Gearing Up for Groundwork Labs
The first day of Groundwork Labs is like the first day of the baseball season – most every team thinks they have what it will take to be in the World Series – and I think the same, or else they wouldn’t have made it through our selection process. And like the baseball season, we don’t know if the winners will be the ones that on paper seem to have all the talent and the great idea, or the team that surprises everyone. Fortunately, unlike baseball – there’s (usually) more than one winner in each cohort.
But we’re not trying to pick winners. We’re trying to select founders with talent and potential – and then spend three months with them improving their skills – whether that be growing their current idea into a successful company, or if that idea doesn’t pan out, enrich them for their next endeavor or for the next startup that they join.
I don’t like to compare cohorts or teams that have come through Groundwork – that’s too much like picking which of your children is “best”. The product ideas that this cohort brings are pretty typical – a few physical products and the rest software. But this cohort brings much more experience (and MBAs – oh dear!) than any we have had at Groundwork. It’s also the largest – nine teams – we had an exceptionally strong pool of applicants this cycle, and I was excited about all of these teams. We look forward to providing you updates as they develop their ideas and company.
November 22, 2016
Written by NC IDEA Senior Director, John Austin
