What To Do During Global Entrepreneurship Week in Denton

Cover photo by Royce Gosset, blog photos courtesy of Will Milne

Wondering why you should be excited about Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW)? We need entrepreneurs to continue solving problems, meeting needs, and filling gaps by designing and innovating with the future in mind. GEW is a celebration of the contributions of entrepreneurs then, now, and looking forward. During the week all over the world, organizations host events and offer resources to entrepreneurs and those who are aspiring to be. 

Entrepreneurs who run small businesses and startups in Denton contribute to our vibrant town and help make it a thriving, growing, supportive community of people pursuing their passions and making the city an even better place to live (read our blog on Why People Choose To Live, Work, and Play in Denton linked.) 

We work to encourage those small businesses and startups and provide resources, such as educational/networking opportunities and events (like Denton’s first startup conference, FlintConf), contacts (mentors, partners, collaborators, service providers), and tools that help entrepreneurs start their businesses and grow sustainably and responsibly. 

Participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in Denton shows solidarity for efforts locally and internationally to build up entrepreneurs and break down barriers for the entrepreneurial-minded but who might have limited resources or be located in ecosystems very different from the likes of Silicon Valley.

Read all about the week’s events (or just jump to the ones that interest you the most!)

Heather Steele, CEO and founder of Blue Steele Solutions speaks at FlintConf 2019, Denton’s startup conference for hipsters (creatives), hackers (techies), and hustlers (entrepreneurs)

Heather Steele, CEO and founder of Blue Steele Solutions speaks at FlintConf 2019, Denton’s startup conference for hipsters (creatives), hackers (techies), and hustlers (entrepreneurs)

Why We Need To Support Inclusion in Entrepreneurship

62% of women entrepreneurs say that their business is their primary source of income. Women-owned businesses added half a million jobs between the recorded period of 1997 to 2007 with even more jobs created by women entrepreneurs and their businesses in recent years, contributing significantly to their communities. 

It’s important to actively support women entrepreneurs, since “women, people of color, and especially women of color, report significant inequities when it comes to entrepreneurship. Women keenly experience gender bias as an entrepreneur (41%) and women of color experience a racial bias (33%).” 

It’s already a challenge for new companies to survive and thrive regardless of the gender of the founders, but women and minority entrepreneurs face even more difficulty as a result of less access to venture capital and traditional banking and facing bias from others. 

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GiGi McDowell, Founder and CEO of Fetefully, moderating a fundraising panel

GiGi McDowell, Founder and CEO of Fetefully, moderating a fundraising panel

Using Data In Your Marketing Strategy 

Tuesday, November 19th, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Stoke

Entrepreneurs of both types, high growth startups and small business owners, need to market themselves appropriately to connect with their audiences and ultimately grow their businesses. Many entrepreneurs/sole proprietors take on marketing strategy on their own. 

Though it can be difficult to know where to begin and what to look for in terms of data to analyze what’s working and what’s not in your marketing, it comes down to understanding that data.

During GEW, our monthly Lunch + Learn will be lead by Patrick Peters, longtime entrepreneur and professional designing and thinking at the nexus of media, technology, and data. Stoke offers Lunch + Learns to members and to the public, curating content to benefit those who are starting out as well as the seasoned entrepreneurs and small business owners in the community as part of our educational programming efforts. 

“I've always been at the nexus of media, technology, and data. That's taken different forms over my career, ranging from early development of interactive television technology , advertising and content models, to data-drive web business and publishing, to, currently, what I would call media analytics. We collect data from TV viewers with our software, so there's a technology element involved, but we use that data to create analytics to drive brands', content producers, political campaigns and other marketers' messages on television and other media.”

-Patrick Peters

You can read more about Patrick Peters from his Stoke mentor spotlight linked. His office hour is Tuesdays from 12 PM - 1 PM at Stoke in conference room two. 

We couldn’t put it in better words, so here’s an excerpt from a ReadyRosie blog written by Emily Roden: 

“Public awareness of the importance of early childhood education is growing – we now know that graduation rates and long-term academic success can be traced back to the amount of words in the mind of a three year old.  So how can we reach and equip parents, the first and best teachers of our nation’s youngest citizens? And how can we effectively equip them regardless of their educational or financial status, whether or not they had a positive educational upbringing, or irrespective of their ability to speak the English language?

As a former school teacher, I was convinced that every kid, regardless of their background, had an enormous amount of untapped potential.  As a mom, I knew that every parent ultimately wanted what was best for their children. So I gathered an amazing team of early childhood and content experts, and we set out to create a resource that unlocked the potential in kids by unlocking the potential of their parents.  ReadyRosie was born.”

Come learn more from Emily during an interview-style Fireside Chat at Armadillo Ale Works that’ll start at 6 PM with a happy half-hour prior and following. 

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The Strong America Tour Comes to Denton

Thursday, November 21st, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Stoke

Entrepreneurs lead startup ecosystems, while governments play a supporting role. Policy solutions and regulations can help companies start and scale, which is why public sector officials and other members of the community must work together. 

Join author and Strong Towns founder Charles L. Marohn, Jr. for a presentation on his new book and a community conversation about how to make Denton financially strong and resilient, tying into GEW 2019’s policy theme.

Topics that Marohn will cover include: 

• Why our cities are slowly declining and how to approach the problem in a rational way

• Why inducing growth and development just doesn’t work anymore

• Why old and blighted areas are often more financially productive than shiny new ones

• The power of “little bets” to strengthen communities and improve the lives of citizens

• How humble public engagement can create amazing insights

• The surprising ways that strong neighborhoods make us better people

“America’s cities are trapped in a vicious cycle. We can’t meet our basic financial needs, yet continue to fund new highways, new megaprojects, and new developments that fail to generate prosperity. 

Short-term growth may create the illusion of wealth, but it comes at the expense of long-term solvency, creating unpayable future liabilities. Charles L. “Chuck” Marohn, Jr., founder and president of Strong Towns, wants us to break this cycle. He believes we can build cities that last and restore strength and stability to our fragile system.

Meet Chuck Marohn.

Charles L “Chuck” Marohn, Jr., is the founder and president of Strong Towns and the author of the forthcoming Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. He is a professional engineer (PE) licensed in the state of Minnesota and a land use planner with two decades of experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s of urban and regional planning, both from the University of Minnesota. 

Marohn hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America. He is featured in the documentary film Owned: A Tale of Two Americas, and was named one of the Ten Most Influential Urbanists of all time by Planetizen.”

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Global Entrepreneurship Week Event Details

We hope to see you at some of these events! The Happy Hour + Fireside Chat (11/20 at Armadillo Ale Works) and Strong America Tour presentation (11/21 at Stoke) are free to attend and open to all. The SHEpreneur event (11/18 at Stoke) is $25 a ticket for dinner and drinks, and the Lunch + Learn: Using Data In Your Marketing Strategy is $4 for lunch and a lesson. You can RSVP on our Facebook, through Eventbrite, and in our meetup group.

The audience at FlintConf 2019

The audience at FlintConf 2019

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