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Sam Davidson - CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center · Books4Guys

0:15
SPEAKER_00: You may only be the second or third Nashville based individual to come on the podcast.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a big deal.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Do it.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it, baby.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: On shortness.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: Get get folks in the zip code, in the area code.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: I know that's a big vision and goal of yours.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: And so Sam, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneurship Center here in uh obviously Nashville.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Big deal.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I saw you'll be hitting your three-year mark as the CEO of the center coming up this summer, which is a big deal.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And there's been a lot.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Man, I moved here three years ago.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I got introduced to the Nashville Entrepreneurs Center just last summer, actually, just from some leadership groups and networking groups I'm a part of.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And so I came down and visited and got to learn what it was all about.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: But no, man, you're you you do a lot of things.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: You've been on the board, you speak, you were you were out of high school this morning.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're all around trying to encourage entrepreneurs and giving people the tools.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: But man, share your story a little bit about just kind of your growth and how you became the CEO of the Entrepreneur Center.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, happy to do that.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: And and always happy to be on here with you.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I grew up in Nashville.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm one of those rare folks.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're talking how how uh comparatively little time you guys have been here, but obviously you're you're like you and your wife are the the prototypical Nashville story now of came here, saw it, was like, why not?
1:35
SPEAKER_01: And and loving it, jumping in here with both feet.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: But my family moved here when I was in second grade.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: So I wasn't born here.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: I do want to clear that up.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: So technically not a native, but at this point, people are like, ah, close enough.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh spent time here, saw the city grow.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: My parents are still here, my sisters are still here, love Nashville.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Growing up here, obviously, it's yeah, of course, it's way different.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: But also when you're growing up, you're a teenager, you're playing baseball, like you don't care about farm-to-table food, you don't care about uh you know other things like that that we can enjoy as grownups.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: But Nashville is a hotbed for entrepreneurship.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm I am I have that story.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: When I moved back after college, worked in a hotel and hotel management for a couple years, worked at a nonprofit organization for a couple years, but all the way back in 2006, I had my first idea for a company.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And if you want to walk back down memory lane 20 years, I mean, 2006, that's when YouTube uh first launched.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: Facebook was only for college kids, Instagram, Twitter didn't even exist, and nonprofits especially were slow to embrace new technology.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: I saw this because I was working inside one and went to a coworker of mine.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: I just said, man, what if what if there was a way to leverage all this new media to connect with a younger audience who was using it and who is deeply committed to causes?
2:42
SPEAKER_01: This is a very socially aware generation.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: So we built a business to solve that problem.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: And I had no business background, I was a history major, didn't think I would ever be an entrepreneur, but when you know, for us the answer to the problem was a company.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: And when the answer is a company, now now you can be an entrepreneur.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And so through that process of setting up that company, building that website, it was a connection point called Cool People Care.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: And so we ended up uh growing a mailing list close to 30,000 people.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: We had uh nonprofit event volunteer calendars in 23 cities, and we got to ride a rocket ship a little bit, got to raise money, got to uh hire people for the first time.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: And I I took a minute and I was like, I don't know what this is, but this is what I want to do.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily run this company, but have an idea, make it real that solves a problem, and and that seemed a lot of fun.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: And so ended up doing three more companies since then, but but that was my first taste of it, and uh I never wanted to do anything differently.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: No, that's incredible.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: And I was gonna specifically ask about that company because that was the one that stuck out to me on your your LinkedIn profile, which is how I I got introduced to you, and uh, you jumped right in and answered that.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: So that's that's pretty cool.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Sam, what have you seen?
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm in my I'm in my young 30s, and it's you know, I've worked corporate jobs and now, you know, Books for Guys is really my entrepreneurial project that I'm building, and it's really it's really been fun.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: You I'm starting to meet people, I'm starting to build something, and it's mine, and I, you know, and I have ownership, and I'm I'm like you, man.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm learning things on the on the daily where I'm like, I don't know what to do here.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: But what have you seen over it?
