Launching 12×12 To Expand Entrepreneurship In Massachusetts

Tuesday May 4, 2010 by Jeff Bennett - Founder and President, NameMedia

Entrepreneurs are an interesting group of people that can be described in many ways:  smart, creative, visionary, energetic, risk takers, inventors, persistent.   The process of entrepreneurship is very exciting and an awful lot of work all in one.

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs that worked on many creative ideas, concepts, products and businesses.  If you cross country ski with waxless skis you are using a product invented by my Uncle Bill.  This is one that hit it big long after it was conceived.  It was one that passed through the gauntlet.

Having a great idea is pretty important, but it is just one step in a long marathon.  Most ideas die on the vine because the entrepreneur does not have the wherewithal and resources to turn that idea into something.  There is so much to do.  It can be mind boggling and surely overwhelming.

When I was preparing to launch NameMedia a wise friend and colleague asked:  ”do you know how steep the learning curve is for a first time entrepreneur?”  My response was surely…I can handle it.  Also, first time?  Hey I have been an entrepreneur since I was eight when I founded “Minuteman Landscaping” as my lawn mowing company and I have participated in many ventures since.  Participating is one thing.  The full responsibility of leading is completely different.

All you want to do is focus on that big idea and getting it to work.  But then a few other things get in the way of supporting that important work, like fund raising, finding space, recruiting a team, getting incorporated, setting up an equity plan, finding health care, specifying the product, building the prototype, market/user testing the prototype, and the list goes on and on.  All necessary things.  Tons of them.  You want more than a 24 hour day.

I can honestly say now that I had no clue how much there was to do.  I do now though.  Having lived through the elation and hell of that first time…the fire burns to do it again.  You can tell the real entrepreneurs as they are the ones that are compelled to keep learning and building companies.  These people are my heroes as they take on all of the risk in pursuit of launching and building companies that employ lots of people.  Pro athletes train hard and display amazing athletic abilities.  It is the entrepreneurs that should be on the cover of Wheaties though as they are the role models that continue to innovate and drive our economy.

Babson has for a long time prided itself on teaching entrepreneurship.  Full disclosure, I am a Bentley guy.  My belief is that you dont teach people to be entrepreneurs.  They are or they are not.  If you are an entrepreneur you surely need to learn a lot and I am sure that Babson can help on this.  Bentley can too.  BU, BC, Harvard, Northeastern, UMass and all the other great schools around here can teach you aspects of business.  Entrepreneurship I think you have in the heart though.

Knowing how difficult it is for an entrepreneur to actually get a venture off the ground, I have tried to share some of my experiences with other entrepreneurs.  I joined the TechStars Mentor program, where I mentored Oneforty, which has now been funded by Flybridge Capital.  I joined the BOD of a couple of companies like Swaptree and RatePoint.  I have formally/informally advised some other ventures that I think are cool and have incredible entrepreneurs at the helm like Adtuitive (now acquired by ETSY) and others.  This is very rewarding work.

I was so psyched to also get an introduction to Michael Greeley and Andy Ory late last year to talk about a big idea they had for helping spawn more entrepreneurial activity.  Thanks Jules Pieri, another talented entrepreneur who is working hard to build the DailyGrommet, for making the intro.  The big idea was to get together 12 experienced entrepreneurs that could be the mentor/advisor to 12 younger and up-and-coming entrepreneurs to launch 12 new ventures.  The program would then have 12 VC’s join the program to provide seed and early stage investments for the ventures.  Its all coming up 12’s.  The program would be called 12×12.

I thought on the concept and said, I wished that 12×12 was around when I first did this.  I would have saved many sleepless nights.  I would have had an experienced resource to attack that steep learning curve.  The confidence that comes from knowing you are doing things correctly the first time…rather than many fits and starts.  Having a sounding board that has been there.  An unbiased counselor that is not looking at the venture solely as an investment.  This would have been incredible.

Earlier this year the 12 CEO’s got together with the 12 VC’s for an informative dinner.  We all shared some experiences.  We all had some laughs and learned a little bit about each other and things we could apply to our own businesses.  Michael and Andy hosted the dinner and were accompanied by Jonathan Kraft and  Steve Vinter of Google who have joined the organizing group.  Also part of the organizing committee are Desh Deshpande of Sparta Group and Paul Sagan of Akamai.  Entrepreneurship is the driver for our economy and Governor Patrick recognizes this, so he came to share in the meeting as well.  The Governor got to spend time with each of us that night.

I am pleased that Michael and Andy felt that I could help in this important movement.  Today at the Nantucket Conference we announced the launch of 12×12.  I am pleased to be joining some incredible entrepreneurs  in this program that include:  Colin Angle of iRobot, Jim Baum of Netezza, Joe Chung of Allurent, Helen Greiner of CyPhy Works, Brian Halligan of HubSpot, Tim Healy of EnerNOC, Diane Hessan of Communispace, Scott Savitz of ShoeBuy.com, Brian Shin of Visible Measures, Ram Sudireddy of CHiL Semiconductor, and Michael Weintraub of Humedica.  This is a great line up of entrepreneurs who can really make a difference.

The venture partners involved are Jon Auerbach, general partner at Charles River Ventures; Liam Donohue, general partner at .406 Ventures; Scott Friend, managing director at Bain Capital Ventures; Jamie Goldstein, general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners; Felda Hardymon, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners; Matt Harris, managing general partner at Village Ventures; Mike Hirshland, general partner at Polaris Venture Partners; Eric Hjerpe, partner at Kepha Partners; Bob Hower, general partner at Advanced Technology Ventures; Paul Maeder, general partner at Highland Capital Partners; Eric Paley, managing partner at Founder Collective; and Carl Stjernfeldt, general partner at Castile Ventures.

So now the fun begins.  New ideas.  New concepts.  Working closely with an entrepreneur to build a new company.  Sounds like important work.  Sounds like fun.  This is what we were born to do.  Lets rock on right here in Massachusetts!

Jeff Bennett is the Founder & President of NameMedia in Waltham, MA.  This blog post was originally published on April 30, 2010.  You can find this blog post, as well as additional content on his blog located here.

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