Networking events are great if you're looking to meet new folks and chat about the week's developments. But what if you're trying to solve critical issues like scaling strategies for your business or entering your product into the commercial market? As part of a new model at Innovate Newport, Greater Newport Chamber Director of Innovation & Business Development Mollie Frazer Williams has helped launch Startup Founders Dinners. These are smaller, more intimate events for a cohort of local founders to gather and take on large-scale problems.
The idea, Williams said, was born after one of the events Innovate Newport hosted last spring in which several of the bluetech startup founders stayed behind after the event and casually chatted in the café over refreshments.
“They were asking each other questions and seemed to find comfort in being able to share the highs and lows of their personal and professional journeys as founders,” Williams said. “I realized that all founders are facing big challenges and it can be a lonely journey. Wouldn’t it be awesome if they had a regular opportunity to be with a consistent group of trusted colleagues to learn, share, and connect.”
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Williams said the Founders Dinners are more than a networking opportunity and were pitched as a concept to the group, which includes Daria Blout (Deep Blue Composites), Ben Sorkin (Flux Marine), Ian Estaphan-Owen (Jaia Robotics), Christine de Silva (Juice Robotics), Ben Grossman (Kanu), Andrew Bikash (Kanu), Rob Torgeson (Kestrel Innovative Fibers), Brian Amaral (Ocean State Sensing), Allison Cote (Ocean State Shields), Phil DiMuro (Founders Approach) and Adam Alpert (Pangea), in December. Using their direct feedback, Williams designed the program content and speaker lineup.
Williams has scheduled several more Founders Dinners to be held bimonthly on a Wednesday at Innovate Newport from 6 to 8 p.m. Each dinner will be composed of the founders and a guest who will lead a discussion on specific monthly topics like sustainable scaling, strategic planning and marketing, and problem solving and pivoting.
“This is a community and a cohort that learns and shares together over a delicious meal, and under the guidance of dynamic and experienced entrepreneurs who serve as expert mentors,” she said. “I think Founders want and need access to resources, mentoring, and networking and this allows for these growth-oriented founders to share – in a completely confidential setting – the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, and how it impacts both their professional and personal lifestyles.”
Salve Regina Vice Provost David Altounian was the guest of honor at the inaugural dinner last week, Williams said. In addition to starting Motion Computing, one of the pioneering tablet computing companies, he is also a partner and mentor at Capital Factory, one of the leading entrepreneurship centers in Texas.
The Founders Dinner is an invitation-only cohort, and while this year’s group is set, Williams said anyone interested in future events should reach out to her directly. Williams also lined up local food entrepreneurs to cater the dinners and local businesses to sponsor. Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling stepped in to sponsor the Feb. 15 dinner.
*We want this to be a comprehensive program. Founders will have access to resources and other wrap-around services beyond the dinner events themselves. For example, if during the dinner, we determine that founders would like an additional workshop on a specific topic addressed, we may line up a workshop during the in-between months,” she said.
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