Tech Ranch Austin

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Mason Hale

 


Mason HaleMason Hale

Founder and CEO, SwimTopia (TeamTopia)

Venture Forth 8 Alumni

Tech Ranch Mentor and Instructor

Mason Hale first got the idea for his venture in 2007.  It all started when his wife volunteered him for the position of “Computer Guy” of their kids’ swim team. While the job sounded easy enough, Mason had no idea what he was getting into. After spending hours hand-entering data from paper submission for the hundreds of kids on the swim team, he knew he needed to find a solution for the painfully antiquated system.

That’s when he began developing what would eventually become the software for SwimTopia, a comprehensive solution to help teams run better. 

While it started out as a solution to save his own personal time, once other local teams saw what he was building, they wanted it for their team. During 2010, he rewrote the code to support more than one team and host it in the cloud. However, it wasn’t until 2011 that he decided to form a company, quit his job, join Tech Ranch’s Venture Forth, and make SwimTopia his full-time focus. 
 
Mason is a well-respected member of the Tech Ranch community, an active mentor, and a proud alumni member of the Venture Forth 8 Cohort (nicknamed “the Ocho”). He not only co-works at Tech Ranch but also volunteers his time to speak to each Venture Forth cohort.  
 
Mason’s thoughts about the Tech Ranch community,

Tech Ranch really is a community. I’ve been around the Tech Ranch for many years, from the beginning really, and there has always been this idea that we are here to help each other. It’s much more of a collaborative than competitive feeling. The idea of “to go far, go together” is baked into the DNA of the Tech Ranch.

With that spirit in mind, Mason shares his insights and experiences as an entrepreneur. 

What has been a challenge that you didn’t anticipate when you first started?
The biggest thing I didn’t anticipate is how different and difficult the job of CEO really is. When I started SwimTopia, I already had some startup experience, having been the CTO at a startup for 4 years prior. I had been managing people most of my career.
 
Still, while I thought I knew the CEO role well, I only knew it at a distance. It is a completely different thing to step into those shoes. It’s a huge burden to shoulder the responsibility for every decision and every mistake. As CEO, you set the tone for the company culture. The company becomes a reflection of you. You are the one responsible for everyone’s jobs, making sure payroll gets paid, and making sure your investors see a return for putting their trust in you.
 
Being CEO is not just about being the “boss”. It’s really about being accountable to everyone related to the company. It is a much more personal experience than I anticipated.
 What skills do you think have helped you the most as you’ve grown your business? 
Getting used to stepping out of my comfort zone. It’s been amazing to me to see how the challenges of entrepreneurship can spark creative thinking. When faced with an existential threat to the company, that moment of urgency makes it possible, even critical, to see options that you didn’t previously know were there.
 
Having ridden this rollercoaster for a while now, I know many of those options I didn’t see before had been there all along, I just couldn’t see them. When I stayed within my own comfort zone, I was blind. Now I’ve learned the things you think of as limitations are often really nothing more than your own untested assumptions.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received as an entrepreneur? 
Just breathe. When the rollercoaster ride gets really rough, and you don’t know if or how the company is going to survive, it can get very scary. I think every entrepreneur faces that fear at some point. In those moments, it’s good to step back and remember this isn’t life or death. Relax. Breathe in. Breathe out. Call a friend. Talk a walk. As bad as the situation might appear, it is mostly in your head. Keep your perspective, don’t panic, and it will be alright. 
 What is the #1 piece of advice that you give entrepreneurs?     
Raise more money than you think you’ll need. I’ve seen many entrepreneurs who were too optimistic and didn’t raise enough money to get them through the “valley of death”. Many first-time entrepreneurs wrongly assume raising more money requires giving up more equity. In fact, most of the time, raising more money comes from raising at a higher valuation, not necessarily from selling a larger stake of the company. 
 
Know a Tech Ranch Entrepreneur who you’d like to have spotlighted? Email marketing@techranchaustin.com to nominate them.
 
Learn more about Venture Forth, the program that Mason helps instruct, or any of our other programs. 

The TR Feed: Katherine Ruiz, KR Industries & ShearStore.com

“Consciously sharing prosperity through e-commerce product sales.”

