Fostering entrepreneurship globally

TiE Rockies’ passion and mission match

By Jan Wondra

For starters, the leaders of TiE Rockies know a thing or two about creating things … and growing companies … and funding companies. For another thing, this group is putting Colorado on the innovation map.

“We’re seeing five new startups coming into our program every month,” said Tie Rockies President Keith Larsen. “We’re creating a magnet between the East Coast and the West Coast. I believe that the biggest thing we can do for startups is to give them an environment where they want to work together and where they can succeed.”

Based in Centennial—as a founding supporter of the Innovation Pavilion, TiEs is based there—this chapter of the international entrepreneurial network brings real-world experience to the mentoring and funding resources it offers. The global headquarters of the TiE Network in Santa Clara, Calif., is a very international group with chapters in 20 countries. Its conference earlier this month saw entrepreneurial types from all over the world.

The whole TiEs network is 24 years old,” Executive Director Molly Berger said. “Our chapter was founded in 2001. We’re one of the more developed chapters and one of the largest with about 250 members here.”

As part of a comprehensive network of support, the TiE Network is unique.

“We’re very international. TiE Rockies has a club mentality more than other organizations I’ve been part of,” Berger said. “Once they know you’re a TiE member, people feel like they can relate to you more, trust you more. There’s an affinity here for working together.”

That TiE Rockies is not like other entrepreneurial groups become clear when you listen to its president.

“My focus—our focus—is on what it takes to be creative and innovative,” Larsen said. “We’re not an incubator. We’re an environment that helps startups—including those begun by experienced founders—reach the finish line faster.”

That sentiment is echoed by GP Saxena, chair of the TiE Rockies Angels Group, which matches startups meeting the TiE Rockies preparation stages with angel funding.

According to Saxena, about 30 angels invest here or participate with angel groups in other chapters.

“Our funding range isn’t limited to Colorado,” Saxena said. “Either we locate funding in this market or we connect qualified startups with investors in other chapters of TiE.”

The TiEs approach is important to many startups.

“We welcome any kind of entrepreneur in any industry in any stage, company or career,” Berger said. “TRIP is our accelerator program for early-stage companies getting ready to [raise] their seed money. We have open mentoring programs and early-stage programs. Because of this, our membership is diverse. We have a lot of professionals who are more executive level—serial entrepreneurs who at this stage are ready to give back to the community.”

Mentoring is the other rail of the TiEs approach. Paul Suchoski PhD., who says he is always looking for more mentors, chairs the TiE mentoring program. He says that Colorado’s environment is highly conducive to innovation.

“It’s hard to define, but it’s very special. It’s different than the northeast … or from Florida. It’s different from Silicon Valley or Seattle,” he said. “Here, when you have a problem or you’re trying to figure something out related to a distribution channel, a product-delivery problem, a funding need, people get involved here. They come together and actually try to help you solve the problem. There’s this truly unique sense of  ‘we’re all in this together’.”

This collaboration is not just talk. These folks walk the talk.

At a May 20 startup pitch session at the Innovation Pavilion, the audience of entrepreneurs asked questions and freely gave advice to the presenters. There was a general mood, supported through frequent reminders that in order to innovate you have to be willing to disrupt the way things are done.

“Disruption is a big word and its one that large corporations tend to avoid. … Shareholders don’t like it. They like returns,” Saxena said. “But in order to innovate, you have to be willing to stop doing things the way they’re been done and start doing them in new ways. Paul Suchoski and I make a complete circle. He trains the companies. Once they’re trained, I get them funding.”

While the tech field is its most popular industry, the TiEs network attracts key industry clusters in Denver south, including manufacturing, energy and a growing community around digital health. The Boulder area tends toward health food. 

“They all come out of industry with a great idea, but have no idea how to fund it,” Berger said. “Some have an idea and have no idea what to do next, or they have the idea and need access to funding. We help them understand their market, preparing a go-to-market plan, mentor them toward success. In gender, the entrepreneurial space still leans toward men, but we’d like to change that, and it’s a focus this year.”

Innovation is an addiction, but it’s something else as well.

“If you ask me why I do it, my answer is this is to see the future,” Saxena said. “What all these companies are doing does not exist today. They are trying to build something for the future. Innovation is about the future. We get to see the future by being part of the creation of it.”