> @DC408dxtr / @DC408dxnow
The homestretch is fast approaching of what's been an exciting season of The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II, as well as a great season of Real World Skeletons, which tonight has its season finale. Of course last week, we had a huge game-changer that saw a veteran team who were ousted early won their way back into the main house by winning Battle of the Exiled and setting up a huge stretch run to this season. And we have one more person from a roommate's past to enter the house in Chicago.
But before those episodes, airing as part of what I like to call "Double Shot Tuesday", on this site we like to focus in on stories that relate to the people of these shows. In this dedicated edition of DC ExtraTime, we'd thought we like to share with you the story of a key figures of this season, the interesting job that he has when he's not the Master Manipulator and Political Mastermind of this franchise, and what you want to know about what his actual job means. Ironically, the man we're profiling received the shock of his life last week when that Exiled winner was his arch nemesis, and this week he has a very busy week in and outside the Challenge world.
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of a stand-out Real World season that took place in Austin, Texas. Season 16 saw the group of Danny, Johanna, Wes, Lacey, Melinda, Rachel and Nehemiah bring on the drama in the state where everything is big, from the warehouse that was their house to the drama that ensued that summer & fall of 2005 that saw them become one of the best casts in the show's history. We saw a fairy tale romance between Bostonian Danny and Midwesterner Melinda, him dealing with a fight on the first night and then the sudden death of his mom, and the group filming a documentary on the South by Southwest festival in the Live Music Capital of the World.
But for the season's most-notable castmate, Austin was the start of an MTV stint that continues today, and this has seen Wes become a key figure on The Challenge in more ways than one. He started out as that 19-year-old ginger frat boy who went to Arizona State and being, as his RW bio states, "the kind of guy you love to hate who takes pride in projecting himself as an obnoxious, super-competitive jock, but is also bright and entrepreneurial." There, we saw him create the now-famous groupie drawer with Nehemiah, met a local named Wren, got mad for seeing his girl make out with a local herself, and when it was done, he had developed a romance with that beauty Johanna.
That was only the start of it, as he went on to his first Challenge, Fresh Meat saw him make a name for himself almost immediately. Unfortunately thereafter, he broke up with Jo as she started becoming close with Fresh Meat'er Kenny, and that ignited an epic rivalry that only intensified. On Fresh Meat II, it was his alliance vs. Mr. Beautiful's alliance and it was the key story of the season that introduced us to his Exes 2 partner Theresa, plus Cara Maria and Brandon. Then on Rivals, he had to put up with Kenny and awkwardly made it to the final and finished 2nd. But then, he did endured early exits in his next two starts: he & Mandi were eliminated on Exes I, and then on Battle of the Seasons II at the hands of Big Easy.
And on Wes' last Challenge, Rivals II, he bounced back from those poor showings to team with CT, won 4 missions, including the last 3, and cruised to a win in the final over his enemy Johnny Bananas. While most of the attention was, deservedly so, on the Bostonian winning his first Challenge, plus Paula going out on top a champion prior to becoming a married mom, and Emily winning her first crown as well, Wes added a 2nd Challenge winners check to his resume, adding to winning the first Duel seven years earlier. And he's been a master Challenge elimination performer, winning 11 of them and about to head to his 16th coming up tonight against Nia & Leroy.
If you've been reading the Twitter interaction among the cast this season -- my SocialPulse diaries have been documenting that all season long, then you know there's strong animosity between the man who's won five Challenges, Johnny Bananas, and Wes - who's won just two finals and is behind JB in overall total prize money. But there's a notable difference between these rivals: Bananas lives off the money he's won on what might be called a permanent vacation with no employment to worry about and enjoying it with girlfriend snowboarder Hannah Teter, while Wes actually has a side job when not doing these shows in his hometown of Kansas City. And of course, on Rivals II we heard Wes mention his ownership at the time of 30 companies that range from restaurants to tech companies, which is definitely larger now in the two years since. Those two factoids are the subject of this post.
With startup companies and small businesses becoming more & more prevalent everywhere in this time of both prosperity and uncertainty in the American economy, there's a need out there for those just getting off the ground to find their way through both those growing pains and those aspirations to make their business the best they can be. And the fact that about 90-100% of all net new jobs that have emerged since 2008 have come from startups and small businesses has made them a greater part of the nation's daily heartbeat.
Located 10 stories beneath Mercier Street south of downtown KC near the National World War I Museum on the Kansas/Missouri state border, you'll find Downtown Underground, an underground neighborhood with 1.2 million square feet worth of warehouse and office space. In one of those offices lies BetaBlox, a business incubator and seed accelerator company run by no less than 10 people in what might be the coolest office space found anywhere: a green-clad, eco-friendly place not located in a huge downtown office building but is a place carved out of a cave that looks so much different than what we're all used to in a normal metropolis. It also has wired fiber internet, too.