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Seems for me, I kind of got the itch kind of post-COVID when I had a lot of downtime.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: And I remember talking to a lot of people, and people started, it seemed like people had time to get creative and start building things.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: And with you in this role, just you know, over the last three years, have you seen a big uptick, I guess, in just people with these technologies and social media?
4:35
SPEAKER_00: I guess just what's been your vision from 20 years ago to now as far as seeing people get into the space and try to build their own thing?
4:42
SPEAKER_00: It's grown like crazy.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: And that's not just in Nashville.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's a lot of reasons it's working well in Nashville, and I would encourage anybody who wants to do something to do it in Nashville.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: But nationally, we are seeing more business starts.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And there's a couple of different ways that's measured.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: Some they're only tracking if you intend to hire employees, others are just new business formation based on uh either issuing a uh an EIN or an LLC, uh whatever the corporate setup may be.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: So we're seeing that uh the highest uh year prior was 2021 coming out of COVID-ish.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: So a record number of closures in 2020, record number of openings in 2021.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: But we've still been high since then.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: We're still indexing pre-COVID even now in 2026, because I never say it's easy to start a business, but it's easier to start a business.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: Because to your point, what you can do with AI, how you can build followings, uh, you can be real efficient.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: For me, that means you can fail real fast.
5:29
SPEAKER_01: Because I think prior to a lot of these technologies, you had to spend some time, which means money and opportunity cost, to figure out if your idea was even gonna work.
5:38
SPEAKER_01: But now you can do that and have success faster too.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: I had a, you mentioned I spoke at high school this morning and it's a good QA, and one of the students said, if you're gonna do one thing right now, because he was in high school, he's like, Oh, I have a company idea, and I hated to say it because I hate social media, but I'm on it too much.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: But I was like, build a following.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: And again, it doesn't have to be Instagram influencer, TikTok, blah, blah, blah.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're doing that with this podcast.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: What and and you can figure out later how you monetize it or what it means to you from a satisfaction or a monetary standpoint, but just building it through all these new media.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you didn't go, you didn't code riverside.com that we're doing here.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's because it exists, you and lots of other creators can jump on there.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: So that's awesome.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: We are seeing more people come through the EC now than ever before.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: And we are seeing across all age ranges, industries, and stage.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: So if you walk into our building, you're not gonna see a bunch of 20-year-olds, you'll see some of them, but you'll see people in their 40s and 50s and even 60s who are like, yep, I had that career, it was great, saved some money, had a meaningful time, learned a lot, but now I'm ready to work for me.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: And their intent may be to leverage new technology to do something that fits with their lifestyle.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: And people say, Oh, this is just a lifestyle.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Lifestyle businesses are give me a lifestyle business.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: That sounds amazing.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: So there's nothing to poo-poo on that.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's just what do you want to do?
6:51
SPEAKER_01: This is your one life, this is your one time.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: So let's max it out with something that's meaningful to you.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: No, and I love that.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna bring up there was another um you may have gone and spoken down to, and I was pulling it up.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: The Williamson County School District, they have an entrepreneurship.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: They do.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Jeremy's doing an awesome job down there.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: That's a good thing.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: So Jeremy Calls is who I've I've been around a lot.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: And actually, we we gave some books to some of the students that were going through the program last summer as we got introduced to them.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: But seeing all the things going on at the high school level to encourage curiosity, personal development, give you tools to do what you want.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: It just seems there's this massive push to be able to do that.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: And you're right, there's so many tools to be able to do that.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, the net the entrepreneur center here in Nashville, it's man, it's if you haven't been, it's amazing.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it's massive.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: There's podcast studio, there's a cafe, there's all these workrooms.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: And it's really cool how it's set up because, man, again, as I got introduced, I started when I was networking, I'd be like, oh, you're you're a part of the center.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're an advisor at the center.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, and there's a lot of community involvement with it, but it's really cool how it's structured for someone like me to go in and be like, hey, here's what I'm doing.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, what do I do?
8:02
SPEAKER_00: And there's so many resources I can go get, and so many people that can pour into me to help guide me along the way.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, entrepreneurship is thriving in Nashville, um which is cool to see.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: But let me ask you this how do you how do you, as it grows?
