Symba is excited for this incredible recognition. Check out our 5 key takeaways and 5 shoutouts to social entrepreneurs from Seed Spot’s Launch Camp in Phoenix, AZ.
This past weekend, we had the incredible opportunity to participate in our first launch camp and pitch event with Seed Spot in Phoenix, AZ. Seed Spot is a globally recognized organization that supports entrepreneurs by surrounding them with the right access to resources, mentors, business fundamentals, community partners, capital, and anything they need to succeed. Seed Spot is ranked one of the Top 6 Social Impact Incubators in the Country by UBI Global and Cisco, and a Top 20 Accelerator in the World by Gust and Fundacity.
30 social entrepreneurs pitched their startups. The winner of the Pitch Impact Award was decided by Seed Spot organizers to recognize the startup that could make the most impact in the world. Symba is honored to accept this award!
This prize came with incredible benefits, including $5,000 worth of Amazon Web Services credits! Symba is preparing for our beta test in Fall and this technical support is extremely valuable to us. We are bootstrapping our entire startup and AWS is helping us make that possible. On behalf of our entire team, thank you Seed Spot and AWS!
Top 5 Seed Spot Launch Camp Takeaways
1. Measure your social impact: Seed Spot is all about helping social entrepreneurs scale their ventures to do more good around the world. A major shout out to Gabriel Salomon Ramirez, the Phoenix Launch Camp lead organizer, who spent two full days teaching social entrepreneurs the fundamentals of launching a social enterprise. During his workshops, Gabriel helped us develop metrics to understand the potential scale and output of our work. One unique resource he shared with us was the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals to track our startup’s impact.
2. Track your agile development: It is fundamental to make sure you are building something useful for your customer, not something that you THINK is useful for you. Mentors like Clifford Wong, Senior Product Manager at InfusionSoft, shared valuable resources to help tech startups track their agile development. Check them out here.
3. Build an empathy map: To understand our users, we were each tasked with developing an empathy map. Empathy maps allow teams to make better decisions based on their users and are great for design thinking and agile development.
4. Create a storyboard: After understanding our customers' wants, needs and fears, we began to create storyboards. This practice helps startups better communicate their work and vision through a different medium.
5. Surround yourself with inspiring entrepreneurs: Most of all, it was both humbling and rewarding to meet social entrepreneurs making a powerful impact in the community. Symba believes in the power of startup ecosystems! We wanted to give a special shout out to the entrepreneurs we were inspired by at Seed Spot.
5 Shoutouts to Seed Spot Social Entrepreneurs
1. GoCode - Founder of GoCode Connor Waslow is an incredibly bright high school student who taught himself how to code. He is now developing a mobile app to teach you how to program and help you get hired as a software developer.
2. Elroi & Men - Andrea Northup, founder of Elroi & Men, is creating bow ties with a higher purpose. She has an inspiring story of working with artisans in disadvantaged communities to create jobs and economic freedom.
3. Book for Book Program - Levi Leyba, founder of Guardian Angel Council, is a passionate leader addressing the education and welfare of disadvantaged populations in the community. His Book for Book Program addresses early childhood literacy. For every book purchased, one will be donated to a child in need.
4. Four, Five and Six - Halisi Tambuzi founded Four, Five and Six to protect drivers’ lives and their rights while ensuring police safety. His product educates drivers and connects them with a network of attorneys for legal support.
5. AZ Kids Healthy Lunch Program - Desiree Joe founded AZ Kids Healthy Lunch Program to provide healthy meal alternatives to charter and private schools who currently order out for their lunches. They are also developing an education module for schools and parents.
