Seedlings

Lending a Hand at Startup Time

Borrowing from the Amish, who gather as a community to helpeach other with big tasks, Cargill and other EVenturesinvestors send employees to each startup for a 60-daybarn-raising period to help with tasks such as humanresources and accounting, while executives from the foundinginvestors scout for a high-end management team. "All of uswere trying to accelerate the development of the businessand make people available until a permanent organizationcould get created," remembers Robert Lumpkins, who as vicechairman and chief financial officer of Cargill helpedrecruit Rooster.com's management team.

According to Nicole Weber, a senior analyst at IDC'sInternet Services Research (a sister company to Darwin'spublisher) and author of a 2000 report on corporateincubators, helping with such tasks as business developmentand executive recruitment is a significant differentiatorfor incubators such as Cargill's. "It's extremely important,and independent incubators fail to do that," she says.

Erdmann, who spent nine months participating in twoEVentures startups, says Cargill employees were palpablyexcited at the prospect of helping out. "We had peopleknocking on the doors, saying, 'What can I do? Anything Ican do to help I'll do," says Erdmann. Barn raisers happilytackled tasks such as hooking up the technologyinfrastructure and setting up the offices, he says.

The eagerness is simple to explain. "Here was a chance foremployees to get an inside look at entrepreneurial, startupdotcom organizations," Erdmann explains. "It was fulfillingand educational." He adds that Cargill employees took partof the culture, excitement and buzz back to the corporateoffices when they returned. A few people even stayed withthe companies they helped build, leaving the comfort ofworking for an established company behind. "They went intothese companies with no safety net," says Erdmann. "Thiswasn't, 'If things don't work out, come on back.' It was ahigh-risk decision and also evidence of the passion andexcitement they saw."