{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":3.76,"endTime":7.32,"body":"Welcome to Big City Small Town, the podcast about the people who make San Antonio"},{"startTime":7.32,"endTime":11.0,"body":"go and grow. I'm Corey Ames, normally producing the show behind the"},{"startTime":11.0,"endTime":14.76,"body":"scenes, but I'm stepping in as guest host while Bob"},{"startTime":14.76,"endTime":18.56,"body":"is out of town for the month of July. If you've ever tried to start"},{"startTime":18.56,"endTime":22.2,"body":"a small business in San Antonio or even just dreamed about it, you may have"},{"startTime":22.2,"endTime":25.6,"body":"come across Launch sa, or at least my guest today hopes you have."},{"startTime":26.02,"endTime":29.46,"body":"It's a city supported resource center for small business owners and entrepreneurs."},{"startTime":29.7,"endTime":33.42,"body":"And to help us dig in, I'm joined by Matthew Espinosa, who"},{"startTime":33.42,"endTime":36.34,"body":"became the director of Launch SA in late"},{"startTime":36.34,"endTime":40.06,"body":"2023, nearly a decade after first working there as"},{"startTime":40.06,"endTime":43.78,"body":"an intern. Since then, Launch Essay has relaunched under a new"},{"startTime":43.78,"endTime":47.62,"body":"partnership with Geekdom and it's been growing quickly. Today we're going"},{"startTime":47.62,"endTime":51.14,"body":"to talk about how the small business landscape is shifting, what local"},{"startTime":51.22,"endTime":54.99,"body":"founders and business owners need most, and where support systems like"},{"startTime":54.99,"endTime":58.55,"body":"Launchs A are trying to make a difference. Let's get into it."},{"startTime":58.55,"endTime":62.03,"body":"Matt, welcome to Big City Small Town. Thanks for having me, Corey. Looking forward to"},{"startTime":62.03,"endTime":65.11,"body":"it. To kick us off, as we mentioned at the top there, you started at"},{"startTime":65.11,"endTime":68.91,"body":"launch SA first as an intern nearly 10 years ago. I'd love for"},{"startTime":68.91,"endTime":71.59,"body":"you to share with us a little bit about your story as to how you"},{"startTime":71.59,"endTime":75.39,"body":"got into this position and how maybe that has shaped your approach to"},{"startTime":75.47,"endTime":79.23,"body":"leading Launch Essay. Sure, absolutely. Well, when it comes to Launch"},{"startTime":79.23,"endTime":83.0,"body":"Essay Geekdom, where we're at right now, I always think I'm a customer"},{"startTime":83.0,"endTime":86.36,"body":"client first. I've graduated from UTSA in 2016."},{"startTime":87.24,"endTime":91.0,"body":"They had an entrepreneurship major at the time. So my whole goal was to not"},{"startTime":91.0,"endTime":94.84,"body":"get a job. So what that looked like for me was understanding what's"},{"startTime":94.84,"endTime":98.36,"body":"out there. How could I at the time, what I was working on, start something?"},{"startTime":98.68,"endTime":102.48,"body":"And that brought me to places like Launches, say Geekdom, and never did"},{"startTime":102.48,"endTime":106.32,"body":"I think I would be on staff working for organizations like this. But I"},{"startTime":106.32,"endTime":109.8,"body":"just got really excited to support other small business owners, other entrepreneurs,"},{"startTime":110.6,"endTime":114.38,"body":"especially for someone at that time, you know, an intern right"},{"startTime":114.38,"endTime":118.18,"body":"out of college, you know, graduating, it was such a cool opportunity to"},{"startTime":118.18,"endTime":121.82,"body":"meet people I probably shouldn't have in my career. Right. You know, other entrepreneurs giving"},{"startTime":121.82,"endTime":125.42,"body":"their time back, talking about all different types of things, learning all different"},{"startTime":125.42,"endTime":128.7,"body":"things. So that's kind of where it all started. And to, to this day, I"},{"startTime":128.7,"endTime":131.86,"body":"think it translates into a lot of how I approach the work that we do,"},{"startTime":131.86,"endTime":135.7,"body":"which is, you know, again, meeting business owners where they're at, learning what their needs"},{"startTime":135.7,"endTime":139.29,"body":"are and really relating to them. And I Think that's probably one of my favorite"},{"startTime":139.29,"endTime":143.01,"body":"parts working at Geekdom and this organization Launch SA is"},{"startTime":143.41,"endTime":146.61,"body":"the whole team has that spirit which is really cool to watch in the community."},{"startTime":147.33,"endTime":150.49,"body":"Geekdom here I think was the reason that you and I first met. Coming up"},{"startTime":150.49,"endTime":154.33,"body":"on that 10 years ago, just about one of the first folks that I met"},{"startTime":154.33,"endTime":156.69,"body":"here in San Antonio. Very kind and warm welcome."},{"startTime":157.89,"endTime":161.65,"body":"But Matt, I'm curious for our listeners who may not"},{"startTime":161.65,"endTime":164.33,"body":"be familiar with Launch Essay at all can give us a little bit of a"},{"startTime":164.33,"endTime":168.17,"body":"primer as to what is Launch sa. We mentioned it's a resource center for"},{"startTime":168.17,"endTime":171.53,"body":"small business. But what does that specifically look like? What do you all offer?"},{"startTime":171.93,"endTime":175.45,"body":"What do you do? So Launches say is a partnership between the city San Antonio"},{"startTime":175.45,"endTime":179.05,"body":"and Geekdom. Our tagline is the resource center for small business"},{"startTime":179.05,"endTime":182.65,"body":"owners and entrepreneurs in San Antonio. This was initiative started"},{"startTime":182.73,"endTime":186.25,"body":"over now 10 years ago. Originally the first"},{"startTime":186.25,"endTime":189.73,"body":"partner with the city on this organization was lifton and in"},{"startTime":189.73,"endTime":193.41,"body":"2023 geekdom became the new partner. And ultimately a resource"},{"startTime":193.41,"endTime":197.21,"body":"center for small business owners means a lot of things. There's not a specific target"},{"startTime":197.21,"endTime":200.17,"body":"we have on the phase of business. So we go from"},{"startTime":201.05,"endTime":204.25,"body":"what's it like to start an LLC to what's it like to shut a business"},{"startTime":204.25,"endTime":207.93,"body":"or grow a business on the other side, depending on the situation."},{"startTime":208.57,"endTime":212.13,"body":"So for us it means something new every single day. That means really"},{"startTime":212.13,"endTime":215.37,"body":"adapting to what the needs are on the small businesses, but"},{"startTime":215.61,"endTime":219.17,"body":"specifically with the services we provide. It"},{"startTime":219.17,"endTime":222.81,"body":"involves one on one assistance through our assistance team and our business advisor"},{"startTime":222.97,"endTime":226.37,"body":"hosting events and workshops. Ultimately for two reasons on"},{"startTime":226.37,"endTime":229.61,"body":"topics people are looking for, say sales, marketing,"},{"startTime":229.93,"endTime":233.69,"body":"access to capital, but also bringing the community together. You know, I think"},{"startTime":233.69,"endTime":237.29,"body":"small business owners uplevel each other organically. You hear it all the time."},{"startTime":237.37,"endTime":240.97,"body":"It's also ultimately how people find out about us is a small business owner tells"},{"startTime":240.97,"endTime":244.81,"body":"another small business owner. So it's really events, the assistance and then"},{"startTime":244.81,"endTime":248.41,"body":"ultimately the partner network that we've,"},{"startTime":248.41,"endTime":252.09,"body":"we've worked with since, since Launch Essay's inception. It's really"},{"startTime":252.17,"endTime":255.69,"body":"the goal was to be this one stop shop and ultimately that means, you know,"},{"startTime":255.69,"endTime":259.49,"body":"providing people the right routes or whatever they're looking for. So we"},{"startTime":259.49,"endTime":261.909,"body":"work with 60 different organizations out there"},{"startTime":262.869,"endTime":266.669,"body":"alongside the city of San Antonio and Geekdom that are providing"},{"startTime":266.669,"endTime":270.509,"body":"services or support to small business owners here in San Antonio. So that's a big"},{"startTime":270.509,"endTime":274.229,"body":"piece of our work. It seems like there is a real paramount shift from"},{"startTime":274.309,"endTime":278.149,"body":"maybe Launch Essay pre your start as director in"},{"startTime":278.149,"endTime":281.989,"body":"the new partnership with Geekdom. Again, I'm"},{"startTime":281.989,"endTime":285.629,"body":"sure that's Something that many of our listeners aren't too keen to."},{"startTime":285.629,"endTime":289.35,"body":"So can you explain a little bit more as to what that change was? I"},{"startTime":289.35,"endTime":292.71,"body":"know there was also renovation and remodel launch essay space in the"},{"startTime":293.27,"endTime":296.55,"body":"public library. So share with us a little bit what's so"},{"startTime":297.27,"endTime":300.55,"body":"discernibly different about launch essay since that"},{"startTime":300.55,"endTime":304.23,"body":"pre2023 term when you started as direct. Yeah, absolutely."