8:20
SPEAKER_00: And you specifically mentioned like AI, what are you guys doing?
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Do you on a yearly basis or even maybe biannually sit down and say, like, okay, hey, what's our approach here to help people in the community as they as more members join?
8:35
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the AI has changed some things and what people are building.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: So maybe the people coming through, they're doing things that are more geared towards needing AI support.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: How do you go about, from an overall view as the CEO, structure things to make sure you stay ahead and can help people as business ideas change?
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: And I'll give you a, I'll I'll talk sort of abstract and then I'll give you a real world example that we've done here.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: We are uh almost halfway done with the three-year strategic plan that uh our our big goal there is to work with a thousand entrepreneurs annually.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: Um we worked with 537 last year.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: We're on pace to do about 800 this year, uh, and then hopefully a thousand next year.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: And um, a lot of that's the work we're doing to find these folks who who need to help.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then a lot of that is, again, just as Nashville grows or as people say, like, I got an idea, let me try this.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: Here's a real world example of how we stay relevant.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: When I came here, we had an accelerator called pre-flight.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: So we use aviation metaphor.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: We have three accelerators that use that pre-flight, takeoff, in flight.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: So different stages of your business.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Pre-flight was designed for I have an idea, let me get it on paper to see if I really want to do this.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: And the old format was in person over uh six to eight months.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: It was in the evenings because people with ideas usually they also have day jobs.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: And we just saw the attendance of that wane because you didn't need that long to see if your idea was going to be worth something.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: And it was also hard because you were working a day job, maybe had a family to get somewhere.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: And so for two years, we moved that into a virtual self-paced option.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: We took the nine modules, we put them online, paired them with videos, and we had uh almost 200 people do that on their own.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: They could do it all on a weekend, you could set aside time every week for nine weeks, whatever you want to do.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: At the end of it, you if you did it, you would be able to say, okay, my barbecue sauce idea, my software idea, this is what it's gonna take.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: Do I want to do that?
10:13
SPEAKER_01: Cash in my 401k, quit my day job, find this many customers.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: But we heard on demand from those folks who are like, I'd still like to connect with people at the same stage.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: I'd still like to listen to people who have done that or mentors who could advise.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: So we just now brought that back.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: You still do the nine modules, but then we have a four virtual sessions to really dive deeper on those.
10:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's been a huge success.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: We went ahead, we have to we piloted, we're in the pilot right now, close to 16 people doing that.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And most of those folks are gonna say at the end of it, no, not not yet, or not for me.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Never mind.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: I had no idea that's what it's gonna take.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Great.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: That's part of our job too, is to talk people out of things sometimes.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: And so that's the way that we've modified that curriculum.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: And the folks who are gonna do it, they're gonna hit a couple benchmarks, then they can come into our traditional 12-week every Monday accelerator, graduate up the food chain there.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: And so that's it, by sort of taking our own medicine and saying, what are we gonna do?
