By Allan Maurer

CARY, NC – Although a number of organizations offer startups incubator programs and even temporary office space in the Research Triangle area, most did not get serial entrepreneur Bob Butler very excited. “They get a lot of ownership for a little help and don’t focus on the things an entrepreneur really needs,” he says.

Boot camps are way too short at six weeks. “Six weeks is not enough to get you where you need to go,” says Butler. “You need a full year, at least.”

Also, he adds, “When you don’t have a lot of capital, you have to make a little money go a long way.”

What was needed, Butler thought, was something between Office Suites Plus and something such as Launchbox that has the “Ecosystem of an incubator, but for a longer time.”

Startups need professional guidance in areas such as legal matters and accounting that often eat up their limited resources. “I’ve seen them put $20,000 in development and $100,000 in organizing the business and expert services,” he says. “That’s just backward. You need to focus on getting a product and customers.”

Some other programs aimed at giving startups a ramp up boost tend to be “Fairly cynical,” says Butler. “They give you $20,000 for 8 percent of your company. It seems like more of a numbers game than building a long term business.”

So, Butler says, he created TechSuites+ to fill that perceived need for a different type of startup environment in which “We take some of the risk.”

The idea is to let the entrepreneur come in at greatly reduced rates ($400 a month for an office and a certain amount of professional business help) without giving up stock. At that stage, Butler says, entrepreneurs often have no clue as to what their company is worth and can easily feel resentful no matter what they give up.”

“This could get them to the point where they are generating revenue or get them in a position to negotiate an outside investment at better terms.”

Additional professional expertise will be available at greatly reduced rates, he says.

The idea is that TechSuites+ takes the risk and down the road there may be an opportunity to make an early investment or take a board seat, says Butler. A company that is really doing well may be able to stay two years, “But no one more than two. If you haven’t started growing by then, you have issues.”

The whole idea is to provide startups with incubator-like mentoring for a longer term with a hybrid model no one has tried before.

Several companies have already found them, Butler says, despite the fact that it just launched. TechSuites+ has space for about 15 companies. There is no security deposit, startup fee or termination fee. Participants can leave any time with 30 days notice.

Butler, who’s current company is Bestthinking.com, says, “As an entrepreneur myself, I hated all those commitments when I was burning my own money. So if they’re unhappy they can grab their laptop and head out the door.”

Why is he doing this, other than the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with innovative startups? “We’re making a stand to see if we can breathe some life into the startup community here,” he says.

Email  TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.

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Tags: Bestthinking.com, Bob Butler, Cary, incubator-like ecosystem, NC, startup office space, tech space, TechSuites+