},{"startTime":304.79,"endTime":308.59,"body":"So if, if anyone listening this is familiar with"},{"startTime":308.59,"endTime":312.03,"body":"Launch, you know, the first nine years of the partnership with"},{"startTime":312.03,"endTime":315.56,"body":"Liffon and city of San Antonio, you know, it's. It was super"},{"startTime":315.56,"endTime":319.2,"body":"impactful. It helped a lot of business owners, entrepreneurs out there."},{"startTime":319.36,"endTime":322.96,"body":"You know, the times and the needs and the type of support, you know, were"},{"startTime":323.04,"endTime":326.68,"body":"vastly different pre Covid to post Covid. And a lot of"},{"startTime":326.68,"endTime":329.6,"body":"the fundamental ways, we're still doing a lot of the same work. And I think"},{"startTime":329.6,"endTime":333.36,"body":"that's, that's the, A big piece of that relaunch is to, you know,"},{"startTime":334.0,"endTime":337.76,"body":"basically 10 years into this, what the next 10 years will look like and"},{"startTime":337.92,"endTime":341.04,"body":"what does that partnership look like with. With the new partner being geekdom in the"},{"startTime":341.04,"endTime":344.55,"body":"city of San Antonio? So for us, you know, being someone that took"},{"startTime":344.55,"endTime":348.19,"body":"advantage of those services from before, alongside a community of people that really"},{"startTime":348.19,"endTime":351.95,"body":"enjoyed and loved that community that was created, a lot of"},{"startTime":351.95,"endTime":355.47,"body":"our work was, how do we improve that, bring that back?"},{"startTime":355.95,"endTime":359.11,"body":"Because there were a lot of stuff going on in person that paused there for"},{"startTime":359.11,"endTime":362.59,"body":"a little bit during COVID and the city of San Antonio, also"},{"startTime":363.23,"endTime":366.99,"body":"with that almost 10 years of data information, wanted to take it to the next"},{"startTime":366.99,"endTime":370.43,"body":"level of, okay, we're going to focus on being an ecosystem hub for the community,"},{"startTime":370.91,"endTime":373.23,"body":"working closer with partner organizations,"},{"startTime":375.05,"endTime":378.89,"body":"provide more staff support. So there's five of us on"},{"startTime":378.89,"endTime":382.33,"body":"the team that are really kind of able to stretch out what those services"},{"startTime":382.89,"endTime":386.41,"body":"look like. But a big, big theme that continues to this day"},{"startTime":386.57,"endTime":390.37,"body":"as we relaunch is Launch USA is a, a place where, if, you"},{"startTime":390.37,"endTime":394.01,"body":"know, you know, for small business community and for us, that relaunch really came"},{"startTime":394.01,"endTime":397.45,"body":"with, you know, we want to expand that partner network, build those"},{"startTime":397.45,"endTime":401.01,"body":"relationships, tell more people about it, you know, kind of spread the word that Launch"},{"startTime":401.01,"endTime":404.45,"body":"USA is back, because for those that know about it, it's such a pivotal"},{"startTime":404.45,"endTime":408.13,"body":"organization. So that was a big theme of relaunching. Launch Essay"},{"startTime":408.13,"endTime":411.77,"body":"is, you know, in the second evolution of the organization,"},{"startTime":411.93,"endTime":415.53,"body":"you know, really kind of take the lessons learned and continue to build on them"},{"startTime":415.53,"endTime":419.05,"body":"because it's such an impactful organization, I think, to this community,"},{"startTime":419.05,"endTime":422.89,"body":"especially for the small business community. So what's it like for you"},{"startTime":422.89,"endTime":426.25,"body":"Kind of being on, on this side of things as you know, a resource"},{"startTime":426.25,"endTime":429.89,"body":"provider or someone who's ideally, you know, offering some triage in some"},{"startTime":429.89,"endTime":433.21,"body":"sorts of way for small business owners problems. I think it's"},{"startTime":434.61,"endTime":438.09,"body":"one thing that's always been interesting about my experience of you is that you're not"},{"startTime":438.09,"endTime":441.33,"body":"someone who I've always caught like maybe sitting in an office or any sort of"},{"startTime":441.33,"endTime":444.77,"body":"regard. The way I run into you is usually at some sort of event"},{"startTime":445.01,"endTime":448.65,"body":"and that's why this position seems so suited to you and so you're not just"},{"startTime":448.65,"endTime":452.01,"body":"kind of hidden in there in the library. I know there's tons of events going"},{"startTime":452.01,"endTime":455.65,"body":"on for launch essay and so what has it been like for you? And"},{"startTime":455.65,"endTime":459.21,"body":"also can you share the scale of maybe the"},{"startTime":459.21,"endTime":463.06,"body":"events and panels and in person meetings that you're"},{"startTime":463.06,"endTime":466.58,"body":"holding throughout the city? You know, what, what sort of"},{"startTime":466.58,"endTime":470.1,"body":"conversations are you fielding, hosting that kind of thing? And"},{"startTime":470.18,"endTime":473.78,"body":"like I said before, like what has that experience been like for you to"},{"startTime":474.1,"endTime":477.5,"body":"hear those things at such a scale that maybe you didn't before? Yeah,"},{"startTime":477.5,"endTime":481.26,"body":"absolutely. Really that, that phase really"},{"startTime":481.26,"endTime":484.82,"body":"starts from this partnership between Geekdom and the city. You know, Geekdom"},{"startTime":485.06,"endTime":488.88,"body":"over, around the same, around the same era when Geekdom"},{"startTime":488.88,"endTime":492.48,"body":"started launch essay started the early 2000 and tens and you know,"},{"startTime":492.48,"endTime":496.24,"body":"geekdom has evolved as an organization as well and there started to"},{"startTime":496.24,"endTime":499.96,"body":"be more than just the innovation, startups, tech"},{"startTime":499.96,"endTime":502.88,"body":"of what we were seeing. We were seeing a lot of small businesses that were"},{"startTime":503.04,"endTime":506.64,"body":"seeking resources, looking for support and help. So"},{"startTime":506.88,"endTime":510.64,"body":"this partnership in 2023 was really a"},{"startTime":510.64,"endTime":514.44,"body":"perfect opportunity for Geekdom to kind of expand their services in partnership"},{"startTime":514.44,"endTime":518.16,"body":"with the city of San Antonio. You know, so for the launch, SA team"},{"startTime":518.84,"endTime":522.64,"body":"as I moved, moved over and helped relaunch and, and build the, the"},{"startTime":522.64,"endTime":526.0,"body":"team members, colleagues that I have now on the team, a lot of it was"},{"startTime":526.0,"endTime":529.4,"body":"really just starting with what are business owners looking for, what are they seeking?"},{"startTime":529.56,"endTime":533.28,"body":"You know, and, and that core again that, hey, I have an answer. Today"},{"startTime":533.28,"endTime":536.76,"body":"I'm wearing a marketing hat. How do I do this on social media"},{"startTime":537.16,"endTime":540.24,"body":"now I'm dealing with the legal issue that I have. Who do I talk to"},{"startTime":540.24,"endTime":543.4,"body":"and making sure launches say is meeting that, that"},{"startTime":544.05,"endTime":547.65,"body":"demand in as efficient ways as we can. You know, part of that means"},{"startTime":548.05,"endTime":551.25,"body":"having a ton of events at the library. Sometimes that means getting out in the"},{"startTime":551.25,"endTime":554.89,"body":"community, doing other events. That's, that's been a big focus of ours as well"},{"startTime":554.89,"endTime":556.69,"body":"is San Antonio is a very large,"},{"startTime":558.53,"endTime":562.25,"body":"large, large reach of, of, of physical location of"},{"startTime":562.25,"endTime":565.81,"body":"where we have to go go and potentially support. But again it's more than just"},{"startTime":565.97,"endTime":568.69,"body":"Launch a doing this work. The city of San Antonio has other"},{"startTime":570.29,"endTime":574.09,"body":"team members or part of the economic development department that do that outreach"},{"startTime":574.09,"endTime":577.33,"body":"that get them connected to us, other partner organizations we work with."},{"startTime":578.05,"endTime":581.85,"body":"So really that, that core focus of ours is really, you know, gather"},{"startTime":581.85,"endTime":585.37,"body":"those that are doing the work and you know, see what the issues are, see"},{"startTime":585.37,"endTime":589.01,"body":"how we can work stronger together to, to support these small businesses. Because"},{"startTime":589.25,"endTime":593.05,"body":"there's, there's never really when it comes to building a"},{"startTime":593.05,"endTime":596.62,"body":"small business or on becoming an entrepreneur that it ever"},{"startTime":596.62,"endTime":600.38,"body":"stops. You're either kind of growing or facing a challenge or facing an issue."