Wednesday night we hosted our State of Innovation: 2019 Startups to Watch event with a packed house, full of local startups and supporters from the Richmond community. Thank you to our founding partners, Activation Capital and BDO for powering the evening, and to Work & Friends for supplying a great venue.
The night was centered around a panel discussion moderated by Kieran McQuilkin, editor at Richmond Inno. The panel featured Paige Wilson, founder of Naborforce; Joe Belsterling, founder and CEO of MajorClarity; Will Morris, founder and CEO of EdConnective; and Carolyn Kochard, COO at Brandefy.
We discussed the milestones these startups hit in 2018, what challenges they face in 2019 and how they plan to make this year their best. Our top takeaways are:
- The panelists agreed that making small, actionable goals helped their companies stay motivated without getting overwhelmed by large-scale projects.
- When hiring, competency is crucial but not the only requirement of a good fit – passion for the startup's mission is just as important. Morris uses a 90-day "trial period," where new employees can decide whether the company culture is the best fit for them.
- There's a growing pool of people looking for gig jobs that help their communities, and if the right technology is in place, tapping into that pool can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees.
- It's easy to get that first meeting with an investor in Richmond, but with a relatively small entrepreneurial population, there's tight competition for local capital.
In addition to the panel, we had Yay Lunch, Buddy, CoinSavage, Digital ReLab, Wayforth (formally Legacy Navigator) and RoundTrip showcasing their startups. A big thank you to everyone who attended, participated and helped make last night successful!
We’ve selected some of the best photos from last night’s event below!
