Coffee with an expert

Carolynn Duncan

And now, for our latest interview. For this installment, a virtual chat with Carolynnn Duncan, founder of CoffeeWithAnExpert, an online/offline way for entrepreneurs to find the right person with a skill that can solve a micro-problem in their business. Duncan has been partnering with coworking spaces to offer her program.

Spike Gillespie: What exactly is Coffee with an Expert?
Carolynn Duncan: CoffeeWithAnExpert is a way to access the hidden info/resources you’d otherwise only hear about over coffee, with an expert in your local startup community. The site is a way to channel/formalize the informal offline coffee shop network so that startup communities can leverage and tap into a great hidden resource in their own backyards — the skillsets of people within the startup community — and make those assets available in “bite-sized” amounts and prices for startups.

This project falls under the Hundred Dollar Business mission, which is to “Make  business simple and accessible,” and is the 5th project thus far. Hundred Dollar Business projects are designed to provide hands on, experiential learning opportunities that apply, test, and reinforce core business concepts.

Spike: How did you come up with the concept?
Carolynn: I moved from rural Idaho to Seattle — in the small town I lived in, there wasn’t a single coffee shop. When I got to the Northwest, people were asking me to go to coffee all the time, and it was a new cultural experience for me. Individuals get together for coffee all the time, to share ideas, skills, connections, etc., all of the kinds of things that startups need when they’re “new to town,” so to speak.

Although this informal coffee shop phenomenon is a fantastic resource to the startup community, the problem is that it’s not a tangible asset. It happens so informally that it’s more of a who-you-know/luck/good-karma resource — I wanted to take that concept, and make it very specifically available, both online and offline.

Spike: Are you one of the experts? Tell me about it.
Carolynn: I am! We define “Expert” as someone who has a skill that the client doesn’t have. For example, if an entrepreneur needs to send financial spreadsheets to an investor, they need to find someone who knows what to look for on a profit & loss statement, for errors. That doesn’t have to be someone with decades of experience, it could be an MBA student who’s finished some accounting classes, or even a peer entrepreneur who’s done financial projections before. The way the Expert thing works is that people with skills can solve problems for startups in three areas:

• Startup (business plans, funding, pitching, strategy)
• Services (legal, HR, accounting)
• Technology (blogging, databases, scalability, programming, social media)

Our first two services are Ask An Expert and Coffee Clinic.

Spike: How did you decide to partner with coworking spaces?
Carolynn: I’d recently been introduced to several coworking spaces, and love the flexible office space concept, particularly as someone who works from home or coffee shops.

A few years ago, I worked briefly for an incubator, which was essentially coworking plus a centralized management team, with structured support services and funding for several companies. I loved that startup environment, but unfortunately, we saw the incubator collapse after mismanagement, financial problems, and a lack of monetization by the startups that began at the incubator.

I think startups joining an incubator or using coworking space see a huge benefit from cheaper/flexible office space, but it’s not always enough to keep them in business. They also need cheaper, more flexible access to the core skills, information, resources, and talent that will help them stabilize their business. So it seemed like a natural fit to approach coworking spaces to partner together.

Spike: How’s that working out for you?
Carolynn: It’s really been a great partnership. We have done Coffee Clinics at three coworking spaces Thinkspace and Office Nomads in Seattle, and CubeSpace in Portland, and have ~7 more we’re in discussion with or have plans to work with in the near future. We are ramping up to make Coffee Clinics available at any coworking space, either as something the startup members can take advantage of to get help with startup FAQs and problems (accessing Experts), or freelancers/consultants can use (being an Expert and holding Coffee Clinics) to help channeling new client flow.

Spike: So people can have free ten minute consultations, correct? Is there also a you-can-pay-for-more component?
Carolynn: There is. We are keeping a good hybrid of free/paid services. Currently we offer:

Free

• 5-10 min. chat online (As An Expert)
• 60 min. group Q&A (Held at coworking spaces)

Paid

• 30 min. 1-on-1 problem-solving coffee consultation (Coffee Clinic) $25
• 1-5 60 min. a la carte consulting sessions: at hourly rate set by Expert

Spike: You move from location to location, is that correct? Will you explain this for us? How does it work?
Carolynn: So, right now my focus is on interacting with our coworking space partners, to run test Coffee Clinics at their locations, and get them comfortable with how the project works. After the first Coffee Clinic, that location can use our local Expert pool to staff Coffee Clinics based on their members needs, or consultant/freelancers who are members at the coworking space can sign up as an Expert and hold their own Coffee Clinics.

Spike: What else do you do, or did you do before this?
Carolynn: My passion is in two areas: high tech venture finance (angel/VC), and microbusiness. Most recently, I have been associated with FundingUniverse and Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center, and am the founder of the Hundred Dollar Business.

Spike: What else would you like to tell me?
Carolynn: When you look at the failure rate for startup companies, it is 50-80% or higher, within 1-5 years. I strongly believe that much of this is due to the entrepreneur personally lacking specific skills and not being able to access resources that will help keep the business moving forward in a positive direction. CoffeeWithAnExpert is a way for startups to get free and affordable help in the right “portions” — 5 min., 30 min., 5 hours or less. If an entrepreneur, consultant, service provider, or coworking space is interested in partnering with us, we’d love to have them participate!