This past week, Inc Magazine wrote a great series of articles on “Revitalizing the American Dream” that talked about how we could all help create thousands of new companies and a million new jobs. Interestingly enough, step #4 was to “Speed the Start-Up Process” that said:
Most start-ups don’t need much money to get started. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need help. That’s where incubators and seed accelerators such as Y Combinator in San Francisco and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado, come into play. Investors, entrepreneurs, and city officials across the country should jump on the bandwagon.
This call for more start-up incubators / seed accelerators, is at the heart of why we are launching The Brandery. As the article states, “There are a couple dozen seed accelerators around the U.S. We could use a whole lot more. The key to getting started is a great group of mentors to draw people in.”
We are fortunate to have an amazing group of mentors that are part of our program. I would argue that the companies that become part of The Brandery will be working with the best consumer marketing minds anywhere in the country. This includes mentors who have led billion dollar brands, agencies that have created Cannes Lions winners and entrepreneurs who have raised millions of dollars in funding.
It is no wonder that Cincinnati was called out in the article when they wrote: “Indeed, it’s easy to imagine an accelerator in every industry hub: a fashion incubator in Manhattan; a consumer products accelerator in, say, Cincinnati.”
