Sixers Innovation Lab Managing Dir Seth Berger joins our Andrew Levin to discuss the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment-backed business incubator, as well as other dynamics related to venture capitalism.
On Berger founding And1 in '93 and selling it in '05, and how entrepreneurship has changed since:
Berger: One of the biggest differences is that in the '90s when we started the business, and specifically in a consumer business, we had to guess a lot on whether our products, whether our marketing, whether our direction was correct. We had to start with a basic understanding of our consumer because we were a consumer. ... Today, the best entrepreneurs in my opinion are not the ones that know the most or have the best answers. They ask the best questions, and then they employ the use of technology to figure out the right answers.
On some of his responsibilities at Sixers Innovation Lab:
Berger: I get to identify, recruit and coach young entrepreneurs, and I’m a high school coach on the side. I love coaching young people to be their best and I also get to be involved with really cool businesses and not have to do day-to-day executions. It’s like a tailor-made job for me and get paid while doing it. I was like, “Wow, this sounds like a fantastic opportunity.”
On how he assesses interest in the program during the pandemic:
Berger: I’m so happy to say our applications are up 52% year-over-year and to your point, the quality of the applications. When we first started, we weren’t sure whether we were going to invest capital in 2016. And if we were going to invest capital, it was going to be a really small amount. At the end of the day, entrepreneurs need fuel, and so you need capital. Once we made the decision to invest capital, the quality of our deals went right up, and so in the last year, we’ve seen so many great deals. We’ve been able to be really selective. Our bar is really high.
