We've spoken a lot about competitions, who we are, and what we do here at The Hatch and Spartan Innovations. But what is this experience like for a small business person working with The Hatch and Spartan Innovations? Josh Leider, CEO and Founder of TempoRun speaks his piece:
Entrepreneurship. A word that our current general society connects with one thing: A brilliant idea. Hey, even I believed that's all you needed to be an entrepreneur…well, up until this past school year. Now, my view point has completely changed. A great idea is a factor in entrepreneurship, but it's only a small factor. The real necessity in entrepreneurship is a strong network of creative and energetic individuals. A great idea can take you a long way, but without proper "friends", you will not know where to turn when lost in that crazy place they call the "startup world".
I came about this new found mindset of entrepreneurship after joining the Hatch and Spartan Innovations, East Lansing's premier business incubator and student entrepreneurship community. In the fall, I began formulating a new business idea for an app that could help runners improve their fitness abilities using music tempo as a guide for their runs. I had worked on a few ventures in the past, all of which I had taken on by my self. One day, I was speaking with one of my friends about my idea and he recommended me to Paul Jaques, Director of Student & Community Engagement for Spartan Innovations and The Hatch. Immediately after the discussion with my friend, I had absolutely no intention of contacting Paul, but after I really sat on the idea of seeking help from others, I decided to give it a shot. That was the start to one of the biggest journeys of my life.
After meeting with Paul and learning about the extensive amount of ways Spartan Innovations and The Hatch could bring my business to life, I decided to try it out. Since then, Paul and his organization have helped me bring my project to life as well as brought me into the friendly, warm community of MSU entrepreneurs. Currently, the Hatch provides us with office space on Grand River where my team and I hold meetings and do all our development. Can you believe that, we have an office! I know, crazy right? Spartan Innovations provides us with startup funds as well as interns that have helped us create financial models, formulate our marketing plan, create legal contracts, and even develop our logo which would have cost us big bucks. Everyone who resides in The Hatch is warm hearted and always open to helping my team and I in any way they can. There is something special about MSU's entrepreneurship community, and I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this group of individuals before I graduate in May.
Our app, TempoRun (www.temporunapp.com), is currently in development and we are looking to launch in April. Through Spartan Innovations, we have made it as a top eight finalist in the country for South by South West's Student Startup Madness national pitch contests where we will be traveling down to Austin in March and pitching our idea at SxSW in hopes of securing more funds for our project. Our team has also made it as a top six finalist for ACE 13's pitch contest on January 31st in Livonia, Michigan. The progress we have made in these last three months after joining Spartan Innovations and The Hatch is something I still have trouble wrapping my head around. We went from an extremely rough sketch in my notebook to a real business that is competing for HUGE funds in national tournaments across the country. None of this would have been possible without Spartan Innovations help. If I could give any advice, if you have any creative ideas you think you would like to pursue, or you are just interested in learning about entrepreneurship in East Lansing, or maybe you just enjoy business but are looking for a unique way to strengthen your abiltiies, CONTACT SPARTAN INNOVATIONS. Trust me, it may be the most important decision you ever make. I know it was for me.
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