Techpreneurship: A Grueling Ride, But Worth It

Techpreneurship, with Jeff Amerine

(Jeff Amerine is an IA advisor, entrepreneurship educator, and officer with the University of Arkansas Technology Licensing Office. Each Thursday, his Techpreneurship blog will appear in INOV8. Drop him a line in comments.)

Jeff Amerine

When I first got back into cycling about seven years ago, a riding buddy named Lynn Smith of Smitty’s Stucco fame in Harrison said something very profound.

He said, “During every long ride, at some point you’ll wish you were somewhere else.” At the time, I hadn’t done a lot of really long rides in all kinds of weather so I thought to myself, “Yeah right. How bad can it be?” I learned…

If you’ve cycled 50-100 miles in the Ozarks on an especially hot and windy day, or a cold and rainy day, you know exactly what Lynn meant. If you haven’t, picture this. It is 39 degrees, overcast and drizzling in early April. The wind is blowing out of the north making the drizzle feel like needles on your face. I rode this one the first two times it was held, and the weather was remarkable similar both times — cold, wet, and nasty. Global warming seems to miss the Ozarks in April, but not in July and August, eh?

The “fun” you’ve voluntarily signed up for is called the Tour de Hills ride/race hosted out of Harrison, Arkansas. The course, locally known as the “Jasper Disaster,” is a 58-mile loop of crooked and steep roads through some of the most beautiful areas in the state (roughly Harrison-Jasper-Ponca-Compton-Harrison). Don’t worry — you won’t get to enjoy the views, because your view consists of asphalt, the backside of the rider in front of you, and the accumulating ice fog on your glasses….

During the ride, you’ll experience something on the order of 5,500 feet in vertical elevation changes. Two of the three main climbs are three miles long and have greater than 15 percent grade in some sections. Okay, so it’s not the Alps in the Tour de France, but for an old guy like me, this ride — in either cold or hot weather — is pretty awe inspiring.

During this ride and many others like it, most riders, including me, face a moment of truth where they really question their own sanity. Is the journey worth the pain? Can I make it up this hill? Should I get off and walk? Why can’t I feel my fingers and toes? Why are all the women riders passing me? You get the point. Lynn was right. Those moments cause a rider to dig deep, to fight back the pain, and to continue on.

The techpreneur’s journey is remarkably similar. The path can be painful and long, the payoff can be uncertain, the conditions can be ugly, and you’ll endure seeing others pass you by at times… But you endure, you stay in the saddle, you slog your way up the hill, you know the pay-off will be the 60 mile-per-hour downhill thriller on the other side….

We have some new blood entering the techpreneurship race in Arkansas. One such techpreneur slogging his way up the hill is Josh Clemence, an architect by education and a techpreneur by choice. Josh is creating Crav, a very clever approach to aligning consumer demand (cravings) and social networking (i.e. which of my crew craves the same thing?) with merchant offerings or specials. Imagine that, a near real-time way to align supply with demand. Pretty cool!

Josh is also co-founder of the Northwest Arkansas Entrepreneurship Alliance. The Alliance plans to become the breeding ground for the up-and-coming young techpreneurs in the region.

Josh has already learned many of the lessons of the techpreneur’s long difficult ride. I wanted to share some of his wisdom from his blog this week, as he analyzes the various traits he’s seen from chasing angel investors while trying to get Crav funded. Check it out:

Angel Investors: The Big Three

So techpreneurs, when you are trudging up that long difficult hill, and the road is 150 degrees, the heat index is 110 degrees, you’re dehydrated, and despair begins to set in, don’t give up. You are not alone, and you can make it!

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