A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson I’ve gotten more LinkedIn requests in the last nine months (since I started in my current role) than I did in the prior nine years. I have accepted very few of them.  I have a general rule of thumb: if we haven’t met each other, I’ll delay or deny the request. It’s not that we can’t ever connect there, it’s just that I keep that network secure, so that when someone asks for an intro I can actually make it happen.  And while that track record isn’t perfect (I do make some exceptions ..read more

Joe says, “When you rub the shoulders of large CEOs of organizations, you can benchmark yourself.” As retired CEO of Tractor Supply, Joe is quite the benchmark himself! He changed the trajectory of Tractor Supply, brought the company to Nashville, and his leadership has largely made the brand what it is today. (Hear Joe’s story in the video below). We are lucky enough to have Joe in our McWhorter Circle and as a valued member of our community. He embodies Stuart McWhorter’s four principles, and has several of his own pearls of wisom to share. In Joe’s own words, here’s his top 10 tips on ..read more

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson No matter the size or stage of your idea, Peter Drucker’s adage that “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” rings true.  And vital. Entrepreneurs who spend any amount of time at the EC know that we’re big on metrics and challenge them to be big on metrics, too. We want them to set goals, have targets, and name milestones. The more you visualize something, the easier it is to plan the steps to get there.  And while we’re not exclusively focused on data (trust me, we love a goo ..read more

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson In the heart of Nashville and across the United States, women are not just participating in the entrepreneurial landscape; they are transforming it.  Yet, they aren’t seeing the same levels of revenue or capital as their male counterparts despite the value they offer.  Proof is in the data. Here’s a 2024 Snapshot of women-owned businesses: 42% of U.S. businesses are women-owned, employing 9.4 million and generating $1.9 trillion annually. Daily, over 1,800 new women-owned businesses ..read more

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson Three weeks in to this big, bold, beautiful new year and we’ve filled several rooms with entrepreneurs (and those who support them): January 4th we debuted our Cereal with a Serial event series, featuring a conversation with Josh Mundy, CEO of Pivot Technology School. January 9th our newest InFlight cohort kicked off with 24 new entrepreneurs. January 11th over 200 people joined us for Project Healthcare’s our First Look event and Vanderbilt’s Innovation Startup Practicum kickoff. This brought toge ..read more

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson No matter what your new year holds, I bet none of your resolutions are the following: Do more things alone Get exhausted and constantly run out of energy Never ask for help Humans are wired for community. Since our earliest ancestors formed groups to meet basic needs, generations have relied on each other to grow, succeed, and prosper. And if there is any group that needs to focus on relying on community more, it’s entrepreneurs.  According to research by Intuit QuickBooks, roughly 23% of peo ..read more

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re continuing to share remarkable women in our ecosystem who embody our ethos. Each of these women have made a big impact in their respective industries and in our community. Some are just taking off, some starting their second venture – some with growing families! Take a look at the round-up of “she-roes” and celebrate some of their recent wins with us (in the order pictured above). Deanna Meador Founder of Couture Technologies As part of the founding team at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt University’s Innovation Center, Deanna has provided programming, mentors ..read more

As part of a nation-wide tour to find promising business concepts, Entrepreneur Ventures partnered with the EC to host The Consumer Challenge, a pitch competition for consumer-focused startups.  Four local founders presented their company for a chance to win a spot on Season 11 of Elevator Pitch, an exciting series showcasing emerging startups produced by Entrepreneur Media. The finalists included:     ●  Aabesh De with Flora     ●  Nikki Sanz with Giggs     ●  Justin Gray with Potluck     ●&nb ..read more

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson If you want to succeed, you have to fail. I don’t mean you have to be willing to fail. I mean you have to actually fail. At least, that’s what the research shows. Check it out: “Among the founders of billion-dollar startups, almost 60% were not first-time founders.” (link to Medium) But failure matters not just because you might create a unicorn the next go-round (that’s supremely rare no matter what). It matters because without failure an entrepreneur may not build the resistance they need to ..read more

Wintery storms caused a necessary pivot for Project FinTech’s Roadshow that was set to take place the second week of January. While four cities were scheduled in-person, the EC’s Project FinTech Program Manager, Maryn Papazian, partnered with TheCoLab in Chattanooga and Epicenter in Memphis to pull off these two engaging and successful virtual events: FINTECH INNOVATION SESSIONS – CHATTANOOGA Local FinTech leaders in Chattanooga joined Project FinTech founders, Entrepreneur-in-Residence Lee Farabaugh, the co-founder and president of Core10 along with Adam Aspes, managing partner at JAM ..read more