Is Sonoma a destination for startups?

In a town with roots as deep as Sonoma, many family businesses and longstanding companies have decades of history in the Valley. But does that make it difficult for young entrepreneurs hoping to make it big in a small, but crowded pond?

Enter: Startup Grind.

Startup Grind bills itself as a global networking and startup community – in fact, its website claims it’s the “largest independent startup community” in the world. Essentially, it’s a new-business mentoring organization, and it just opened its newest chapter here in Sonoma.

Startup Grind did its own starting up in Silicon Valley, natch. But it has since grown to encompass more than 185 cities in 70 countries since 2010, when founders Derek Andersen and Spencer Nielsen held the very first Startup Grind meeting in Andersen’s Mountain View office.

Jay Rooke, who runs the business-consulting company Jay Rooke Coaching, fathered Startup Grind’s Sonoma chapter.

Rooke said one of the most important elements in creating a new Startup Grind chapter is to get to know the business community in the city.

“People say you have to leave the Valley to start a business here, but there are lots of cool success stories found in little pockets,” he said. Rooke hopes Startup Grind will “pull entrepreneurs who are under the radar into collaborating with the entrepreneurial community.”

According to Rooke, Startup Grind is different from other networking groups due to three values it incorporates with each event. According to the startupgrind.com, “We believe in making friends, not contacts. We believe in giving, not taking. We believe in helping others before you help yourself.”

Rooke adds that, “This is more about connectivity, education, inspiration, support, mentorship, etc., than a business development or referral networking focus.”

As director of Sonoma Startup Grind, each month Rooke will organize a networking event which features a guest speaker. The first event took place at Ramekins on Oct. 28 and featured Jared Ranere, co-founder of a company called Brief, which is also the name for the company’s app which provides “solopreneurs” networking and social-media advice.

Each monthly event involves an hour of open networking – what Rooke calls the “nuts and bolts” of each meeting – followed by an interview-style presentation of the featured guest’s startup story, which includes questions regarding their emotional struggles with starting their business, what they’ve learned and a preview of their plans for the future.

The event room at Ramekins was nearly full on the night of the Oct. 28 meeting. Entrepreneurs with long histories in Sonoma, as well as more recent transplants to the Valley, were in attendance, most of them sharing a common thread – having recently opened up a business. Others in attendance were “freelancers” offering services to those with new startups.

Attendee Noah Wisnia, a freelance product manager, said it was one of the higher-quality startup events he’s attended. “It really characterizes the town of Sonoma,” said Wisnia, who learned of the meeting through meetup.com, an online venue for posting and spreading the word on various events.

Rooke highlighted the “misconception” that you have to “leave the Valley to start a business” – mentioning it more than once in the evening. He asked the room, “How many of you here are solopreneurs?” About half of the attendees raised their hands. He then asked, “How many of you have recently started a company or a startup?”

This time, about two-thirds of the people in the room raised their hands.

Travis Morton was simply impressed to have such a group form locally.

“It’s really cool to have something ‘startup focused’ in the Valley,” sais Morton. “Normally you’d have to go to San Francisco for something like that.”

Mike Lee, a young independent filmmaker, videoed the entire event. The footage will be up soon on startupgrind.com/Sonoma.

November’s event will be held at the SoCo Nexus in Rohnert Park, featuring Sonoma Stompers owner and attorney Eric Gullotta.

For more information and to purchase tickets to this months’ Startup Grind meetup, visit startupgrind.com/sonoma/ or e-mail Jay Rooke at jay@jayrookecoaching.com.