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Chris EnnisJumpstart Episode 13: Chris Ennis

  • SimpleEnergy, from Boulder, Colorado, was founded in Dec 2010
  • a web based technology to bring people together to make energy more fun and more social
  • how they joined TechStars
  • selected as 1 of 12 teams from over 600 applicants – harder than entering Harvard
  • Help Scout from Nashville from TechStars Boston
  • Chris became an entrepreneur at 20, he worked at a music store and developed an online inventory system
  • corporate people and middle managers who were ill-equipped inspired Chris to become an entrepreneur
  • make the rules and call the shots.
  • be aware of your customers and what they want
  • building web apps for 15 years
  • worked with SoberCircle
  • Chris recommends subscribing to Brad Feld, David Cohen, Fred Wilson and the Foundry Group
  • Contact Chris at ChrisEnnis.com, on Twitter @chrisennis and www.simpleenergy.net.

Chris’ 3 tips every entrepreneur needs to know

  1. If you’re early in to entrepreneurship. Find mentors who can provide thoughtful feedback, not just people in your industry.
  2. Don’t get caught up in building the perfect product. If you’re not embarrassed with your first product, you’ve launched too late. Launch a terrible site first, then improve it to show progress.
  3. You don’t have to raise money to get your startup off the ground. Find the right people to do the jobs first – bootstrapping is a 100% the best way to go at first.

Please SUBSCRIBE to the podcast is in iTunes, so you’ll get new episodes as they are available.

Jumpstart theme song “DLDN Instrumental (ft. Onlymeith, Mellotroniac)” by: St. Paul from ccMixter.

TRANSCRIPT

Dave: Welcome to Jumpstart. I am your host Dave Delany. My guest today is Chris Ennis; VP of Technology and Product Development at Simple Energy. Hey Chris, how are you?

Chris: I’m doing great. How are you Dave?

Dave: I’m good. Thanks for joining me.

Chris: Great to be here.

Dave: Tell me about Simple Energy. What is it that you guys are doing?

Chris: So Simple Energy is a web-based technology that brings people together to make energy more fun and more social through Facebook games and challenges that you and your friends may participate with to see who is most energy efficient.

Dave: That’s cool. So you’re actually competing with friends – kind of comparing scores and things like that?

Chris: Yeah we are. If you think about it, if you’ve ever paid an energy bill, then you are using kilowatt hours, and you’re basically already playing the game so to speak. You’re just not actually participating in a scoring mechanism that lets people actually see how they’re doing against others. And that’s the element of this that we bring to the table.

Dave: Very, very cool. And that’s – you guys are out in Colorado?

Chris: We are. We’re based in Boulder Colorado as of May 2011 prior – previously we were in downtown Denver, and we moved to Boulder to participate in Tech Stars which is a very well-known technology accelerator that the flagship is based in Boulder.

Dave: Yeah, that’s truly exciting. So you guys got picked up by Tech Stars, and tell me a little about that.

Chris: So yeah, we applied very late in the process to Tech Stars – we had started our company in December of 2010. And applications – I believe the deadline was in March of 2011. We had done various things – you know, submitted to various competitions and other showcases – and the opportunity to participate in Tech Stars came up. And at first I think we were a little but weary – I think a couple of co-founders were not so sure whether we wanted to do it or not do it. But then we decided the pros just vastly outweighed the cons…

Dave: Oh sure.

Chris: when it came to – you know, all the exposure that Tech Stars gives you, not just to the general tech community but also to unbelievable entrepreneurs who have years of experience and have numerous levels of success under their belts. So – you know, at the end of the day, we’re like – we got to do this. And we did. And we’re fortunate to be picked as one of the twelve teams out of over six hundred entries which is – I think I’ve seen this before where they – they claim that that ratio makes Tech Stars hard to get into than Harvard in terms of the admission.

Dave: (Laugh)

Chris: the admission ratio. But it certainly feels like I’m being thrown through Harvard in three months in this program right now so…

Dave: Yeah. (Laugh) That’s amazing. I know our own startups are going through the Jumpstart foundry right now. So yes, I can sympathize but I’m also envious of the stuff that you’re going through. It must be pretty incredible.

Chris: Yeah, you know – I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but there’s actually a team that just came out of Tech Stars Boston that’s from Nashville as well so…

Dave: Oh no kidding, that’s great.

Chris: Yeah, if you go check it out, I think they’re called Helpscout.

Dave: Okay.

Chris: And I found out about this when we first started the program because within Tech Stars there’s a wiki site that basically all the different programs share so just kind of going through and prying through that one. And I realized “Hey, there’s some guys on here that have followed me and I followed them on Twitter from Nashville.”

Dave: (Laugh)

Chris: And I went to look at their profile and – yeah, yeah, how amazing.

Dave: That’s great.

Chris: It’s really cool. And all of the things that you are doing at Jumpstart – you know, its’ – you know, this is an amazing time to be an entrepreneur and get into – you know, doing any sort of type of business.

