Cal Simmons, founder of Blue Cotton Tech Services, is this year’s Gala Chair for Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship‘s (NFTE) 16th Annual Dare to Dream Gala. The event will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 10, 2013. The Venture Capitalist has spent 30 years investing in local business, has served on numerous board of privately held companies, and has co-authored an early stage investment book, Every Business Needs an Angel.
With years of networking in the business community, Simmons brings to the event expertise on what it means to be an Entrepreneur in Washington, D.C. The executive spoke with WashingtonExec about what makes NFTE a unique organization amongst the many in D.C., his favorite aspect about the Gala, why D.C. is attractive to entrepreneurs and more.
WashingtonExec: What is your current role with NFTE?
Cal Simmons: They approached me several months ago about being the Gala Chair and I was pleased to find a way that I thought I could be helpful to the organization. My background in the Washington area is for the past thirty years I’ve been early stage angel investment in local based companies ranging from technology to services, manufacturing, almost anything that you can think of. A lot of people are confused about the Washington area; they still think of it as a government town but it has really become a haven for start-up entrepreneurs so that’s what I’ve been focused on for the past thirty years.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
“We see plenty of examples around town of early stage companies, most of those are being created by 20 and 30 something’s, people recently out of college. If they discovered entrepreneurship in college that’s great but if we can light the fire a little bit earlier it gives the kids a whole lot more insight into what it takes to be successful as a business person. I think NFTE is a great organization leading the way in that.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________
WashingtonExec: There are many entrepreneurial organizations in the DC area…what makes NFTE unique and an organization you wanted to take a leadership role with?
Cal Simmons: There are certainly a lot of great charities in town and a lot of great events that you can choose amongst but I think many of us in the business world are very hopeful that this next generation; the kids coming up from high school today, will continue to carry the torch of entrepreneurship in the region. We see plenty of examples around town of early stage companies, most of those are being created by 20 and 30 something’s, people recently out of college. If they discovered entrepreneurship in college that’s great but if we can light the fire a little bit earlier it gives the kids a whole lot more insight into what it takes to be successful as a business person. I think NFTE is a great organization leading the way in that.
WashingtonExec: What is your favorite aspect about the upcoming gala?
Cal Simmons: It’s a phenomenal evening on so many fronts. First of all, the focus really is on the kids. When you hear these kids get up and give speeches in front of 800 adults it is inspirational. Seeing the kids is terrific. Many of us bring our own children to the event. The first time that I went I was sitting there all night wondering why I didn’t bring my kids. People that have been to the gala in the past tend to do that. It really is a great opportunity for them to see some other role models that are their own age.
Secondly, it always attracts a good crowd – there are usually 800-900 people there. It’s a great networking event for those of us in the business community. You can go to one event and see everybody that you need to see in town; the law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, the venture capitalists. It’s just time well spent. It’s the kind of evening that you remember.
WashingtonExec: Do you have any advice to those wanting to start their own company or forge a new career path?
Cal Simmons: My advice is just to go for it. If you are young and you don’t already have a mortgage and a family and a lot of responsibility what’s the downside. If you try it and it doesn’t work, try something else. Too many people have that entrepreneurial curiosity but they say, “I’m going to get a job and put away a little money first and maybe when I’m in my 30’s I will try to start my own business.” The problem is that they get on track with a career and it becomes harder to leave and it’s a risk to leave. I tell people all of the time if you are thinking about doing it just go do it.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“It’s a great networking event for those of us in the business community. You can go to one event and see everybody that you need to see in town; the law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, the venture capitalists. It’s just time well spent. It’s the kind of evening that you remember.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
WashingtonExec: What makes DC an attractive entrepreneurial region?
Cal Simmons: There absolutely is and I think it is a bit of a well kept secret. People talk about Silicon Valley all of the time and sure it is a hot-bed of activity but people that are “in the know,” the venture capitalists in the country, they really lump Washington in with the top tier. They talk about the deals that are coming out of San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington and maybe Austin, Texas. We are a part of that big four or five. If you are in some other industries you might not be as aware of the entrepreneurship here but our tech community is certainly very robust. Part of that is because we have the Telecoms here and AOL was started here and Discovery Channel – there are some big success stories here in the region.
Also, the fact that we have colleges and universities nearby gives us a constant source for internships and recent graduates. We have a very active business school at the Dingman Center out at the University of Maryland. You’ve got a lot of kids coming out of Georgetown and GW. George Mason has really entered the scene in a big way in the last few years, and UVA is not that far out of town. We’ve got a wealth of talent and I think that is what it really takes to make it go.
WashingtonExec: Is there something that most people might not know about you?
Cal Simmons: One of my main day jobs is as Chair of the Washington Chapter of Tiger 21. Tiger is a peer-to-peer learning group for high net-worth individuals. A lot of people consider it an investment club. That’s a bit of a misnomer. We do get together and talk about investment opportunities but it is more of a learning opportunity. A lot of entrepreneurs have been successful in their industry’s silo; they know one kind of a piece of industry, it could be technology, manufacturing, whatever. They’ve been head-down working on that for 10 to 20 years and have been fortunate enough to have a liquidity event and now they have money to invest and they haven’t had a lot of experience in investing. We provide a platform where they can get together on a monthly basis and share ideas. It’s a bit of a quiet organization.
