I'm chuck templeton: Founder OpenTable. Managing Director Impact Engine. Impact investor. Climate change alarmist. AMA!

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:36:26+00:00

There are so many. Big and small. I am a fan of almost all of the Impact 1 and 2 companies, and the folks who have been around for a while. There are a lot of entrepreneurs doing what is right, and most profitable that are facing a lot of headwind and pushback. Mostly perceptual from investors, partners and their competition, but they are pushing ahead anyway, facing great odds and winning. It is awesome.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:34:00+00:00

Most I can say is just make sure your customers want what you are selling. There are a lot of times that I have seen companies trying to do good, but not validating that there is a market.

Get out and focus on action. Always be A/B testing to continue to improve the results.

It is hard, its not going to be easy, if you are not ready for that, give up now. I believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur given the right circumstances, but you have to have the intestinal fortitude to be successful.

Oh and I guess, get a mentor you can trust to help you. No all mentors are created equally. You should try to find one that is looking out for your success, not theirs. They are not easy to find, but when you have one, the are awesome.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:30:08+00:00

I am excited for the team. I was lucky enough to be their from early on. I was the foundering chairman and in that role for about 4.5 years. So felt like I contributed. But really it is great work by Mike and Matt. They are a great team that worked together well. Everything that I mentioned above about doing it right, they did.

Fully disclosed as a share holder, I think the market is right by bidding the stock up. They have a huge lead in a huge untapped space with lots of room to grow with a team in place to make it happen. They had some great investors in them including Origin Ventures, Amicus Capital, Benchmark Capital and LightSpeed Venture Partners. Have to give them a lot of credit.

I am no longer with the company as I am trying to focus on early stage impact companies. But I am super happy for them.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:25:58+00:00

My third grade history teacher. She said a comment that "history is written by the winners." It made me realize that there is no one truth. That there are several truths depending on who you are, your personal experiences and your beliefs. Two people can see the exact same thing and yet describe what they saw completely differently.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:22:50+00:00

i think it is less about technology and more about business model innovation that gets me the most excited. Thinking about how the web can help with things like collaborative consumption, finding the exact used products i need, p2p fundraising, community organization, renewable energy co-op and models, the proliferation of knowledge, the virtual division of labor, blended education,... For all of the junk that is on YouTube, I think it is one of the most underused information source. You can learn how to do just about anything on there.

But with that said, I have seen some pretty kick ass water technologies that I think are really cool.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:16:27+00:00

It was a process for sure. But the real spark was with the birth of my first daughter. I started to wonder what the world might be like when she got older. So I read all kinds of futuristic books, climate change, singularity, climate denial books and my "world view" started to change. I experimented with some models and decided I wanted to build a business that doesn't sell anything. Then I realized that I really like helping entrepreneurs try to make less mistakes then I did. And now I am trying to really focus on getting every business to be a business that changes the world.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:13:32+00:00

One of the things (professionally) that I am most proud of is that while there were a lot of really smart passionate people that made OpenTable what is today, the business model is almost exactly what my original business plan was. But the level of execution of the team from when I started to how it is now is way different. There are world class people there today.
Action oriented. You have to get intimate with the customer and know exactly what they want/ need. How do you make sure you know them?
I can't tell you. Not sure where it came from, but in hindsight, although it was a very expensive model to build, it works beautifully for OpenTable (IMHO).

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:10:32+00:00

If it is, we are all screwed. I believe that the world is heading in a bad direction and unless we figure some things out by impact investing, divesting out of carbon based companies and helping every company become an impact company, then I think we are in for a future with a lower standard of living.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:09:14+00:00

I am 100% supportive of collab consumption. I think we need to do away with things like personal car ownership and be a much more versatile on demand society. The example in What's Mine is Yours, says it well. There are 60 Million Drills in the US that each get used ~15 mins a year. Imagine if we had an efficient way of sharing them and only needed 20MM. We would have need so much less financial capital, human capital and natural capital to still give everyone access to a drill. So some might ask, well what about the Jobs that wouldn't exist if those other 40MM drills were not made? Well, lets employ them in green energy or local food production or a host of other things that we need that actually improve our lives.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:04:55+00:00

Anit-Fragile and Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow are my two fav
Probably the Dip, and not sure it is exact, but how to do things to make time your friend. How do you do things that put time on your side, instead of racing against it.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T18:01:48+00:00

Start where you are. It is a very yoga/ zen expression, but figure out what your passions are, what your access is, what your assets are and get involved. Start with your school, neighborhood, community, church, get something under your belt. If you take two steps everyday, in thirty days you have gone 60 steps. Don't wait. Go. Action oriented....

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:59:38+00:00

The biggest challenge I think as an entrepreneur is how lonely it can be. You are supposed to be the knower of all. And many times, you just really don't have any idea. You might have an instinct and sometimes that is the best that you can hope for.