},{"startTime":600.38,"endTime":603.54,"body":"So there's always that need for it. So trying to figure out how to do"},{"startTime":603.54,"endTime":607.38,"body":"it in a way that, that meets that demand is, is kind of"},{"startTime":607.38,"endTime":611.059,"body":"what I think. Internally we're, we're trying to make sure we do. And that usually"},{"startTime":611.059,"endTime":614.06,"body":"for us means a lot of events, which is a great way for us to"},{"startTime":614.3,"endTime":617.34,"body":"directly connect with these business owners, learn what they're looking for,"},{"startTime":618.06,"endTime":621.83,"body":"provide them with that direct support in person. Right. That's been a big"},{"startTime":621.83,"endTime":624.95,"body":"focus of ours. If you haven't been in the launches, say we've, we've got a"},{"startTime":624.95,"endTime":628.15,"body":"ton of space in the central library. So for us we're like, okay, if we've"},{"startTime":628.15,"endTime":631.67,"body":"got three different breakout sessions, we want to host tons of events and"},{"startTime":631.67,"endTime":635.31,"body":"workshops and you know, just create that, that space"},{"startTime":635.31,"endTime":639.03,"body":"for business owners and entrepreneurs to know, okay, if I go to launch, there's probably"},{"startTime":639.03,"endTime":642.55,"body":"something going on. I see this topic, I'm interested, maybe I can meet some other"},{"startTime":642.55,"endTime":646.15,"body":"like minded people. So trying to do that in a balanced way is,"},{"startTime":646.15,"endTime":649.9,"body":"was, has been our focus alongside the other work that we do. Can"},{"startTime":649.9,"endTime":653.54,"body":"you give some specific examples as to maybe what events you have in"},{"startTime":653.54,"endTime":656.78,"body":"Launch SA and likewise maybe ones that you've had around town?"},{"startTime":657.02,"endTime":660.82,"body":"Yeah. So for us the big priority, even when"},{"startTime":660.82,"endTime":664.58,"body":"we were navigating, being out for the relaunch phase, which was some construction"},{"startTime":664.58,"endTime":668.02,"body":"to our space, was one Million Cups. One Million Cups has been a"},{"startTime":668.02,"endTime":671.58,"body":"flagship program of Launch SA since the beginning. And every Wednesday"},{"startTime":671.58,"endTime":675.1,"body":"morning two small business owners, entrepreneurs are presenting what they're working on."},{"startTime":675.98,"endTime":679.58,"body":"Usually we get an audience of about 20 to 30 people, wide variety"},{"startTime":679.58,"endTime":683.14,"body":"of college students, people starting businesses, people thinking about starting"},{"startTime":683.14,"endTime":686.14,"body":"businesses, you know, VCs,"},{"startTime":687.1,"endTime":690.9,"body":"mentors, advisors, a wide variety of people that show to it. But for us"},{"startTime":690.9,"endTime":694.66,"body":"it allows us, you know, once a week as a team to hear some"},{"startTime":694.66,"endTime":698.5,"body":"small business owners, see what they're looking for, but also allow them to"},{"startTime":698.5,"endTime":701.22,"body":"connect with one another. But for us, it acts as A little bit of a"},{"startTime":701.22,"endTime":703.94,"body":"town hall of, you know, what other things do we need to be doing? What"},{"startTime":703.94,"endTime":707.64,"body":"should we be trying, you know, who's showing up, you know, what, what are people"},{"startTime":707.64,"endTime":710.88,"body":"looking for? So that has always been kind of one of the main"},{"startTime":711.6,"endTime":714.72,"body":"easy ways for someone that's not familiar with our organization to bop into."},{"startTime":715.44,"endTime":719.08,"body":"And then another one has been this series that we started"},{"startTime":719.08,"endTime":722.76,"body":"called the Insured of Small Business Ecosystem, where twice a month we'll"},{"startTime":722.76,"endTime":726.04,"body":"invite one of those partners. You know, everything from business development"},{"startTime":726.04,"endTime":729.68,"body":"organizations. We work with some of the banks that we work"},{"startTime":729.68,"endTime":733.51,"body":"with, all these different organizations that have small business programming that"},{"startTime":733.51,"endTime":737.23,"body":"we invite them usually with someone that they've impacted. So small business"},{"startTime":737.23,"endTime":740.99,"body":"success story that they have. And for us, it's just really a conversation"},{"startTime":740.99,"endTime":744.63,"body":"of like, you know, hey, here's Launches safe. This is your first time coming to"},{"startTime":744.63,"endTime":748.27,"body":"us. Here's what this partner organization does and you know, tell us a little bit"},{"startTime":748.27,"endTime":752.03,"body":"about how you impacted this business owner, restaurant, whatever"},{"startTime":752.03,"endTime":755.47,"body":"the case may be, is so it allows people to understand, like, more than just"},{"startTime":755.47,"endTime":759.27,"body":"here are our services. Like, how do people, how do business owners interact with you?"},{"startTime":759.27,"endTime":763.11,"body":"What does the process look like? Is it, you know, has it been impactful? So"},{"startTime":763.11,"endTime":766.81,"body":"that those, those are two kind of the, you know, a lot of"},{"startTime":766.81,"endTime":770.33,"body":"people assume where. Which we are, you know, or"},{"startTime":770.41,"endTime":773.65,"body":"from our, from what we see in the data, seeing a lot of people that"},{"startTime":773.65,"endTime":776.97,"body":"are just getting started. You know, I think that's when business owners often have a"},{"startTime":776.97,"endTime":780.289,"body":"lot of time to plan and like, hey, let me go to these resources. But"},{"startTime":780.289,"endTime":783.97,"body":"a lot of the way I explain our services are, you know, ultimately for"},{"startTime":783.97,"endTime":787.65,"body":"people that may be beginning on looking for"},{"startTime":787.65,"endTime":790.81,"body":"what resources are out there. Right. So whether you've been in business for 10 years,"},{"startTime":791.05,"endTime":794.1,"body":"six months, whatever the case may be, you know, if you've never,"},{"startTime":795.54,"endTime":799.3,"body":"you know, connected with a bank about a loan or you've never,"},{"startTime":799.3,"endTime":802.7,"body":"you know, worked with a marketing agency, whatever it may be, you know, coming to"},{"startTime":802.7,"endTime":806.06,"body":"us first or some of the other organizations out there is a good first step"},{"startTime":806.06,"endTime":809.14,"body":"to really understand what that whole process looks and feels like, you know."},{"startTime":809.78,"endTime":813.18,"body":"Well, and this is a very broad question and we'll get into"},{"startTime":813.18,"endTime":816.82,"body":"specifics after that. But judging from how many businesses you speak"},{"startTime":816.82,"endTime":820.06,"body":"to, I might be making an assumption, but maybe you, you hear more problems than"},{"startTime":820.06,"endTime":823.2,"body":"you do if people are doing really, really well. I don't know if they're looking"},{"startTime":823.2,"endTime":827.0,"body":"to launch essay, but what's your gut feel for how small"},{"startTime":827.0,"endTime":830.52,"body":"businesses are doing in the San Antonio area?"},{"startTime":830.84,"endTime":834.68,"body":"Yeah, generally, you know, I think one of the important things"},{"startTime":834.68,"endTime":838.4,"body":"that we try to do is alongside the events that we have is provide those"},{"startTime":838.4,"endTime":842.24,"body":"opportunities for people to come and check in when things are going well or"},{"startTime":842.24,"endTime":845.8,"body":"when they don't have an issue or challenge. I think that's important to the work"},{"startTime":845.8,"endTime":849.62,"body":"that we do, which is they, we build that relationship with them before,"},{"startTime":849.86,"endTime":852.98,"body":"you know, there's a tough situation that they're navigating."},{"startTime":853.62,"endTime":856.9,"body":"Generally, I think themes that we see here in San"},{"startTime":856.9,"endTime":859.62,"body":"Antonio is, is really"},{"startTime":860.82,"endTime":864.42,"body":"often common reason why people reaching out to us is potentially learn about"},{"startTime":864.74,"endTime":868.58,"body":"access to capital and high level. That's you know, hey, I'm starting a business. What"},{"startTime":868.58,"endTime":872.42,"body":"capital opportunities are there out for me, I'm trying to grow my business. What"},{"startTime":872.42,"endTime":875.38,"body":"opportunities are out there for me, what programs exist"},{"startTime":876.42,"endTime":880.13,"body":"so that alongside starting a business or some of the kind of common"},{"startTime":880.13,"endTime":883.09,"body":"reasons why people reach out to us and from the,"},{"startTime":884.13,"endTime":887.37,"body":"you know, past success stories of people that we worked with or some of the"},{"startTime":887.37,"endTime":890.69,"body":"more mature businesses that have gone through our services or other"},{"startTime":890.69,"endTime":894.41,"body":"organizations out there. You know, I think it's a, it's a theme over the last"},{"startTime":894.41,"endTime":897.93,"body":"few years since really Covid, which is, you know, navigating uncertainty."