Thank you to Michael Krupit and Travis Johanson for their service as volunteer moderators at the Philadelphia and Chicago Breakfasts.
A Thank You to Michael Krupit and Travis Johanson
for their service as volunteer moderators
The Bootstrappers Breakfast has been fortunate to have a number of experienced entrepreneurs volunteer their time to help establish new chapters and facilitate our roundtable discussions. I want to recognize two who have recently stepped down and who made a significant contribution over the years.
Michael Krupit is a successful serial entrepreneur who approached us in 2012 to bring the breakfasts to Philadelphia. He later helped us expand to New York. In the Covid era I was able to join the Zoom meetings he facilitated and learned a lot from his approach. He suggested some facilitation approaches that we have incorporated into our guidelines, including asking attendees to speak only from direct experience and to solicit clarifying questions on a challenge that someone has put on the table before brainstorming solutions.
Travis Johanson took over the Chicago Bootstrappers Breakfast chapter from Griffin Caprio after attending the breakfasts for five years. He also helped to establish our Detroit chapter. Travis brought a very practical focus to help founders communicate the value using a method he called the “no viable product” as a way to suggest they start talking about customer needs before they even try to establish a “minimum viable product.” This approach lines up with “problem interviews” and “pretotyping” and is extremely effective to help entrepreneurs engage early with potential customers.
Mike and Travis were on a moderator panel we ran in 2021 on “Passion and Pitfalls of Entrepreneurship Panel on February 16, 2021.”
We are grateful for all of the efforts Mike and Travis put into making the Bootstrappers Breakfasts a supportive oasis where entrepreneurs could compare notes and have serious conversations.
If you are an experienced entrepreneur and are interested in facilitating a Bootstrappers Breakfast, you are welcome to contact Theresa Shafer at events@bootstrappersbreakfast.com