"Babe Entrepreneur"

"Babe Entrepreneur" may sound like an odd pairing of words but the fact of the matter is, there are many similarities between the greatest ball player of all time and Club Entrepreneur. Let me explain...

Babe Ruth is universally known as the the "Home Run King" of baseball. A little know fact is that statistically, he also had more strike outs than any player in the history of the game. The only way to hit the ball out of the ballpark, sometimes as far as 575', is to swing for the fences...every time. That's what "The Babe" did, swing for the fences...every time. He never went up to bat to bunt or hit singles...he took his shot and swung as mightily as he possibly could and guess what?...He hit the ball over the fence more than anyone else and has gone down in history as the greatest ball player that ever lived. The number of strike outs is simply a buried footnote somewhere...which is exactly where it should be...buried.

Now, what does this have to do with Club Entrepreneur (Club E), you say? Club E started a little over three years ago (February 2007). We held our first event for nearly 200 attendees in Tempe, Arizona. Each month for the next three years, except for an eight month hiatus while I focused on establishing the eFactory (now Club E Office) co-working facility, Club E hosted well received speakers and a growing membership that quickly grew to number in the thousands. Home run!

Branching out from the first Tempe chapter, we eventually opened up in Phoenix, N. Scottsdale, N. Phoenix, Glendale, Gilbert, Prescott and Tucson. We had eight (8) Arizona chapters in all with plans to expand to Goodyear and others....but it didn't pan out as well as we had planned. Our first "swing and miss." We expanded to Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder...to Orange County and even to Austin...more "swings and misses." We just couldn't find the right leaders to manage each chapter, especially without an apparent profit incentive to keep our chapter leaders interested. So, like any good band of entrepreneurs, we innovated...

The eFactory was born out of a need to monetize Club Entrepreneur and because it was something our members were clamoring for. We'd take empty buildings (there were many then and a lot more now) and fill them with members of our rapidly growing Club E. There would be be offices for more established entrepreneurs and work stations for start-ups. There'd be conference rooms, AV equipment, a kitchen area and plenty of open space. Unlimited internet and phone service would be included. We'd make money by keeping the spread between what we'd charge for our spaces and what we'd negotiate with the landlord.

We found the ultimate space in a high tech dream of a building in N. Phoenix, that was all but empty. We made our deal and proceeded to fill the space with tenants. As it turned out, it wasn't as good a deal as we thought-we couldn't make any money for ourselves and the landlord reneged on what we had agreed on. So...we moved out. Swing...and miss.

Check back tomorrow for "Babe Entrepreneur 2" The Story Continues...

Best always,

Peter J. Burns, III
Founder