Blackstone LaunchPad at UM

Missoula was recently named on the CNBC list of the top 10 small cities to launch a side hustle or startup, and a local organization that has played a huge role in making this happen is Early Stage MT (ESMT).  

Given this awesome achievement, we decided to catch up with Jenni Graff, who is currently serving as the Executive Director of Early Stage MT, to learn more about her background and how under her leadership, ESMT is leading the charge in tech-entrepreneurship in MT.  

Q1: What is your background and what was your path to working at Early Stage MT?

Jenni: “I am a graduate of the University of Montana where I received my undergraduate in Anthropology, Spanish, & Communication, as well as my MBA. After getting my MBA, I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do after, but I did love business strategy, startups, and getting exposure to what makes businesses take off. So, I pursued a career in economic development by working at the Missoula Economic Partnership.  

I then spent some time in the private sector with tech companies and even started my own recruiting business. I enjoyed working for myself but I missed the broad impact like I had at MEP, so I took the opportunity to join the mighty but small team at Early-Stage Montana where I have been the Executive Director for the last year.”

Q2: What is your relationship with the Blackstone LaunchPad?  

Jenni: “I am a big fan of the Blackstone LaunchPad and don’t believe we could do our work without this program. We have been fortunate to create this process where companies go through BLP in order to get past the idea stage, then, we are able to take them on and coach them to the next level. Basically, when they are ready to dive off the deep end.  

We have also been able to have a strong relationship with BLP by having LaunchPad team members serve as judges and coaches for our flagship programs and me assisting in the annual John Ruffatto Business Startup Challenge.”

Q3: How did Early-Stage MT (ESMT) start? What do you do for entrepreneurs?

Jenni: “ESMT started four years ago as the initial vision of Frontier Angels, a syndicated network with a mandate to invest in MT companies. When they began their investment endeavors, they realized MT businesses needed a little more training and mentorship, so this is how ESMT formed.  

Our main goal is to help these businesses grow fast, have success, and create awesome jobs and opportunities to develop the Montana economy.

What is so great about ESMT is that we operate under a format where 80-90% of our programs are leveraged and reliant on volunteers and mentos. The strength of the program really comes from the expertise of the network we have access to and since we launched in 2018, our mentor base has expanded consisting of people with experience in starting businesses and investing.

During Covid, we had to move all of our offerings online including our tech accelerator program. These programs were successful and spawned a new program we are working on now, our telementoring program were we essentially partner teams and startups. This is a great use of a 200+ strong mentor network and a good way for startups to fail fast and make corrections.”

Q4: What kind of entrepreneurs do you interact with?  

Jenni: “For the most part, we work with tech startups. Including anything with sophisticated IP at its core including medical devices, SaaS, etc. What is great is we get to work with entrepreneurs across the state that are interested in building a big company that is scalable.  

We love to work with businesses that are:

-Curious

-Interested in taking feedback but doesn’t take too much—can decipher

-Not too eager to please

-Can quickly say, “I am not going to do this, and here is why.”  

-Are willing to take coaching

-Not afraid to dream”

Q5: What are some misconceptions about entrepreneurship that younger people have? What can entrepreneurship actually look like?

Jenni: “Tech entrepreneurship does not require that you need deep coding abilities. It requires that you can identify a problem that is large and that you can come up with a solution that is easily broken down into small manageable steps. There is a lot you can do using basic project flows and knowing basic code programming to actually build a technology or at least to build an MVP.  

Don’t be afraid of technology and don’t be afraid of solving (or trying) a problem that uses tech. Digital natives and young people are capable of using Google products to solve anything, so this also means that you can be solving some huge problems, and there is a market for it.”

Q6: What makes Montana entrepreneurs unique?  

Jenni: “We are a very entrepreneurial bunch in Montana. What is really interesting is that the businesses that come from Montana are super practical, some of the most practical solutions I have seen and all made by people with incredibly relevant experience.  

Nobody is solving a problem they haven’t seen a million times and although they may not be the most cutting edge or interesting industries, these entrepreneurs are solving huge problems in unique ways.  

Another attribute is that Montana entrepreneurs aren’t focused on the highest growth possible. We aren’t trying to be the next Amazon, but rather build great businesses that can have sustainable growth.”

Q7: What is your philosophy with working with tech entrepreneurs?  

Jenni: “My philosophy is that for every entrepreneur I work with, I want them to know that even if they don’t succeed, they should know that they still have a very unique mindset and orientation, and I respect the risk they are taking.  

I always want to do what I can to support them on their journey. Sometimes this may mean, that I need to be upfront with them and point out a fundamental flaw. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to break dreams or bust bubbles, but at the same time, help people create things that will grow the tech ecosystem.”  

Q8: Why is entrepreneurship a viable career?  

Jenni: “There is no greater sense of satisfaction than feeling like you built something that somebody needs, wants to use, or that changes their life. I can’t imagine a more rewarding path in life than growing a business that supports your lifestyle and in turn, changes a community.”

Q9: Why do you think it is important for young people to get involved in entrepreneurship?  

Jenni: “I would definitely encourage new grads and young folks to think about exploring entrepreneurship or a side hustle. Even if you never go to work for yourself full-time, there is no downside to trying, besides your time. The upside will be that you are a more well-rounded individual, more confident, and you are developing passive or additional income. Especially when you are young, there is no reason not to: do it while you have the energy.”

Q10: What skills do students need to be an entrepreneur?  

Jenni: “Perseverance, you’ve got to have passion for what you do and be ready to develop a process and break down steps. You also need to have discipline, especially with tech entrepreneurship. When it comes to scaling, you need to be able to track what your operations are and recreate this at scale. This is particularly important in a tech leveraged company.”

Q11: What is your favorite entrepreneurship success story?

Jenni: “Because I’m from Missoula, I like to tout Superior Traffic Services. I scouted them at MEP, so they are particularly special. They have an automated traffic signal that reduces the need for flaggers on construction sites by using NASA satellite technology and real-time humans in control centers.  

They knew they had a unique product but didn’t know how to sell out of state, so they went through our program and basically grew from operating in Montana and having 12 employees to being in every state with over 30 employees. They have even gotten to the point where they are starting to acquire new tech businesses. They are a vastly more strategic, big picture thinking organization and it has been really fun to see the progress they have made.”  

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A big thanks to Jenni for taking the time to speak with us. If you want to learn more about Early Stage MT, visit their website: https://www.earlystagemt.org/

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