},{"startTime":897.93,"endTime":901.41,"body":"And during COVID that was, you know, day by day,"},{"startTime":901.41,"endTime":905.17,"body":"what's, what's going to happen next? How do, how do we, you"},{"startTime":905.17,"endTime":908.61,"body":"know, whether it's scale back services or adapt appropriately to the environment."},{"startTime":909.15,"endTime":912.91,"body":"You know, now I think that's still a current theme, you know, more with"},{"startTime":912.91,"endTime":915.47,"body":"maybe the AI technology kind of the way"},{"startTime":916.99,"endTime":920.75,"body":"small businesses are interacting with technology. You know, there"},{"startTime":920.75,"endTime":924.47,"body":"always seems to kind of be that, that next"},{"startTime":924.47,"endTime":928.27,"body":"thing that kind of shakes or kind of has to make small business owners"},{"startTime":928.27,"endTime":931.95,"body":"really flexible or you know, able to adapt appropriately."},{"startTime":932.03,"endTime":935.19,"body":"So you know, I think that makes our work more important to kind of who"},{"startTime":935.19,"endTime":938.91,"body":"can we bring in to educate more on this? You know, how can we"},{"startTime":938.91,"endTime":942.45,"body":"work closer with these, to provide more opportunities or what even"},{"startTime":942.45,"endTime":946.01,"body":"what programs already out there, what services are already out there."},{"startTime":946.01,"endTime":949.37,"body":"So that's, I think some of the"},{"startTime":949.61,"endTime":952.89,"body":"main themes that we see right now from small business owners on kind of what's"},{"startTime":952.89,"endTime":956.61,"body":"going on. And so what's maybe the most common challenge"},{"startTime":956.61,"endTime":960.45,"body":"that you feel like you hear. From small business owners Generally, most small"},{"startTime":960.45,"endTime":964.09,"body":"businesses are really ran by maybe one, a couple people, right? Is those"},{"startTime":964.09,"endTime":967.29,"body":"individuals navigating an issue or challenge that is more than just"},{"startTime":968.15,"endTime":971.83,"body":"we get more people on social media, we'll get more sale. You know, it's, it's,"},{"startTime":971.83,"endTime":975.55,"body":"it's multi layered program or multi layered problem that becomes"},{"startTime":975.55,"endTime":978.79,"body":"basically, you know, overwhelming of sorts. And it's, you Know,"},{"startTime":979.03,"endTime":982.03,"body":"breaking it down for them piece by piece, kind of doing a bit of planning"},{"startTime":982.03,"endTime":985.87,"body":"on, you know, yes, capital is an issue right now over the last couple"},{"startTime":985.87,"endTime":989.35,"body":"months, but what are those underlying problems that are causing capital being"},{"startTime":989.35,"endTime":992.91,"body":"issued? It, you know, did the, the, the area of, of town"},{"startTime":992.91,"endTime":996.3,"body":"change? Did the foot traffic change? Did the, you know,"},{"startTime":996.38,"endTime":1000.06,"body":"were maybe some past marketing things working that they're not,"},{"startTime":1000.22,"endTime":1003.34,"body":"they're now not working? You know, some, some of those types of things that"},{"startTime":1003.98,"endTime":1007.78,"body":"we're often, I think, dissecting with the small business owner what the challenges or issues"},{"startTime":1007.78,"endTime":1010.78,"body":"or helping them kind of identify, you know, because I think"},{"startTime":1013.42,"endTime":1017.18,"body":"oftentimes it's, it's. There's not one specific piece of"},{"startTime":1017.18,"endTime":1020.38,"body":"the business that, you know, it's, it's, it's a couple different things that you have"},{"startTime":1020.38,"endTime":1023.21,"body":"to kind of address and you know, sometimes that can get overwhelming."},{"startTime":1024.01,"endTime":1027.77,"body":"Well, I'm curious because it seems like there's a lot of like, broader"},{"startTime":1027.77,"endTime":1031.37,"body":"signals that would say that San Antonio's economy is growing."},{"startTime":1031.77,"endTime":1035.49,"body":"And I think there was just a recent jobs report released that maybe the San"},{"startTime":1035.49,"endTime":1038.65,"body":"Antonio area had created the most new jobs and"},{"startTime":1039.13,"endTime":1042.93,"body":"perhaps that was of, of the last year. I'm interested to"},{"startTime":1042.93,"endTime":1046.61,"body":"know when, you know, we, as maybe outsiders to the intimate"},{"startTime":1046.61,"endTime":1049.769,"body":"small business ecosystem, see those various headlines,"},{"startTime":1050.249,"endTime":1053.769,"body":"I think it's important to parse through like, where is that growth"},{"startTime":1053.929,"endTime":1057.769,"body":"happening? You know, do you feel like the"},{"startTime":1057.849,"endTime":1061.689,"body":"whole tide is rising to some extent? You know, where it's, you know, very large"},{"startTime":1061.689,"endTime":1065.209,"body":"companies and businesses? Do you feel like that our small businesses are,"},{"startTime":1065.529,"endTime":1068.809,"body":"you know, experiencing a boon in, in the growth of"},{"startTime":1069.529,"endTime":1073.369,"body":"the economic output of the San Antonio area as"},{"startTime":1073.609,"endTime":1076.569,"body":"consistently as, you know, maybe larger players in the area?"},{"startTime":1077.4,"endTime":1081.0,"body":"Yeah, you know, I think San Antonio is, is just"},{"startTime":1081.32,"endTime":1084.88,"body":"a very small business, family, small business city that this"},{"startTime":1084.88,"endTime":1088.52,"body":"underlying there, you know, over, it's, it's, it's time"},{"startTime":1088.52,"endTime":1092.32,"body":"frame, you know, I think you talk to a lot of small business owners, they"},{"startTime":1092.32,"endTime":1095.88,"body":"maybe took over a family business or started this with,"},{"startTime":1096.12,"endTime":1099.32,"body":"with a family member. So this is that culture San Antonio"},{"startTime":1099.56,"endTime":1103.28,"body":"plays that, that part that is here compared to other cities. It's,"},{"startTime":1103.28,"endTime":1106.54,"body":"it's, it's one of my favorite parts I think about, you know, being in this"},{"startTime":1106.54,"endTime":1109.82,"body":"line of work is just getting to connect with these individuals"},{"startTime":1110.54,"endTime":1113.9,"body":"that are navigating small business ownership. I, I would say that growth"},{"startTime":1114.46,"endTime":1118.14,"body":"often leads to potential higher, expensive, different, you"},{"startTime":1118.14,"endTime":1121.66,"body":"know, challenges that maybe small business owners aren't,"},{"startTime":1121.66,"endTime":1125.3,"body":"aren't able to kind of notice immediately or kind of create a ripple effect down"},{"startTime":1125.3,"endTime":1129.02,"body":"the road. So what's, what's Most important is I think too, you know, make"},{"startTime":1129.02,"endTime":1132.77,"body":"sure support like this is provided to make small"},{"startTime":1132.77,"endTime":1136.21,"body":"businesses more sustainable or more kind of prep for, for,"},{"startTime":1136.37,"endTime":1140.01,"body":"for kind of what's going on, you know, when, when new development or"},{"startTime":1140.01,"endTime":1143.17,"body":"new new changes. You know, you see a lot right now with, with"},{"startTime":1143.25,"endTime":1146.69,"body":"construction as an issue like that changes your day to day. So you have to"},{"startTime":1146.69,"endTime":1150.05,"body":"kind of force to get creative on how am I going to get more people"},{"startTime":1150.05,"endTime":1153.13,"body":"through the door. Like how am I going to use, you know, other channels to"},{"startTime":1153.13,"endTime":1156.86,"body":"tell people about what's going on. And you know, you've seen businesses shutter"},{"startTime":1156.86,"endTime":1160.18,"body":"over the last few years going back to Covid because it's, you know, it's,"},{"startTime":1160.42,"endTime":1164.06,"body":"it's hard to really calculate what one month of low foot"},{"startTime":1164.06,"endTime":1167.86,"body":"traffic will impact, you know, a year from now other than"},{"startTime":1167.86,"endTime":1171.699,"body":"kind of really identifying and dissecting"},{"startTime":1171.699,"endTime":1175.46,"body":"the, the business. So I think that that's a. As the growth"},{"startTime":1175.46,"endTime":1178.5,"body":"happens, you know, making sure small business owners are are"},{"startTime":1178.82,"endTime":1182.42,"body":"supported and have those, those opportunities programs,"},{"startTime":1182.9,"endTime":1186.74,"body":"you know, and services like ours out there, you know, as kind."},{"startTime":1188.06,"endTime":1191.74,"body":"Would you consider launch essay something of like a liaison between the small business"},{"startTime":1191.74,"endTime":1195.34,"body":"community in the city? Is that an accurate way to describe it? Because I,"},{"startTime":1195.5,"endTime":1199.18,"body":"you know, you mentioned the construction challenges and that's something that I think has made"},{"startTime":1199.18,"endTime":1203.02,"body":"news in times past. Many small business owners kind of coming to protest and"},{"startTime":1203.02,"endTime":1205.66,"body":"you know, in sense to say that we need to get these various jobs done"},{"startTime":1205.66,"endTime":1209.3,"body":"at a quicker rate. St. Mary's strip was a very"},{"startTime":1209.3,"endTime":1212.98,"body":"notable one of that. There's a lot of construction going on in South Town that"},{"startTime":1212.98,"endTime":1216.54,"body":"I know anecdotally has affected business owners acutely."