Standridge Tells Rotarians About Meeting Entrepreneurs’ Needs

Jeff Standridge

Entrepreneurs need access to expertise, an ecosystem and access to capital, Jeff Standridge said Tuesday at the Little Rock Rotary Club’s weekly meeting.

Standridge co-founded Cadron Creek Capital in Conway and serves as chief catalyst of The Conductor, a public-private partnership among the University of Central Arkansas, Startup Junkie Consulting and Community Venture Foundation.

He began his presentation by emphasizing the importance of startups. Standridge siad 85 percent of net new jobs are coming from the creation of startups, small businesses represent 99 percent of U.S. employers, and small businesses employ half of the nation’s workforce.

That’s why Cadron Creek Capital and The Conductor, among others, are helping meet the needs of Arkansas entrepreneurs.

“We are sitting on a very ripe environment to build out a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. And i don’t think it’s the Silicon valley of the flyover states,” Standridge added. “I don’t think it’s the Austin of Arkansas I think it is our own brand of entrepreneurial culture that we’re looking to build here.”

Cadron Creek is helping build that brand by launching a new $20 million Cadron Capital Partners fund this week.

The fund will be focused on providing funding to growth-oriented tech and tech-enabled ventures.

Standridge, Brett Amerine and Jeff Amerine will its managing partners, and the fund plans to invest $250,000-$1 million in each startup it helps. Investors must contribute a minimum of $25,000 to join the effort.

This is the encore of Cadron Creek Capital, an angel/seed capital investment fund designed to capitalize on the growth in entrepreneurial activity and venture financing throughout Arkansas and the mid-South, according to its website.

That fund was announced in March 2015 and completed investments of $50,000-$150,000 per startup in October 2016.

On how well that fund worked out for investors, Standridge said they earned 1.5 times their investment in two companies, four times their investment in another, and a fourth company was a dud.

But Cadron Creek Capital also gave entrepreneurs the access to expertise they needed too.

“If we can drive a strong return for our investors but also give them the opportunity to be involved in their investments, that continues to elevate the investment acumen,” Standridge said.

The Conductor meets all three of the entrepreneurs’ needs. Standridge said it secures third-party funding via contracts with government, institutions, foundations and large corporations to provide mentoring, counseling, training, assistance and access to capital for free, with no strings attached.

He also said most of what The Conductor does is the “short game”: helping current and aspiring entrepreneurs become successful.

The “long game” is developing talent in the state by showing kids, teachers and parents that entrepreneurship offers viable career paths, Standridge said. So The Conductor also hosts a variety of events and activities for kids of all ages.