VoD: Pay It Forward. Give. Ask. Receive.

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I was watching a StartupWeekend LA YouTube video in which Ming.ly Founder Tyler Koblasa was presenting the closing slide deck for the weekend event. During the deck, Koblasa talked about asking for help. He said when entrepreneurs get help from someone in the community, they need to find a way to help them back or, if they can’t, find a way to help someone in their network. 

He summed it up like this: “Ask for help and help back.” 

I met up with Koblasa in Las Vegas for a Startup Weekend event and told him how powerful that statement was. Since watching the video, I have included it in all my events, which include Startup Weekend, Startup Grind and local meetups. I'd like to offer a challenge to everyone: Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know and see if you can help them or someone they know.

There is a lot of talk about building a better Startup community including Brad Feld’s book, “Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your Community”. I am not sure there is a right or wrong way to build a startup community, but I do know it starts with one person who wants to make a change and help create opportunity for the community. There are a few ways of doing this. 

Give What You Take
I would suggest getting a list of local events, seeing which events closely align with your interests and then networking before the event. Be prepared to tell people about yourself, but also ask them plenty of questions and -- if you can --help. Try to meet with the event organizer before or after the event and see if there are ways that you can help directly or indirectly.

Don’t join a meetup event just to join the group. As an organizer, it is great when 100 plus people join your monthly event, but disappointing when only nine people show up. It is important to show support for the meetup and contribute to the event however you can. I personally join as many meetups as I can with the intent on trying to attend as many as possible. Take a friend and introduce them to a new coding language, the startup world, or get inspired by someone that you meet at these events. 

Adding to Community
The great thing about the startup community is that everyone has a really great story they are more than happy to share. Don’t worry if your day job isn’t in the tech space or isn’t worthy of announcing. Be who you are and come with an open mind. The community needs you and we are always willing to help support and/or connect you with someone that might be able to help you or sit down and listen to your story. 

Be a part of the community, learn from the community, give back to the community. When you win, we all win. Write a blog post about your experience at a meetup and share it with your network. 

Read blogs by people like Brad Feld or Bart Lorang (FullContact founding member). Google “startups in Denver” and start looking for people you want to meet. Connect with people on LinkedIn and see if there is a way you can help them. 

I have personally conquered my fear of asking for help and try to help in return as often as I can. If I can’t help, I try to find a connection that can and make an introduction.

The motto in which I am proud to share with everyone is “I won’t motivate you, but I will inspire you.” 

As my step-dad always said, “you gotta wanna,” which I would brush off and instead worrying about skateboarding with my friends. Now I understand the importance of this comment. You have to find the motivation and the inspiration will happen, trust me.

 If you would like to meet for lunch or coffee, please feel free to connect with me on Twitter: @JonRRossi or by email.