ThinkBuildLaunch podcast is an extension of MARL Startup Studio. MARL Startup Studio supports students and first time founders while they are at the ideation stage of their startup. We believe there are so many innovative ideas in our community that get missed simply because people do not have the structure to take their idea into an actionable plan. That is exactly what we do. We help you take your idea into a structure to gain both clarity and traction.

Periodically we will be writing up some key insights from our podcast guests. Today we are featuring Nasir Ali, Co-Founder of Upstate Venture Connect. Upstate Venture Connect is an online communications platform that reaches more that 15,000 startup community members between Albany and Buffalo, New York. He also runs StartFast Ventures an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in recurring revenue software businesses outside the major start-up hubs.

You can listen to the entire program Evidence of Startup Progress In Upstate.

Here are five key insights:

• Rochester alone has 19 colleges and almost 100,00 students. We have the ability to attract talent from all over the world. In order to have students stay in the area we need ways to engage them outside of the campus and build relationships with them.
• Mentorship is a key factor in building strong relationships between students and the community.
• A core principle is not reciprocity; but rather “pay it forward.” Another way to say this is “the goal is not that you try to repay me, but you try to help somebody else because everyone’s on a journey and there’ll always be people that can use what you have learned.”
• Everyone is looking for a tribe to belong to. It is important to create access to your community so that people can find their affinities.
• Creating a robust ecosystem takes a dedicated decade. We are just beginning to see tangible proof of intentions started long ago. The continual building of relationships and showcasing of success stories requires continual and deliberate attention.

For you readers out there, a book that was transformative in Nasir Ali’s entrepreneurship mindset is The New Argonauts by AnnaLee Saxenian.

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You can connect with Nasir Ali an follow the cross-regional event calendar at UVC.

Please subscribe to our program and I look forward to hearing from you!

Jennifer Sertl

ThinkBuildLaunch Host

MARL Startup Studio Community Director