Katherine Ruiz realized at the young age of six that she wanted to help others. Her first moment of consciousness came when a new student, who spoke barely any English from Mexico, was sitting alone in the cafeteria after others learned she had the chicken pox. Katherine, who was bilingual, sat next to the little girl when everyone else had left the table. Now, she did get chicken pox soon after the next day but credits her handful of pox marks to the good act. She realized from that point forward that doing good can mitigate the challenges that one is up against and help lead to greater outcomes for all.KR Industries 3

As a recent graduate of Venture Forth (#29 – it was her anniversary present!), Katherine has hit some major milestones with her startup KR Industries, whose first product ShearStore.com launches at the end of this year. ShearStore.com will sell “social scissors” to help manufacturers from third-world countries earn more money, improve their working standards and expand their market. While she’s been pitching and promoting herself and the company all around town, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride. After making her first wholesale in Ecuador in December 2014 she realized that her dream could be a reality. Unfortunately, she quickly realized that her original business model wasn’t going to work for the impact she wanted to achieve and she would have to re-invent KR Industries. It was at this point that she attended a Tech Ranch Campfire and signed up for Venture Forth. In her own words, “Venture Forth kept me engaged, propelled me and my business forward and created strong connections that continue to provide support, encouragement, acceptance, confidence and strength.”

[Read more…]

What Happens in Vegas…Moves Startups Forward: Join us in January

Tech Ranch is excited to announce our biggest training ever. The goal? To help startups gain even more connections and traction in the days leading up to CES International 2016 in Las Vegas. As many of you already know, we have run our programs for over 5,500 internationally and are on the 30th version of our Venture Forth program here in Austin. Over the past year we have expanded our focus to include the attendees of conferences such as CES, SXSW and more.

Our team has not only attended, but hosted many events and understands the desire to make the most out of a conference experience. Through the launch of Venture Forth Intensive on-location we can help startups and entrepreneurs fine-tune their businesses, messaging and goals for the week. Our program differs from other boot camps in that we aren’t reiterating content but focusing on activities, practices and community-building for entrepreneurs as part of a cohort of their peers.

 

Our entire program will be facilitated by Tech Ranch CEO, Kevin Koym. The Venture Forth Intensive begins prior to the conference in the form of an introductory webinar, access to our learning management system and familiarization with our business. The 3-day event is followed by a 90-day engagement that includes a virtual, weekly meeting with 4-5 cohort members and 3-hour virtual “Follow-On” training. We strongly believe that you can’t move a business forward in ONLY three days, but you can set the foundation for making those strides. [Read more…]

Venture Forth #29 – Pitch Day Highlights

Tech Ranch is thrilled to add another 14 Austin-based entrepreneurs to our alumni list. On Monday August 31st, eight of our companies took on a room full of Tech Ranch mentors, advisors, peers and staff who were ready to ask the hard questions and give honest feedback that would help move these ventures forward.

While we won’t be sharing their pitches from the first cohort meeting…we will share some highlights from pitch day to highlight the progress and success that came from their time in the program. Our goal for Venture Forth is to bring people together who understand the value of collective knowledge and community. While we cover content, this is not an academic class, and the value comes from the collaboration, accountability and personal growth that the entrepreneurs experience alongside a cohort of their peers.  [Read more…]

Leaders Inspire Leaders Presents: Student Spaces

Check out the latest podcast from Leaders Inspire Leaders featuring Tech Ranch’s own Venture Forth alums: Student Spaces!

 

About: 

Entrepreneurial Leadership Podcast:

Leaders Inspire Leaders focuses on host Koy McDermott interviewing some of the most influential entrepreneurial leaders of today, giving them a platform to tell their inspiring stories that will awaken the entrepreneurial leader that lies within us all.

Listeners will be empowered to bet on themselves, to listen to that voice inside urging them to step into the fullness of who they are and all that life has to offer. Instead of having guests meander to points of relevance, the show is formatted in a way that is insightful and engaging, and leaves the listener with practical, actionable items, as application is key! As iron sharpens iron, leaders inspire leaders.