Better Together: From impossible to inevitable

A bi-weekly column exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and community by Sam Davidson

The seasoned entrepreneur sat across from me in the recording studio with tears in his eyes. With a lifetime of business success and countless dollars donated, he wears his heart on his sleeve as he names past business partners.

One gave him the leg up he didn’t have as a boy. Another brought a once-in-a-lifetime deal to the table. One partner told him what he didn’t want to hear (but needed to) and another was the perfect operator to complement his over-the-top sales personality.

None of this seemed possible to him based on where and how he grew up. 

As he wove his narrative one thing became glaringly apparent to me: all successful entrepreneurs realize that what feels impossible alone becomes inevitable together.

That truth showed up time and again this week for me:

• It’s impossible to start and grow a business alone as a college student, including leveraging the data available to you these days to make informed decisions. And so I was excited and thankful to tour Belmont’s new Jack C. Massey Center which houses the Belmont Data Collaborative, Transformational Innovation Hub, Cone Center for Entrepreneurship and University Welcome Center. 
• It’s impossible to navigate Nashville’s growing tech scene alone as an entrepreneur. Where can you find funding? Customers? Ideas? Innovation? Events like the one we hosted this week, our Panel & Pitch: Tech Edition was a collaboration with the Nashville Technology Council and awarded winner Theta Neurotech a check for $1,000 to keep building their idea with others.
• Even in Music City it’s hard to grow a music business alone. Our peer group for music founders met again for a deep dive look into current challenges and successes. The growth of these companies will be inevitable as long as they have each other to share battle stories and victories.

My list could go on. These first six weeks at the EC have been filled with opportunities to meet entrepreneurs and to hear their origin stories and big dreams. I’m committed to continuing to create a place of possibility for them, where they can turn their impossible dreams into inevitable realities.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

Better, together.