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Ann Arbor. Detroit. Grand Rapids. East Lansing. Kalamazoo. These are some of the cities in the state that are participating in Founders First Fridays, a program sponsored by the Michigan Founders Fund, where entrepreneurs meet regularly to foster community, connection, mentorship, and innovation. We are holding a social gathering.
Now Traverse City joins that list.
Broc Crandall is the founder of Stocked, a local startup and grocery delivery service specifically focused on northern Michigan’s robust vacation rental market. He’s also the mastermind behind Traverse City’s brand new Founders First Friday Meetup, which started last fall. On the first Friday of every month at 9 a.m., a group of founders and entrepreneurs from around the region meet at a pre-determined location to discuss challenges, opportunities, growth, and more.
“It’s very informal,” Crandall said of the meet-up. “We make the introduction, but after that we basically do something like: How is your business doing?” What are you stuck on? What can we do? It’s a very open conversation. There is no schedule. There is no strict structure in which each person can speak for her 10 minutes. That’s not true. The atmosphere is very open and relaxing. ”
The concept of Founders First Fridays isn’t necessarily new. Entrepreneurs across the state have been using this idea for years to meet new people, overcome business hurdles with the help of fellow founders, and strengthen their local communities. I did. But the idea only recently made its way to northern Michigan.
Crandall learned of the concept after Stocked joined the Michigan Founders Fund. The fund’s website describes it as “a network of entrepreneurs and investors who are committed to improving society by contributing 1 percent of equity or supporting impactful local organizations across the state.” . Build community and enrich quality of life. ”
“Essentially, companies like ours pledge 1 percent of the company upon exit or acquisition, and we donate that to the Michigan Founders Fund for founders starting new companies,” Crandall said. explains. “This is a resource for first-time founders to obtain funding for their ventures.”
Among the Michigan Founders Fund’s offerings are programs and events aimed at “creating continued opportunities for high-growth founders to collaborate with each other to achieve both business and community goals.” there is. One of his programs was Founders First Fridays, which Mr. Crandall learned about from Pete’s Martin, connection director for the Michigan Founders Fund. Martin told Crandall that many of the larger cities down the state have had regular monthly activities under the program’s banner, but Traverse City and nearby areas have none. There were no activities. Crandall decided to change that.
As Crandall says, he and his fellow local entrepreneurs, Chase Bonhaag of FirstIgnite, which develops AI-powered business development tools for universities, said, “This is what we wanted when we started our business.” We’ve always talked about it.” But while the growth of Traverse City’s business scene has made Traverse City a more friendly space for entrepreneurship, many of the networking opportunities and startup support services available here are less than what he thinks Founders First Fridays offers. Crandall argues that it doesn’t offer any strengths. Some, he says, are too formal or too structured. Some focus on specific niches in the business world and do not keep their doors open to everyone. Crandall hopes Founder’s First Friday will be a little more approachable for founders of all types.
“We got a lot of good feedback from founders who attended our first few meetups, and one of the biggest things was how excited people were about the event. Any It’s not just for tech people, it’s for founders,” says Crandall. ticker. “We talk a lot about technology entrepreneurship in this community, but not all startups are in technology. We have startups here that are producing goods, and we also have startups here that are producing products, and we also have startups here that are doing something else in the community. And they’re all trying to get their feet back, and they need help, but they haven’t found a support system like this so far.”
The sessions aren’t just for startups. Founders First Fridays also welcomes experienced veterans who have built large, successful companies. Crandall said one of the highlights of the early sessions was the appearance of Matt Block, founder, president, and CEO of TentCraft, who shared stories and tips from his days in the startup field. It states that. Since its founding in 2007, TentCraft has grown to become one of Traverse City’s largest manufacturing companies.
The local version of Founders First Fridays held its first meeting last fall at Happy Camper Coffee in Elk Rapids. But Crandall said the meetup quickly outgrew its capacity, attracting a few more people each month. The event’s new home is Riley’s Candles in Ground, and Josh Hart, founder of that business, is a regular participant in the sessions. The next Founders First Friday Meetup is scheduled for this coming Friday, February 1st at 9am.
“These events are free for people to come and hang out, have coffee, and chat,” Crandall says. “And it’s all about supporting entrepreneurs and trying to help them grow their businesses. It’s our way of saying, ‘Would you like to start a company right here in northern Michigan?’ Please let us know what we can do. ” In startup mode, you usually don’t have that many employees and you’re going through a lot of things that you don’t really talk about with other people. But you can talk to other founders. ”
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