On Wednesday night we brought together some of the state's brightest startups for our first State of Innovation: 2019 Startups to Watch event.
The night was highlighted by a panel discussion that included Caleb Scalf, Founder and CEO of Hygge Power, Eric Schraufnagel, Co-founder and CTO of ClinOne, Mike Linton, Co-founder and CTO of Parsyl and Aidan Chopra, Co-founder of BitsBox.
In addition to the panel members, other members on our Startups to Watch list: Shotzr, Sopris Health, Nikola Power and The Hopper Boulder had display tables at the event.
During the panel discussion, the founders discussed why 2018 was a big year for them, challenges they faced along the way and plans for 2019 and beyond. Our four takeaways are:
- Shark Tank is stressful. When asked about challenges BitsBox faced and how they overcame them, Chopra gave the audience two options. One focused on struggles with Facebook advertising...and the other was the company's experience on Shark Tank. Unsurprisingly, the audience chose Shark Tank and Chopra spoke to the intimidating nature the show presents. Though receiving an initial offer from Chris Sacca, BitsBox left without a deal, and Chopra said it was the correct decision for the direction of the company.
- Colorado is a good starting point, but VC dollars and expansion may have to come from out of state. Panel members were all happy with their decision to launch their startups in a growing ecosystem here in Colorado, but were realistic when it came to growth. Scalf talked about looking outside the state for VC dollars and expansion opportunities at Hygge Power grows. The panel members acknowledged that there is local VC money, but have taken outside investment to sustain their growing businesses.
- The people drive the local innovation economy. The panel members said the drive and ambition of the Colorado startup community makes building out teams easier. Chopra mentioned the growing popularity of hiking meetings, melding Colorado's passion for the outdoors with a growing startup community.
- Sometimes you just have to dive in. When asked by an audience member about their startup's 'secret sauce' and whether they knew they had it before they launched, the panel members unanimously agreed that it doesn't always work like that. They advised prospective founders to just jump in and make it happen, even if you aren't sure how it will turn out.
We want to thank WeWork and Comcast for sponsoring the event and making Colorado Inno's first State of Innovation a hit. Thanks again to everyone who attended and those that presented, we had a blast. Keep an eye out for our next event in May.