},{"startTime":1217.18,"endTime":1220.9,"body":"What is the connection made between you know, those problems happening for one, you"},{"startTime":1220.9,"endTime":1224.58,"body":"know, launch essay and you know, where, where the city has reins to"},{"startTime":1224.58,"endTime":1227.98,"body":"maybe or levers to affect those outcomes? Yeah,"},{"startTime":1228.3,"endTime":1231.9,"body":"for us it's really, you know, the, the awareness"},{"startTime":1231.9,"endTime":1235.58,"body":"of, of what programs or services the city provides"},{"startTime":1235.58,"endTime":1239.38,"body":"in, in response to that. You know, the city of San Antonio"},{"startTime":1239.38,"endTime":1242.79,"body":"Economic Development Department, you know for the last couple years has provided"},{"startTime":1243.19,"endTime":1245.91,"body":"construction grant opportunities. They have the zero percent"},{"startTime":1246.87,"endTime":1250.71,"body":"interest loan program through LIFON that are some of these, these programs that are out"},{"startTime":1250.71,"endTime":1254.43,"body":"there that for us it's more of awareness and like, you know, hey, you're facing"},{"startTime":1254.43,"endTime":1258.03,"body":"these challenges. Well, here's some of the options of things that the city is directly"},{"startTime":1258.03,"endTime":1261.75,"body":"providing. Here's some, you know, other third party services or"},{"startTime":1261.75,"endTime":1264.15,"body":"partners that are out there that might be good to talk to you. But for,"},{"startTime":1264.15,"endTime":1267.94,"body":"for us, you know, I think the what, what we're doing is kind of"},{"startTime":1267.94,"endTime":1271.54,"body":"understanding the trends and themes of why people are reaching out to us right now."},{"startTime":1272.1,"endTime":1275.86,"body":"And from there, you know, is there an opportunity to create a program or service"},{"startTime":1275.86,"endTime":1279.58,"body":"or you know, share that information with the city or, you know, another partner"},{"startTime":1279.58,"endTime":1282.9,"body":"to hey, is there, is there a way we can create something to, to help"},{"startTime":1282.98,"endTime":1286.58,"body":"help solve this problem or, or you know,"},{"startTime":1286.66,"endTime":1290.06,"body":"make it a little bit easier from, from, from a challenge? But I, I would"},{"startTime":1290.06,"endTime":1293.7,"body":"say it's more on the awareness side of kind of what's out there and, and"},{"startTime":1293.7,"endTime":1297.38,"body":"you know, what programs exist. Well, and so maybe this has been"},{"startTime":1297.78,"endTime":1299.94,"body":"layered throughout our conversation already, but"},{"startTime":1301.54,"endTime":1305.38,"body":"what are the like agreed. Kind of measurements of success both internally launch"},{"startTime":1305.38,"endTime":1309.18,"body":"essay, as you're talking with your staff, your team, with geekdom,"},{"startTime":1309.18,"endTime":1312.66,"body":"with the city, all of y' all together, like, what are we looking at"},{"startTime":1313.06,"endTime":1316.78,"body":"for launch essay as to discern whether, you know, this, this program is meeting"},{"startTime":1316.78,"endTime":1320.5,"body":"its objectives and goals? What are those goals? There was a report done a few"},{"startTime":1320.5,"endTime":1324.31,"body":"years ago done by the city that talks about kind of"},{"startTime":1324.31,"endTime":1327.75,"body":"the themes of challenges small business owners are facing."},{"startTime":1328.15,"endTime":1331.51,"body":"Kind of the state of the ecosystem here in San Antonio for small business"},{"startTime":1332.47,"endTime":1335.91,"body":"and for longevity. I think that the theme is being an"},{"startTime":1335.91,"endTime":1339.43,"body":"ecosystem hub. So, you know, more than just us directly"},{"startTime":1339.99,"endTime":1343.83,"body":"providing the services, working with those other organizations, bringing everyone to the table"},{"startTime":1343.83,"endTime":1347.63,"body":"to kind of again, understand these trends, these challenges, kind of"},{"startTime":1347.63,"endTime":1351.19,"body":"what small business owners are looking for. That, that's a big one."},{"startTime":1351.35,"endTime":1355.07,"body":"I would say a second one is a space which is, you know, ultimately"},{"startTime":1355.07,"endTime":1358.55,"body":"the space that we have in the central library of healthy activated"},{"startTime":1359.11,"endTime":1362.91,"body":"opportunities, a collaboration space, place to meet"},{"startTime":1362.91,"endTime":1366.71,"body":"other business owners through these events. You know, those"},{"startTime":1366.71,"endTime":1370.47,"body":"renovations came with new classrooms and new space for small"},{"startTime":1370.47,"endTime":1374.27,"body":"business owners to utilize. So I think from, from space activation, whether it's through"},{"startTime":1374.27,"endTime":1377.96,"body":"events, programs, bringing business owners together is another metric of"},{"startTime":1377.96,"endTime":1380.08,"body":"success. And you know, I think that"},{"startTime":1381.68,"endTime":1385.52,"body":"the way I kind of interpret that is, is really ultimately this community of, of,"},{"startTime":1385.52,"endTime":1388.92,"body":"of people that small business owners can tap into. You know, you have a problem"},{"startTime":1388.92,"endTime":1392.2,"body":"on marketing, who do you go to? You have a challenge with capital. Who can"},{"startTime":1392.2,"endTime":1395.32,"body":"I talk to? And you know, the, the, the more we're doing our job and"},{"startTime":1395.32,"endTime":1399.08,"body":"the more we're building those relationships, I think it becomes easier because it's not"},{"startTime":1399.08,"endTime":1402.64,"body":"usually one, one size fits all business challenge. You know, if,"},{"startTime":1403.03,"endTime":1406.71,"body":"if you're, you're trying to potentially get outside sources of"},{"startTime":1406.87,"endTime":1410.51,"body":"funding for your business, it's usually here's a multiple"},{"startTime":1410.51,"endTime":1413.83,"body":"different options for you. And you know, it's ultimately the business owner's"},{"startTime":1413.99,"endTime":1417.55,"body":"decision to decide whether they pursue that or not, but getting their"},{"startTime":1417.55,"endTime":1421.27,"body":"paperwork together, getting all that stuff together, you know, it's, it's oftentimes"},{"startTime":1421.27,"endTime":1425.11,"body":"another business owner that's providing them how it works or you know, the resources"},{"startTime":1425.11,"endTime":1428.63,"body":"from the city to provide that. Here's how to engage with this program."},{"startTime":1428.71,"endTime":1432.25,"body":"So you know, I think underlying, you know, my and the"},{"startTime":1432.25,"endTime":1435.97,"body":"team's interpretation is, is providing that I know you only."},{"startTime":1436.21,"endTime":1439.93,"body":"Kind of semi recently got into the newly polished space at the library. And so"},{"startTime":1439.93,"endTime":1443.45,"body":"there's a lot of, you know, foundational things that needed to get into"},{"startTime":1443.45,"endTime":1447.29,"body":"alignment before you start really assessing how things are going. But you know,"},{"startTime":1447.29,"endTime":1451.13,"body":"what is your feel as to how you're tracking towards those objectives? Do you"},{"startTime":1451.13,"endTime":1454.81,"body":"feel like you're on track, making good progress and what maybe do you"},{"startTime":1454.81,"endTime":1458.51,"body":"point to as like kind of some clearest signs of success?"},{"startTime":1458.75,"endTime":1462.27,"body":"Yeah, you know, I think for us the theme of relaunching launch essay,"},{"startTime":1462.99,"endTime":1466.83,"body":"you know, I think through, through what we see in the community through kind of"},{"startTime":1466.83,"endTime":1470.63,"body":"look, looking at our metrics we would, you know, consider we're, we're relaunched. You"},{"startTime":1470.63,"endTime":1474.15,"body":"know, we have this again the space of slash"},{"startTime":1474.15,"endTime":1477.71,"body":"events and programs and opportunity for small business owners to engage with."},{"startTime":1477.95,"endTime":1481.75,"body":"You know, we have a, a team that's our full team that"},{"startTime":1481.75,"endTime":1485.12,"body":"can take, you know, you know, these inquiries and get people pointed to the right"},{"startTime":1485.12,"endTime":1488.6,"body":"direction. You know, I think the next step for us is really that deeper level"},{"startTime":1488.68,"endTime":1492.52,"body":"support and programming again, whether it's collaborating with"},{"startTime":1492.52,"endTime":1496.32,"body":"partners to hey, let's identify now that we know the trends, what"},{"startTime":1496.32,"endTime":1499.88,"body":"we can do to solve it for us. We have this program called Waypoint"},{"startTime":1499.96,"endTime":1503.72,"body":"launching here fairly soon that is for business owners"},{"startTime":1503.72,"endTime":1507.24,"body":"that are just getting started like the zero to six month, you know, so for"},{"startTime":1507.48,"endTime":1511.08,"body":"more than just these events or one on one opportunities, you know,"},{"startTime":1511.83,"endTime":1515.43,"body":"creating this cohorted experience for people just getting started to"},{"startTime":1515.75,"endTime":1518.63,"body":"continue on that deeper level support and community."},{"startTime":1519.43,"endTime":1523.23,"body":"So, so things like that, which are really now that we have a good bit"},{"startTime":1523.23,"endTime":1526.59,"body":"of data trends that we've seen, you know, what are some new things that we"},{"startTime":1526.59,"endTime":1530.31,"body":"can create or opportunities to kind of fill that gap"},{"startTime":1530.31,"endTime":1533.27,"body":"is kind of the, the next phase here that we're in."},{"startTime":1533.91,"endTime":1537.43,"body":"So something of like problem assessment from enough information that you can gather"},{"startTime":1537.73,"endTime":1540.65,"body":"and then see how you can create programming for it and launch it and see"},{"startTime":1540.65,"endTime":1544.49,"body":"how it goes. Yeah, exactly. Well Matt,"},{"startTime":1544.49,"endTime":1548.05,"body":"I'm interested to know, you know, maybe there's some things that we could all assume"},{"startTime":1548.05,"endTime":1551.81,"body":"that might be problem for small business owners. You know, construction maybe being"},{"startTime":1551.81,"endTime":1554.89,"body":"one of the first very kind of like physical tactical things that we could see"},{"startTime":1554.89,"endTime":1558.61,"body":"around town. But your perspective is unique. You talk"},{"startTime":1558.61,"endTime":1562.41,"body":"to so many small business owners throughout town from a wide variety of"},{"startTime":1562.41,"endTime":1566.13,"body":"industries in sectors. And so what"},{"startTime":1566.13,"endTime":1569.77,"body":"might we not be aware of, you know, or what maybe most surprised you"},{"startTime":1570.41,"endTime":1574.05,"body":"in learning about the intricacies of"},{"startTime":1574.05,"endTime":1577.21,"body":"running a small business in San Antonio? Like what might be things that we as"},{"startTime":1577.21,"endTime":1580.81,"body":"just patrons, you know, our customers potentially we"},{"startTime":1580.97,"endTime":1584.77,"body":"might not be aware of as to what either challenges they're experiencing or likewise like"},{"startTime":1584.77,"endTime":1588.41,"body":"what opportunities might be available, you know, to better support our small"},{"startTime":1588.41,"endTime":1592.22,"body":"business ecosystem in San Antonio. Yeah, I think that's, you know, that's a"},{"startTime":1592.22,"endTime":1595.9,"body":"great question. I think one of the things that more on an individual level"},{"startTime":1595.9,"endTime":1599.54,"body":"than I would say the organization that evolves in these conversations is the"},{"startTime":1599.54,"endTime":1603.18,"body":"metric of success to small business ownership. One, it means"},{"startTime":1603.5,"endTime":1607.18,"body":"different things to different people. You know, you've got scalable"},{"startTime":1607.34,"endTime":1611.1,"body":"tech companies like, you know, that start small here at Geekdom that might be trying"},{"startTime":1611.1,"endTime":1614.9,"body":"to grow, you know, as big as possible. You've got restaurants that"},{"startTime":1614.9,"endTime":1618.2,"body":"are, you know, they're just trying to stay at a steady,"},{"startTime":1618.2,"endTime":1621.6,"body":"consistent pace, you know. But I think a lot of small"},{"startTime":1621.6,"endTime":1625.0,"body":"businesses are generally navigating a lack of"},{"startTime":1625.0,"endTime":1628.76,"body":"resources. Whether, you know, it's, it's one person doing multiple,"},{"startTime":1628.84,"endTime":1632.6,"body":"you know, the, the founders or the, the owners themselves, balancing a lot of"},{"startTime":1632.6,"endTime":1636.04,"body":"different things, trying to make, make it grow or you know, kind of"},{"startTime":1636.12,"endTime":1639.76,"body":"solve a challenge that I think that a perception from, I'd"},{"startTime":1639.76,"endTime":1643.29,"body":"imagine the, the larger community is, you know, how, how"},{"startTime":1643.29,"endTime":1646.77,"body":"delicate it is. And you know, being a small business owner is tough. You know,"},{"startTime":1646.77,"endTime":1650.13,"body":"I think we have that conversation a lot is we're, we're more than happy to"},{"startTime":1650.13,"endTime":1653.81,"body":"get, you know, someone that's excited and want to go down that route to encourage"},{"startTime":1653.81,"endTime":1657.49,"body":"them and support them to, but also sharing the realities of what it's"},{"startTime":1657.49,"endTime":1660.65,"body":"like. You know, you talk to a lot of small business owners over the last"},{"startTime":1660.81,"endTime":1664.49,"body":"five years, it's, it's been tough. But you know, for us the exciting part"},{"startTime":1664.49,"endTime":1668.25,"body":"is why they do it, which is often, you know, for small business owners"},{"startTime":1668.25,"endTime":1671.65,"body":"generally community driven. You know, the, especially the physical"},{"startTime":1671.65,"endTime":1675.17,"body":"restaurants and bars, you know, and ice houses, things like that."},{"startTime":1675.73,"endTime":1679.17,"body":"We just finished a road show of going to a couple ice houses for May"},{"startTime":1679.17,"endTime":1682.77,"body":"for small Business Month. And that was just the general theme of everybody, all the"},{"startTime":1682.77,"endTime":1686.41,"body":"business owners we invited is, is it's the, the, the customers, the"},{"startTime":1686.41,"endTime":1690.21,"body":"community, the bringing people together is what keeps them motivated. So I think, you know,"},{"startTime":1690.29,"endTime":1693.93,"body":"as a action next step for anybody"},{"startTime":1693.93,"endTime":1697.56,"body":"listening, you know, obviously it's hurt, it's hurt A ton. But support locals,"},{"startTime":1697.56,"endTime":1701.32,"body":"support small businesses. You know, go out, that's, that's a"},{"startTime":1701.32,"endTime":1705.16,"body":"good first way. And you know, get, get connected with, whether it's the business owners"},{"startTime":1705.16,"endTime":1708.88,"body":"or just the general small business community is something that people can do as"},{"startTime":1708.88,"endTime":1712.16,"body":"well. I think it's critically important and we, we"},{"startTime":1712.24,"endTime":1716.08,"body":"sometimes take for granted, I think the real cultural connection to"},{"startTime":1716.24,"endTime":1720.0,"body":"our small businesses, you know, and so while that can look perhaps as like"},{"startTime":1720.0,"endTime":1723.72,"body":"an economic headline, it is something as the places we gather, enjoy"},{"startTime":1723.72,"endTime":1727.26,"body":"to eat, whatever it might be, things that we really like about San"},{"startTime":1727.26,"endTime":1731.06,"body":"Antonio that make it unique. It seems that our small businesses,"},{"startTime":1731.06,"endTime":1734.9,"body":"our small businesses are a critical component of that and it's"},{"startTime":1734.9,"endTime":1738.5,"body":"worth supporting, especially if it may not seem like the most convenient"},{"startTime":1738.5,"endTime":1742.34,"body":"option at times. But Matt,"},{"startTime":1742.34,"endTime":1746.1,"body":"I'm wondering as well, there were some"},{"startTime":1746.1,"endTime":1749.54,"body":"headlines made recently, at least in the funding space. A San"},{"startTime":1749.54,"endTime":1752.83,"body":"Antonio base venture firm,"},{"startTime":1752.99,"endTime":1756.79,"body":"Active Capital just closed a new $28 million fund which is"},{"startTime":1756.79,"endTime":1760.47,"body":"focused on pre seed investments in enterprise, AI and"},{"startTime":1760.47,"endTime":1764.27,"body":"infrastructure startups. And so maybe this isn't your exact realm, but we"},{"startTime":1764.27,"endTime":1768.11,"body":"are sitting here in the geekdom studio, a place which has been"},{"startTime":1768.11,"endTime":1771.83,"body":"historically focused very heavily on tech startups in San"},{"startTime":1771.83,"endTime":1775.47,"body":"Antonio. So I'm curious for your take on this,"},{"startTime":1775.47,"endTime":1778.99,"body":"what's the significance of a headline like this? I know Active Capital"},{"startTime":1779.07,"endTime":1782.85,"body":"is, I believe they're location agnostic, you know, so they're based here, but"},{"startTime":1782.85,"endTime":1786.29,"body":"they're not necessarily investing in San Antonio businesses strictly"},{"startTime":1787.09,"endTime":1790.69,"body":"or at all for that matter. But does this kind of money, you know,"},{"startTime":1790.85,"endTime":1794.53,"body":"make any significance for small"},{"startTime":1794.53,"endTime":1798.25,"body":"businesses in launch SA ecosystem or just from your understanding of"},{"startTime":1798.25,"endTime":1802.05,"body":"this, what, you know, what, what should we garner from an announcement like this? Yeah,"},{"startTime":1802.29,"endTime":1805.93,"body":"yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think in our, in the launch of"},{"startTime":1805.93,"endTime":1809.46,"body":"say space space that you know, ultimately being a resource center for the"},{"startTime":1809.46,"endTime":1813.26,"body":"broader entrepreneurship small business community, you know, we"},{"startTime":1813.34,"endTime":1817.1,"body":"tend to do a lot of ed education on here's the different options of"},{"startTime":1817.1,"endTime":1820.86,"body":"funding financing, especially early on. Right. You know, I think over the last 10"},{"startTime":1820.86,"endTime":1824.3,"body":"to 15 years about how long geekdom and launches say have been around,"},{"startTime":1824.54,"endTime":1827.98,"body":"there's been this influx of perception to people starting new"},{"startTime":1827.98,"endTime":1831.82,"body":"businesses that, you know, there's. I'll go get a venture capitalist to start"},{"startTime":1831.82,"endTime":1835.14,"body":"this business or I'll go find one. You know, what does that process look like?"},{"startTime":1835.14,"endTime":1837.98,"body":"Like there's just been a lot of culture, I think around startups, you know,"},{"startTime":1838.63,"endTime":1842.35,"body":"specifically and, and people starting new businesses. Oh, if when I find that"},{"startTime":1842.35,"endTime":1845.99,"body":"investor funder, you know, that's all I need to,"},{"startTime":1845.99,"endTime":1849.67,"body":"to kind of make this thing happen or whatever the case may be. But"},{"startTime":1849.83,"endTime":1853.59,"body":"alongside that 15 years, you've seen a trend of,"},{"startTime":1853.59,"endTime":1857.23,"body":"of kind of ups and downs of sorts of that industry. And,"},{"startTime":1857.23,"endTime":1860.95,"body":"and you know, I think it's exciting having active capital here at Geekdom."},{"startTime":1861.43,"endTime":1865.12,"body":"You know, very heavily involved in, in Geekdom, in the organization"},{"startTime":1865.92,"endTime":1869.64,"body":"that, that especially in that, you know, B2B enterprise space. You know"},{"startTime":1869.64,"endTime":1873.16,"body":"that there's a lot of innovation that we're about to see in that industry of"},{"startTime":1873.16,"endTime":1876.92,"body":"the way, you know, small business owners interact with technology, what"},{"startTime":1876.92,"endTime":1880.68,"body":"they do. You know, the AI boom has been fascinating to watch and how"},{"startTime":1880.68,"endTime":1884.24,"body":"you just interact with creating content. Right? You know, what took"},{"startTime":1884.48,"endTime":1887.88,"body":"took, you know, a team of five to 10 people for a small business owner,"},{"startTime":1887.88,"endTime":1891.4,"body":"maybe from an agency like a business owner can craft out"},{"startTime":1891.48,"endTime":1895.28,"body":"a couple hours to create some content. So you know, that's, that's a high"},{"startTime":1895.28,"endTime":1898.96,"body":"level example of, you know, what we're seeing with these new"},{"startTime":1898.96,"endTime":1902.6,"body":"AI tools and emerging technology. So you know, active capital being"},{"startTime":1903.48,"endTime":1907.16,"body":"whether it's, you know, partnering with, by funding these,"},{"startTime":1907.24,"endTime":1911.0,"body":"these companies, you know, potentially they're relocating"},{"startTime":1911.0,"endTime":1914.8,"body":"to San Antonio, that's obviously super exciting because eventually, you know, some of these"},{"startTime":1914.8,"endTime":1918.63,"body":"tools may be the next thing that small businesses are using."},{"startTime":1919.19,"endTime":1922.83,"body":"So I, I think it's really exciting and, and active, it's"},{"startTime":1922.83,"endTime":1926.23,"body":"the, the startups that have been"},{"startTime":1926.23,"endTime":1929.87,"body":"invested in here locally for in San"},{"startTime":1929.87,"endTime":1933.47,"body":"Antonio has been exciting to watch as well. You know, you've, through active"},{"startTime":1933.47,"endTime":1937.15,"body":"capital that, you know, I think there's, there's these emerging potential"},{"startTime":1937.15,"endTime":1940.91,"body":"companies here at Geekdom and across San Antonio that, that, you know, if they're in"},{"startTime":1940.91,"endTime":1944.64,"body":"that space, they're, you know, the more they're able to raise, the more potential"},{"startTime":1944.64,"endTime":1948.36,"body":"opportunity you might have to be able to, you know, pitch them them or"},{"startTime":1948.36,"endTime":1951.8,"body":"some of the other venture capital firms kind of across the"},{"startTime":1951.96,"endTime":1955.4,"body":"south region. So I'd say it's exciting. Well,"},{"startTime":1955.88,"endTime":1959.08,"body":"Matt, maybe just a couple more questions before we wrap up here"},{"startTime":1959.56,"endTime":1963.2,"body":"from the launch essay perspective. You mentioned the new"},{"startTime":1963.2,"endTime":1966.96,"body":"program coming out, Waypoint I think was the name of it. What"},{"startTime":1966.96,"endTime":1970.77,"body":"other things are on the horizon? What's coming new to"},{"startTime":1970.77,"endTime":1974.37,"body":"Launch SA that we might not be aware to, that you're most"},{"startTime":1974.53,"endTime":1978.37,"body":"excited about and you think that might be best positioned to serve"},{"startTime":1978.37,"endTime":1982.21,"body":"our small business community here. Yeah, absolutely. So for us, I think one of"},{"startTime":1982.21,"endTime":1985.81,"body":"the things we've been working towards is the relaunch of breakfast and"},{"startTime":1985.81,"endTime":1989.33,"body":"launch. It's been kind of a pivotal program for Launch SA"},{"startTime":1989.81,"endTime":1993.13,"body":"since the beginning. It ultimately started as a culinary"},{"startTime":1993.13,"endTime":1995.97,"body":"accelerator. So really providing people in the food and bev space,"},{"startTime":1996.96,"endTime":2000.44,"body":"an opportunity to connect with like minded individuals through a"},{"startTime":2000.44,"endTime":2004.2,"body":"cohorted experience, but also really hear from business leaders that can"},{"startTime":2004.2,"endTime":2007.96,"body":"kind of share more than just, you know, what it takes to operate a"},{"startTime":2007.96,"endTime":2011.52,"body":"restaurant, but you know, the specifics on what it takes to operate the business."},{"startTime":2011.52,"endTime":2014.56,"body":"Right. So oftentimes there would be, you know, some people in"},{"startTime":2015.6,"endTime":2018.96,"body":"tech or different industries that will kind of share their approach to how they tackle"},{"startTime":2018.96,"endTime":2022.4,"body":"business and that program. If you talk to any alumni,"},{"startTime":2023.02,"endTime":2026.26,"body":"they're, they've been asking every time I connect with them that it needs to be"},{"startTime":2026.26,"endTime":2030.06,"body":"brought back. You know, it's so pivotal to them, especially when they're just getting started."},{"startTime":2030.86,"endTime":2034.02,"body":"So for us, that's kind of on the horizon on relaunching that, you know, we"},{"startTime":2034.02,"endTime":2037.82,"body":"want to do it with the right intent, but the alumni network"},{"startTime":2037.82,"endTime":2041.38,"body":"of sorts is kind of making sure we do it, which is really"},{"startTime":2041.38,"endTime":2045.22,"body":"exciting because I think it just shows the impact launches"},{"startTime":2045.22,"endTime":2048.81,"body":"a has had specifically to that industry. So for us that's"},{"startTime":2049.28,"endTime":2053.12,"body":"to be determined on the specifics of that. But there's just, I think a ton"},{"startTime":2053.12,"endTime":2056.56,"body":"of people with the way, you know, San Antonio is that are"},{"startTime":2056.72,"endTime":2060.48,"body":"thinking about whether it's consumer packaged goods, restaurants,"},{"startTime":2061.12,"endTime":2064.959,"body":"you know, beverage, you name it, hospitality, that"},{"startTime":2064.959,"endTime":2068.64,"body":"a program like that is, is really important. So that's coming soon"},{"startTime":2068.88,"endTime":2072.4,"body":"and I think to kind of tie it to launch essay and in Geekdom,"},{"startTime":2072.96,"endTime":2076.169,"body":"kind of the next thing we have coming up in the fall is this is"},{"startTime":2076.169,"endTime":2079.889,"body":"the 10th year of San Antonio Startup Week. So that is a conference"},{"startTime":2079.889,"endTime":2083.649,"body":"that has been around for the first few years. It was really community, ran"},{"startTime":2084.369,"endTime":2088.129,"body":"by volunteers. And over the last couple years, Geekdom has"},{"startTime":2088.129,"endTime":2091.649,"body":"become the powering it, operating it. So"},{"startTime":2092.049,"endTime":2095.849,"body":"for 10 years, a lot of things that we say behind the scenes here at"},{"startTime":2095.849,"endTime":2099.409,"body":"Geekdom is It takes about 20 years to really create a community for"},{"startTime":2099.409,"endTime":2103.05,"body":"entrepreneurs and small business owners. If you, if you look at kind of some of"},{"startTime":2103.05,"endTime":2106.85,"body":"the trends from kind of an economic development perspective. So,"},{"startTime":2106.85,"endTime":2110.37,"body":"you know, hitting that halfway point, what does the last 10 years look like? What"},{"startTime":2110.37,"endTime":2113.81,"body":"do the next 10 years look like? And you know, more than just that. The,"},{"startTime":2113.81,"endTime":2117.61,"body":"the programming for this year is really exciting. So that's, that's kind of something"},{"startTime":2117.61,"endTime":2121.29,"body":"on our horizon as well. And that's in October. It's in October. Yeah."},{"startTime":2121.29,"endTime":2124.97,"body":"Okay. Well, Matt, I, and maybe this was a question that I should have asked"},{"startTime":2124.97,"endTime":2128.57,"body":"to start off the conversation. But yeah, you have a, you have a,"},{"startTime":2128.84,"endTime":2132.56,"body":"an obsessive commitment to San Antonio's small business ecosystem"},{"startTime":2132.56,"endTime":2135.56,"body":"from the moment that I met you and as well at the various events that"},{"startTime":2135.56,"endTime":2139.04,"body":"I run into you around town. I'm always surprised and not so"},{"startTime":2139.04,"endTime":2142.8,"body":"surprised to see at these various things. But what"},{"startTime":2142.8,"endTime":2146.36,"body":"continues to energize you personally about it, like"},{"startTime":2146.36,"endTime":2150.12,"body":"what has you most excited about working with small businesses?"},{"startTime":2151.32,"endTime":2155.0,"body":"What gives you the energy to do the work and focus"},{"startTime":2155.0,"endTime":2158.64,"body":"up or and attend all these events that you do around"},{"startTime":2158.64,"endTime":2162.4,"body":"town? Yeah, that's, that's a great, great question. I,"},{"startTime":2162.4,"endTime":2165.56,"body":"I mean the, the biggest piece is the people part of it, right? You know,"},{"startTime":2165.56,"endTime":2169.2,"body":"when we have the opportunity at launch, you know, again, work with"},{"startTime":2169.68,"endTime":2173.24,"body":"the people behind some of these brands or what, whatever these"},{"startTime":2173.24,"endTime":2176.72,"body":"companies. You know, the, that, that's probably one of my"},{"startTime":2176.72,"endTime":2180.24,"body":"favorite parts is, is really just from a place of how, how we can be"},{"startTime":2180.24,"endTime":2183.85,"body":"helpful, how we can support them. I think it really stems from, you"},{"startTime":2183.85,"endTime":2187.57,"body":"know, those early years when I was in, in college, like"},{"startTime":2187.57,"endTime":2191.29,"body":"thinking about, hey, I wanted to start a business and not realizing these"},{"startTime":2191.29,"endTime":2194.73,"body":"organizations were out there. Like it drastically changed my trajectory."},{"startTime":2195.29,"endTime":2198.89,"body":"I don't know what that era would have been been had"},{"startTime":2198.89,"endTime":2202.73,"body":"I'd not found these small business support organizations, you know, what my"},{"startTime":2202.81,"endTime":2206.17,"body":"career would have looked like. But you know, like I said, I was determined to"},{"startTime":2206.17,"endTime":2209.69,"body":"be an entrepreneur. I didn't realize that I would end up spending more time helping"},{"startTime":2210.07,"endTime":2213.71,"body":"people become entrepreneurs or, or grow their own entrepreneurial venture. But I"},{"startTime":2213.71,"endTime":2217.15,"body":"think that that, that is probably the sticking point that there, there were a lot"},{"startTime":2217.15,"endTime":2220.55,"body":"of people that gave back their time, volunteered their time for me"},{"startTime":2221.03,"endTime":2224.63,"body":"when I was like starting my career slash entrepreneurial journey, that"},{"startTime":2224.79,"endTime":2228.23,"body":"if we as launches say, and as organizations"},{"startTime":2229.67,"endTime":2233.43,"body":"that are in that realm can, can provide that facilitation, you know, it's"},{"startTime":2233.59,"endTime":2237.03,"body":"super powerful to watch and it's exciting to watch because you know, sometimes that"},{"startTime":2237.61,"endTime":2241.29,"body":"magical connection or that, that, that right place at the right time, you know,"},{"startTime":2241.29,"endTime":2244.81,"body":"become, they become co founders, they solve a business challenge that"},{"startTime":2244.81,"endTime":2248.17,"body":"helps make them grow. So that's kind of, kind of the, the people part of"},{"startTime":2248.17,"endTime":2251.77,"body":"it is why I enjoy the work that we do. Well. Matt,"},{"startTime":2251.77,"endTime":2255.33,"body":"last thing. Where would you recommend people get engaged with Launch"},{"startTime":2255.33,"endTime":2258.97,"body":"Essay? You mentioned Cornerstone event one Million Cups, which"},{"startTime":2259.13,"endTime":2262.01,"body":"I'll admit it's been a while since I've been. But when I, I did go"},{"startTime":2262.01,"endTime":2265.85,"body":"those, those were really interesting events and learned about some very cool"},{"startTime":2266.16,"endTime":2269.96,"body":"businesses and startups in San Antonio and connected with great people. But maybe that's"},{"startTime":2269.96,"endTime":2273.44,"body":"one lead there. But where, where else would you recommend people go to to check"},{"startTime":2273.44,"endTime":2276.68,"body":"out launch Essay if they're interested or you know, want to be observant to the"},{"startTime":2276.68,"endTime":2280.44,"body":"small business community? How do they get Engaged. Yeah, absolutely. So the"},{"startTime":2280.44,"endTime":2283.32,"body":"two, two best places to really connect with is digital or launch"},{"startTime":2283.32,"endTime":2286.72,"body":"essay.org that has all of our resources,"},{"startTime":2286.8,"endTime":2290.44,"body":"events, information to reach out to us, contact information. Another"},{"startTime":2290.44,"endTime":2294.12,"body":"tool I haven't talked a ton about in specifics. It's also on the"},{"startTime":2294.12,"endTime":2297.56,"body":"Launches a site. It's called Launches a link. You go to our"},{"startTime":2297.56,"endTime":2301.4,"body":"Resources tab, you'll, you'll see it. But ultimately that's a database of these"},{"startTime":2301.4,"endTime":2305.2,"body":"organizations that we work with. So again, more than just Launch usa, you know,"},{"startTime":2305.2,"endTime":2308.48,"body":"the, the other partners that we're working with, the resources they provide."},{"startTime":2308.88,"endTime":2311.84,"body":"So if you're a small business owner or thinking about starting a small business, kind"},{"startTime":2311.84,"endTime":2314.48,"body":"of want to know what's the lay of the land, what does San Antonio have,"},{"startTime":2314.88,"endTime":2318.64,"body":"you know, to offer that that list is currently still growing, but it's a"},{"startTime":2318.64,"endTime":2322.05,"body":"good, good depth of understanding of what's out there from a support"},{"startTime":2322.05,"endTime":2325.61,"body":"organizations. Again, talking about other business development organizations,"},{"startTime":2325.77,"endTime":2329.41,"body":"you know, other organizations like ours, like the UTSA Small Business"},{"startTime":2329.41,"endTime":2333.05,"body":"Development Center. So those are the two digital ways. But I always encourage people"},{"startTime":2333.21,"endTime":2336.81,"body":"come, come, come, come to the central library. If you haven't been there or haven't"},{"startTime":2336.81,"endTime":2339.77,"body":"been to our central library, haven't been there in a while. We're located on the"},{"startTime":2339.77,"endTime":2343.57,"body":"first floor. Our hours are 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. So come, come by"},{"startTime":2343.57,"endTime":2346.25,"body":"for an event, come come in for a walk in. We're happy to chat with"},{"startTime":2346.25,"endTime":2350.03,"body":"you, but those are the ways to connect with us. Excellent. All right,"},{"startTime":2350.03,"endTime":2352.43,"body":"we'll have all things launch essay linked up in our show"},{"startTime":2352.43,"endTime":2356.23,"body":"notes@bigcitysmalltown.com Matthew Espinosa thanks for coming"},{"startTime":2356.23,"endTime":2357.51,"body":"on. Thanks for having me."},{"startTime":2361.03,"endTime":2364.71,"body":"Thanks for joining us for this episode of Big City Small Town. Please"},{"startTime":2364.71,"endTime":2368.31,"body":"share this episode with friends and colleagues and if you haven't already, sign up for"},{"startTime":2368.31,"endTime":2370.99,"body":"Monday Musings, my weekly newsletter. Just go to"},{"startTime":2370.99,"endTime":2374.83,"body":"bigcitysmalltown.com and add your email. Big City"},{"startTime":2374.83,"endTime":2378.51,"body":"Small Town is brought to you by Western Urban Building, the city our children want"},{"startTime":2378.51,"endTime":2382.15,"body":"to call home, and by Geekdom, where startups are born and smart"},{"startTime":2382.15,"endTime":2385.91,"body":"ideas become businesses. Thanks to Corey Ames of Ensemble,"},{"startTime":2385.91,"endTime":2389.43,"body":"Texas for the production of this show. We will see you next week."}]}