because this is funded by the conductor

00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.359
and what you know that this service is free.

00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.880
So we ask them to just draw a big, thick black

00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.180
line. Number one, decide upfront, how many hours

00:22:54.180 --> 00:22:55.960
are you willing to spend with any one client?

00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:58.500
And number two, if you want to follow up with

00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:01.140
them or they ask you about doing it for them

00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:02.700
or you wanna follow up with them about that,

00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:05.660
you do that from your office, not ours. So what

00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:07.579
if they have a workshop? They're teaching digital

00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:10.559
marketing. There's 50 attendees. Are they able

00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.920
to get the name of the attendees and reach out

00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:16.299
and market to them? I love that. I love that.

00:23:16.660 --> 00:23:19.440
I think that's really great. The way we normally

00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.680
do that though, the way we normally do that is

00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.940
we ask them and what they usually do is they

00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.019
say, here's my contact information. I'm available

00:23:30.019 --> 00:23:34.589
for free 30 minute consultations. And so they

00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:36.750
offer that 30 minute consultation. People reach

00:23:36.750 --> 00:23:40.309
out to them and that starts from there. I really

00:23:40.309 --> 00:23:42.970
enjoyed talking to you. I didn't know what innovation

00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:45.210
junkie is, but I think it's great. What can listeners

00:23:45.210 --> 00:23:47.349
do that maybe are not in the area? What if there's

00:23:47.349 --> 00:23:51.349
someone here that absolutely 100 % knows branded

00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:53.069
merchandise? Like I grew up in the promotional

00:23:53.069 --> 00:23:55.369
products industry, so I know logo merchandise.

00:23:55.789 --> 00:23:58.329
Is there a way that I could say to you, Jeff,

00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:01.730
I could do it or someone else locally in Arkansas

00:24:01.730 --> 00:24:04.730
to teach about marketing and branding solutions?

00:24:05.309 --> 00:24:08.250
Yes. So if they're located in Arkansas, obviously

00:24:08.250 --> 00:24:10.730
reach out. We have those kinds of conversations

00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:13.309
all the time. If they're outside the state of

00:24:13.309 --> 00:24:14.789
Arkansas and they want to talk with me about

00:24:14.789 --> 00:24:18.029
innovation junkie, I can be reached in one of

00:24:18.029 --> 00:24:19.710
two or three different ways. One, I'm very active

00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:24.210
on LinkedIn. Number two, jeffs at innovationjunkie

00:24:24.210 --> 00:24:27.029
.com, jeffs as in Jeff standards at innovationjunkie

00:24:27.029 --> 00:24:29.809
.com, and then jeffstandards .com is my own personal

00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:32.369
website. I love it. Thank you. I'll put those

00:24:32.369 --> 00:24:35.130
on the notes too. And I had one last question,

00:24:35.150 --> 00:24:37.390
but it went in my ear and out the other. Shoot.

00:24:37.470 --> 00:24:39.309
Hold on for one second. I'm so sorry. I was,

00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:44.049
I wanted to ask you. Okay. Forget it. Oh, so

00:24:44.049 --> 00:24:47.210
before we go, what is the one big challenge that

00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:51.960
you are actually like seeing? startups come into.

00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.940
They have the idea, they're working towards it,

00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.460
they have the family that says yes, they even

00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.359
got the money. But what's that biggest challenge?

00:24:59.940 --> 00:25:03.660
The biggest challenge I see is that they haven't

00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:07.440
really vetted whether or not the business problem

00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.119
they're trying to solve is one that people will

00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:12.440
pay to have solved. So in other words, they come

00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:16.819
up with an idea and they haven't really tested

00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:21.190
that idea with potential customers. They make

00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:23.990
a lot of assumptions and they don't validate

00:25:23.990 --> 00:25:26.349
or attempt to invalidate those assumptions before

00:25:26.349 --> 00:25:28.490
they mortgage their house or throw a bunch of

00:25:28.490 --> 00:25:31.269
money at it or quit their jobs or whatever. And

00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:33.730
they run out of money before they figure out

00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:36.369
that they were only about 60 % right in their

00:25:36.369 --> 00:25:39.509
assumptions. We're gonna end on that note because

00:25:39.509 --> 00:25:42.230
that is excellent advice. I think that that...

00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:45.299
And when you watch that happen to someone, it

00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:48.019
can really hurt because you just had some some

00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:50.700
more thought and get rid of that idea guys of

00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:53.660
everyone's my client, I can work with everyone.

00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.039
So I always say to people, you know, they say,

00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:57.819
well, we talked about LinkedIn, I always say

00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:00.420
you can't find me on LinkedIn, as far as if you

00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:04.440
were looking for a 62 year old, overweight, chunky

00:26:04.440 --> 00:26:09.410
woman. Yeah. So like if that if I am the person

00:26:09.410 --> 00:26:11.230
that you want to market to you have to find another

00:26:11.230 --> 00:26:12.789
source because we're not fine. So like you have

00:26:12.789 --> 00:26:15.690
to know where to find your your clients. I love

00:26:15.690 --> 00:26:17.569
it. I love talking to Jeff. Thank you so much

00:26:17.569 --> 00:26:19.990
for spending your Friday. Thank you for understanding.

00:26:20.009 --> 00:26:22.829
I'm a guardian ad litem so I I volunteer. What

00:26:22.829 --> 00:26:24.730
is your purpose? What is I? Well, I feel like

00:26:24.730 --> 00:26:27.170
what you're doing is actually part of your passion

00:26:27.170 --> 00:26:30.069
project too. Is there something else more personal

00:26:30.069 --> 00:26:32.869
that you donate your time to? My calling is to

00:26:32.869 --> 00:26:35.089
create new insights that lead people to better

00:26:35.089 --> 00:26:38.900
ways of living and working. And so I have two

00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:40.900
grandbabies, one that will be two this weekend

00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:44.440
and one that just turned two months. I have two

00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:46.559
daughters, both of whom are nurses. One's a neonatal

00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:48.779
nurse practitioner and one's a pediatric oncology

00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:53.000
nurse. My favorite thing to do is to spend time

00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:55.240
with my family either at the lake or we just

00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:58.339
got back from vacation together. And so that's

00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:00.500
what I contribute my time to outside of what

00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:03.880
I do here. Wow. So you had, you got to go on

00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:06.700
vacation with your two daughters and your grandchildren.

00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.259
Oh, that is a gift. That's a gift. Thank you

00:27:10.259 --> 00:27:12.299
so much for your time. I really enjoyed speaking

00:27:12.299 --> 00:27:14.740
with you. And anyway, I can help you. I'm happy

00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.559
to share any posts and you out there, you out

00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:20.099
there share posts, get on Jeff's LinkedIn. I'll

00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:22.319
put in the show notes. Thank you so much. Have

00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:25.400
a great rest of the day. You too. Bye bye. Thank

00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:31.539
you. Perfect. Thank you so much.