Longmont Startup Week: For good of society, entrepreneurs must think of their startups as more than cash-generation machines

LONGMONT — For many entrepreneurs, the focus of much of their efforts during the startup phase is simple: Make enough money to keep the lights on for another month.

But as the world has become increasingly interconnected and societal woes have simultaneously stacked up, some startup leaders are beginning to question whether this slavish devotion to cold-eyed capitalism can be fulfilling.

“Returning value to shareholders is the bare minimum we can do,” WinterWinds Robotics Inc. CEO Valerie Eastman said during the “Startups as Agents of Change” panel discussion Monday during the first day of the annual Longmont Startup Week.

Making the world a better place, even on a small, community scale, should be baked into the very fabric of a company, Robauto Inc. founder Jalali Hartman said. 

Founders are well-served to ask themselves “why” questions more frequently. If the answer to the question “Why are you starting a business?” is simply to make as much money as possible, perhaps that’s not the idea to pursue. 

Societal benefit ought not to be discussed only when a company is launched, Bricks Retail & Wonder Tours founder Jennifer Ferguson said. It’s equally important to keep the greater mission in mind as the company grows and the founder’s time and attention is stretched.

“The longer term is where we see the big impacts,” she said. 

Startups are particularly well suited to address new or emerging issues in the community, WinterWinds Robotics chief technology officer Caleb Eastman said. 

Unlike big corporations, which are “not going to be able to pivot their entire organization if they see a need in the world,” startups often feature a “very small group of people needed to make big decisions,” he said. 

A major hurdle for companies that attempt to put people (or animals, or the environment) before profits is fundraising, according to panelists. 

“Every single thing is going to work against you,” Eastman said. “There’s not really a place in a capitalist society for companies focused on doing good. Maybe there’s not ‘no place,’ but it’s hard.”

Alternatives to traditional private equity funding sources for startups with lofty societal ambitions include government organizations such as the National Science Foundation or the Boulder-headquartered National Institute of Standards and Technology, he said. Additionally, many large corporations have offshoot venture-capital arms that are dedicated to investing in startups addressing any number of global problems. 

“The big thing is just not giving up,” Eastman said. 

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