NoCo Laboratories

We are amidst working on getting everything up and running. And right now it is looking more and more like we will find our first home up near Colorado State University. 

This is interesting for many reasons. First, Boulder is considered a Mecca of innovation although anybody that lives and works here knows that is not necessarily true. There are a lot of restraints to starting up in BoCo, especially seeing as how we are looking in to the research, development, and high tech realm. Sure, software development is great and all for Boulder and in those regards it is like the Silicon Mountains. But that is not what we aim to do. 

Which is why we are heading up north to Ft. Collins. We are looking at collaborating with CSU, the Innosphere, Power Mountain Engineering, and the St. Vrain Valley School District to open up our first lab. 

Right now we have two primary people running our operations. Come mid-November they will look to garner more strategic partnerships and community interest. 

As far as development and next steps are concerned, we will be giving white paper and elevator pitches (next post will be a how to) at a meeting to gather funding, at STEMComm, and at the STEM Ed round table. 

Additionally, the founder and CEO, Siouxsie Downs, is amidst applying for the Thiel Fellowship grant to continue developing humanitarian engineering projects as well as IQCO laboratoriums. 

  The next steps are really focused on partners and potential members. We are hoping to have an initial plan in the next two months to getting our first lab fully funded or at least space acquired. Then we can begin to turn out attention to creating an awesome community for people to learn and build. 

Cheers and happy hacking,

IQCO Mgmt

Why You Need To Cold Contact

So if there is one thing I can attribute to having any amount of success in this world, it is from the people I have met.

90% of all work that gets done is a direct result of who you know. What I mean by that is: you may have an idea; be it a great one ore a mediocre one, and you pitch it to somebody that believes in either you or that idea. When you do that, they may mention it to their friends. Unbeknownst to you, those friends happen to be venture capitalists, technologists, and reporters. Now you have the ear of people of consequence. 

You will never know if the person you just met will change the course if your future. So treat everyone kindly. Know what will get you seen. Have an elevator pitch. Know how to make introductions and cold contacts. Most importantly: Be nice! 

So I'll show you exactly how I've managed to get people in touch with one another and how I've managed to pull some strings here and there to get things done.

First: Take Inventory. 
Think of everyone you have connections to. 

• What groups are you involved with? 
• Who have you meet at seminars, events, or gatherings?
• Who have you worked for? 
• Who do you know that is within two degrees of separation? 
• Who are your social media contacts?

Write all of these people down on a list, preferably with their contact information. Keep a running log of who all you know. I ended up finding out that I am 2 degrees of separation from Brad Feld, Peter Thiel, Gov. Hickenlooper, and Sean Connery.  My point from this being: just keep in mind who you already know. Most of the time it is far easier to reach out to somebody that you could use the help from if you already know somebody to make an introduction between the two of you. Collect an eclectic mix of friends. 

Second: Know why you want to get in touch with people.
Develop your elevator pitch.

• What are you trying to do?
• Who is your target audience?
• WHY should they care?
• How are you unique?
• Keep it simple.
• Keep it short.
• Be prepared for questions.

I recommend having a brutally honest friend. Actually, for every entrepreneur, I throughly believe that it is imperative to have at least 5 friends that can completely disregard your feelings for a moment in order to give you proper advice. Find them, and pitch your idea to them. 

Do NOT go to an investor and give them a 7 min long explanation detailing your life's works whilst saying nothing substantive. Be concise. Be clear. Be succinct. And always remember that brevity is the heart of wit. If you can be comfortable explaining what you do to your grandma, then you probably have a good pitch (unless your grandma worked for NASA, then she doesn't count). 

Third: Who can help you with that?
Start head hunting.

Once you know what, exactly, you are trying to do with your elevator pitch, figure out who might be interested in helping you out with it in any relevant capacity. How would you find them though?

•  Look at your inventory list. Who works in the field closest to the one you are interested in?
• Think of what you need to achieve your goals. Money? Think of investors that look to work in your field. Space? Look for co-working places that have owners that are tied to your interests. Be creative and you will be warmly rewarded. 
• Keep an eye open to multiple sources. Ask around to see if any of your friends know anybody of interest. Watch for interviews with people on your topics. Look for authors that have written on your area of interest. 
• KEEP TRACK OF CONTACTS. What I mean by this is simple: look up mind mapping. Make a mind map of all of your contacts. relate them back to how you met them and who ele they know or what companies or organizations they are involved with. A little organization goes a very long way. 

The more people you reach out to to see who they know, the more likely you are to be able to run in to somebody that knows or is interested in helping you out. There is nothing wrong with having a ridiculously long contact list, because even if you do not need somebody's help right now, you will never know if you will on your next endeavor. So know what each of them do and how they are available to help. 

Fourth: Who can you introduce to others to help them?
Become important to others.

By this time, your contact list should be getting pretty large. This is an opportunt time to increase your value to those around you. If you are the one with the connections, then you are the one with the power to start getting things done. I will note this is optional, but HIGHLY recommended.

• Ask people what they are involved with and how THEY need help.
• Read up on Game Theory, and the mathematics of kindness. Help people get connected and they will want to thank you. 
• Look for ways to always be meeting new people and get them in touch with one of your other contacts as soon as you meet them.

An example of an an introduction:

Oh, hey Sam! How is your band going? I heard you are finishing up some songs for the Battle of the Bands Competition. I actually wanted to get you in touch with Jessica and Scotty. 

Jess, Scotty; this is Sam. He is the bassist for an awesome band that's just getting started. They are getting a ton of attention in their hometown and winning competitions like crazy! 

Jess is a bar owner that I am hosting a networking party at. I am looking for a band to play for the event. 

Scotty is a DJ at a pirate radio station and a co-director with me at our hackerspace. He is working with Doomed Records and they are looking to get some new artists out.

Scotty: "Oh hey, I also know of a kid whois doing game design. He is looking for some people to do scores for the music on it." 

 This is how those conversations usually go. You get the ball rolling. You don't have to be the center of attention. Just check back up with them later and the next day ask your respective friends if anything came of their meeting. They will thank you profusely and say "yes" in 90% of the situations.


Fifth: How to make an effective cold contact.
When you have to go for the shot in the dark and put yourself out there.

There are a million and one ways to do this. You just have to be gutsy about doing this. And tactful. Tact will go miles with respectable people you've only just met. There are a few of the places I have had luck meeting interesting people at.

• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• Emailing CEOs, Authors, Reporters, Techs, and everyone else you can think of
• Chatting with someone at a cafe, library, co-working space, etc.
• Talk with a speaker after an event.

In every cold contact: shorten up your elevator pitch to about 1/3 of the length. Tell the person who you are, and why you are interested in who they are. If you were like me, and only a 16 year old girl cold-emailing a CEO of a tech company to talk about nuclear energy, then show your knowledge without gloating, and leave out some of the personal details.

Finally: Touch base and keep in contact!
Don't drop the ball on your contacts.

Touch base a week after first contact. ALWAYS reconnect. They will be impressed and will remember you. Mention how you met and what you talked about. 

And don't be annoying by emailing them every day for a week. Respect their time. Thank them for speaking with you. Cut to the chase and be somewhat persistent. 

I had made contact with the CEO 11 months prior to when I started getting regular responses back. His company was dealing with securing investors. My contact was obviously not top priority. However, reaching out almost a year later saying I was still untested has done wonders. I'm going to start developing with them in the next couple of months. 

And one last thought: never rule anybody out because they may have surprising connections. Don't burn bridges when you leave anything because that effectively creates dead ends. You want as many possible routes of communication as possible. If the NSA is right and every human in the world is only 6.4 degrees of separation from one another, start teaching out now! 

Happy networking!

P.s. If you are a company and want help contacting anybody: I am more than willing to help you out with a nominal (or nonexistent) finder's fee. I can give many examples of people I've helped so far. 

Happy (Network) Hacking!

Entrepreneur Problem #143: Companies Without Customers

Alright, I have a full fledged website: http://www.iqco-op.org, I have a VP. We have business cards. We are hosting 2 events coming up. But... There's only one problem with IQ Co-Op. We don't really have any customers to speak of.

Odd predicament, I know it mus seem: to be a business with everything but the customer base. But believe me, there is a reason for this madness. I am trying to boostrap my company. So unfortunately, that means getting it off the ground with my own out of pocket expenses. I need to have some sort of infrastructure set up before I can even get customers. If the majority of my income is going to come from having my own place, then that means something very simple: I need seed funds before I can go and start a space. And it's not like I can go and get a loan as I am a mere 18 years old. But, that is not to say that I can't find other ways of earning money to save up until I have enough interested members to be able to get this going on a quicker projection.

So I am teaching classes, holding seminars, and hosting networking parties as well as conferences in the near future and start up competitions shortly after that. Once I have enough prospective members meeting and willing to throw down dues to get this started, and I have maybe a sponsor or two, hopefully a Thiel Fellowship, and  enough saved up to open up a space that I can host my own classes out of, then GREAT. I'll be all that much closer to being in the black.

I am not too terrified about not having any real customers, yet. There is a difference between understanding that you are working on creating infrastructure and deluding yourself to think that you never actually need customers. That is your income base. You actually want to make money, not just spend it.

So, no, not too terribly concerned. Although if another month passes and there hasn't been much of a change in... anything... then there will be reason for concern. It is all about being reasonable given the circumstances.

Use good judgment. That is some advice that I think I could impart to all of you would-be entrepreneurs: Use common sense! Have a plan. And revise it. Often.

I am pretty sure my description and aims of IQCO have changed slightly a multitude of times in the past months. I had to. You adapt or you die.

So now, I am waiting to be able to start actually making money. Yes, that will come about in about a week or two, but I want to start working on that now. Not later.

High Tech Trade School.

So I think now is an opportune time to delve a bit into the nuts and bolts of IQCO. This, in essence is our elevator pitch.

You have heard of makerspaces. You know of skill shares. Heck, half of you may even know about the Exploratorium.

This is none of those. This is all of those. And more. This is the high tech trade school of da Vinci, Tesla, and Tony Stark. To prove a point, I will be teaching a class about how to forge rings as well as attempting to create a Farnsworth Fusor. I am helping create traditional makerspaces and am self publishing. I am working on a network and humanitarian engineering. 

So my dream for IQCO is to let people of any niche work doing whatever they love. People need to start working jobs that they actually like. Science, math, history, astro, computers, art, literature, metal smithing, anything. Learn what is actually interesting to you. 

Apply for a science fair. Look for an angel investor. Produce an LP. Publish a book. 3-D print. Mentor. Apprentice. Start a business. I know I've harped on this before, but it's because it's true. 

Imagine a place where you can learn all the cool things school never taught you. Build all the fun stuff you could jot down on the side of your notes. Create the job you wished you could have. And without paying the thousands of dollars to get there! 

Explore the world around you. 

Learn. Create. Innovate. 

And remember, 

Keep calm and hack on. 

-IQCO Mgmt

Start. Switch. Repeat.

Art by Sage Asakawa -> amazing artist btw

So in the past few days I've managed to become a director of another non-profit. I've found a space to start IQCO Labs. My plan for there federated hackerSpaces is now being rolled into the non-profit, which made me have to completely rethink my business model. 

I've only just got three rest of the information I needed to get started on the start up cup, and am taking to the owners of an arcade bar, Press Play about hosting networking parties there. I'm going to start being a dj for a pirate radio station. And I still have my seminar at the university next month. 

I've been working on my book. And working with my employees. 

This Friday I'm meeting an author for lunch with another guy in my city. We are in the same book. More on that later. 

Somewhere in here is a point I'm trying to make. Things change. Quickly. I'm looking at a huge contract for engineering. I had to reinvent my company structure and income model. I'm involved in so many more projects. I have about four interviews this week. 

So you needed to go with it. Roll with those punches and enjoy the ride. Always keep an eye for new opportunities. I'll elaborate more on the Laboratorium later. Along with the summation of my updates. But until then, look for how things are changing. Work with that. Never be obstinant in the face of life. 

So keep calm and science on, everyone. 

AND: listen to Canker Blossom

(They are on FB)

And a StartUp Cup

So apparently I am going to be hosting a startup competition here in Boulder County where IQCO is currently based out of. 

It will be in 4 months. 

I decided this 4 min ago. 

This is a good exercise on learning to stop procrastinating. Because I don't have time to procrastinate. And you shouldn't either. I am going to be working on an entrepreneurship competition in 4 months. I'm on the board if directors of a HackerSpace opening up in 2 weeks. I might have to make IQCo-working spaces near the HackerSpace: TinkerMill. 

I need to refine my plan for IQCO this week. One of my contractors just inherited a house and wants to turn it in to a hackerhouse. I want to add her to the IQCO network. I want to know about what people are working on in Corvallis, OR and how I can work with them in Longmont, CO. I want to get people collaborating within the network, and to incentivize membership to meet new personal and professional contacts, to have awesome resources, and to have IQCO membership work like an EU passport where they can work in any fellow IQCO space or house on the cheap. That is the heart of the Co-Op: to create a network. To share knowledge and skills. To create a global culture of innovation. 

Which is why it's also quite nice that I was contacted by the president of SolidState Depot to talk about working together between TinkerMill, IQCO, SSD, and everyone else. 

So I will try to keep everyone posted. And hope my head stops spinning one of these days. 

And remember:

Keep calm and hack on. 

Cheers.

-IQCO Mgmt

TinkerMill

Today I did the most simple thing: I showed up. I listened to what the universe was telling me when I found out about the new HackerSpace, and I felt that this would be a great opportunity for myself, and for IQCO, so I went.

And now I am on the board of directors for a HackerSpace opening up in two weeks. This is an awesome opportunity for me to learn the ins and puts of running a HackerSpace. Additionally the city wants to work with us to create a huge space, an incubator, and a general ethos of innovation within the city. It is exactly what I wanted to do with IQCO, but I get to have a running start on this. 

I'm also going to have TinkerMill become a member of The Switchboard. I am thinking I can have a networking party, have them present at the event with others and that will be a source of income for IQCO along with the classes until we get our own place up. Apparently, directors of NPOs also get incomes, which I was unaware of. I will try to get that going in about 6 months so I can work on TM full time. Along with IQCO. And playing for Boulder County Bombers in Longmont as well. This is just one of those things that you have to seize the opportunity as you see it. I get to be a DJ, run networking parties, build a makerspace, found accelerators, and connect thousands of like minded people. 

I may be able to do what I love full time soon. How great would that be? What hacker doesn't want to do that? 

So I must admit that today was a great start to the month. I am already counting my blessings and I am getting things rolling. I don't know how things worked out so perfectly, but I am so thankful that they are. I am thankful for everyone that has believed in what I'm doing, everyone that offered to work with me,and everyone that let me go on my crazy tangents about wanting to start a company. 

Cheers everyone, and have a lovely day. 

IQCO MGMT