11:02
SPEAKER_01: Now, the last piece I'll say though, those numbers that we want to hit, we'll leverage technology to do that, of course.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: But this is the place is still powered by community.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: We do talk about the the EC, the entrepreneur center, it's really the the entrepreneur community, because we have 200 volunteer mentors that make this place happen.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: I I can't meet with 800 entrepreneurs a year, even my staff of 15 can't meet with them all.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, because a lot of what they need is talking to an expert, somebody who has a subject matter industry expertise who can sit with them and say, okay, here's some ideas, here's some advice, try this, don't do this.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: I made that mistake.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I want you to make it too.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's what drives this place is the deep community connections we we create here.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's cool.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: And I'll start calling it the NEC.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot easier to say.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Now that we've gotten the name out there a couple times.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And now when people reference it in the community, I'm like, yep, I know what you're talking about.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah, I've been there.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy how big of a pillar it is, though, especially when you when you do get out and network with certain groups.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, everyone knows about the NEC.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: It's a big deal.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, and I'll speak to that because again, I I've only been here three years.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: I I was an entrepreneur as the EC was being created, coming out of the ground, and always I was a volunteer here.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've always loved it.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: And so it is an honor to do this.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And and that's a testament.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: We're 15 years old now to the folks who thought up this idea in 2007.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: 75 city leaders came together to our founding team, founding CEO Michael Bertram in 2010, who got this thing um created.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: And then in 2012, when we're in this this renovated hundred-year-old building, uh, when that happened and all the work then, so like to the point that that would that has been the idea is not to be the only, but to be at least the first stop for a lot of people.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: And again, part of our job is to say, oh yeah, this other resource in this part of town is gonna help you better.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: I'll do an intro as you're on your way.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's some of our function too.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: But absolutely people powered and the people who came before us.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, love that.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: Love that.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: Sam, I got a question for you that maybe you've got to answer in your in a maybe a safe way.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: But you're you're very, you're entrepreneurial, you know, and and so obviously now as the leader of this group, your your mission is to grow it, expand it, and grow.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Do you, I guess for you personally, long-term vision for yourself, what's your vision as far as being able to continue to scratch that itch of your own personal entrepreneurial, I guess, projects and things you want to accomplish, but also balancing of leading this particular organization to the next level.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Do you have to jump all in and this has to be your only focus?
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And you see that for the next five to 10 years?
13:23
SPEAKER_00: Are you able to do your own things if you get an idea, or do you see yourself at some point this gets to a point where you say, Great, I'm gonna pass it off.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: I've got my own business adventures I'm gonna jump to.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: And you may not know, but I'm just curious, just with you being the way you are, what that looks like in your world.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: No, I appreciate the question.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: It is funny how um I'm starting now that I've been here almost three years, people are asking me that question more and more.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sort of like, y'all want me to leave?
13:47
SPEAKER_01: Like, what's going on?
13:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm not this is not working.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: Man, I love this job.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: I serve at the pleasure of the board.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: And so it it gives me enough scratch of the entrepreneurial itch, I guess, because we get to do our own stuff like that, like I mentioned.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it is the perfect intersection of what I love doing, which is taking time for stuff like this, speaking at the high school, being with my team, uh, getting to address a room full of entrepreneurs.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: So to me, like right now, and and there's some cool stuff that we are working on more and more to help more people start more companies.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: So I'm still excited about that.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: I I think we would have to get to some kind of maintenance mode, some kind of like, okay, a thousand's enough.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: Or let's like, let's take it down a notch.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why we would do that hypothetically.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: We are, I'm I mentioned we're uh just starting year two of our strategic plan.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: We will start work on the one that'll carry us through 2030.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: I would love to see that through um just because there's some fun stuff where we're situated.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I look out my window and there are two towers, pretty office towers.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: There's a big apartment complex.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: And when the EC moved into this location in the trolley barn south of downtown, these were circus parking lots.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: And so we are gonna have questions to answer about what does it mean to be in a neighborhood now?
14:54
SPEAKER_01: Because we never really were.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: We were near Pinewood Social, so people would be around here, but now that you've got eight floors of office, six floors of office, 27 floors of residential, there are people around us.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: So what is what is what do we do with that?
15:05
SPEAKER_01: So there's some fun questions there as Nashville gurus and involved.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was I asked you to move this meeting because I had to get back from the all the way west side of town.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: And I was just crossing, I was like, don't hit traffic, don't let nobody have a wreck, nobody have a wreck.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: Because you know, I mean, you were in Atlanta, you really know.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: Based on the time of day, man, you could spend an hour getting from A to B.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, what does that mean for entrepreneurs if you can't get here?
