It’s a been a year since Jay Rooke founded Startup Grind Sonoma, the local chapter of a global community designed to educate and connect entrepreneurs. In starting the social startup, Rooke booked a series of guest-speaker “fireside chats,” part Commonwealth Club and part TED conference, where successful founders share their insights.
“It’s been an interesting ride,” says Rooke, the former Manhattan attorney now with an executive coaching practice in Sonoma. “We’ve learned that there’s more startup activity going on in Sonoma than we realized, and that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.”
While it’s the featured guest’s success that usually draws attendees to the event, Rooke says, some of the most powerful takeaways have come from entrepreneurs candidly sharing the rawness and pain of their failures along the way. “For anyone who is in the thick of launching their venture, it’s poignantly inspirational to hear that one is not alone.”
Rooke says most Sonoma entrepreneurs are operating in silos and below the radar, so the fireside chats serve as a great opportunity “to connect to their tribe. As a result of attending our events, startups have gotten connected with investors and advisors, and entrepreneurs have valued the supportive community that the events create.”
On November 10, Rooke presents two generational experts speaking on the differences between Baby Boomers, Millenialls, Gen X and Y in the startup space.
Lynne Lancaster is the best-selling author of two books about bridging the generation gaps in the workplace: “When Generations Collide” and “The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace.” Sharing the stage will be Jim Finkelstein, founder and CEO of FutureSense. He is the author of “FUSE: Making Sense of the New Cogenerational Workplace,” and an adjunct faculty member at Sonoma State University teaching classes in Leading Change in the Executive MBA program.
Thursday, November 10, 6 p.m. $15-$25. Startupgrind.com/sonoma/
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