Monday, January 7, 2019
Reflections On 2018: Matt Stodder, Startup Boost LA
During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. Here's the contribution by Matt Stodder of StartupBoost LA (our apologies to Matt for the late post, our fault, not his!)
What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?
My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. With Startup Boost, we had dozens of investors, service providers, successful entrepreneurs, and major industry leaders (including Microsoft, Google, Softbank, REME, and TechStars) coalesce around our initiative to help early stage companies get to the next level. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). Yet they turned-out each and every week of our six-week programs. We continue to have a steady stream of industry and thought leaders raising their hands to be mentors for our upcoming cohorts. The desire to build and advance this community is strong.
What was the biggest news for your organization in 2018?
Startup Boost became global, growing to six cities in 2018 (Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Detroit, Dublin and London), helping over 70 early stage startups. In L.A., where I am co-director, we helped 16 companies over two six-week cohorts (selected from over 220 that applied). Our most recent Demo Day in November 2018 (at Google/Venice on the main stage) was the most well-attended Demo Day in the history of Startup Boost. And, many of the presenting companies received sizable funding commitments and offers of ongoing help.
Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018?
I continue to be intensely interested in the growing integration of AI across multiple products and industries, from simple applications on up to highly sophisticated software and services. One of the promising companies that participated in Startup Boost’s Fall 2018 cohort – Lawgood (link: http://www.lawgood.io) – uses AI as part of their service to provide review and authorship of legal contracts. It is a complex area delivered as a simple, elegant, and highly accurate solution. AI’s continued growth is something I will be keeping my eye on in 2019.
Finally, what's your prediction on what will be most important thing for the technology industry in the coming year?
I believe that the most important thing for tech companies will be to turn inward and create mature leadership and organizations that can handle growth. Too many tech companies fail due to co-founder conflicts, lack of diversity, inexperienced leadership, and breakdowns in employee connection to vision. Founders not only have to be serious product leaders and visionaries, but also strong people leaders. They also have to be willing to lead by example, while not being afraid to show vulnerability and honesty about their limitations. They also have to practice solid communication and invite other points of view, and evolve company culture as the market and product realities change. For many founders, this type of mature leadership doesn’t come naturally. But as with any knowledge that they have to acquire to run their companies (including such things as coding or marketing or finance or operations), tech founders can learn to be leaders. Their companies will find the freedom, creativity and ingenuity to drive real growth and success as a result. And as I’ve witnessed countless times, they can’t get there any other way.
Matt Stodder is Co-Director of Startup Boost Los Angeles, an intensive program helps qualified early stage companies prepare for raising seed funds or apply for accelerator programs. Matt is also an executive coach and partner at Evolution Services (link: http://www.getevolution.co), a high growth executive coaching and consulting firm based in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and New York. Evolution also partners with venture capital funds and directly invests in select startup companies, combining capital with unique insight and support, leading to deep, sustainable development across all dimensions of business—individuals, teams, and the organization as a whole. Matt also previously held executive positions in integrated marketing and advertising at Yahoo and Apple, and has consulted with numerous companies on business growth and go-to-market strategy.