Greater Winston-Salem Inc. held the first in a series of entrepreneurial events called Founders Forum last week, with the goal of championing the interconnectedness of the Winston-Salem entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The inaugural event, held on April 7, consisted of two portions – a startup spotlight, focusing on a newer company, and a major founder conversation with a well-established company. Jennifer Byrne, founder and CEO of Javara Research, keynoted the major founder conversation and Greater Winston-Salem Inc. highlighted the Opin Media Agency, founded by E.A. Green, as its startup spotlight.
The goal of the Founders Forum is to establish a regular gathering for entrepreneurs to make connections and gain resources and insights.
“Winston-Salem has one of the strongest startup communities in the Southeast, in part because it is easy for founders to plug in to resources here,” said Mark Owens, president and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. “We have the network in place – and now with the Founders Forum we have a platform for people to create meaningful connections within the network and leverage opportunities to grow their businesses.”
During his speech, Green gave an overview of his journey as an entrepreneur to where he is now running his own company. Beginning by offering people help with and studio space for podcasting, the Opin Media Agency now offers services in event and campaign media and promotional content.
Green emphasized the importance of a support system, noting that when he came to Winston-Salem, he did not know anyone. Through connections at Work, he met Magalie Yacinthe, now the director of HUSTLE Winston-Salem. She helped Green further his connections and made introductions for him and held him accountable, so that when he was ready to begin his startup journey, he had a strong support system to help him take his business full-time.
Opin Media Agency operates out of a 3,000-square-foot space in downtown Winston-Salem and has customers across the United States.
Bryne, in a discussion with Clay Johnson, the director of entrepreneurial initiatives at Greater Winston-Salem Inc., talked about her entrepreneurial beginnings in childhood and desire to be in clinical health care research. Her journey – like most entrepreneurs – was not linear and took time, effort and the support of others, Byrne noted.
The company she founded, Javara Research, works to democratize and expand clinical research by partnering with large health care systems. Founded in 2018, Javara has scaled very quickly, employing approximately 170 and having raised over $13 million.
One of her biggest takeaways from scaling a business so quickly and so successfully is what Byrne called the “5-to-10 rule.”
“Starting a company – even having a lot of domain expertise, tremendous network, unbelievable support company – I did not have appreciation for that. It has been five times harder than I thought it was going to be, cost five times more than I thought it was going to be and it took five times longer,” Byrne said. “But if you stick with it… it becomes 10 times more rewarding than what you think.”
Upcoming Founders Forum event dates are tentatively scheduled for May 26, June 16, August 25, Oct. 20 and Nov. 17. Founders Forum events are free and open to the public.