To make things pure and simple about what BetaBlox does, here's two things to know: Business incubators are companies that help new and startup operations in developing and providing services like management training and searching for office space, and can vary from research and tech parks to companies going through their first baby steps. And seed accelerators are fixed-term, group-based programs with that have mentorship and educational components, and which climaxes with a public pitch event or demo day. Coincidentally, BB's latest demo expo coincides with the week Wes goes into the Dome, and it takes place tomorrow & Thursday in Kansas City's iconic Union Station.
 |
| Wes (left), with BetaBlox founders Jonathan Yoder and Alex Altomare (Credit: 435Mag.com) |
Incubators such as BetaBlox are different from the U.S. Small Business Development Centers in which only selected clients instead of being open to any startup company that needs assistance. In a way, BB is for startups only, and only ten local KC companies and their respective teams will be chosen for any one semester that lasts six months, with an eye towards passionate and dynamic people eager to work together, with teams and with others who are just as engaged about startups as they are. This includes classes, lectures with mentors like Wes & local entrepreneurs, a workshop bootcamp, one-on-one consultation, web design and visual production and of course, lessons in learning the ins & outs of going through this uncharted territory.
It all culminates with a local, yet real-life version of Shark Tank: Demo Day with teams making 3-minute presentations pitching their ideas to an audience of over 1,000 from KC's entrepreneurship community, and those have the pressure of a Final Challenge to those who've endured all of it that led up to that moment on stage. And the six months' worth of going through that rigorous semester also has an element of the Challenge house in that those teams who are enrolled also become friends with everyone else who are going through the same process.
And for companies who work with them, BetaBlox not only provides all of the aforementioned services, it also becomes small minority shareholders. And the cost of all this: except for a liquidation event like an IPO, acquisition or dividends, it's all provided with no charge - the time in the office is just like the Wi-Fi: it's free. It's possibly the best deal in town for any startup business in all of the City of Fountains, but not before all of that hard work that comes along with it, and being the lucky ones chosen for a semester that will influence the future of a new company and its employees. And there's also safety that if a BetaBlox company goes out of business: no one is compensated.
BetaBlox and the companies it helped fund have been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine and other media. The company's alumni list range from an athlete-oriented diet meal service and a car sales website to an anonymous version of a check-in mobile app similar to FourSquare and a website matching senior citizens with local caregivers, even baby bibs, birthdays and condiments too. Those who've taken that six-month course come from all walks of life and varying educational & entrepreneurial experience, from those just out of school to those who have their eyes on changing the way we get out music.
As all of us have gotten to know Wes over the last decade, the TV impression of him is that he's that alpha male with that huge ego who's been mastering this manipulation game for nearly a decade and ranks as an all-time top competitor. But when you go into that board room in the KC Downtown Underground at BetaBlox, he is anything but the sometimes cocky person MTV chooses to portray him on The Challenge, and as someone who's deeply passionate about business and the profession of being an entrepreneur.
As you see in the picture below, Wes enjoys being able to regularly meet investors and apply all the knowledge he's gained from his entrepreneurial experience to those who want to learn a lot about being able to start up a new business, and do so in the right way. Obviously, that makes Wes more respected and likable by me and those who are fans of him but also have an eye on wanting to do something meaningful in the "real" Real World out there, and pursue a career in making a living working in all the varied industry sectors that drive this country.
So many of those who watch MTV and The Challenge, who are in their teens, 20's and 30's, represent the nation's future and are tomorrow's business leaders, difference makers and workforce. For those who are passionate about wanting to starting a new company right out of the box, and still have time on the side to watch some great competition and drama, it's good to know there's somebody on this Exes 2 cast who directly relates to what you all are pursuing. And as you see Wes in the Dome tonight, be mindful there's so much more to him than what you see on television.
For more on BetaBlox, including what the company does, testimonials from those who learned more about operating a startup from Wes & his team, and a Midwestern perspective on entrepreneuring, visit its website at betablox.com and its YouTube channel. For more, check out these links:
- Kansas City's PBS member station KCPT took a tour of the BB Downtown Underground offices for its Startups: Made in KC series, and check out their video at this link for that and perspective from Wes and others.
- Local radio station KMBZ spoke to Wes, and fellow RW alum & KC native Nate from Back to SD, on its Entrepreneur KC radio show back in 2012, listen to the interview here, with Wes coming on at around the 14:00 mark.
