Andrew Conley, executive director of 100state: ‘We’re the outreach from the entrepreneurial community.’
Andrew Conley knows that offices aren’t exactly a barrel of monkeys.
“I think historically, the work environment you typically think about isn’t fun,” says Conley, the executive director and one of the six original founders of 100state. “That’s why movies like Office Space are so popular.”
The organization is trying to become the go-to place for companies, nonprofits and startups to have fun while brainstorming and collaborating.
Last September, the 2-year-old 100state moved its base of operations from 100 State St. to 30 W. Mifflin St., in an office above the Veterans Museum overlooking Capitol Square. Despite the address change, they kept their name. And the passion for what they’re doing.
The space is designed to be laid-back, with comfy couches (no cubicles) and colorful murals created by 100state artists. Yet, there is serious work being done by the group’s 193 members.
The space is used by entrepreneurs from all walks of life, including students, professors and full-time professionals. Photographers, writers, CEOs, consultants, motivational speakers, magicians — they’re all there.
The mission of 100state is to connect people throughout the Madison community, who will then encourage and support each other in their respective endeavors, Conley says. That encouragement is especially needed for those involved in startups.
“When we first started, we talked to a lot of business leaders, and they would mention that many talented people would come here for the university or for Epic, but afterwards they’d leave to go to larger cities or places that they’d think would have more opportunities,” Conley explains. “Madison has an extremely robust and creative community that you can plug into, and it’s so much easier to plug in here than it would be if you went to New York or San Francisco.”
Christina Libs, a 100state member and a Customer Success team member at Zendesk, a cloud-based customer service software company, is also the founder of Madison Organization of Volunteers (MOOV).
“I help volunteers connect with nonprofits and organizations looking for resources, people and new ideas,” Libs says. “MOOV has gained traction, cross-promoted events and generated volunteers for our community efforts through my membership at 100state.”
100state has also started to host corporations and organizations for “pay what you can” brainstorming sessions with members. WisconsinEye, Findorff and American Family Insurance are a few of the groups that have approached 100state’s creative minds to help generate fresh ideas.
Tom Sweeney, a member of Findorff’s pre-construction services team, says his company used the space to study labor productivity. He says the resources of 100state provide “an extremely important landing zone and a place to make connections for talent that is already in the community and in transition between school and employers.”
Conley says, “I think we’ve positioned ourselves well within the Madison community to work with large corporations, city and state departments, nonprofits and individual businesses. The nature of a brainstorm is reinvigorating for everyone. It’s someone from the outside saying, ‘Remember why you’re doing this.’”
He adds, “In a lot of ways, we’re the outreach from the entrepreneurial community.”
Matt Nelson, a 100state member and president of MadTown SEO, sums it up this way: “I really think there is something special happening in Madison right now, and a lot of it is centered around 100state and the local startup scene.”