15:24
SPEAKER_01: So those are all fun questions, and I think it'll give me a chance to be entrepreneurial.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: Also, man, I see people grinding here and I love it.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: And then part of me feels immediately exhausted because I remember what that and it's exciting, but it's exhausting to like that very early stage, which is what I love the most.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: But you've got to be ready for it.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: And um, I don't I don't have that itch anymore, I don't think.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: No, and I'm glad I mean you you kind of described it probably like I expected, just from the progression of of your life, your career, what you're doing.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: You get to be around it enough to to feel the energy, uh, but you don't have to do that grind day to day, like some of the members you see doing.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: But it is cool.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: It seems like there's with so much growth potential, and there seems to be a lot of flexibility to be able to go ebb and flow with where you see the maybe there's a second location opened on the other side of town because of Nashville growing, like all the possibilities are there, and that probably keeps things interesting for you to say, hey, who knows what this is gonna look like in five years.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: There's so many things we could do.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: And so I I think that's and that's probably a great position to be in.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: It's wonderful, man.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's even the how entrepreneurs are educated or supported is changing.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: And so I I've gotten the chance to know, meet, and get to know and network with a lot of my peers in other cities.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: And so whether they've come to Nashville or if like if I travel somewhere, um, you know, I'm like that nerdy guy who's like, oh man, you know, Charleston, South Carolina, Miami, Florida, like, where is there an EC here?
16:51
SPEAKER_01: Can I go?
16:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go tour that real quick.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: You guys, I'll meet you at the beach, I'm gonna go talk shop.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: Guess what I love doing and seeing how they're doing it there because it is different city to city based on the resources, the industry, et cetera.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: But there's um one uh sister organization that made a pivot.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned we have accelerators, these are 12-week modules.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: Some of them abandoned it.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: They were like, man, entrepreneurs need too many different things that it's all bespoke.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: So Chris comes in, we sit down with Chris, and we're like, all right, here's where here's here's where you are, here's where you want to go, here's the things you need.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna line up you with these meetings.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: It's all like customized, very concierge.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: And they're seeing better outcomes.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: And so you have to think like, if we want better outcomes, even if it's fewer entrepreneurs, do we go that model?
17:26
SPEAKER_01: It's a different staffing, you can leverage technology and different so it's to me, those are fascinating conversations.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: Do you see other cities?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, what Nashville's doing and what you're doing, it's incredible.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: Do you see other cities doing as good of a job?
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Or like, what's it like having peers in different cities and bouncing those ideas?
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Do you think there's a lot?
17:45
SPEAKER_00: Are there other cities doing things that you want to implement here, or are you seeing as put I want you to rank it because Nashville's number one, obviously.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say, yeah, we're still I'm still gonna steal people all day long to move up here.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: But do you see other cities being successful doing something similar?
17:59
SPEAKER_01: I do, and I'll tell you why they're doing well.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: Number one, I'll give you, and I'll give you examples of each of these, but number one, they understand where they are.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: So they're not trying to grow companies in an industry where they're not gonna do well in.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: They understand the kinds of entrepreneurs that are already there.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Two awesome examples.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: One is in Lakeland, Florida.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: Lakeland is halfway in between Orlando and Tampa.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: They'll get a lot of young families, there's some colleges there, but not a ton of industries, except Publix is headquartered there.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: So they have some generous benefactors who wanted people to stay.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: They're in college, they're first starting out their careers, then they eventually go to a bigger city for all the amenities.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: They invested a lot of money.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: They built a four-story like EC on steroids, and it's awesome.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: And one of the places they came and looked was the EC, along other cities.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: But they have a makerspace, high-end makerspace, and a commercial kitchen on the first floor.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't have any making facilities in in our building.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm jealous of it when I've gone down there to see it because they know with Publix right there, that's a great way to get you a product nationwide.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: And so they're like, well, people got to make it at scale.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: Boom.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: They have co-working, they have meeting, they have offices, they have event space, they have all the other stuff, but they're leaning into that.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: Number two, I would say, is Chattanooga.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: And so my peer down there, Toshia, is her name.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, Chattanooga is not trying to be the healthcare capital.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: They've like, yeah, Netley Nash will do that.