Welcome to the inaugural edition of Shoots! This series will feature inspiring and motivating examples of 21st century entrepreneurialism. I will share stories of businesses in unexpected places and / or demonstrating principles that I anticipate will become more important in the years to come.
I am writing this post from Hawaii, which many describe as a business-unfriendly state. People point to examples of failed or dormant projects and general business climate. “It’s impossible to overcome the remote location, high cost of living and excise tax,” they say. They recall the saga of the SuperFerry that failed within weeks of its maiden voyages between Oahu and Kauai. “But at least it carried passengers!” they exclaim. They then point to concrete pillars sprouting from west to east on Oahu for the multi-billion-dollar commuter rail and ask, “What about the ‘Train to Nowhere?’” For many, it’s Exhibit A to illustrate how difficult it is to get things done in Hawaii.
Against this backdrop, I attended a startup conference here last week called East Meets West 2020. I was hopeful but skeptical. I often find it difficult hype from reality in the startup world. This was not the case here – rather than being underwhelmed, I was blown away. The conference was created and led by Blue Startups and sponsored by kama’aina (long-established Hawai’i) institutions: The Kamehameha Schools, Servco and ALTRES.
This experience motivated me to start this series. Companies will represent “shoots” in the conventional sense – portending promise of something much bigger. I will include many businesses based in Hawaii or feature Hawaii-bred leaders. I will include others exemplifying values associated with Hawaii that we all should promote. I will pay special attention to shoots emerging from unexpected circumstances, industries or places. In every case, these stories will include lessons that you can extract and apply to any business – big or small, no matter where you are.
I will start Shoots by sharing three themes I heard from East Meets West 2020: sustainability, using Hawai’i’s remote location to its advantage, and business as a source of good.
I’m glad I don’t have to define sustainability. I saw examples of taking care of the earth and its resources. However, I also saw purposeful sustainment of businesses over multiple decades…not just transitioning but transforming family businesses from one generation to another. It’s what I observed from Peter Dames at Servco Pacific and Barron Guss at ALTRES. Brainstorm how you can use the word sustainability across all its defintions…and zero in on one that you can prioritize for now.
Hawaii’s remote location is a proof point for Liza Rodewald’s business. Liza is a military spouse who has moved six times in the past seven years! Rather than preparing for her next move, she started a business called Instant Teams. Instant Teams taps into the talented, motivated pool of military spouses to fill roles in high demand positions like customer or tech support, marketers, writers and social media managers. What an idea! What is a barrier like “remote location” that holds your company back? How can it be a strength?
Finally, more businesses should drive good. Hoala Greevy, CEO of Paubox (a proud McKinley High graduate) delivers a much-needed capability of HIPA-compliant secure emails. But beyond that, he is paying it forward through the Kahikina Scholarship, which provides scholarships to five Native Hawaiian youths to study computer science and software development. We can’t expect to expand what is done in Hawaii without building bench strength! How can driving good align closer to the core mission of your business? Or can it be the core?
In closing, I will use the Hawaiian Pidgin definition of “shoots,” which in a single word conveys “hell yeah! I’m in.”
Kyle from New York: “Would you like to hear about examples of 21st century entrepreneurialism that I find in unexpected places? They will inspire and motivate you.”
You: “Shoots!”
Mahalo (thank you) for reading! If you enjoy reading these stories and seek to learn more about Market Junctions and how we can help businesses of any size, please reach out to Kyle Okimoto at kyle@marketjunctions.com.
Kyle Okimoto is the founder of Market Junctions, which helps businesses and leaders harness the power of disruption to generate positive change. He is the creator of the Resiliency Map, a process anyone can use to draw from their own wisdom and that of others to increase their resilience. Kyle is an investor and advisor in startups ranging from Cadence (high yield short term alternative investments), AltoIRA (self-directed retirement accounts for alternative investments), Aris Technology (robotic quality control laser scanning).
