Houston Ripe For Startup Entrepreneurs

December 06, 2012

Houston ripe for startup entrepreneurs

In early November 2012, Houston was home to another Startup Weekend that draws aspiring entrepreneurs from a variety of professional backgrounds to brainstorm ideas for new business startups, mainly technologically oriented. Sponsored by the Seattle nonprofit of the same name, the weekend is an intense workshop wherein the best startup ideas as voted on by the attendees are developed by small groups into potentially viable business models.

Local business leaders attend group presentations and provide valuable feedback, and a panel of judges determines the local winners, who advance to another level of competition. The Houston Chronicle interviewed Javid Jamae, the local organizer of this year's Houston event.

According to Jamae, the event is a valuable networking event where aspiring entrepreneurs can meet others with the potential for future commercial collaboration. In fact, "five or six companies" have been established following the Houston event. He feels that Houston's market is "diverse" with two main sectors: medical and energy.

Houston's entrepreneurial spirit

The Houston Business Journal in a recent BizBlog spoke with Brad Burke of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship about Houston's recent efforts to develop itself into a technology startup hub. In Burke's opinion, Houston is more "business friendly" than New York, and Houston's variety of industry types advantageous, citing mature "life science, energy, nanotechnology and information technology" as local industry strengths.

Burke also praised the quality of technology programs at local community colleges and at area universities like Texas A&M, Rice University and the University of Houston.

Success predictors

So what predicts the probability of a startup's success?

According to Inc.com, startup must-haves are a "solid business model, a viable market and a brilliant product or service," but also the right entrepreneur, one who can balance his or her passion for the seed idea that inspired the company with enough flexibility to evolve as necessary to bring it to full fruition.

Solid legal counsel important

Of course, for a business idea to take off and flourish, it must be built on a solid legal foundation and the importance of retaining an attorney with business formation experience cannot be overemphasized. A skilled commercial lawyer will sit down with a business-startup client to discuss goals and assess what is needed legally to reach them. For example, every startup business must decide what type of business entity to establish, whether it be a corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or other type. That choice will depend on many aspects of the business such as how many principals will be involved, the degree of personal risk each is willing to take on, tax issues and so on.

A knowledgeable attorney will also draft the internal operating documents of the company and coordinate required filings with local, state and federal governmental entities. Once the business is up and running, the business lawyer will be needed on an ongoing basis for legal counsel, contract negotiation, document drafting, employment law questions, transactional advice and more.

Article provided by Manfred Sternberg & Associates, PC
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