Chris McAdoo takes the Pechakucha stage!
Chris McAdoo, Chief Experience Officer for KEC, takes the stage for an impassioned seven minutes to dig deep into the heart of what makes Knoxville Entrepreneur Center so special, and our Maker City community so innovative and powerful. Hint…it’s the people out there doing the work.
Originally recorded during PechaKucha Knoxville’s fiftieth edition on March 07, 2024. Pecha-Kucha (“Chit-Chat”) is a simple presentation format that features twenty images displayed for twenty seconds each – so hang on for an exciting 6 minutes. and 40 seconds. Originating in Tokyo in 2003, PKN was brought to Knoxville in 2009, along with 400 cities around the world.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
5…4…3…2…1. 11 years. Thousands of entrepreneurs, thousands of connections. $160 million raised. Thousands of founders with big ideas. And you’ll probably recognize a few. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is a nonprofit dedicated to changing lives through entrepreneurship. And like our friend Paris Woodhull says, art and entrepreneurship is for daredevils, artists, scientists, technologists, makers. We are change makers. We are risk takers.
We are daredevils, we are Maker City daredevils. And the KEC sits as a center of gravity without being a center of attention. In the middle of a lively entrepreneur ecosystem. We’ll call the innovate six five, because that’s what you do. From the Oak Ridge National Lab to the University of Tennessee to Real Good Kitchen and Centro Hispano, there are resources and they are there for you.
We are supported by an organization called Launch Tennessee, and our friends at the City of Knoxville, among many others in the private sector. Our goal and the goal of the eight entrepreneur centers around the state is to help people with big ideas, become founders with businesses. And y’all, as a fellow daredevil and longtime entrepreneur, this is the longest job I’ve ever had, right?
My highlights include hosting the Big Ideas Welcome podcast and getting to talk strategy with absolute bosses like Hannah Lee. And I get to work with the best crew of all time, right? There’s amazing people in our community, legends like Eugenia Almaeda, who came to this country 25 years ago, no English, four kids and one big dream. She now employs over ten people, recent immigrants themselves. And leaders like Darren Burrell, an Air Force veteran and now venture capitalist who supports veteran owned businesses across the United States.
I get to stay. I get to spend all day with smart people. I get to be the dumbest guy in the room. And I don’t mean that as an insult. I mean that I’m always learning. I’m learning from top creators, from scientists, from inventors, from people like Lilly Tench right in the center. They’re people that encourage me and make me grow like Three Roots Capital founder Grady Vanderhoofven, and he likes to say that “the community thrives when the economy thrives”. And I’m going to tell you right now, the economy thrives on entrepreneurs. That’s why the KEC, we focus on three big things capital, capabilities and connections. Capital…as in man: Money is tough. It’s tough to make. It’s tough to get and it’s tough to save. And without access to that money, our most innovative and promising ideas never reach their full potential.
And I think we can all agree. We want John and Kate from Primeaux, and Femeika Elliott from the Lotus program to reach their full potential. And I know it looks like from these photos, all we do is hand out “big checks”. But I assure you it is more than that. It’s about capital intelligence. It’s about accessibility, it’s about revenue.
It’s about customers, banking, equity. It’s about getting founders capital ready. And knowledge is power. And actively sharing that knowledge is power multiplied. Thanks to dedicated servant leaders like CPA Nicki Elliott, knowledge makes us all more creative, more prepared, more economically resilient, and it prepares our founders to become leaders, our Maker City artists, our technology startups.
They’ve all got these common hurdles. It’s the finance, it’s the marketing, it’s the sales, it’s the accounting. It’s every entrepreneur I’ve ever met, including myself, that has the “3 a.m. Thursday night. How am I going to make payroll in the morning? Story”. But nobody does this alone. That’s why we put so much emphasis on connections, on mentorship. It’s magic.
When first time entrepreneurs like Jaleria Rivera become seasoned mentors and community leaders themselves. We’re proud to connect and amplify our entrepreneurs, bringing entrepreneurs together to sometimes literally set the stage for creative collisions, innovation, and impact. And if you want to see impact, talk to Kandis Troutman, the powerhouse leader of our 100 Knoxville Program. Capital. Capabilities. Connections.
Knoxville, Tennessee is better known as the Maker City. Yeah, it is the place to create and make a living doing what you love. And don’t. We all love to create wherever you are in your founder journey, if you’re just getting started or if you’re all the way to rocket fueled growth, hey, we got you from business 101 and 201 and Growth Programs.
Our Women in Entrepreneurship community, I think has almost 3000 members. And that’s a strong thanks to champions like Lisa Skinner who make these things happen. And I got to talk about “What’s the Big Idea.” It was this past weekend. It’s our annual pitch competition. Six founders, six mentor teams, 48 hours, ten grand on the line at a packed house at Scruffy City Hall.
Congrats to everyone and especially the night’s big winner, Human.AI. All of this takes a founder’s mentality and. And if any of you follow me, that founders mentality is a grit, a determination, a focus on forward momentum like none other. Like founders Courtney Jones and Reico Hopewell, they create what’s next, not just what’s now, but becoming a supporter, a mentor in the KEC community, or becoming an entrepreneur yourself.
You are joining these ranks so I would love it if you if you followed us on our newsletter, our any of our amazing social media accounts or websites.
KEC is a place where big audacious ideas are welcome, where Maker City daredevils like Paris Woodhull and Jade Adams and Ed Rottmann and Bailey Foster create. It’s a place where they’re welcome, and it is a place where you are welcome.
Now: Knoxville, let’s get to work.
About Chris McAdoo:
Chris brings a compelling energy everywhere he goes, shaped by his extensive background as an entrepreneur, creative professional, and strategic executive. He serves as Chief Experience Officer at Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, where he focuses on helping growth-stage companies and leads The WORKS business accelerator. Additionally, Chris hosts the “Big Ideas Welcome” podcast, featuring in-depth conversations with makers, change-makers, and leaders that make “big ideas” come to life. Chris can be reached at chris@knoxec.net.
