As we enter year four of operation, we’re reflecting on Stoke’s place (literally and figuratively) in Denton.
Collaboration Over Competition
We know that the heart of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem is the community of people within it, which is why we do our best to build up that community and support it. Witnessing Stoke members connect with and help one another, regardless of what business they’re in or their background, is watching our mission of cultivating community and empowering entrepreneurs in real time. We’re able to make this happen through
Workspace infrastructure
Events and programs for all Dentonites
Connecting people to others + resources
Launching programs like AccelerateHER in partnership with TWU Center for Women Entrepreneurs
which you can read about in this article!
Denton has a unique mix of entrepreneurs: those who are the founders of scale-able, high-growth startups, seeking employees every so often to meet the needs of their growing company; and those who are business owners and side hustlers who nurture and sustain small businesses that contribute to the richness of the town, fill gaps, and fulfill needs in the community. On our Stoke reading list is Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, in which, this idea is summed up succinctly:
“Entrepreneurial companies have the potential to be or are high-growth businesses whereas small businesses tend to be local, profitable, but slow-growth organizations. Small-business people are often “pillars of their community” as their businesses have a tight co-dependency with their community.”
-Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City by Brad Feld
Supporting both kinds of entrepreneurs helps grow a community of thinkers and doers, techies and creatives, movers and shakers, and others who are invested in positive, sustainable change in Denton. Stoke provides professional workspace and meeting space and handles the details for some of these entrepreneurs: overhead, utilities & facilities, amenities, and resources for a small company (sometimes, even of just one person!) or a growing startup so that they can focus on what matters to them and will help them advance their goals. We bring together a diverse, talented, skilled community of people, listen to, care for, and connect them, with the goal of helping each person do their best work and accomplish their own goals. A rising tide lifts all boats.
“Speed dating” at Stoke’s mentor Mix + Meet in February 2020
Workspace Infrastructure: Office Amenities Without The Office Price
Stoke was built out from a warehouse originally constructed in 1948 as the Railyard area of Denton was developed in 2015 by Links Construction and the Martino Group. Advocated for in large part by the tech and startup community of Denton, Stoke was initially a partnership between the city of Denton and the Dallas Entrepreneur Center to become a collaborative space for entrepreneurs.
The work and meeting space was ergonomically designed and arranged to be as conducive to different work-styles as possible. Large windows in the three conference rooms let in natural light and tall ceilings lend a spacious, airy atmosphere to the common working areas.
Stoke is furnished with large desks and comfortable chairs, easily adjustable standing desks, and seating areas that encourage movement from space to space and a break from being sedentary. (Studies show that it’s not sitting or standing that’s detrimental to your health; it’s remaining in one position for hours on end - read the full blog here.) People working from Stoke also have the option of using a phone call room (during non-pandemic times), reserving a conference room, or taking a stroll outside or sitting at the picnic tables on the patio if they need to take a call in private.
A view of Stoke overlooking a row of coworking desks and dedicated desks on the other side of the plant wall partition
Couch and lounge areas, tall tables, and conference rooms can all be used as meeting space. Equipped with a whiteboard, flatscreen tv, and conference telephones, conference rooms offer a professional, quiet, private alternative to meeting in coffee shops or restaurants.
Events and Programs For The Entire Community
Most importantly, Stoke organizes, hosts, supports, and sponsors programs and events that bring together Denton’s tech and startup community, inviting novices and experts, those starting out and those long-dedicated, and the movers, shakers, doers, and makers to learn and apply it all to making their visions and missions happen. Topics covered focus on aspects of launching your startup, promoting and marketing your company, as well as leveraging existing content and emerging tools to remain on trend. As a result of adapting to COVID-19 practices and going virtual, Stoke has created content library and YouTube channel (linked).
Along with member events like a monthly member huddle and happy hour, Stoke has hosted meetups on tools like WordPress and Webflow that enable people who aren’t web developers or who don’t know how to code to create their own websites.
Programs like Lunch & Learns, Coffee + Convos, a morning meetup with experts, entrepreneurs, and peers, and Fireside Chats give people a chance to hear from those with wisdom and insights from having “failed” and adjusted their plans, who are also members of the very community that they find themselves in.
In addition, Stoke hosts events organized by organizations like TechMill, TWU CWE, NCTC, DataReady DFW, HackUNT, as well as other groups and individuals.
Big Ideas 2019 in the Stoke event space
Networking Among Stoke Members and With Fellow Dentonites
Stoke has a diverse member, mentor, and partner network with an even more diverse collection of strengths and expertise from the people involved. As a professional setting to meet and connect, both in the virtual space and physically, Stoke benefits the community at different levels in the realms of business and economic development as well as culture making and creativity. Collaborative collisions happen organically among Stoke members and Dentonites at events and in-person as well as through facilitated connection by Stoke staff members.
By reaching out to members of our community from different backgrounds and in different fields, Stoke works to ensure that content published online as well as content topics for events and program are pertinent and relevant to the needs of the community.
“A startup community must be extremely inclusive. Anyone who wants to engage should be able to, whether they are changing careers, moving to your city, graduating from college, or just want to do something different. This applies to entrepreneurs, people who want to work for startups, people who want to work with startups, or people who are simply intellectually interested in startups.”
-Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City by Brad Feld
Incubator Program in Partnership with TWU Center for Women Entrepreneurs
Recently, Stoke and the Center for Women Entrepreneurs, a program within the Jane Nelson Institute for Women's Leadership at Texas Woman’s University, launched it’s second iteration of a startup incubator program, AccelerateHER, the first of its kind in Denton. Focused on helping women and women identifying entrepreneurs develop their businesses and take their products and services to market, the program is taking applications from interested parties between July 6th, 2021 through August 13th, 2021, and will officially begin in October. A long time in the making, this incubator program will help Denton and North Texas entrepreneurs reach milestones in the development of their products, services, and ultimately, businesses.
Stoke: Cultivating Community & Empowering Entrepreneurs
Stoke surveys its members as well as the broader Denton community regularly to ensure that the content and resources that they provide align with the needs of the population that they serve. A successful entrepreneurial ecosystem engages everyone within it, and Stoke works to do so with each initiative we develop and offer.
TL;DR
Stoke takes care of the infrastructure needed to run a business and hosts events & programs that help business owners with their professional needs, all in an effort to build up an inclusive, supportive, and helpful community while engaging the entrepreneurial stack and talent pool in Denton.