326: Entrepreneurship in the Heartland with Quinn Robertson

Summary: Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies! On this episode, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Grace Gill sit down with Quinn Robertson, a senior associate at NXTUS. NXTUS is a non-profit organization that connects mentors, capital opportunities, and customers in an effort to further entrepreneurial growth. As an entrepreneurship supporter, Quinn decided to leave his position in the corporate world and work with startup founders by helping them grow companies of significance. Throughout this episode, Quinn shares about NXTUS’s role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the startup scene in Wichita, and the state of the Heartland as a place for families and entrepreneurship to prosper.   Show Notes: (0:59) Introduction to Quinn (1:26) Quinn’s Background (3:23) Wichita’s Startup Scene (6:18) Comparing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (14:42) NXTUS’s Role in Wichita’s Growing Ecosystem (21:20) Weaknesses in the Regional Ecosystem (23:50) What’s Next for NXTUS (27:24) Cultivating Entrepreneurship in the Next Generation (32:58) Opportunity Gaps in Northwest Arkansas (39:54) Advice to Younger Self (42:40) Closing Questions   Links: Caleb Talley Jeff Amerine Grace Gill Quinn Robertson NXTUS   Quotes: “I think both of our ecosystems will press forward with money flowing in from the federal or state government and family or philanthropic areas as well…there’s this little cluster here in the Heartland that I think we’re going to see all grow together.” - Quinn Robertson, (7:00) “We try to be a connector more than anything. Even if we’re not everything to everybody, we want to be one arm's length away from everything so we can connect individuals to the right people from our own lane and let other people do the great work they’re better suited to do than we are.” - Quinn Robertson, (16:18) “There’s a little bit of continually morphing and finding small injection points where we can add value, but also where we can stand back and be incredibly supportive of the work that’s going on.” - Quinn Robertson, (28:37) “As I talk to entrepreneurs, I ask them, ‘What’s your level of success? What’s your happiness metric that you're trying to go towards?’ As long as you have a clear understanding of what that is, then I think you can start to align things really well.” - Quinn Robertson, (41:39)