When Tyler Mathews, \u201909, \u201912, was developing his startup business, he spent a lot of time in coffee shops to take advantage of the free workspace. Although still focused on creating new business, Mathews now operates in a more high-energy environment \u2014 a place where he helps other entrepreneurs grow their dreams.<\/p>\n
As executive director of the popular Venture Caf\u00e9 in St. Louis, Mathews serves up collaboration in a space that bills itself as a \u201ccommunity of colliders\u201d \u2014 an opportunity to bring people together, nurture entrepreneurship and help the local economy grow.<\/p>\n
Housed in the bustling Cortex area of St. Louis, Venture Caf\u00e9 holds regular gatherings where people discuss fledgling business ideas with each other and with experts.<\/p>\n
As one participant put it, Venture Caf\u00e9 is \u201ca safe place to say your dreams out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a bunch of people asking the exact same questions,\u201d Mathews says, \u201cso you feel like you\u2019re in the right company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mathews, who has his undergraduate and MBA degrees from Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP, has chased his own business dreams, and has firsthand experience in what it takes to make them come true.<\/p>\n
He devised a startup called \u201cYougy,\u201d which would help friends in a crowded venue find each other. At the same time, he worked in fundraising, marketing and website development at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t sleep for a very long time,\u201d Mathews says.<\/p>\n
At Venture Caf\u00e9, he leans on his entrepreneurial experience to bring the right people together to build on their business ideas. The group\u2019s gatherings aren\u2019t typical happy hour or networking events; they\u2019re not too structured, Mathews says, and not too stuffy.<\/p>\n
Often, people haven\u2019t honed their ideas and thought things through to the point where they can take their entrepreneurial plans to the next level, Mathews says. Venture Caf\u00e9 gives them the place to work out individual recipes for success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve successfully created this culture where people feel safe to ask questions or bounce ideas off of people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Venture Caf\u00e9 began as a real caf\u00e9 in Cambridge, Mass., but soon morphed into its current format. Along with St. Louis, similar networking caf\u00e9s have opened in Miami and Rotterdam, with plans to continue expanding.<\/p>\n
Locally, the expansion of Venture Caf\u00e9 gatherings includes the Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur. The whole idea, Mathews says, is to be a force behind the region\u2019s growing reputation as a great place to start and grow a business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re attracting lot of high quality talent to St. Louis,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re not just talking about improving St. Louis, but really doing it. That solidifies St. Louis\u2019s role in the national startup scene.\u201d<\/p>\n