🔒Entrepreneurial networking groups fuel CT’s startup culture

Late last month, Tom and Lelaneia Dubay, co-founders of Hartford Flavor Company — a liqueur startup two-and-a-half years in the making — hosted a crowd at its public tasting room. In part, the event was designed, says Lelaneia, to make people aware of the company, the facility and its Wild Moon product line. But it also served a larger purpose: Hosting a Startup Hartford event to bring entrepreneurs together to share ideas, connections and encouragement.

“It is great to see the camaraderie of local startups with everyone helping each other,” Lelaneia said. “It will make it a bit easier for various [startup] organizations to be successful.”

As Connecticut puts more focus on attracting and supporting startups, the state has begun to see the emergence of startup specific networking organizations, like Startup Hartford. The organization, launched this past March, is designed to provide once-a-month networking events tailored to the unique needs and challenges of startups.

“Connecticut has a lot of [networking] events for small businesses, but I was looking for something more niche, geared towards startups,” said Angelina Capalbo, founder of Startup Hartford, who — in addition to a full-time job and trying to launch her own business — inthemomknow.com — spends several hours a month planning the organization's events.

Startup Hartford's events to date, says Capalbo, have drawn around 30 people each month — a broad demographic mix in all startup stages — from app developers to natural beverage companies.

“Our events are not about exchanging business cards,” she said. “It's about connecting with like-minded startups and entrepreneurs.”

Tom Dubay of Hartford Flavor Company says social media channels like Facebook — which Startup Hartford uses to promote its events — and LinkedIn have made it easier for grassroots organizations to better connect startup companies. And those networking opportunities are not simply about encouragement — they're also about problem solving and advice, Dubay said. Having worked through a year of permitting issues to open the company's public tasting room last November, while also working to get Wild Moon liqueurs into almost 500 restaurants and liquor stores in Connecticut, Dubay said he's learned many lessons to share with other local entrepreneurs.

“Do the research to make sure whatever goods or services you are delivering are indeed needed,” Dubay said. “And spend a lot of time working on — and have others review — your business plan. It's better to have [your business] fail on the drawing board and not after spending money and resources on it.”

David Menard, a partner at the Hartford law firm Murtha Cullina, agrees. “I think entrepreneurs need to first find subject-matter experts,” Menard said. “Many don't understand customer research or have financial or marketing knowledge to prepare a good business plan.” He said his firm runs a free business education lunch series in Hartford and New Haven and also puts together a handful of pitch nights annually for entrepreneurs to gain experience in public speaking, testing out their business pitch and getting feedback from experienced judges.

April Lukasik, founder and owner of Bright & Early Children's Learning Centers, knows firsthand how valuable outside feedback can be. Today, her 20-year-old company has locations across Connecticut and is thriving, but Lukasik recalls the struggles and isolation of starting out. “I operated in a bubble and didn't even realize what I was building,” she said. “There was no one to say 'good job' or 'great idea.' ”

But she developed an instant network, she says, when she was recruited to join the Connecticut Chapter of Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), a member-based global peer-to-peer network, which offers forums to entrepreneurs and small business owners as well access to national speakers and experts. “EO's monthly 'think tank' forums [which provide confidential peer-to-peer problem solving in small group settings] have been instrumental in my [company's] growth,” Lukasik said. “They gave me tools I didn't even know I needed.”

In 2016, networking events are crucial to both the professional and personal growth of entrepreneurs, Lukasik said. “These startup networking organizations provide a space through which ideas can bounce back and forth instantly,” she said.

And market demand for startup connections is fueling growth among networking organizations in the state. EO Connecticut, for instance, has seen its membership — which costs about $3,500 a year and requires that members generate a minimum of $1 million in annual revenue — grow from 27 in 2012 to 44 today, according to Sal Giuliano, the volunteer president of the Connecticut Chapter and managing member of West-Hartford CPA firm GitlinCampisePrendergast LLC.

Giuliano says EO Connecticut is looking to add 10 new members in the coming year. “Networking can make you think about [your business] differently,” he said. “It's better to learn from others mistakes than make 10 different ones on your own.”

It's a culture that Tom and Lelaneia Dubay hope continues to take root in Connecticut. Tom would like to see easier access to capital to fuel initial stages, repurposing empty manufacturing and office spaces for startups and connecting startups with interns from the state's colleges and universities.

“If we see a concerted effort from the business community, lending institutions and higher education to get behind startups,” Tom Dubay said, “Connecticut has a very good chance to become a leader in fostering small, innovative companies.”