How “Give / Give / Get” Came True Via Startup York Region

At Startup York Region, we've used the phrase "Give/Give/Get" quite a bit to describe the culture we're trying to foster (let's be honest - Jennifer Green first coined the phrase and it kind of stuck because it was kind of perfect).

This phrase refers to the idea that one will come to the table happy to support others and offer help with no expectation of immediate payback (and have that mindset for an indefinite time) yet at some point, something good will come back to them. The goodness may come directly from someone who they've helped, but more likely it won't. The Universe (if you will) will find a way to help this person back.

This isn't a philosophy that works for everyone - I respect that. This post is just my own story of where Give/Give/Get not only happened, but it happened to the extent that I'd recommend considering it.

And for those who like flipping to the end of the book before continuing to read: I'm hoping someone(s) will read this and be supremely inspired to volunteer to help plan Startup York Region activities (including helping with our website).

The Story Begins

Back in June 2013, I left a comfortable corporate job to see how I'd fare on my own. In addition to my consulting work (people were very generous to me right off the bat), I had started to host a meetup called the Markham Entrepreneurs Support Group. The idea was to create a forum for local entrepreneurs to gather in a no-pitch and no-sales setting to share experiences and best practices. Grow the pie instead of fight over one, so to speak.

In late 2013, I came across Startup York Region, the local chapter of Startup Canada. Jeremy O'Krafka was leading it, but with the growth of his business, he didn't have the time to dedicate to Startup York (this isn't a change of name - "Startup York" rolls off the tongue easier). After a quick discussion where we realized we shared a common vision, we agreed that he'd step away and I'd pick it up. The transition was complete by Feb 2014, and I was leading Startup York.

Startup York: Business Picks Up

We started with a roundtable of established local entrepreneurs, and since then we have done a few things:

• Partnering with the Markham Library (and Amanda Kelly's vision), we co-created and have co-hosted 16 Entrepreneurs in Residence "EIR" Talks sessions (and counting). These are TEDx-like talks where 3-4 entrepreneurs share their personal journeys ranging from "I left corporate, did this and that, and now here I am" to "I've always been an entrepreneur from the time I bought boxes of popsicles and sold each one to my friends" to "I was happy, something catastrophic happened, and I've fought to get back on my feet - right here in front of you". The whole point of EIR was to bring communities together via sharing compelling and vulnerable stories - both of which tend to be very inspiring. And why not foster community by inspiring one another?
• Partnering with the libraries in Newmarket, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora and Richmond Hill, we have supported the expansion of EIR in York Region - which has helped strengthen communities in other municipalities outside of Markham.
• Between these two EIR tracks, there have been 81 EIR speakers since we started the talks.
• We have hosted 16 Startup Drinks, monthly gatherings where entrepreneurs have shared business-relevant knowledge and ideas in a casual setting. For most of these gatherings, we've invited someone to share some specific knowledge, to act as an icebreaker while also educating the attendees, and we've covered topics as diverse as hiring through LinkedIn, building a marketing plan, when not to use social media, "my trip to the Dragon's Den", how to use Quickbooks Online (with support from Startup Canada and Intuit Canada), content marketing, building a makerspace, pros / cons of incorporation vs. sole proprietorship, and peer-to-peer mentoring.
• With York University (and Nilay Goyal's vision), we co-hosted a Startup Finance Bootcamp, where participants received hands-on mentoring and tips from several CPAs.
• We were a co-organizer of the Startup Weekend York Region in January 2015, and introduced an overview of resources that help entrepreneurs in York Region, which has since been updated and then featured by the Regional Municipality of York, BetaKit, and other great organizations.
• We have earned a place at the table with partners such as ventureLAB, Seneca College (including their on-campus incubator HELIX), PechaKucha Markham, York University (LaunchYU) and the Ontario Centres of Excellence. There are many more, and I would consider being at the table with people from these organizations is an accomplishment in of itself - one that I'm grateful for.

As a volunteer-run and not-for-profit organization, we've done good things. I'm pretty demanding of myself, so I tend to wonder what more we could have done (Better leverage the website! Build a larger core team!) - but I am also proud of what we've accomplished, and the connections that our forums have helped to foster along the way.

