Tres Crow is a Business Consultant with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the CEO and Co-Founder of City Data Company, creators of the event mapping technology Walkabout, writer, and advocate for sustainable design, architecture, and economic policy, and the small businesses that make it all possible.
He’s an experienced professional with 10 years of sales, marketing, and management experience. Tres has a BA in History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, and finished his MBA at the University of West Georgia, where he was inducted into the prestigious Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society.
Mission: By observing how communities and event organizers and attendees were limited by the functionality of Google Maps, Tres began working on an idea that would make finding event specific information (like parking, concert stage locations, and food options) accessible from your smartphone.
Mindset: Seeing the unique value and opportunity to impact his community, Tres got busy assembling the team to being Walkabout App to life.
Marketing: The challenge with Walkabout App is the many players involved… there is the event organizer, vendors, sponsors and more. Tres and his team have made a focused effort to make the end user experience for the event attendee as seamless as possible in order to drive usage and create a viral element to the app.
Mastermind Challenge: I love that the inspiration for Walkabout App came from noticing the limitations of the platform as big as Google Maps. How can you take a look at what the big guys are doing to carve out your own niche in the marketplace?
In episode 55, we hear from Connor Ford, CEO of Spirit App and soon-to-be freshman at Georgia Tech. That’s right, this edu-tech CEO hasn’t even taken his first college course yet...
Connor share’s his journey to develop the tech company Spirit App at the age of 15 and all of the early signs that predicted his success.
It’s so inspiring to watch a bright, young person like Connor execute his vision with such precision and confidence.
Mission: As a 15 year old high school student, Connor noticed a pain point in the way that his school tracked student participation at events. Connecting the dots, he discovered that he could leverage technology to create an app that would solve the problem. With that, Spririt App was born.
Mindset: Connor attributes his curiosity and love of tinkering with giving him the confidence and base of knowledge to tackle a project like Spirit App at such a young age. Listen to hear a hilarious story of one project that actually had him tearing up the walls in his house. A fun surprise for his mother, no doubt!
Marketing: Being that his demographic of users are school-aged, Connor wisely took to social media is gained an online marketing presence. He’s recently launched a blog as well with hopes that providing value to teachers and administration will lead to increased leads and users.
Momentum: Like so many, Connor marks getting his first client as a big milestone in his journey to launch. There’s definitely something special about getting that first taste of validation and proving that you’re idea has value in the marketplace.
Masterminds: Connor has made an intentional effort to get connected within the Alpharetta tech community. Alpharetta, Georgia is the Technology City of the South and offers incredible resources to local startups, including Alpharetta Technology Commission's Innovation Center.
Mastermind Challenge: I’m completely in awe of Connor’s confidence to take action at such a young age. Do you know a young person that’s revealed a certain talent, leadership ability, or curiosity. What if you carve out some time this week to listen to their ideas and desires and offer insights to help them along the way? Imagine the impact that one conversation could have! Let’s create a world with more Connors :)