Dave: Uh-hm. Definitely, definitely. And speaking of business – I mean, I know you’ve been doing it yourself for as long as I’ve known you. How long has it been since you’ve been an entrepreneur?

Chris: I was an entrepreneur as far back as twenty. And I kind of took a different path than most people. I was working in a record store – a music store, and recognized the problems they had with all my inventory, so I built a system to help them with all my inventory that ended being picked up by a shipping company. So did that and then came out, and started working – actually went to work for beer companies after that. And then somewhere between 2004/2005, decided I was done working with big companies and decided to go back and do it on my own.

Dave: Yeah. Was there anybody that inspired you to do this? Or..

Chris: You know, it’s – the thing that really inspires me most Dave is – in terms of being an entrepreneur – it’s probably all the people I’ve experienced with in corporate America; middle managers, people who were – you know, on supervisor levels that were ill equipped to be in those positions. And it was frustrating for me and – you know, throughout that process, I decided that I would much rather be able to make the rules and call the shots than to have them made for me and called.

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: And that’s really the one thing about being an entrepreneur and starting your own business that’s – you know, there’s certain – you certainly have to be acutely aware of your customers and all the things they want and entry to them. But you also get to write so many of the rules.

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: You know, how you do business, where you do business, when you do business, why you do the business is largely upon your shoulders – and that’s it. That’s a very liberating feeling – you know? It was for me anyways. It was one of things where I had worked with a couple of different large Fortune 100 companies and decided that – you know, I had an epiphany one day where I just realized, “Hey, I’d done this before.” And I remembered how awesome it was and why am I still standing here.

Dave: Right.

Chris: in a cube – you know, being frustrated with all the different bureaucracies that were going on within these large companies. And I just decided, “Hey, I don’t have to deal with this anymore.” So I decided from that day forward that I’m going to – you know, make sure I use my talents and abilities to do what I want to do for myself. And that’s – that was more of the magnetism toward – you know, being an entrepreneur and building startups.

Dave: Yeah.

Chris: You know you can build stuff like I’ve been building websites and web applications for fifteen years. And about the same time that I figured out I don’t want to work in a corporate job anymore. I kind of figured out that I had a pretty good idea in terms of how to build these things – you know, based on experience and based on what I learned through those experiences. And yet so many times, I was not able to build that. [Inaudible – 00:08:17] as a person with a pretty strong creative streak that runs through them, that’s almost debilitating in a way because all you want to do is be able to build it the best way possible – build it to be the most elegant and efficient solution possible. And you can’t do it. And it’s just – it’s debilitating in terms of one’s desire and fire to continue to work like that.

Dave: Right. Is it at that point when you started networking and building teams and things like that to help you? Or…

Chris: Yeah, yeah. I got very very fortunate in terms of getting back into entrepreneurship because when I came out of that last large company I worked for, I took a pretty significant pay cut just to get to something that was – I felt was more real. It kind of holistic in a way that like – make – allowed me to do exactly what I wanted to do. And so I went to work for a non-profit that – I was actually feeding two needs right? The need to have the freedom; to call the shots in terms of what was created and how it as created. But also, I got to – rather than working for these large companies that were – had huge bottom lines and were creating massive profits at the expense of their employees amongst everything else. I got to actually – at the end of the day, go home and feel good about what I’d done because I was helping people. I was working with a company that dealt with ethics and people with mental illness issues. And there wasn’t a day that went by that I just didn’t feel great about the fact that – whether I was creating a system – like a healthcare record system for the organization or whether I was doing HR stuff for the organization. I always felt good because at the end of the day, the mission was a heck a lot more fulfilling than – you know, I had worked for a telecommunications company and one of the largest computer manufacturers without naming names.

Dave: Right.

Chris: And it was so much more fulfilling. So I got into that and then the founder of that actually gave me a lot of liberty and a lot of freedom to explore and do different things. And actually one of those things was a startup that ended up being SoberCircle which was the product I worked with up until right before I moved away from Nashville, and then we ended up selling it to a company in San Diego. So I was fortunate to kind of get fostered in – back into the entrepreneurs dream through that. And it was an outstanding path for me – and I was very fortunate.

Dave: I know there’s – as far as entrepreneurship goes – are there blogs or websites that you read regularly now that kind of help keep you on top of things?

Chris: You know there are. And if you asked me the same question six months ago, I would have said – I would have probably told you that everything I read is – revolves around tech news like the Tech Crunches, the Mashables, the Hacker News – all those things, I still do read.

Dave: Right.

Chris: But – you know, having been in Tech Stars – you know, I’ve come o realize that there’re a couple of people that we get to deal with on a regular basis on that program that are immensely intelligent and aware of what’s going on in terms of the business of technology and technology startups specifically.

