Sometimes great ideas are born in the unlikeliest of places, like, at a Cafe Rio in the heart of Utah. A conversation between friends shifts into something a little bigger, a little more inspired, and then suddenly it becomes a passion and a won’t-quit-can’t-stop momentum. That’s what happened with Brycen Rinehart and Andrew Clark, two friends who developed a concept that created a company: Elidea.
Back then, Brycen and Andrew had been working independently of each other but had continuously thrown around business ideas. Both had realized that, while making money was grand, actually helping people was a driving force for them. “We realized that we believe that the world needs inspiration and innovation more than ever before and that our economy needs to enter a new phase of prosperity. We knew we wanted to be a catalyst to bring that new era of economic prosperity to the United States and to the world,” said Brycen. “We want to empower people to prosper and democratize entrepreneurship.”
It's one of the most common plights of the entrepreneurial world. Big ideas, huge excitement, the brains, and the willpower, but then “Now what?” sets in. Without guidance and help in the journey, the startup grind can snuff a bright burning flame in a hurry. If you’ve talked to a founder, especially one who has tried more than once, they’ll tell you those beginning stages can be incredibly discouraging and lonely. Founders often put so much of themselves into a startup that even small setbacks can be crushing. It’s a grueling 100+ hours a week, mortgaging their homes and cars, and devoting all their emotional and physical energy to the thing they believe in. We see so many successful businesses start this way, but what we don’t usually see are all the failures. The good ideas that just can’t get in front of the right people for whatever reason. It’s the voice in the back of a founder’s mind though, the ever-present spinning wheels that keep them going, and the coming generation is even more driven.
Consider Gen Z, the generation born between 1996 and 2015. This group is vastly different from their boomer parents and even differs in many ways from their “millennial” older siblings. They were born into a world where the internet was alive and well and at their fingertips. They grew up with internet access, and phones, and are super comfortable learning from one of their favorite sources: YouTube. According to data from WP Engine and the Center for Generational Kinetics, almost two-thirds (62%) of Gen Z said that they have started, or intend to start, their own business. Gen Z is different, and Covid made that even more plain to see, pushing companies to pivot quickly to e-commerce to satisfy the demand of the Gen Z consumers.
In order to inspire and support the rising generation, we must speak their language, which is the entrepreneurial digital variety.
Andrew and Brycen came up with Elidea (pronounced eh-LIH-dee-uh) to get founders from “I have a good idea” to “let’s talk funding” and beyond. It’s where consumers, entrepreneurs, and investors come for inspiration, support, and mentorship. It’s a social platform, but so much more. Elidea guides users through the startup process using tools, prompts, and most importantly, connection.
Entrepreneurs have similar goals, but as people, we all have different strengths. The Elidea platform allows users to play on their strengths and make their startup a success by working together. Here’s an example: Ben has a brilliant idea that he thinks will be hugely popular. He hops on the Elidea platform and makes a proposal. Other users–entrepreneurs, investors, and people in the business community–see Ben’s idea and like it. Ben gets thousands of likes and many comments on his big idea, which validates what he thought, and also gets his idea in front of people who want to help him take his idea from concept to reality. All day every day this kind of thing happens on Elidea.
Andrew Clark explained, “We use products and interface with businesses every day and we all see different ways to improve them. Different things that need to exist in the world but don't. So now people have a place to put those things and we're able to actually capture a living voice of consumers in the world and let entrepreneurship be driven by that living voice. We're mitigating a lot of the risk, finding the next best thing, and doing all this due diligence that investors and entrepreneurs are constantly going through. What we're going to do is we're going to let the world speak to us and direct us, and then we're going to respond to that.”
Although Elidea is a young company, Andrew and Brycen are seeing great things already shaping around it. To learn more and see the platform for yourself, go to elidea.co.