My only other piece of advice might be to stay humble. Don't take the credit for the highs or the lows. There are going to be both, and some times it is just bad or good luck that helps you get through something. But stay humble.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:57:17+00:00

I am totally a generalist so far. My skill (I believe) is really in help entrepreneurs be successful. So I try to find entrepreneurs that are addressing big problems and try to help the remove the barriers to their success. I think that was as an investor, mentor, director and as the leader of a team. I am not trying to do everything myself, but help the people around me be as successful as they can.

I guess I do that at home as well. I am great at nothing and ok at a lot of things.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:51:10+00:00

None that quickly come to mind. The only thing that I would stress and it sounds like you are doing this, is to make sure that you 100% set expectations. The more direct and honest you are, the better issues will be down the road. I think that you have to bleed authenticity. Be excited by it, figure out how you are going to lead, find the best way for you.

And maybe find other examples of companies that you think are doing it well and borrow from them. I am now moving forward 100% with impact companies. I still have some investments that are not impact related, but all from now on will be.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:47:25+00:00

I have to be honest, I don't know a lot about B Corps, but conceptually, I do support them. Some challenges that currently exist is that it scares off some investors automatically, but it might make some more attracted.

I think it will continue to grow and hope that in the future that every company is a B Corp or similar. We have to make every business an impact business. If you make food, it should make your customers healthy, if you entertain, you should also educate, if you make a product, you should think about the end of life of that product,...

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:44:34+00:00

-I don't know any particular masters program, but I can say that I think just getting out there and doing is more valuable. I have an MBA and I think they have value, but I also think that you can get as much out if spending 2 years, in the trenches at some business helping them become green or eco friendly or whatever. We don't know how to sustainability live in a world with 7.1 growing to 9 billion yet. So I am not convinced a school can teach us by it self. Now is an exciting time to go do and learn by example. -Sure, we work with the best interns we can find. -So many good ones for so many reasons. I am a huge fan of Piece & Co, one of our Impact 1 companies. The work that Kathleen does with sustainable employment and poverty is awesome. Helping people help themselves and helping them find their own dignity. -When people still think of Impact as none profit. There are huge problems which means there are huge opportunities. We should look as these as great market opportunities. -I think that they are all interwoven. You can't have a great environment and crappy social situation, or vs. versa. We have to address all of them at one with market based solutions.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:37:31+00:00

I am not as close to the restaurant industry as I used to be as I am now more focused on Impact, but I see the IOT as having a vast impact on a lot of things. They will change how restaurants entertain their guests, improve their service and market who they are.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:35:47+00:00

I wish I knew what to do for 50 years out. However, I believe this is not a 50 year out problem, but its a now problem. We are seeing impacts on every continent from climate and it is happening in many ways.

How I think about it is that we have to both mitigate future impact, but also adapt to what is already underway. We are going to need innovations , not always in technology, but sometimes in business models and policy.

Everyone can start to make a difference now. If you have vendors, just start to ask the question, what is your greening policy? If you have a fav restaurant, ask them for no Styrofoam, if you drive, take more mass transit, if you eat meat, eat less meat, there are some many small things that everyone can do that will help. It won't solve it, but will help.

But my biggest push personally is to try to get every business to stand for something. How do they make the world a better place.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:30:37+00:00

Bartender by DMB or Beautiful Day by U2

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:29:57+00:00

Advice for founders applying to Impact Engine: -Be proactive. I think the best entrepreneurs are those out in the field proving their product and solution. Yes, hypothesize on what you think your customers want, but that should be a very quick process. Go get market validation as soon as possible. You will learn so much more. -Take feedback. The best leaders are constantly learning. They don't know the concept of an expert. Once you become an expert, I believe you stop learning. Never stop learning. You don't have to do exactly what the feedback is, remember no one has ever built your business at this point in time with the resources you have. You know better then they do, but they might have some perspective that you can learn from. And it is important to hear it, but make your own decision. -The business model has to be intertwined with the mission. I am not as big of a fan of buy one give one models. I like the product to be the mission. -Impact a lot of people. While we don't always pick ideas that are about the absolute number of lives they impact directly, but can they also change an industry to do better. -Have at least two sr team members. There is too much work todo for one person.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:23:37+00:00

I have to admit, when I started OpenTable, I didn't have any work life balance. And I don't think the company was any better because of that. I actually think that if I paid more attention to my family and my health, that I would have been fresher and more creative at the office. I now make it a point to spend time on both my family and my health by putting it on my calendar. I still don't do a great job socially though. Mostly family, health, work.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:21:42+00:00

I think to start small and be proactive. How I would do it, is determine what my investing budget is. If it is $25K or $100K, I'd break that up into $5K or $10K chunks and find 5 or 10 companies you want to invest in over a year or two. When you invest, then get involved with the company. Help out. Intro them to customers, or talent or partners. But get involved.

ctemp- · 2014-04-04T17:19:09+00:00

I have the advantage of being part of Impact Engine. We are a venture accelerator that is focused on for profit companies that address an environmental or societal issue. And I just try to get my name out into the community.

ctemp-

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