“The Bronto Story” for the UNC’s Adams Apprenticeship Fall Conference

Last Friday I had the pleasure of being the primary speaker for the Adams Apprenticeship Fall Conference evening event. The Adams Apprenticeship is a mentorship program that pairs successful entrepreneurship with UNC’s most promising future entrepreneurs.
For my presentation, I told the “Bronto Story” and lessons learned. I wish that I would have recorded it because it was fairly entertaining. But, here’s the gist of it:

• This story is a story not the story. Every entrepreneurial journey is different.
• Entrepreneurship is hard, especially in the early days. Its not for everyone but for people wired a certain way, it is the only way to live.
• The journey broke down into three parts — Genesis, Growth and Graduation. I am particularly proud of my cleverness in that all the words started with the same letter.

I summarized the talk with these points:

• It’s a journey. Not a transaction. Mentors and advisors help.
• Genesis(s) are rough and gritty. Passion and encouragement matter.
• Growth is about focus and execution with an engaged + committed culture
• Graduations are about architected sustainability and are bittersweet

Also, that night, I joined the program as an Adams Apprentice. I look forward to seeing where that goes and supporting the efforts by UNC in growing the local entrepreneurial community.