- And read these articles on Wes from Pitch.com: pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2013/07/10/going-underground-with-weston-bergmann-betabloxs-alpha-male, and at Bustle: bustle.com/articles/59599-what-is-wes-bergmanns-job-other-than-the-challenge
Be sure to follow my social platforms for everything Real World, Challenge and All Things MTV. Tonight is Double Shot Tuesday with Wes going into the Dome along with partner Theresa, as they face Nia & Leroy on Battle of the Exes 2. Of course, there's the season finale of Real World Skeletons as Jason meets his skeleton, in his dad, for the very first time and him fighting with Nicole, plus all the emotions surrounding the group leaving the RW house.
And for the live tweets of both those shows, make sure to follow my dedicated live twitter hub, DCNOW at @DC408DxNow starting at 10PM PT. When I live tweet the episodes (with both my own live tweets & real-time cast tweets), and then in DC ExtraTime at Midnight PT, join the conversation at #DCNOW, #DCRealWorld, #DCChallenge & #DCDoubleShot. I'm also live tweeting the new seasons of Catfish, Survivor and Teen Mom OG, plus tomorrow at 4:30PM ET, the press conference officially launching the Countdown to Mayweather-Pacquiao from Los Angeles.
So many of those who watch MTV and The Challenge, who are in their teens, 20's and 30's, represent the nation's future and are tomorrow's business leaders, difference makers and workforce. For those who are passionate about wanting to starting a new company right out of the box, and still have time on the side to watch some great competition and drama, it's good to know there's somebody on this Exes 2 cast who directly relates to what you all are pursuing. And as you see Wes in the Dome tonight, be mindful there's so much more to him than what you see on television.
For more on BetaBlox, including what the company does, testimonials from those who learned more about operating a startup from Wes & his team, and a Midwestern perspective on entrepreneuring, visit its website at betablox.com and its YouTube channel. For more, check out these links:
- Kansas City's PBS member station KCPT took a tour of the BB Downtown Underground offices for its Startups: Made in KC series, and check out their video at this link for that and perspective from Wes and others.
- Local radio station KMBZ spoke to Wes, and fellow RW alum & KC native Nate from Back to SD, on its Entrepreneur KC radio show back in 2012, listen to the interview here, with Wes coming on at around the 14:00 mark.
- And read these articles on Wes from Pitch.com: pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2013/07/10/going-underground-with-weston-bergmann-betabloxs-alpha-male, and at Bustle: bustle.com/articles/59599-what-is-wes-bergmanns-job-other-than-the-challenge
Be sure to follow my social platforms for everything Real World, Challenge and All Things MTV. Tonight is Double Shot Tuesday with Wes going into the Dome along with partner Theresa, as they face Nia & Leroy on Battle of the Exes 2. Of course, there's the season finale of Real World Skeletons as Jason meets his skeleton, in his dad, for the very first time and him fighting with Nicole, plus all the emotions surrounding the group leaving the RW house.
And for the live tweets of both those shows, make sure to follow my dedicated live twitter hub, DCNOW at @DC408DxNow starting at 10PM PT. When I live tweet the episodes (with both my own live tweets & real-time cast tweets), and then in DC ExtraTime at Midnight PT, join the conversation at #DCNOW, #DCRealWorld, #DCChallenge & #DCDoubleShot. I'm also live tweeting the new seasons of Catfish, Survivor and Teen Mom OG, plus tomorrow at 4:30PM ET, the press conference officially launching the Countdown to Mayweather-Pacquiao from Los Angeles.
Of course, bookmark DCBLOG where, of course this weekend, we'll have the Action, Reaction & Interaction of both episodes on DC SocialPulse, my signature episode twitter diary. If you haven't checked it out, my recent 'Pulse post looked at Wes' fellow KC native Jenny becoming the newest Real World'er to have a baby. And before last week's episode, I looked at Nany's emotional quest for her biological dad from her Real World season. As always, follow me on my Twitter & Instagram @DC408Dxtr for tweets, chats, alerts & pics, plus my Tumblr at dc408dxtr.tumblr.com.
Thanks for joining me here for DC ExtraTime, and until tonight on DCNOW at 10PM PT and back here on the Blog, stay warm, thanks for reading and talk to you then.
- I AM DC
From IG @WestonBergmann: Wes with entrepreneurship mentor students at the Center for Advanced Professional Studies in Overland Park, KS.
Picture courtesy: Instagram @WestonBergmann
Thanks for joining me here for DC ExtraTime, and until tonight on DCNOW at 10PM PT and back here on the Blog, stay warm, thanks for reading and talk to you then.
- I AM DC
From IG @WestonBergmann: Wes with entrepreneurship mentor students at the Center for Advanced Professional Studies in Overland Park, KS.
Picture courtesy: Instagram @WestonBergmann
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.