Sarah Prevette is the CEO & founder of Sprouter, a social network for entrepreneurs. Sarah always believed in sharing, learning and socializing so that everybody can benefit from each other – and hence the concept of Sprouter evolved. The company is growing rapidly under her leadership ever since it was launched last year. Sarah was named among the 30 Under 30 young entrepreneurs by the Inc. Magazine, and had appeared on several main stream media channels such as CTV, Profit Magazine, the Toronto Star, and Wall Street Journal. She has also been featured on several online technology blogs including Mashable.
Today, after Erin Bury – the Community Manager of Sprouter, introduced us to her, Sarah gave us her interview and provided her insights to Foundora about her entrepreneurial journey, lessons and of course Sprouter.
Interview Overview:
Hello Sarah, please tell us how you got started as an entrepreneur and walk us through your journey until now, right from your first venture Upinion to Sprouter.
I was incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to gain experience in a start-up while still a student. Learning first-hand under an exceptionally charismatic and visionary entrepreneur was a great initiation. Being submersed in an environment that fostered ongoing innovation and had a palpable sense of urgency was a game changer. Without a doubt, it was that experience that gave me the desire and confidence to pursue my own idea.
In the early 2000’s I saw an opportunity to capture the tween market online and I eagerly launched an opinion-sharing website called Upinion. I tried to reach out to established business owners for advice and to help in growing the business. It was a frustrating exercise. It was nearly impossible to find support cold-calling successful companies. I thought that there must be other people somewhere facing the similar obstacles as myself and that we might all be able to help each other. I saw an opportunity.
What motivated you to launch Sprouter, a networking site for entrepreneurs?
Sprouter was born to overcome the traditional isolation of entrepreneurs and create an instant, plug-in network of support. I envisioned a platform where startup founders could self identify and easily solicit support from their peers and other thought leaders. Knowing the hardship of early stage companies, I wanted to provide a community where people could get feedback and make valuable connections with others who could appreciate their plight.
Sprouter helps entrepreneurs connect with people, answers and capital to grow their own business. Members are a part of a supportive, collaborative network and can ask questions to recognized experts in a variety of fields. On top of the community, we also provide visibility to new innovation through our publication Sprouter Weekly and facilitate introductions to potential investors for qualified startups.
Why do you think entrepreneurs should be actively networking?
Right from the idea stage, startup founders need to get out and engage the market. You need to network to actively solicit feedback and iterate your vision. You need to network to find customers, partners and opportunities. Isolation kills startups.
People are often uncomfortable talking to and asking help from strangers; what shall they do to get over it and become a pro networker?
My advice on networking is to always learn about the person you’re meeting and think about how you might be able to provide value to them. Ask people how you can help them. Helping others usually results in them asking how they can help you. This is a great cycle to get into with as many people as possible!
You started Sprouter all alone, how did you manage it? And, was it difficult not having a co-founder?
I’m going to admit something here: I cannot imagine having a co-founder. There is one word that I don’t do well with, a word that is probably pretty essential when having a co-founder, and that word is compromise.
I hate compromising. I recognize that this may be a major character flaw, but it’s the truth. I really just don’t compromise. I will add though that I haven’t been alone in Sprouter. We have an incredible, albeit small, team of amazing individuals who work tirelessly to bring the vision into fruition. Any founder would be wise to surround himself with brilliant, resourceful people. We have an incredible, close-knit team at Sprouter – each individual offering a unique and essential skill set. Having a such a great group work together has been a big contributor to our success.
Can you give us some insight on how you’re spreading the word about Sprouter?
Sprouter has grown exclusively by word of mouth. From user referrals to social media to traditional media. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had such great visibility and to have such an incredible community acting as evangelists on our behalf.
Tell us some thing about Sprout Up; what is the format and the activities that happen in it?
Sprout Up is an incredible phenomenon of entrepreneurs coming together offline to support one another. I think it’s another incredible testament to the power of community. We use Sprout Up to showcase new startups and connect founders with people who they can learn from. The format of the evening, no matter what city it’s being held in around the world, always kicks off with drinks and networking. Every registered attendee, when they walk in the door, receives a name badge that has recommended connections on it. Before each event our team goes through the attendee list and determines who should meet whom. We find that recommending connections to people makes it easier to network – we give people an excuse to talk to one another.
Networking is a huge portion of the evening, but we also spotlight three local startups – giving them each a few minutes on stage to demo their product and talk about the stage they are at. We also bring in a speaker – usually a veteran entrepreneur who can share personal lessons and insights they learned in growing their own company to massive success. We’ve had some incredible people participate from Gary Vaynerchuk to Ryan Holmes (Founder of HootSuite). It has been wonderful to see so many entrepreneurs willing to volunteer their time to help give advice to new up and coming startups.
One of the common issues in any upcoming networking site is – users signing up but not being very active. How do you plan to keep users engaged on the site?
Engagement is all about perceived value. We need to ensure that our users are getting real value out of participating in the network. That’s our entire focus as a company.
Toronto seems to be becoming a hot place for startups; tell us some thing about the startup ecosystem over there?
There’s an exciting amount of innovation happening right now in Toronto. We’ve got a great pool of talent, an ever-increasing amount of capital and a real sense of momentum.
It’s a great time to start a company in Toronto. The entire city seems to have embraced a new culture of innovation; risk taking is trendy and a there’s noticeable interest in technology startups.
We have great new companies getting visibility on a global scale and have had some big exits recently (Toronto startup BumpTop sold to Google and other another local startup, Viigo, just sold to Research in Motion – manufacturers of the Blackberry) – all of these factors are contributing to rampant growth.
What difficulties did you face as a woman entrepreneur? And, how did you deal with them?
To be honest, I’ve probably encountered more challenges being “young” than being a woman. But with that being said – everyone encounters bigotry once and awhile and I’m no different. I tend to be a bit cavalier with it – if I’m ever confronted with blatant ignorance, I’m likely to make a joke of it and call the person out in it in a subtle, non-confrontational manner.
What has been your biggest learning so far with Sprouter?
The old adage on startups is true: it’s always going to take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think it is.
Last but not the least; what advice would like to you give to newcomer entrepreneurs who do not have any connections? Also, what other general advice you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Get on Sprouter and start connecting with other entrepreneurs! We built Sprouter so startup founders could easily self-identify and build relationships with like-minded people. Surrounding yourself with people who share the same ambition and passion gives you a wealth of support to draw on. Networking with other founders gives you a chance to bounce ideas off each other and benefit from each other’s networks and experience.
For anyone who has a great idea and is wrestling with whether or not to pursue it: start talking to potential clients. If your market tells you it’s a great idea – get out there and do it.
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