Like my co-organizer Jennifer Green, my efforts with Startup York have been made out of love for the community. I started my work with the Markham Entrepreneurs Support Group out of a curiosity of whether I could make an impact for other entrepreneurs - by creating a venue for connections, for learning, for new partnerships. Startup York presented a similar opportunity, but on a larger and better-supported scale.

We've pivoted many times, but the goal has never changed - help entrepreneurs in York Region, and if possible, share some of that love with entrepreneurs in other locations (Toronto, Peel Region, Durham Region, Vancouver, wherever). I never hoped to personally benefit from this work - it was always a labour of love, and something to do because it felt right.

I can pinpoint when this began to change, and when the "Get" part of the slogan kicked in.

Before November 2014, I noticed that any conversation that began with my consulting work would quickly turn to Startup York - mainly because I lit up about that side more. In November 2014, I had a conversation that began with Startup York, but moved into consulting (the reverse of the previous trend). The person in question asked me if I knew anyone who did processing mapping ("Yes: me."). That led to an engagement that lasted a couple of months, which I was very happy with. And then 2015 became a bit of a turnaround year.

To be clear, I was working hard and while I was worried about the next contract, overall I was happy with where I was and what I was doing. I'd been doing interesting work, meeting remarkable people, and had the freedom to do what I wanted to do - e.g., build Startup York and the entrepreneur community in York Region. No complaints.

And in 2015, I still did things that felt right for the community. Startup York continued to build momentum, Startup Weekend York Region in January was a fun time, and I co-founded the Y2 startup bootcamp for teens with 5 then-high-school students (a life highlight, let me tell you). But unexpectedly, several consulting projects came my way, all as a direct result of my work with Startup York. I think Jennifer found the same thing. We were both getting referrals and inquiries from our Startup York work, and we were both, to some extent, surprised by it. I won't pretend to speak for Jennifer here - ask her yourself!

I think what happened was that my skills and intangibles were unintentionally displayed in the work I did with Startup York - again, in a volunteer and non-profit capacity. People who were appreciative of what was happening with Startup York decided to offer me opportunities that seemed to fit with my demonstrated skills, and I found myself in a different place than when I entered 2015.

In a nutshell, I've been crazy-grateful to have been offered opportunities to speak (including being onstage with some fine company at Startup Canada's #EveryEntrepreneur event at MaRSS in Toronto), record a podcast (thanks again, Startup Canada), chat on the radio on Marc Saltzman's TechTalk show (thanks to Jonathan and Robert for the introduction to Marc - much appreciated), help organize the TAVES Consumer Electronics Show, led several projects for several clients, and help build global awareness of PerfectlySoft's server-side Swift product - because of my work with Startup York.

I don't believe that I would have received these opportunities had I not gone full-throttle with Startup York. And I did that (the full throttle thing) because I believed in the cause of bringing together entrepreneurs in York Region, not because I ever expected personal profitability.

I suppose this might sound silly to some - and again, if that's the case, I respect our differences. I started off with the goal to help the community, and I still have this goal. I never sought to make money off of my Startup York work - in fact, I had always been happy to assume it would always be a labour of love (and it's just fun to help build a community). But somewhere along the way, the "Get" in Give-Give-Get happened, and I guess I wanted to testify that yes, it can happen.

Testify!

I wanted to share that last sentence because we're a thin team, and the movement could benefit from some help. Event planning is always an opportunity, and help with our website is another. Not just maintenance, mind you. I'm thinking that we have a great opportunity to use startupyork.ca to do interesting things beyond what it's doing today - we just need some more power to make it happen. We don't have tons of specific ideas - we would love to work with someone (or two) who have the imagination, execution skills, and time (you advise what you can spare) to make it happen.

If someone wants to be paid for this work, Startup York isn't the right fit. But for someone who's interested to meet some new and remarkable people (and for me, I've met some people via Startup York who today I call good friends), build some (web, or other) skills, and ultimately make an impact, please let me know. We could use some help to build this community. And it doesn't need to be web related - it could be another crazy idea to help build the entrepreneur community in York Region, nothing to do with web.

Have an idea or comment? Find me on LinkedIn or Twitter - or hey why not follow Startup York?

Thanks for reading.