‘We have to allow for failure,’ says serial entrepreneur; Scale announces 7 startups in second cohort
Summary
This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation.COLUMBIA, Missouri The biggest takeaway from Scales first cohort: the accelerators leadership needed to tweak its methodology for supporting founders, said Willy Schlacks.We have to allow for failure. Its goal is not to eliminate struggle but to help cultivate the required skills and mindset to prepare for it.Click here to read more about Scale.Leadership also found it more beneficial to make group sessions more collaborative and less lecture-based, as well as put more weight on one-on-one time, Schlacks revealed.The long-term goal with Scale is to build a massive sustaining community of entrepreneurs who are supported by access to capital, talent, network effects, and knowledge, continued Schlacks, who also co-founded the scaling Columbia startup EquipmentShare.Schlacks and his accelerator team are solving the access problem at a smaller scale through a proof of concept fund planning to raise multiple funds in the future.In five years from now, we plan to have a full team that is helping upward of 100 founding teams across the U.S. with a focus on the Midwest and underserved markets, he noted.When Ash Cintas founded her first business at 21, she needed a resource like Scale to keep her hyper-focused, she shared.I created a textile and turned it into a consumer product for the yoga industry. I come from a blue collar background and cobbling that together with some of the brilliant people who think in a more traditional tech startup type of way is, I think, a recipe for success.The other five startups in Scales second cohort include: Clearing (New York City, New York) Building a digital bank for property managers and real estate investors to manage multi-family units by having the flexibility to add individual accounts per unit. FusePay (Cambridge, Massachusetts) A payment solution that converts cryptocurrencies into fiat money in real-time to purchase goods and services online or in person. TheGoodz (Columbia, Missouri) Delivers convenient store essentials in less than 25 minutes using micro-fulfillment centers, in-house drivers, route optimization and transparent pricing.Click here to check out Scales first cohort.This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn