“Startup Mountain Summit” remembers those who are suffering from Hurricane Helene
The second annual event continues on October 1 through midday.
The travesty that impacted nearby Carter and Unicoi Counties in Tennessee along with Asheville and Western North Carolina were clearly on the minds of people who attended Monday’s first day of the second annual “Startup Mountain Summit” in Johnson City.
Prior to the flooding that devastated many communities in the two states, FoundersForge, the organizer of the event, expected 240 to attend. The number was probably closer to 150. Yet, as we reflected on the tagline of the organization – supporting rugged entrepreneurs – we could not help but be inspired by the spirit of optimism that pervaded the event.
Jose Castillo, who emceed the event along with Kiki Schirr, stated it well at the beginning of the summit. “Entrepreneurs are doers. This is the Volunteer State. Thank you for being who you are,” he said as he referenced the work that lies ahead and the opportunity to do good.
Jeff Hilimire leads the first session
The Atlanta native used the occasion to share his nearly 25-year personal journey as an entrepreneur from his first start-up while a student at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. He and his roommate built webpages. His topic was titled “Purpose as a Business Model.”
After first building a site for his aunt’s business, they landed a $65,000 contract and took on considerable debt, only to find some months later that the client filed for bankruptcy.
“I don’t think I would have been able to build a successful business if that had not happened,” Hilimire said.
Later, after an interaction with a potential customer who eventually chose a competitor, the lightbulb went off when he realized the competitor had a purpose but his company did not.
“We identified a great user experience as our purpose and things began to click,” Hilimire explained. The company grew from $450,000 in revenue to $9 million within five years.
How do you find your own personal purpose?
He described a two-part process. First, what are you passionate about? Second, what do you want to see changed in the world?
“Your personal purpose is somewhere in the middle,” Hilimire said.
Near the end of his presentation, he described how to build an individual purpose playbook through a three-step process.
1. Build a trusting leadership team.
2. Employ PVTV which is an acronym for purpose, vision, tenets, and values.
3. Share everything with your colleagues.
Steve Carse shares ways to have fun while working
Like Hilimire, he is based in Atlanta where he and his brother started King of Pops after getting laid-off by AIG. The company is now in eight states, and Carse has a book coming out in 2025 titled Work Is Fun.
What are his seven principles for having fun at work?
1. Work on your epic story that describes something you really want to be a part of.
2. Work on patience.
3. Take ownership by focusing on outcomes instead of individual tasks.
4. Take pride in your work. While ownership can be given to someone, pride is self-generated.
5. Work on play, occasionally being silly which can breakdown barriers while increasing productivity, morale and creativity.
6. Work on team. “Teamwork is easy once it is authentic,” Carse said.
7. Work within the tension. Noting that COVID created real challenges for the event-focused King of Pops company, Hurricane Helene created another set of challenges.
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