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: Chattanooga is all in on mobility, on quantum computing.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and a lot of that's just who they are and who they're able to attract, and the resources are lining up.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: So that's one thing I'm seeing is what is that specialty that they can be best in, and they're getting people moving there now for that, which is great for the city.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: The second big thing that folks do is they build an ecosystem as they're building their organization.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: So, of course, it's natural to want to be territorial and to say, no, no, no, I'm working, you can't work with them, I'm gonna work with them.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: But the cities that are winning and the centers that are winning in those cities are ones that are like, oh no, we can't do it all.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Even though we're the biggest in terms of footprint, however you want to measure it, we can never be the only.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I cannot imagine how many buildings I need, how much money I'd have to raise.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we play really well in Nashville.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: And so I love seeing that in other markets where somebody says, Oh, yeah, we focus on capital raising, equity capital raising, people come to us.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: If they need debt financing or they want to learn business basics, we send them down the street to this other org.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: And so those that have a less territorial view and know that helping any entrepreneur, anybody who helps any entrepreneur helps the city, the community, and helps all entrepreneurs, those are the ones that are that are creating those communities around it is awesome to see as well.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, Grand Rapids, Michigan is doing a good job of that amongst different stakeholders, I would say.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: And then um Greenville, South Carolina is one that I've had a chance to get to.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: And then Charlotte.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: And so there's some good stuff happening in North Carolina across those ecosystems.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very cool.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: I've actually been to Lakeland, Florida, believe it or not.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've been I've been there, been through, I've stayed there before actually on a work trip.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: Not many people mention it.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: No.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: No.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, Sam, just one more kind of geared question for you, just books for guys related.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: And it may be a tough question because I see a bunch of books behind you there.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we can get to those too.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: We can go to the book.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're sure you're very well read and have done a lot of reading for personal development and probably all kinds of stuff.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: But I'm curious to know what is a book or two that has meant a lot to you personally or professionally, and what are some books that you like to recommend to others when asked?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: You bet, man.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: I I do love to read, and I'm on a mission this year.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: That's why when I was so excited when you reached out, I was like, yes, I want to talk about books.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: I love to read, always have.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Last year, I just barely read, man.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: And I can feel it.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: Now, some of that, I was busy in certain ways, I get it.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: Some of that, I was just, you know, it's scrolling my phone, just mindlessly.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: And that makes me so unhappy.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: And I you still do it, but I've set limits now because I was like, well, I'm just sitting here.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: Like, why don't I read something?
21:31
SPEAKER_01: So anyway, I've been on a mission this year.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: First quarter this year, I read 16 books.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just devo eating stuff up, man.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: And it and it is by some simple um the discipline of it of having a book handy, of either setting aside time or just stealing time when you're waiting on something, waiting for the cable guy to come or whatever it is to read a book.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And you'll be so you'll feel so much better, you'll be so much smarter.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of those simple principles come from my number one favorite book.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: I read it.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: The first book of the year, I read every year is Atomic Habits by James.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: Um just a phenomenal book.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: The first time I read it, so now I've read it seven, maybe eight times.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Every single year it's book number one.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And just if you if you implement one thing he says in there, it'll change not just how productive you are for productivity's sake, but I think you'll be really living into the the values and the kind of person you want to be.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: That's really what the book's about.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: It's about becoming the kind of person you want to be.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: So that's always first and foremost up there that I like to uh recommend to folks.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: I tend not to reread books, but I like to sort of skim over and look at a couple different books or folks.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: The ones that I've got, I'm looking up here too you can't see them on the camera, but I've got a couple that if I go to like a used bookstore, I see these at like a a thrift shop and they're cheap, I'll just buy them because I give them away.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: And so Atomic Habit's one of those good to great if we want to stick in the business side for a minute.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: Good to great, you can argue 20 almost 30 years later the are the principles the same doesn't matter.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: The things you again that that will teach you from a business standpoint of the kind of company you want to create it's great.