Big News

Recently, the Collider Foundation board announced that I would be stepping down as Executive Director of Collider on December 3rd. 

I have accepted a fantastic opportunity to be a part of a new and exciting initiative at Mayo Clinic called Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate.  

Five years ago, I reignited my passion for entrepreneurship and helping others. We started with Collider Coworking, a great space to work, connect, and build. The launch of the Collider Foundation in 2019 was a massive stepping stone to assist early-stage entrepreneurs in this community. In just two years, we have helped 100's of entrepreneurs reduce or remove barriers they were facing with their businesses.  

I'm now turning the reins over to my fabulous colleague, Amanda Leightner. Under Amanda's leadership, Collider Foundation will continue to grow and change as it continues its mission to activate, connect, and empower Rochester's early-stage entrepreneurs and small businesses. I'm excited to see what's coming next.

Thanks so much to all of you for helping to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rochester. As always, if there is any way I can help, please let me know.

Jamie

Executive Director's Note - August 29th, 2021

For the past two years, we have been fortunate to be supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Inclusion Open grant. This program allowed us to accelerate our work to create zero barriers to entrepreneurship for all in Rochester. This work allowed us to launch our listening sessions with organizations and entrepreneurs in our community and develop our Ecosystem Navigator Program, assisting black, LatinX, and female entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, our funding will run out in December of this year, so we are hard at work pursuing grant opportunities to keep our work moving forward at Collider.

We want to continue supporting our local entrepreneurs with navigation, education events, space, and storytelling. To help us accomplish this mission, we are hard at work in pursuing three areas of support: 

• Grants - there are several new grant opportunities that we are pursuing in the next few months.

• Community Supporters - we are always looking for organizations that believe in our mission and want to help out.

• Coworking Memberships - memberships in our coworking spaces are also a great way to support Collider.

• Donations - individual donations are also welcome.

You will hear more about our fundraising efforts in the coming months.  

If you are a current donor, coworking member, or Community Supporter, thank you so much for your generous support and belief in our work. 

Have questions about ways to give to Collider?  Feel free to reach out to me directly.

Have a great week, everyone.  

Jamie

More than a Desk with Collider Member Tim Welle

Meet our Collider member Tim Welle, co-founder at DXD Ag Insights!

Where are you from? How did you get to Rochester?

I grew up on a dairy farm near Freeport, Minnesota, which is a small town 25 miles northwest of St. Cloud. After high school, I went to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and then lived in the Twin Cities for a few years before moving to Durham North Carolina while my girlfriend (now wife), Sarah, was in Graduate School. Mayo Clinic brought us back to Minnesota when Sarah started a job in the Informatics department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. We arrived in Rochester in 2019, when Sarah took a position in Rochester, so we are fairly recent transplants.

What are some of your interests and hobbies?

I love baseball and fast-pitch softball. Throughout my 20’s, I would play softball multiple days a week as well as at least a few weekend tournaments through the summer. While I don’t play near as often anymore, I still try to make a guest appearance for a weekend tournament every year or so on my little brother’s team. Another big interest of mine is History Podcasts. I have about a dozen history podcasts that I subscribe to. A few of the best examples would be Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History” and Mike Duncan’s “Revolutions” podcast. History podcasts describe the people and personalities involved in historical events, and sometimes how personality quirks changed history. The podcast format also allows the storyteller to explore seemingly innocuous events that, in hindsight, started a chain of events ultimately leading to seismic changes years later.

What do you do?

I am one of the co-founders at DXD Ag Insights (http://www.dxdag.com). We are building products and services that enable agronomists to use their field observations to learn from their data and improve crop management decisions. (Agronomists are experts in crop production that are hired by growers for their advice). My focus is on the business side, and my partner Lori Wiles is a data scientist living in Colorado.

Why did you choose coworking?

I have been working from home going back all the way to 2012 when I was in my last position, and I was looking for a change in scenery. I missed being in a space with other people and having a place to go for work, instead of just getting dressed and walking down the stairs. Also, the teams I have worked with have been spread throughout the country- so my work life hasn’t had much in the way of socializing. I appreciate the opportunities that coworking provides me to chat with interesting people doing interesting things, attending happy hours, and other events like our Fourth and Toast meetings.

What value do you find in the Collider community?

One valuable aspect is learning about ideas and perspectives that people are applying within their business that are relevant to your own company, even if they are solving a different problem in a different industry. I have also been involved in Fourth and Toast over the last few months. This program has given me a venue to practice and improve my public speaking skills. It has been great to start each Wednesday in a comfortable space to give speeches and hear different perspectives from the group on a wide array of topics. The Collider staff has been extremely helpful to help me identify and access resources available to support early-stage companies. This saves me time, stress, and is helping me advance DXD Ag Insights faster than I would have been able to do on my own.

Any memorable moments at Collider that you want to share?

There are so many members at Collider that have a genuine interest in what you are doing and are willing and able to provide helpful perspectives. It has been a welcome change to emerge from the isolation that we all experienced during the COVID pandemic to join a community that is helping entrepreneurs, and the overall community, push forward into the future.

Collider's Q2 Impact in 5 Infographics

Our Q2 just ended here at Collider Foundation. We have been hard at work serving entrepreneurs and helping to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rochester.

Instead of writing a long report, we decided to share our results in five key infographics.

A very special thanks to our hardworking team for helping to generate a huge impact in our ecosystem!

If you have any questions or wish to chat more about our impact, please contact me.

Jamie Sundsbak
Executive Director
Collider Foundation

Ecosystem Navigation

Ewing Marion Kauffman Ecosystem Navigator Grant

Collider Coworking

Storytelling with Rochester Rising

Educational Events

Jamie Sundsbak Announced As Executive Director of Collider Foundation

It was my extreme honor to be named Executive Director for the Collider Foundation this week. A very special thank you to our incredible Board of Directors for placing their trust in me.

Over the last decade, I have been fortunate to witness the growth of a true entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rochester. I have been privileged to work with and get to know many outstanding entrepreneurs across all industries in this community. Over the last two years, Collider has worked to support early-stage entrepreneurs by listening, understanding, and connecting them to the right resources at the right time.

Moving into a post-pandemic world, we must double down on our support for entrepreneurs in Rochester. Thanks to Mayo Clinic, Google, and others, we will see an explosion of new medical and life science startups and existing companies who are attracted to Rochester. At the same time, we see a real awakening and realization that we need to increase our community's economic diversity. Collider has been encouraged by the growth of the food, retail, and the services sector providing new frontiers for aspiring entrepreneurs.

We must also continue to move forward on our community efforts to embrace diversity, inclusion, and equity for all Rochester's citizens. Collider has been fortunate to work with so many underrepresented individuals in this community who are "dreaming big" and starting the next generation of companies. We have always believed that entrepreneurship is a key to prosperity and a pathway to a more inclusive ecosystem. Now we see it in action every day, thanks to pioneering women and BIPOC entrepreneurs' hard work and passion.

It's the entrepreneurs that will tell the story of the future of Rochester. It's up to all of us as a strong and unified community to support them on their journey.

How will you help?