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: One of those being Brad Feld who just – if you’re not familiar with Brad, he’s one of – he was one of the first investors in Zinga and Harmonics – the guys that made the rock bands and all that stuff.

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: And he’s actually helped us in our product a little bit. And so, just reading his stuff and getting to know him – it’s like — you can’t go wrong in reading that guy’s blog.

Dave: Right.

Chris: And then the founder of Tech Star David Cohen has – you know…

Dave: Yeah.

Chris: constantly has good thoughts out there because the guy has an incubator, has an accelerator that has eighty something startups in it. So there are few people in the world that are exposed to the early stage startup problems and hurtles that people have to overcome more so than he is.

Dave: Right.

Chris: Just constantly in it. So those are two guys in terms of individuals that I read [Inaudible – 00:13:35] consistently.

Dave: That’s great.

Chris: You know, as far as like getting into the investing side, if you’re talking to adventure capitalist about your product – talking to potential angel investors, seed round investors – Brad’s blog is very – but there’s also – he has a couple of partners – if you go to – go Google [Inaudible – 00:14:02].

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: They’re a Boulder based VC but they – each of their partner was blogged and there’s a lot of insightful stuff there. AVC which is Fred Wilson – is an outstanding blog as well.

Dave: Okay, now…

Chris: There’s a lot of different thing I could give you there but those are the main one that I read.

Dave: And I will include the links to these in the show nuts of the episodes so. And I usually close each episode asking each guest for three tips that you would offer entrepreneurs.

Chris: (Laugh) I’d give you a hundred right now because…

Dave: (Laugh)

Chris: The thing is we’re about eight weeks in to the Tech Star – the Boulder Summer Tech Star’s Program. And right now, there are probably hundreds of tips that are fresh from my mind.

Dave: (Laugh)

Chris: They are constantly just beating into our skulls until we get.

Dave: Right.

Chris: You know the first thing I would suggest – you know, for any entrepreneur who is getting into this and is early into this is to reach out and find mentors that can provide you thoughtful insight and feedback into your product.

Dave: Uh-hm.

Chris: And that’s not just people who are subject matter experts in what you’re doing. Say you’re doing a healthcare startup; don’t go find every single healthcare person you can find to help you in this. You know find who’s – find somebody who’s great in healthcare but also – if it’s a product this customer’s facing – find people who don’t have a clue about healthcare because sometimes you get yourself so boxed in to the moment of what you’re trying to build that you actually lose focus – you actually hyper-focus and you lose focus on the bigger picture because you’re so focused in one tiny pixel of what is a much bigger picture.

Dave: Sure.

Chris: So that’s one. Number two is – this is the one thing that every startup struggle with – and we’re struggling with it right now – is don’t get caught and overhung on building the perfect product before you get in front of people. I’ve seen this in a number of places where people say “If you’re not embarrassed by your first product, then – you know, you’ve pretty much lost [Inaudible – 00:16:38].”

Dave: Yeah, that’s good.

Chris: So get a product out there, get people looking at it – get your investors, get your mentors; get all the people that you want to be interested about your product – looking at it. And two: launch a terrible looking website to start with because when you can show improvement – when you can show that you’ve gone from a horrible looking website to half-way decent website to a great looking website, then everybody who’s looked at your website has full confidence that you can pretty much do anything at this point because you started at nothing, and now you’ve set the bar for yourself and you keep raising the bar for yourself.

Dave: That’s great.

Chris: So that’s the second tip. And you know – third and finally, the one thing that – I think a lot of people know this – but the one thing that I’m still surprised to hear people say that you have to go out and raise money in order to do a startup, in order to get things off the ground – and that is not true. That is not true. You don’t have to raise money. You don’t have to go out and – you have to have a budget investment before you can build something. What you need is you need to be able to find the right people to fill the shoes to do the jobs that are necessary to get the thing off the ground. It’s called boot strapping. It is absolutely a hundred percent the best way to go because as long as you can carry that company out and do what you can do to get that thing off the ground without having to give up any of your equity in that – the end of the day, the more ownership you’re going to have out of it when the day comes that you actually do need money to scale it out.

Dave: Uh-hm. It’s great. That’s an awesome tip – actually it’s a really good one. So three awesome tips of the – and then you can give us the ninety-seven later.

Chris: (Laugh) Yeah, I can. chrisennis@twitter.com on Twitter. You can find me. I’ll be there.

Dave: You actually just answered my last question – where can people find you? (Laugh)

Chris: Yeah, so. Yes. So chrisennis.com and chrisennis on Twitter. And if you’re interested in what we’re doing as a company with Simple Energy; that site is simpleenergy.net. I would be remised if I didn’t mention that. My co-founders would give me hell.

Dave: Well done sir, well done. Well Chris, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time tonight.

Chris: Great! Thanks for having me.

Dave: I’ll talk to you again soon.

Chris: Thanks! Bye!

Dave: Bye!

Posted on June 26, 2011

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