How SprocketWKY Is Changing the Game for Regional Entrepreneurs

🎙️ This episode is sponsored by Kentucky Fried Creative—authentic marketing for the Common Wealth, from the Commonwealth. From strategy to video to web, they help small businesses grow with clarity and confidence. Learn more at kyfriedcreative.com.

What does it take to build a startup in a region where the nearest investor, accelerator, or founder meetup might be hours away? In this episode, Sprocket Executive Director Monica Bilak shares how SprocketWKY is flipping the script for rural entrepreneurs—connecting people faster, providing practical tools like the Market Fit Lab, and building a regional culture where founders can thrive. If you’ve ever felt like your big idea didn’t have a home in your small town, this conversation is for you.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Sprocket Podcast! If you’re ready to dive into the world of startups and innovation, visit us online at Sprocket WKY to learn more about our mission and how we support entrepreneurs like you.

Ready to check out the space? Book a tour with Tiffany, our Community Coordinator!

Got a business idea? Apply for a mentorship session with one of our experienced mentors!

Stay connected and join our growing community on Instagram for the latest updates, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes looks at what’s happening at Sprocket.

Let’s turn your ideas into reality—together!

Sprocket is proud to be supported by Team Kentucky, the Commonwealth's Cabinet for Economic Development. Learn more about their initiatives and resources at ced.ky.gov.

Transcript

Maggie: 0:47

Monica, what is it like to grow a startup in Western Kentucky?

Monica: 0:51

There's a lot of different elements to it. There's a lot of amazing creative people in western Kentucky and, when they get connected to other people, really powerful magic things happen. So,, we've been really excited to see some of that going on. Across the entire 22 counties of West Kentucky but the, the power behind it usually is there's somebody who's helping them connect to resources quickly and I think that's kind of a key piece of it, is speed with which you can make connections when you need them. And because we are connected through our regional advisory and through just, so many relationships, even through leadership West Kentucky and different organizations that come alongside us, the pad, and different economic development groups that we can make one phone call. And things can happen very quickly. We're also very connected to the state, so when we know companies need funding we have a direct line to our great partners at Key Horse Capital and also those that at, the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation which you and I both talked to yesterday. Yes. And that was an amazing, conversation so we can connect people rapidly, on our advisory as well is both, Murray State and University of Kentucky School of Engineering, and so we've got a lot of higher ed that we can tap into as well. What do you think sets rural entrepreneurs apart from others?

Maggie: 2:28

I think what sets apart rural entrepreneurs is tenacity and drive and commitment. Um, because you don't have quick and easy access to everything. So you have to have a little, intentionality behind what you're doing. And you have to reach out to the people in your network. You have to make the phone call, you have to write the email, and, learn something new. Go join the course. Go join a program., So I think that's what makes the rural entrepreneurs different.

Monica: 2:54

Yeah, definitely the this, the time to get from point A to point B, whereas when I'm looking at my counterparts in Louisville or Lexington, you know, there's a lot of people in one area. And so maybe you see somebody at the brewery after work and you've made that quick connection. Whereas for us, we have to make those phone calls, and get people connected. I think the challenges are the same for all startups. It's, is your idea viable, feasible, or desirable? And that's why we develop the market Fit lab because stress testing those three components to a really good company means life or death to that company. So, how rapidly can we help people go through, those stress tests is really important and critical. So I think that we've helped kind of bridge a big gap where, maybe people didn't have as viable or feasible ideas. We can also connect people quickly to our mentor network. So even those outstanding questions that,, they're not really sure about the viability of something, they can always find somebody in our network that can help them with that. Access to capital is always an issue for startups. And it will continue to be but we think that we can at least, also bridge that gap a little bit with our next 50 K programs. And our market fit lab also will be helping people access capital.

Maggie: 4:26

There's opportunity everywhere you look, it's about, it's one connection away. So it's about you taking that step to find that connection and, for you to go, you know, call somebody or, or write an email to somebody, or just say hello to the person sitting next to you and so we always have the one connection away. It's whether or not we're gonna decide to take that opportunity.

Monica: 4:50

Yeah., Good point. I think that's a great example, of being one connection away. And I think that we are just putting the opportunity there for you to make those, either through the mentor network, either through our 30 day, business model design challenge and or through a pitch competition. There's through coffee hour. Like there's so many opportunities for you to make those connections. And you're right, it's a matter of everybody just like. Taken the initiative and so we've given the opportunity, we've set it all up. You can do it in person, you can do it virtually now. And it's will be exciting to see how people make that happen.

Maggie: 5:30

What would you say to someone thinking about joining?

Monica: 5:33

Okay. I'd say register, join. It's free. It's, easy and you will be able to take courses. You'll be able to meet people you haven't met before. You'll be able to find out about events. You can join a forum you can look at job postings, figure out who's hiring so many things can happen and it's so simple. So I'd say just join.

Maggie: 5:58

And then after you join, if you don't know where to get started or you're confused, reach out to one of us. We'd be happy to sit down and talk to you and get to know you and make that connection. What do you think sets this platform apart from other things that we offer?

Monica: 6:15

Well, it's great because we have the forum, so the forum allows you to ask a question. At any stage, you can be idea stage, and you're just wondering, Hey, what's the next event? You could also just go look at the events. You could see what's being planned courses, but that way we can, help you if you're actually. You know, pretty deep in, and you're just, you're looking for investors. That's also just a great question, but I think the forum is the perfect place to pose those questions, figure out how do I connect, here's what I, you know, here's where I am, and somebody can point you to a mentor. Or, one of our sprocket staff to, to guide you.

Maggie: 6:55

It's easily accessible, I think the whole vision behind the platform was to make it accessible to the region.'cause we know that it's not always easy to take a two hour drive up here to talk to us. So we want it to be an accessible way to learn and to grow and to connect.

Monica: 7:12

Yep. Exactly. I think it was just spanning geography. How do we get everybody together when we're also far apart? That was a perfect solution. It was just, we'll get us all together virtually. We can all break off and meet, in person in different ways, but I think that it. It does bring people back together, so that they can quickly access the resources they need. We know there are really fantastic startups all over the region. We know this because we hear about them and then we go hunt them down. But this is a way for them to not have to wait till we can figure out how to reach them or know that they're there. This is a way they can sound their own, bell and we have a, also have a regional snapshot, regional wind on the page. So, different people can post just great things that are happening in, their community

Maggie: 8:04

Yeah, I think the vision is to real is to build a culture of entrepreneurship that you can make it, you can do it. And, to get out of that isolation. Yeah. And come together.'cause there are great ideas out there, but then. You just have to realize you can actually do it and you can make it happen.

Monica: 8:21

And we just talked about having a pitch competition in other communities. So we just had our first pitch, um, some months ago. We're gonna have another one next month. And thinking about whose community will be next. Yeah. That we can host a pitch competition for their, um, for their startups. So that'll be fun. They're great events, super fun. And bring the community together. So we're looking forward to getting around the region with those.