The DEC announced this month our first Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR). Michael Sitarzewski joins the DEC as an EIR to help provide leadership, strategy, connectivity and vision for the parent organization. As an experienced serial entrepreneur and a graduate of the Tech Stars Program, Michael is passionate about creating and facilitating a collaborative ecosystem across the North Texas region.
Briefly tell us a little bit about your self and your background.
I’ve been building internet companies and products for the past 19 years. I’m married, with a nine year old son, and two puppies. I’ve been in the Boulder startup community for the past seven years. I’ve had several “careers:” designer (print/web), computer consultant, developer, CEO, and who knows what the future holds.
Tell us about your current company Epic Playground.
Here’s a quick overview: Epic Playground’s MediaGauge delivers push marketing to people watching video, in real-time. The messages appear in the upper right of the screen, not in the player itself, so they’re theme-able, and really grab attention. Installation is a single line of Javascript, and requires a compatible player (there are a dozen, including YouTube, Vimeo, and HTML5). If you’d like the full story, including raising money and TechStars, let’s grab a coffee!
You went through Techstars Cloud in San Antonio. What did you learn from that experience?
Good mentorship can save a startup years of pain. We had 30 days of mentors providing all kinds of input, from marketing to technology, accounting and more. The Techstars network is fantastic and can also save heartaches, and Ari is working on exactly that. Techstars is also a fantastic door opener when raising capital (and with social capital). The team still has to perform, and you still have to have traction. It’s not a magic bullet, no accelerator is.
What is your vision for what you can accomplish in Dallas as the new Entrepreneur-In-Residence for the DEC?
When I first thought about the Dallas ecosystem in the context of what we had in Denver/Boulder, I saw lots of busy people, and lots of events, but I didn’t see a community. I saw a bunch of people with fantastic intentions working more or less alone. Trey said it best – everyone would like to be the hub of the community. This doesn’t work – the community itself is the center, and the organizations and events surround it, providing a place for people to meet and learn. I’ve taken it upon my self to help all of these wonderful groups and events work together toward the goal of turning Dallas into a great destination for entrepreneurs.
What are three areas that you think are really strong about the Dallas Startup Scene?
Passion: I’ve met people from all over the city with a vested interest in seeing this community work. They’re founders, they’re co-working spaces, they’re service providers.
Cooperation: While there are lots of stakeholders here, all of them have a common goal – growing the community. The reasons behind it may vary (from deal flow to talent pool, or simply “recognition”), but cooperation is key to building a great community.
Higher Education: There great schools here: SMU, UTD, and UNT to name a few. They’re all very different schools, but they’re putting kids into the market. I believe that entry level talent is one of the key ingredients of a great community. It allows startups to pay market rates for experience appropriate skills. It’s a huge advantage that we have yet to tap into here.
You recently moved back to Dallas from Boulder/Denver area? Why would recommend companies to come to Dallas to start a business?
There are fantastic customers here. Dallas is one of the top cities in the world in the density of corporate headquarters. From JCP to Match.com, Hotels.com, Frito Lay, and TI. There’s also a great fashion and design industry here. The catch is that no one knows this. Austin and Boulder are getting lots of attention, but Dallas has some real opportunity because of the built-in customer base. Here’s a fun stat for you: Boulder has 90 thousand people in it. Community is easy when you see people you know every day. The whole state of Colorado has 5.1 million people. Denver metro is about half of that. Dallas metro has 5.85 million people – that is a massive customer base waiting for customer development.
What are three areas that you as you see as opportunities to grow for the Dallas Startup Scene?
Early stage/embryonic capital situation is needed. I love everyone I’ve met in the space, but we need more. We need to have some of the founders of the successful companies participate in the community. Think about it: Travelocity, Broadcast.com, Match.com, Hotels.com, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines – all of these companies were startups at one point. They should be more present.
Later stage capital needs to be surfaced. We have three massive industries here: commercial real-estate, energy, and professional sports. They’re here, but not present in the capital community.
The main stream doesn’t know what’s happening in the startup community. We need for the major news outlets to cover more events in the space. What’s happened traditionally is that they’ll do a write-up after the event. What we need is for the startup events to be in the “Things to do” calendars on all of these stores. This raises awareness to the people working 9 to 5, wondering who to talk to about building the next great thing!
What are some of the projects you are working on personally launching in Dallas to help startups succeed?
I have a few things on the agenda. First and foremost is #BigDOCC. I’ve had the pleasure of running BOCC (and founding DOCC) for the past few years. BOCC became the event that every new entrepreneur had to go to to get a pulse on the community. It’s the format that makes it work.
Another I’m planning is called #BigDNT – it’s based on Robert Reich’s Boulder/Denver New Tech Meetup. It’s 6 startups, with 10 minutes each – 5 minutes for the pitch and 5 for Q&A. The difference is that they’re not pitching capital (like many of the pitch events in Dallas). They’re welcome to come, but this event is more about peer/community feedback!
I’ve also been chatting with House of Genius for a late fall event. It’s 15 people in a room, with three startups pitching the room. The audience gives feedback and pokes holes in the business models. Normal enough right? Well, no one in the room knows what the other people in the room do. So there may be an 18 year old that just sold a company for $5 million, or, they could simply be a student at UTD. At the end of the event, there’s a reveal and introductions are allowed. Very, very cool because you can’t bias the feedback as it’s revived!
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