Podcasts about cintrifuse

Max Dworin, V.P., Cintrifuse--startup specialist and Max Whitman, founder of Really Good Boxed Wine share their stories of success in Cincinnati, Ohio

SMV6: Refinery Ventures Managing Partner Tim Schigel shares how he found “Lightning in a Bottle” and hit $50M in revenues in 4 years at ShareThis.This episode of the SmartMoney Ventures Podcast features Tim Schigel, Founder and Managing Partner of Refinery Ventures who invests in early stage companies based on his own experience as Founder of ShareThis, where they hit $50M of revenues in 4 years.  Also as an investor in Advertising.com, they achieved $150M in revenues in year 5.  The story illustrates the immense value of having hands-on experience working in a company with an extremely rapid growth trajectory.  It can be a bumpy ride, but once you've experienced it, you'll never go back.  Tim Schigel is the Founder of ShareThis, