The Entrepreneurial Mindset with Thom Ruhe, NC IDEA

[00:00:02] What you want when you want it, where you want it. This is the MESH. This is Thom Ruhe, who is president in CEO of NC IDEA, Tom in NC IDEA, working to strengthen the North Carolina economy by supporting entrepreneurship throughout the state.

[00:00:43] We're talking with Thom about his experience at working with entrepreneurs and the challenges they face. Also, we'll have our lightning ran and we'll highlight some interesting small businesses that you should be checking out on our small businesses at the end of the podcast.

[00:00:58] Our name is Jeff Neuval, I'm director of the Manufacturing Solutions Center in kind over North Carolina, working to support US manufacturers and entrepreneurs and startups. I'm joined by my co-host Gary Muller who is executive dean of economic development and

[00:01:12] continuing education at the Tobbe Valley Community College in Hickering, North Carolina. Gary, how are you doing today? Jeff, I'm doing great, beautiful fall day and I know you always want me to talk about my sports teams, wake forces doing well just like Carolina.

[00:01:29] But I have to brag because remember, I grew up in my early years in Philadelphia so how about those fillings and eagles? I would think it's probably a good time to be a Philadelphia sports man gear. I hope you're enjoying yourself.

[00:01:41] I'm having a great time knowing that it'll probably come to a crashing halt this weekend. That's okay. We had our moment of glory the last week. Don't tell yourself short, come on. Looks like they're doing good. There you could be worse.

[00:01:54] You could be like me from Cleveland when we have the Browns which we affectionately refer to as our factory of sadness. The factors and that would be, that's what Philadelphia is using them for. Every 10 years we have good teams.

[00:02:08] Well with the factory of sadness comment, we need to welcome our guest Tom Rue who has mentioned is the CEO and president of NCI-Dia. Tom is an entrepreneur and investor. Works with entrepreneurs, he works with governments, university, nonprofit organizations around the state of North Carolina,

[00:02:31] probably around the world to embrace and support entrepreneurship. Prior to joining NCI-Dia, Tom spent time at the Kaufman Foundation which is noted for its supportive entrepreneurship where he directed the Foundation's program addressing entrepreneurial education, mentoring, access to capital, and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems.

[00:02:55] Tom we really appreciate you joining us today. Welcome to the Entrepreneurist Change. It's my pleasure Jeff. A big fan of the work of the center and chances been a couple of minutes with you and Gary. I mean pinch me.

[00:03:08] After you were the ones that need to pinch ourselves with, we get that a lot. So we appreciate you falling in line there. Tell us a little bit about NCI-Dia, tell us what role it plays in building the North Carolina entrepreneurial ecosystem. Thank you for that.

[00:03:27] NCI-Dia brought us strokes as an independent private foundation. I used the modifier independent only because as you mentioned my alma mater, Kaufman, a lot of foundations. You know there's a benefactor, family and individual, some source of funding that comes

[00:03:46] then with the establishment of the organization and a commitment to donor intent. That really wasn't the case in our origin story. NCI-Dia came into existence, compliments, and by way of an equity investment that the state

[00:04:00] had back in the day in the late 90s and then I think it was around early 2000s. J.D. Unifay's acquired Kronos, a company that stayed North Carolina had equity in. And that created the original corpus because that money came from ostensibly a nascent,

[00:04:23] a thin nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state of North Carolina. My predecessor and founder of the organization Dave Rizzo was able to sequester a few of those dollars and that became the original endowment for the organization with this mission

[00:04:40] to alleviate the burden, you know, to government by strengthening the economy of North Carolina. So our what we do really too prong is kind of charitable purpose because you know we are non-profit of foundation or also an economic development, we function as an economic development

[00:04:58] organization by supporting the atrium potential of individuals across the state. How we do that is through a strategic combination of both grants and programs. So we have programs, curricular programs where we help and accelerate skill set mentoring,

[00:05:20] curricular, you know work people that are trying to build and understand how to successfully build companies. And then the other side of that equation is funding which everybody kind of thinks of synonymously when you think of entrepreneurship. So we have competitive, I mean there are

[00:05:38] ostensibly business plan competitions but there are competitive grant programs where founders from anywhere in the state can apply for funding and if they prevail it's really in most cases they very first external funding they get and first validation, market validation. So we see

[00:06:00] at these nascent states a lot of times by being successful in the NSA grant competition that they then get the attention of other subsequent sources of funding private equity. So it serves as a real validation in the marketplace but more importantly over arching to all

[00:06:21] of our programs and grants is a solid foundation of a commitment to equity. So we have for years try to maintain this standard that no less than half of our time treasure and talent

[00:06:37] should be in service to women, minority and rural founders and through our efforts and those of our incredible partners funded partners to have what you're on this podcast. We're happy to say that we are hitting well above that 50% goal where somewhere between 70 and 80%

[00:07:00] of all of our funding and support work goes to these historically underserved entities and individuals in the state. So all that is to say we really exist to help citizens of North Carolina realize their full entrepreneurial potential and in so doing

[00:07:19] make North Carolina the best state in the nation to start and grow high impact companies. Well tell us a little bit about your background other than suffering through Cleveland sports teams. So what how did you get into entrepreneurship, what's fueled your passion for entrepreneurship?

[00:07:41] It tells a little bit about how you got to hear. Sure. So I like to you know with the minimal amount of cheekiness tell my life story as I spent the first 20 years

[00:07:56] of my career you know punching my entrepreneur card. So I kind of bounced from start-ups to scale ups and to venture back private equity back and you know with every one of those experience you

[00:08:09] know I learned a great deal. I was able to provide for my family in a very you know decent way and you know provide security and have the first hand experience of what the broader impact

[00:08:24] you know to entrepreneurship or to the community was. And one of the stories I like to share to make the point is one of our one of my startups that was involved in. I remember you know as the

[00:08:36] founding president you know that just meant you did everything you were chief cooking bottle washer and also number one sales guy. So every time I had come back from a sales call I would sit in our

[00:08:47] parking lot because our office had a kind of a sequestered parking lot it was in a rather dangerous neighborhood of Cleveland so we had fencing you know with bar and wire on the top

[00:09:01] because well it was affordable and that's what you need when you're a startup. So it was a nice kind of way to come in every day and and see I would count the cars in the parking lot

[00:09:13] and as the company grew that parking lot started to fill and behind every one of those cars right there was a family story. There there wasn't employee who through the work supporting our startup company

[00:09:28] was being paid and they were making a house payment and a car payment and raising a family and strengthening a community and I think at a very early part of my entrepreneurship journey

[00:09:41] I made the connection of kind of like societal impact beyond just like hey maybe my partner's hope we're going to have a successful company sell it someday and make a lot of money. It's like

[00:09:51] no no this is actually you know impacts a whole lot more than just the you know the few that might be holding shares in the company and so that always was in the back of my mind and then

[00:10:03] when we finally we sold the company right around the time I was turned in 40 in my wife loves it when I tell this joke and they said I had a midlife crisis but instead of a mistress and a motorcycle

[00:10:17] I thought maybe I could help other people you know experience you know what I experienced through my entrepreneurial journey and so I joined a group of other people that had just recently exited company to form something very similar to NCIDA but it was in Cleveland is called jumpstart

[00:10:38] and so similarly funding entrepreneurs providing other programming their their structures a little bit different and they don't give away the money like we do they they actually take equity so they're a very early stage funding source pre-seed but this work was really accelerating right

[00:10:56] around you know the early 2000s and and when I mean that like like non-profits really doing this kind of portfolio of funding and assistance and ecosystem building it gave way to the expression or term of venture development organization you know which was recognized by the government as a

[00:11:17] legitimate thing to do you know as a as a non-profit and it was so novel that it got the attention of the coffman foundation you know which is the largest foundation in the world committed to understanding the economic benefits and implications of entrepreneurship and so three years into

[00:11:38] to jumpstart I got recruited to the coffman foundation which you know torture sports metaphor here it's like you know going from minor league ball the major leagues and frankly coffman was the only

[00:11:49] thing I would have left jumpstart for it I'd love that experience so much and that kind of work when you're that close to it and you're getting the dirt under your nails it's very satisfying

[00:12:00] from a personal level but the good thing about going to a place like coffman first you get 53 IQ points that you're not entitled to just by virtue of the fact that you have coffman on your business card

[00:12:12] and then it doesn't suck when people recognize you know you're working at a foundation with significant resources and by significant I mean measured in billions so that allows you to kind

[00:12:26] of like think at a scale level much you know much bigger right and so when we talk ecosystem building you know at jumpstart it was really northeast Ohio the 18 or 20ish counties that make up that

[00:12:41] kind of corner of the state at coffman you know I had the ability to like you know address the United Nations and talk about you know entrepreneurship you know as a tool for peace right

[00:12:56] the US State Department sent me around to majority Muslim countries and kind of preach the gospel of entrepreneurship right because you you understand that it's it's really about human empowerment right and it transcends just start a company raise a bunch money you know having exit by new

[00:13:16] car and big body house again it's about strengthening social fabric through an economic emancipation and that that was what those were great seven years right and literally traveled the world you know preaching the gospel of entrepreneurship as I said but then after good seven years of

[00:13:37] that it was time to get dirt under my fingernails again and I was getting a little tired of northeast Ohio winners so I kind of put out a notice on my social network that hey I was looking

[00:13:49] for my next adventure and the friend of mine who's down here in the ecosystem said hey you really should consider they just so happened that NC idea was looking for their second leader

[00:14:01] with Dave having retired for health reasons and the timing was right and that was March of 2016 when I came down here good deal and when you say down here NC ideas located in Durham North Carolina

[00:14:18] so that the office is yes the office is in Durham but we work statewide right so when I hear you talk about preaching the gospel I've been to a few of your sermons in the past and I know

[00:14:32] that you one of the things that you always distinguish when it comes to economic development are investments that government makes in larger companies with flashy press releases and perhaps the lack of investment that goes into entrepreneurship and startup so I wanted to

[00:14:57] make your case would you just want to pick that scab is that what you wanted to do I think you're going to get there sooner or later yeah so I don't want to ruin my mood for a

[00:15:11] Friday but I'll give you the I'll give you the less fire and broom stone version of this you know when when when you hear of these what I call mega deals for mega companies right

[00:15:23] the veneer that is most often given by the politician at the podium you know with the CEO of the large publicly traded company is the promise of jobs all right so I think um you know with the Apple announcement it was you know 33,000, 3600 you know jobs something

[00:15:42] that affect here in the triangle uh veneer fast I think the promise was 7,400 jobs right so under that promise of jobs you know in the case of Apple it was just shy of a billion dollars

[00:15:56] of incentives to a global publicly traded company whose daily revenue is a billion dollars all right Apple at least in the last fiscal year was over a billion dollars a day and that's for the promise of 3,000 jobs now let me take North Carolina data from the Secretary

[00:16:21] State Elaine Marshall's office and say over the last five years in the State North Carolina we have had record startups all right record number of startups and those startups that buy census and commerce filings are classified as high-pupensity firms in other words companies that

[00:16:42] are going to have a chance to create ten or more jobs we know from data from Kaufman they will average a little over five jobs in their first year so let's do a little bit of math

[00:16:58] if you know if they have the potential to create five jobs and we've had over 500,000 because that's the number we've had over 500,000 new firm formation startups in the State North Carolina in the last

[00:17:12] five years let's see five thousand times 500,000 carry the one divide the seven square root cube it's a lot of jobs right is the obnoxious point I'm trying to make here and and these folks are doing so without incentives without special accommodations without the investment of millions and millions

[00:17:37] of tax dollars in infrastructure improvements and industrial parks and everything else that we give away for the promise of two three four five thousand jobs at a time and that's my frustration and so

[00:17:52] I'm not even so much against the Buffalo hunting is it's referred to or smokes deck chasing I'm just suggesting maybe we have the discipline to have some sort of offset or comparable like

[00:18:05] this and strategy where we say listen if we're willing to give a hundred million to some existing firm to move here then maybe we we have like a policy or a process where we say

[00:18:22] 10 percent 20 percent of any such deals a cash equivalent a budgetary equivalent has to be set aside to support startups in the State of North Carolina right because these are the people these are our home town heroes they're the ones that are starting these companies that are creating 10 20 40

[00:18:43] you know and I don't have to tell either of you I mean Gary knows this right I I cannot tell you how much I love CVCC I mean you tell me about a community college the community college is writ large

[00:18:57] our centers of economic development in our state and underappreciated for it I mean they are so terribly underappreciated for it right but I don't have to tell you in Hickory you know a start up that

[00:19:10] will eventually create 120 jobs that's a big deal yeah right you might not be in research triangle park but in Hickory you know in Lumberton you know anywhere out what like pick any of the 80 to

[00:19:30] your one and tier two counties in the state that's a big deal right and again the people that are working to start these companies they're toiling away an obscurity there's nobody advocating for them

[00:19:44] there's nobody coming to them saying hey guess why we have investment tax credits for you we have you know expansion capital programs for you right there's I mean there is some of that at the

[00:19:55] state I don't mean to be unfair in this but it's it's not nearly enough especially when compared to what we are willing to throw at companies to bribe them I mean entice them you know to move

[00:20:07] into the state and I just think that there should be more parity as an economic development practice well and and you can use your numbers to make the case I don't know if you're getting any traction

[00:20:18] with any of our French and Raleigh at this point in time well you know we're private foundation we're not allowed to lobby for specific policies and so we're very careful not to I am surprised that we don't have more traction because especially in considering the rural

[00:20:36] urban divide in Raleigh you know entrepreneurship is one of those things that would be a very is a very effective economic tool for rural communities you know I don't have to tell either of you

[00:20:50] our rural communities are struggling to you know redefine themselves right to stop the bleeding so to speak and some are doing very well at doing that and some are not and so you know if you think

[00:21:05] of the urban rural divide is kind of has and have nots in the rural community they're starting to become a divide of have and have nots and those are you know that the have are you know

[00:21:19] like in the Ketab area where you lean into an asset like the community college you have a visionary president which you do and Dr. Hensha you know you can understand how to have other things to offer

[00:21:35] to make it attractive for companies to start companies move there employees to want to live there and then there are there are counties unfortunately where there just isn't that leadership and you don't have those kind of place-based assets and there's a hollowing out that's happening

[00:21:52] and so I think you know take it up yet one more level now it's a society humanity level when we have these big disparities you know and economic distress for one community versus you know benefits and another and they share a border you're gonna have societal strife

[00:22:13] you know in tribalism and I know now here's the spoiler right we're gonna I think we're having an election this year in a week or two right and when you see this kind of political animosity

[00:22:24] and tribalism it's a lot of it I mean it's been my experience and all my work that it's always comes down to economics and it's because we've allowed certain segments of the population to just

[00:22:35] be so underserved that they don't have anything vested in the communities that they live in and when you don't have anything vested you know you become very susceptible to people that are

[00:22:47] going to look to exploit that. So so let me throw this at you because I know this is something that I've heard you speak to as well the entrepreneurial mindset and the benefit regardless of whether

[00:23:05] you're a startup or a student or an employee talk to when when you think of entrepreneurial entrepreneurial mindset how do you define that and what is the benefit that people can be getting from

[00:23:20] yeah I mean for me an entrepreneurial mindset is a life skill it's not a business skill you know because it uses the word entrepreneur it gets co-opted into this sense of business and you know and it's certainly it's certainly applicable there I mean I don't want to

[00:23:36] understate the obvious but it's really a life skill right and it's a life skill that helps people with a sense of agency and empowerment because an entrepreneurial mindset really is you know what are your underlying beliefs and assumptions that guide your actions in behaviors in life right

[00:23:56] do you have an external looks control or an internal look is controlling what that means is do you you look at the world as things that just happen to you or do you see yourself as an active

[00:24:08] participant in your world and that you can affect change right people that entrepreneurial mindset don't necessarily accept things as they are they'll look at a situation that others will just

[00:24:20] simply complain about and say well why do we accept that what can we do to change that right they they exercise which is by current standards pretty phenomenal amount of critical thinking

[00:24:34] right they don't take their agency and hand it to somebody else and say tell me what to think tell me what to do you know tell me which way is up they say no I'm going to figure this out right

[00:24:46] and I'm going to see things for what they are now some number of those people will you know get the spark the the business spark of entrepreneurship and they'll say like hey I'm

[00:24:56] going to I'm going to do something with this I just you know I I see this thing everybody's been bitching about and I think I got away we can fix that and build a company around it right

[00:25:06] and I'm going to provide for my family by doing something about that others though can just be simply empowered in their life as it is right they're the ones that are working at the big company

[00:25:16] but when they're walking on the shop floor and they see something that that has been the way we've done it for 12 years and say well it's not a reason to keep doing it that way right these are

[00:25:28] the ones that won't step over a piece of trash when there's a bin you know three feet away right these are the people that are you know that are coaching the little league and being active

[00:25:39] in their churches and helping out you know during natural disaster that's that's the life skill that an entrepreneurial mindset has it's problem solving it's critical thinking it's perseverance right it's it's understanding that I have agency I can do things that affect my future and that

[00:26:02] of my family and my community and I'm willing to do the effort to apply that in further and so of humanity well and I know it's something that Gary and I are probably discussed in the in the past

[00:26:15] from a business perspective you know we in organizations you have all sorts of people but the the people that most people can tell you what's wrong most people can tell you what the problems are

[00:26:28] and often are happy to complain about it it's the ones that can identify those problems and then provide you with solutions and implement those solutions or the ones that you must hold close and

[00:26:39] are the ones that make an organization successful so I've always tried to keep that in mind in that you know in the various places I've worked it's really the people that not can

[00:26:55] not that aren't just gonna identify the problem complain about the problem and so once they come you and say here's how we can fix it and let me do it are the ones that you better hold close

[00:27:05] if you want to be successful yeah I mean gallop you know did this for years they they for over two decades now they do the worker engagement study annually and when I'm usually doing like

[00:27:17] one of my stomach speeches I like to update the date on that so please anybody listening go go see what it is currently but the last time I had looked at it they basically have three tiers

[00:27:28] to it and you know what they call actively engaged passive and then actively disengaged right and I think the last time I saw only 30% of the of the US workforce was actively engaged 55% was passive that's your TGI efforts the eight and skate right and but the scariest percentage

[00:27:52] was the 15% at the bottom which they call actively disengaged and they define that as employees that show up every day and do something against the interest of their employer I mean you can get an inquiry about that right for like how dare you you know you're being paid

[00:28:12] here you're doing stuff that hurts the organization I feel sorry for those people right I mean how miserable do you have to be yeah to be in that bucket and it's lost to humanity of human

[00:28:24] potential because you're doing that talk both of you talked about our situation at the college we're very very fortunate both Jeff and I came out of business to go work the community college and

[00:28:39] and it's it's different here the mindset is different with Dr. Hinchaw of course Tommy worked with him for many years and that's what makes us able to do the things we do from entrepreneur standpoint

[00:28:51] as well as a business standpoint because he has a different mindset than many others in the same capacity and we've been able to do great things that's one thing that Jeff and I are very happy for

[00:29:03] of course I'm again Tommy work with him for a long time he's been successful or you guys have been successful you and Dr. Hinchaw together so success breeds success if when people are saying well that

[00:29:14] can't be done shouldn't be done in the community college we're showing that it can be done and we can make an impact Tom Tom when you're you're out there talking to entrepreneurs working with entrepreneurs

[00:29:27] what you know it's it's obviously there's we could probably say this anytime it's always a chaotic environment that a lot of change going on you know one of the biggest hurdles out there in

[00:29:40] the current environment that entrepreneurs have that you that you see well it's multifaceted you know and it depends upon a variety of things for most will say access to resources funding is a limiting

[00:29:58] factor and that's a common refrain it's not always at the level or the issue that most would like to think it is or say that it is of late and by late I mean last several years it's all been

[00:30:15] about talent you know employees skills aptitude engagement access all of that it's the human development component right I like to say there's you know the three seas of economic development are human capital financial capital and intellectual capital right ideas are easy there's a lot

[00:30:39] of them out there the financial capital component is something that you know there's organizations like ours and many others I think you know as much as I have admiration and love for the community

[00:30:52] colleges at very close second are our CDFIs because I think they really function in the capital stack and a very important part where you know more traditional commercial banking does not tread so I think there's there's around that I think there are solutions and things that we're

[00:31:12] working on but it's that human capital component that I think we could work for the next 100 years focused on nothing else than that and we'd only be making a dance slightly right it's about evangelizing around what pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors can do and how that empowers people

[00:31:34] to take initiative at self improvement right that they get again that local control that entrepreneurial mindset that we talked about if you bring those kinds of people into an organization and start ups and entrepreneurs especially when they're starting on their second or third

[00:31:49] you know bite at this apple they will understand the value that that mindset is more important than a specific skill set because with the right person with the right mindset you can teach many things yeah and that's just something that I've been seeing in good friend of mine

[00:32:07] Gary Schoniger at EY the entrepreneurial mindset the the creators of the ice house program that we're using as a training program here in the state of North Carolina he shared a quote with me that I think it's from he credits album Toffler that said you know ostensibly

[00:32:26] 50 years ago if you were a literate you were incapable of reading a writing in the present society being a literate will mean you are incapable of unlearning something and re-learning something and being able to upscale you know your skills and adapt

[00:32:47] to very quickly changing you know business dynamics that's going to be that's going to have the same limiting economic limiting factors being a literate was you know 60 years ago and I think there's

[00:32:58] a lot of truth in that and we see examples of that everywhere right I mean I know of several community colleges in the state that have invested heavily over recent years in their CDL programs right we're short truck drivers that's what we heard throughout COVID right supply chain

[00:33:18] issues right we don't have enough truck drivers so we're going to invest in our CDL programs and pump out more truck drivers and I'm not suggesting that's a bad idea but I also happen to know

[00:33:28] there are over a hundred companies with names like Google Apple Amazon right that is to say very well resource companies that are investing billions of dollars into autonomous vehicles and the first main implication of that the first big one that like society will see is going

[00:33:50] to be in commercial trucking because of the logistics of it right you're going point to point it's not necessarily driving through suburbs and all that more complicated stuff right it's regional center to regional center so it's only a matter of time as we ramp up truck drivers

[00:34:09] supply in a temporary shortage when technology comes in and displaces the need for that that we're going to have a large sector of our workforce that's going to once again have to reinvent themselves right well and being prepared to do that continues to be a challenge so

[00:34:35] it's hard it's hard to predict the future but you you can't ignore it either so that's correct speaking speaking of the future NCID will be hosting an entrepreneurship summit next month in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Tauce will be going on at the summit and what we can expect

[00:34:56] yeah you know it's it's nice to hear you say next month because technically that's true but it's two weeks from Monday okay depends on when you listen this is in November so

[00:35:07] when we when we were in order it could be it's going to be November yeah it's going to be in November 14th and 15th which is the Monday Tuesday kicking off global entrepreneurship week which

[00:35:17] is a global program of my alma mater at Kaufman where there will be upwards of 40 to 50,000 events all over the world to promote entrepreneurship and we're going to be having about 500 of our friends come together at the Benton Convention Center there in Winston Salem and it's it's really

[00:35:42] going to be a celebration of everybody in the state that is putting their shoulder to the bolder of helping people you know become economically independent through entrepreneurship so our partner organizations or ecosystem partners are engaged, grantees, our funded companies and then there's

[00:36:02] going to be some you know it's a big statewide summits you have to have a couple national speakers in there so we have some really great speakers that are going to come and talk about

[00:36:12] some of the high points that we talk about and just hopefully give everybody the the positive sense that you know what we're doing is not only relevant for the state of North Carolina but it's

[00:36:22] a national exemplar you know you're going to hear from you know national speakers there's going to tell us hey what y'all are doing here that's good stuff and we really hope that people come

[00:36:35] meet a bunch of other folks get some inspiration some validation for what they're already doing hopefully some creative ideas on how they can continue to evolve and do something different or add

[00:36:47] to it and more importantly make friends and other parts of the state so that you understand there's a whole network here that collectively you know we can do more and I think as we continue to do that

[00:36:58] and hopefully I mean our first one was in 2019 and then we had to do like everybody else two years in COVID time where it was all virtual but we hope to move around the state with this annually

[00:37:10] and at the end of the day it's it's really about celebrating what we're doing why we're doing it who we're doing it for and collectively that those efforts really drive home the fact that North

[00:37:21] Carolina is truly one of the best states in the country to start and grow companies I am looking forward to being in Winchester's Salem and joining you so that that's going to be fun

[00:37:33] Tom if people want to find out more about NC idea they want to find out more about the upcoming entrepreneurship summit where should they be looking NC idea dot org that's simple our website

[00:37:48] and you can follow our Twitter handles you can sign up for our newsletter we spam you only twice a month but we routinely in our newsletter broadcast our grant announcements our grant application cycles our partners you know great successes and work that they're doing I mean everything that's

[00:38:05] you know kind of in the entrepreneurial ecosystem universe we track it in our newsletter but all that you can find at NC idea dot org sounds good well you you have to play our lightning round today with us sure this month so I'll be high-drake first

[00:38:26] now take a quick swig of whatever you're drinking on Friday and our lightning round today is sponsored by Ned Ryerson insurance a lot of on-of-law home dead you can't have your family with Ned you can

[00:38:41] check it out on the internet I definitely got the reference one of my favorite movies okay well played sir well played you're on to us Tom you're quicker than most but anyway we've got some quick

[00:38:53] questions some quick answers don't overthink it okay first one what is your biggest pet peeve people calling me asking questions that we have answered ad nauseam on our website through our communications our tweets everything I mean just it's it gets for me it gets

[00:39:18] under my skin so much that I if I'm trying to be snarky out I'll respond back with shell i Google that for you fair enough okay what is your favorite vacation spot

[00:39:30] well it's it's too sorry I'm going to split the baby but I have for 40 years even while you way before I move down here to take this job every summer we either went to the outer banks

[00:39:45] and I've been doing that since the 70s or we go up to northern Michigan so right around it's it's leeland township just west of Traverse City but those are in the heat of August here

[00:40:00] there's no better place than northern Michigan and then the rest of the year it's great on the outer banks may have fact that'll be spending Christmas in the outer banks very nice okay

[00:40:12] what I don't know if you're a big Halloween guy but if you are what would your Halloween costume be this year so I'm not a big Halloween guy other than the fact that my first born my son

[00:40:26] was born on Halloween so that's his birthday and I think that just pretty much co-ops any of my intentions fan around Halloween now that being said let me see if that can be a good sport and play along

[00:40:38] um yeah I got nothing sorry all right the X on that one what's your favorite comfort food barbecue beetles or rolling stones oh I gotta go with the beetles they're both awesome I need to say that but

[00:41:04] no disrespect to the rolling stones okay last question if you had a super power what would it be uh to give the gift of critical thinking to other people you're always

[00:41:21] working Tom I mean I just it's it's it's in such dire need right now and the world would be a lot better place I am H.O. in my humble opinion if more people were just capable and if it was my

[00:41:39] with it was within my superpower to bestow that on other people I would be one of the happiest people in the planet and then you could retire to the outer banks or Michigan and relax

[00:41:51] with it our goal is to you know have a place and well we like our house here and you know I'm up in Hillsborough northern Orange County we enjoy that so I'm playing spend most of the time

[00:42:03] here but maybe more than my summers up there okay okay well Tom we really appreciate you joining us today NC idea dot org is where you can find out more information and if you're if you're listening

[00:42:17] I suspect people can still register to attend a summit coming up in just two weeks they can with it registrations are cut off officially on November 4th the hotel block for anybody it's going

[00:42:30] to need a hotel room for it's two days so one night that has been extended I think through middle of next week so you're going to want to sign up fairly soon but yeah some of us can commute

[00:42:44] so that's okay all right well we appreciate you joining us so Gary and I always like to give a shout out to a small business I don't know if you want to give a shout out to a business that might be

[00:42:57] interesting to you that's sort of up to you Tom you got anything you want to share here's what I want to share check out our website my Twitter feed and the idea is Twitter feed but we just announced

[00:43:07] on Monday of this week the latest 15 companies to receive a $10,000 micro grant so we just are wrapping up our fall grant cycle we're going to live announced close to two million dollars worth of funding at the summit our seed grantees our next batch of seed $50,000 grantee winners

[00:43:28] will be announced live at the summit so if you want to check out a bunch of really cool companies you just go to our website there's a whole company section directory you can see the you know

[00:43:41] hundreds several hundred companies we have funded over the years they're all awesome and deserve your attention and we'll put out a holiday gift giving guide for those that are in

[00:43:50] the kind of the CPG space as well next one all right very good Gary you got a small business to share hard to follow Tom was there have 15 come on well first I say summit is going to be

[00:44:06] in a great place in Winston's sale home with Wake Forest I got you have to turn away from the screen when I said that but you're going to be going down there soon I hope when the Wake

[00:44:18] Place Carolina I'll watch what television but go ahead Gary okay well my small business month are the B 52's bar and grill in Newton North Carolina Jeff have you been there not yet but tell

[00:44:33] me more it's it I think it's one you really like I want to spotlight it for two reasons because we just finished our hospitality Academy the second version of it and it was very successful

[00:44:46] and two of the students that were in our Academy so I brazen and Blake Stewart were part of the B 52's staff moving up in the organization and Tammy Muller who ran the Academy along with

[00:45:00] some other folks so impressed with these two young people they're very smart polite I was great they had their soft skills of coming to work on time and working extra time I really was impressed

[00:45:12] with their owner Mitch Ball who's the B 52's started just a handful of years ago but he's hired some really good people in this environment I think that's why his business is successful he's got folks that are really customer-oriented again they have great food it's a barring

[00:45:32] grill it's in Newton North Carolina and I recommend it to anybody that's in that area all is he a vet? that's the other reason besides I was so impressed with the employees the honors are military fallen and the ones current yes thank you all right thank you Gary

[00:45:54] and so so I I don't know if you guys have flown recently and enjoyed the the pleasant trees of going to the airport and in dealing with all those aggravations my wife and I traveled overseas this spring and in 15 minutes before we were supposed to board a

[00:46:15] transatlantic fight they told us it was delayed by seven hours and then it might go it wasn't a great experience and it sounds like flying just not a lot of fun these days so

[00:46:26] I was intrigued because I was reading I think in the New York Times about a new start-up business called Napaway which is a overnight premium bus service that goes from Washington DC to Knox Fultonacy to Nashville Tennessee basically overnight they've got a premium bus that

[00:46:53] has comfortable overnight life-let life-let beds to allow you to sleep on the trip avoiding the stress and discomfort of air travel they've got high-speed internet travel outlets privacy shields they depart DC at 10 o'clock at night you arrive in Nashville at eight o'clock in

[00:47:16] the morning depending on when you travel the cost is somewhere between $125, 160 round trip takes all the aggravation of dealing with the airport out you know you hopefully get a good night's sleep on the bus but I just said hey there's issues out there there problems out there

[00:47:32] here somebody thinking about one way to solve it so if you google Napaway you can read about them and just sort of a new concept I said not that new a concept but the way they're doing it with

[00:47:46] their premium service and the way they've adjusted their buses to make it such a comfortable pleasant experience sounds good to me when they get down this way sign me up I'm all in so

[00:48:00] check them out and you should also be checking out other podcasts that are host the mesh have on tap if you go to the mesh.tv you can see the entire network and podcast at the mesh host

[00:48:19] so check them out time we want to thank you very much for spending some time with us today we look forward to seeing you in a few weeks and we appreciate all the work that you're doing in North

[00:48:28] Carolina we appreciate the support your organization provides and the encouragement that that you provide so thank you we look forward to continuing to work with you and I'm appreciate everything you're doing

[00:48:43] it's a pleasure to do this work it's a privilege frankly so thank you for that I look forward to seeing you both at the summit all right well we we appreciate it and we appreciate everyone joining us today

[00:48:55] and we look forward to talking with you again next month. Have a good take care. You've been listening to the mesh and online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts sports to entertainment music to community

[00:49:22] I'll program our available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube check us out online at themesh.tv. Just go to our other network shows and give us feedback and what you just heard