Editor’s note: this is the first of five daily features during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Guest blogger Mark Montgomery is a serial entrepreneur and strategic consultant. He was the co-founder and former CEO of echo, a digital music innovator which was acquired by IAC in 2007. Along with his other pursuits, Mark chairs the Advisory Board of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
Mark Montgomery from Nashville Entrepreneur Center on Vimeo.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) runs from today, November 16, through November 22. Global Entrepreneurship Week is a worldwide event intended to inspire, connect, mentor and engage young people with the desire to change the world. Partners include universities, high schools, non-profit organizations, successful entrepreneurs and government agencies. Tennessee has more events going on during GEW than any other state—and is a great reflection on the capabilities and opportunities for Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
While measuring the exact impact of entrepreneurs in a market can be a difficult task, it is clear that where entrepreneurship flourishes, wealth and value are created in that city. Our fair city has always been home to risk-takers and great thinkers (offer to buy Chamber CEO Ralph Schultz a beer and he’ll fill you in from the 1850’s forward…), and today they make up 21.6% of our economic ecosystem. Because of the high concentration of the creative class here in Nashville, we not only have a more traditional group of small businesses and sole proprietorships, we also have Keith Urban and the Kings of Leon, among many other great artists. Along with our rich musical history, we also have a more than few small healthcare companies…a strong foundation to build upon.
The short version of my story is that I moved to Nashville in 1990 with $800.00 and a guitar in hopes of becoming a big fish in a big pond. I managed to become a decent-sized fish, but not as the next George Lynch. My grandfather had one of the first personal computers, and I had always been a bit of a curious computer nerd. I became interested in the web in the early nineties, and began building websites in 1994. On April 20th, 1996, I helped launch an ecommerce platform selling music directly to consumers. That moment defined the next 10+ years of my life. In 1999, I co-founded echomusic with Neil Einstman, and off to the races we went. Grown organically out of cash, we moved the company through many phases; and in 2007, we sold the company to the Interactive Corporation (IAC). The sale gave me something I had not had in a long time: a boss. After a couple of years, I recognized that while I was certainly capable of running an operational business unit of a major multinational corporation, at my core I am a builder. So back into the sea of entrepreneurship I threw myself.
I signed up to help launch our Entrepreneur Center for two simple reasons. First, a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem requires connection and community. The EC gathers all of that energy and focuses it in one place. Focus and execution are the key to success; and while I am glad that to date we have succeeded without this level of focus, I am extraordinarily excited to watch as the EC’s impact begins to be felt in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. This focus will bring mentorship, tools, business plan advice, educational and networking opportunities, directories and pathways to capital to our community of entrepreneurs, providing real value and support at a key time in the life of a business.
Second, Nashville has become my permanent home, and I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back. It gives me great pride to know that as new people arrive here with their dreams in tow, they will have a place that will provide focused resources for those dreams. And by committing to my community, I will have the opportunity to watch many of those dreams come true.
echo was a pioneer in the digital music space, and I will always say with pride, “yes, sir, we built our technology business in NASHVILLE.” Our city and state has many other pioneers, companies that have the ability to be truly transformational in music, healthcare, publishing, logistics, payments, and more. As my next big dream unfolds, as exciting as that is for me, I am even more excited to watch Nashville’s community move to the next level in its support of ALL its entrepreneurs.
If you are an entrepreneur, this is your week! Take a moment and be grateful for what you are doing. If you work for one of us, how about a pat on the back (or better yet a hug…) and if you enjoy one of the products as a consumer, take a moment to say thanks…it means so much…
Be well!
