Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Mathai.
Alex, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Fundamentally, there are 3 things that drive me: solving problems, building things and helping others. Those things are very apparent in the choices I’ve made in life.
I’m a tech guy who got involved in his first startup in 2003 in Miami, from there my career took a detour back to my hometown of Chicago to get my MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. While there, I discovered my passion for helping others with the tough problems they couldn’t solve on their own. That started a 10+ year journey in management consulting, working for companies from startup to Fortune 100 in size, in industries like software, e-commerce, renewable energy, finance, luxury goods, retail and included a lot of travel and a move to New York City. In 2014, I decided I wanted to change my path so I came to South Florida for a sabbatical. While here, two startup opportunities crossed my path. Combined with my rediscovered love of beautiful weather and a low cost of living, I had enough reason to never leave!
My first two years down here was spent with my nose to my laptop trying to simultaneously work on two startups. Last year, I decided I wanted to switch things up again, so I formed my own consulting firm – The Business Sherpas. I saw that many companies were struggling to succeed because they lacked the Expertise, the Experience or the ability to Execute. They can see their goals, but they just don’t know how to get there. I like to use the analogy of climbing a mountain. You can see the top, but getting up there is another thing altogether. In fact, the name “Sherpas” comes from the Nepalese guides who help those adventurous few who dare climb the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest. Just like those guides help those climbers reach the peak, we do the same thing for our clients.
A few months later, I reconnected with an old acquaintance, Brian Jacob. It turns out my skill set was a perfect fit for the role of resident startup advisor at his new incubator/venture fund, Collective Ventures. Six months after that, considering how well we worked together, he and the other Partners offered me the chance to buy in, and I jumped at it. Now in addition to running my consulting practice, as a partner, I also help manage our specialty coffee shop, our coworking space, event planning and community outreach, as well as develop the investment strategy of our venture fund.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s definitely been an interesting journey, life has a way of throwing lots of unexpected twists and complications into your plans. The road and even my destination are very different than what I had planned for myself, but I’m so glad for everything I’ve been through. I literally wouldn’t be here today without those experiences. There’s no such thing as the perfect path, there’s just the path you’re on, and how you travel it. Attitude is everything. You can see obstacles or you can see opportunities.
Case in point, when one of the startups I was involved in fizzled out, I could have accepted defeat, but instead, I used it as a teaching moment for myself. It was painful to look at the ways we had failed, but it was so very educational to do so. From it and conversations with other founders who had failed and then succeeded, I began to see that often startup failure was not because of a bad idea or a weak team, but other things that were often fixable. And if they were fixable, they could be teachable. Maybe I could help other entrepreneurs avoid those pitfalls, maybe I could leverage my years of experience as a management consultant, coming into companies and being that objective 3rd party to help them see what they were overlooking. Shortly after that, I formed The Business Sherpas, and the rest is history. The ashes of one failure became the fertile soil of my current success.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Collective Ventures is an organization that defies a simple label. For one, we’re actually three organizations in one space: We have a 110 seat coworking space, with indoor and outdoor seating, free Gigabit WiFi, that unlike other coworking spaces, you can work at for free. We also have the Cafe Collective, our specialty coffee shop housed inside. We serve some of the best coffees, teas, and light fare in the area. We also have a business center which contains conference rooms for rental by the hour, half-day, or day and 20 odd businesses, each independently owned and operated, and each an expert in a specific, non-overlapping functional area of business that covers the range of needs of most companies. For instance, we have a creative agency, a software/web development shop, a lawyer, an accountant, a social media company, SEO, a physical prototyper, etc. Lastly, we have the Startup Collective, our venture fund that we use to inject seed capital into startups that we think could go places if they had some financial support. We’re like a one stop for all things business.
And while we are known for all-things-business, business is not all we’re known for. Our goal is to be an anchor for not only South Florida’s booming startup scene but for the community in general. That’s why we’ve opened up our space to the public. To work, network, socialize or just hang out. We often host outside groups’ events. Whether you’re business focused like the Chamber of Commerce, philanthropically minded like the United Way, or artistically inclined like the Cafe Jam, if you are about bettering the community, you have a home here.
People come to Collective Ventures because we’re known as a warm, welcoming space where you can come in with an idea and leave with a business. We’re known for not being your typical dry office environment, There’s art on the wall by our house and guest artists, there’s comfy couches, lots of light and even more smiling faces.
If I had to boil it down, I’d say we are an organization that’s focused on delivering impact through innovation to our clients and the community at large.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
South Florida is a fantastic place to be. Sure, there are the known startup areas like Silicon Valley, Austin, New York, and Chicago, but those areas have reached a saturation point. People don’t want to have to move to somewhere that’s crowded and expensive just to pursue their dreams. South Florida, with its warm weather, low cost of living, increasing population, growing presences as a hub for international business and culture, and burgeoning startup scene is an ideal place for us. Our idea was to get in early and come out big.
There’s plenty of opportunity for someone wanting to get into entrepreneurship down here. Figure out your goals, make a plan, and don’t forget, find the right support. Whether it’s co-founders, teammates or advisors, you’ll need a network of people to help you make it happen. Luckily, South Florida has a wealth of people willing to connect with you and pass on advice.
Contact Info:
- Address: 100 N. Federal Hwy, Suite C4
(Southeast corner of The Waverly) - Website: collectiveventures.org
- Phone: 415-917-3620
- Email: alex@collectiveventures.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveventures/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collectiveventures.org/
Image Credit:
Austen Amacker, Rachael Markovic
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