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: I've got six copies right there if someone wants to come snag one.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: The other one that I do is is the eMyth revisited by Michael Gerber.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: That's another practical one if you are a business owner and your business, the work in your business is preventing you from growing the business.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: So people say work in on the business, not in the business well fine.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: If just the fact that man we're doing well but with no way we're going to get bigger, it's a really good practical kind of framework that I recommend that I give to folks.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Non-business wise, I rarely read novels I love to read poetry just because it's a great balance between like case study, data, marketing, graphs and then you're you're reading this so Billy Collins and David White are two of my favorite poets.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: When I see something new from them I'll grab it as quick as I can love those folks and and both of them are still active writers and putting stuff out which is a lot of fun.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: So I think those are those are folks how I like to balance it with what I'm reading.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah everything behind me the top shelf I've read through a little bit right here on the second shelf and then everything else on the second shelf I got to get to those still.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: So 16 so far this year I probably won't finish but we'll make some headway into it uh hopefully I'm reading this book right now on capital it's the history of capitalism because this guy's coming to talk in Nashville in a couple weeks I was like oh I'll read his book it shows up it's a thousand pages and I'm like what have I done to myself I was cranking through these you know 200, 300 pages book and this thing shows up and I'm like and here's my here's my fatal flaw this is the advice I would give you guys because I'm told I need to do this.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: It's really hard for me to stop a book.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: I like I'll turn off a movie or a TV show or a song in a second but if I don't like it but a book I'm like oh I gotta keep going I got to keep reading and everybody who also loves reading is like you idiot you could uh you're wasting time on something and I'm like I still can get something from it but um I gotta I'm like I'm gonna I'm just gonna hit page 100.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: So I have 900 pages on the history but it's like it's really well written like it's actually compelling.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: So um that's that's uh that's the reading happens the last thing I'll say because I again a big community guy talk about community is uh read with other people.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't mean like sit in a circle you know reading is this interesting thing where of course it's deeply solitary.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: You can do it anywhere it's quiet.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh my six year old's learning to read it's awesome to watch him just like race headlong into that he loves it.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: But as I think it is something we were meant to do in community.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's physically there, you know, read to me but hey uh Chris I'm reading this here's what I'm learning.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: What are you reading?
25:04
SPEAKER_01: And I think especially the more that guys can do that.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: You know only 25% of Americans read at least one book a year.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: And I think it I I think that's even lower for men.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: And so the more that they can encourage each other, uh hold each other accountable that even if if the the encouragement just finish a book this year.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: But if you can do it with other people, hey, let's read this together or let's do a book swap.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: I got a friend we swap books regularly of I recommend this, you recommend that.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: So any of that you can make it social the more likely you are to do it.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: And I think especially for guys in any career entrepreneurs or not if you can rely on glean from the wisdom of somebody else you will make fewer mistakes you'll be happier.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: No and that's what Sam I mean you you explained exactly why why Books for Guys is here is to encourage encourage that discussion and that personal growth and bouncing those things that you learn off of each other as you read.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm glad you brought that up and if you're anything like me I'm I'm I can't do audio books.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: So it takes me I have to have a same book.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah so it's different it's it's harder for us you know you have people that I read a hundred books yeah they do yeah I wish I could man I wish I could because then yeah I would crank them even more and that's great.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: That's my mind will wonder I'll stop paying attention I just can't I like the focus I like I underline because I want to I like to go back to them.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah absolutely yeah and it's it's cool too I I'll get you off with this it's you know atomic habits atomic habits and good to great it's pretty amazing the high level high achieving folks that I've had on this podcast who recommend that book that's funny there's something to that if they if that's a repetitive recommendation if you haven't read it you need to go read them because they make a huge difference and they do speak to you and help again with that personal development journey and you can take things away from it.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: Probably every time you read it there's something new you can pick up on it which is really cool.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: But Sam, man, thank you so much for taking the time to do this and talk about the NEC and talk about the books that you appreciate and just again thank you for recommending to read as a community and that's what Books for Guys is.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: If you need recommendation go look on the website we're constantly putting new recommendations on there conversations with people like you Sam to talk about book recommendations and how how it can help elevate your life so I appreciate you sharing that personal message from yourself.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: But no man I'll be uh it's cool I can't wait to see the continued growth of the NEC you know now that I'm here in Nashville and I know a lot about it and I'm meeting more people that are involved in it.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: And so uh yeah man keep doing what you're doing and and thank you for taking the time to be a part of Books for Guys absolutely thanks Sam