1 Million Cups And An Entrepreneur's Journey

You might ask yourself, ‘What is 1 Million Cups. Sounds like a whole lot of java!’ Pretty cool concept actually - 1 Million Cups was developed by The Kauffman Foundation (Kansas City, MO) to support local community entrepreneurial efforts through education, encouragement, and honest feedback. There are currently 90 locations nationally.

Requirements to pitch are 1) the business must be less than 3 years old, 2) must bring a new innovation to the market, and 3) be scalable. There is an application process also and the best part – it is FREE! How awesome is that?

So what actually happens during a 1MC event? 1MC meets weekly on Wednesday starting promptly at 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Rollins College located in Winter Park, Florida. Two businesses get 6 minutes each to share their model (and that flies by faster than taking a breath). The audience soaks the presentation all in. When the presenter is finished, the audience asks questions, provides feedback, and offers to make introductions. This is the sweet spot for the entrepreneur because they need people to show them where the holes are, that is like money [cha-ching]. After the rapid fire question round, standard protocol for all 1MC venues is to ask ‘What is it that we as a community can do for you right now?’ That is where the love is shared – social love – and you feel the energy, it is alive with hope, opportunity and encouragement.

A little FYI perk about 1MC, once an entrepreneur presents; they are a part of the 1MC Passport Program and have the ability to present for free at all other venues. Cool way to get your message out to friendly audiences and potentially pick up investors and key contacts.

We encourage Entrepreneurs to apply: The link to 1MC Orlando http://www.1millioncups.com/orlando

1MC Orlando loves our sponsors: Bright House (media love), Barnies Coffee Winter Park (steaming java), Rollins College (kicking venue), Torch Studios (live streaming & video services) and our organizers that are all volunteers: Angela Kendall, Stephanie Foor, Jan Alvarado, Isabella Johnston, Chad Irvine, Josh Snyder, and Kristine Wiley. Our organizers are lovers of all that is the essence of ‘Entrepreneurship;’ we salute those that are problems-solvers, inventors, dreamers and doers.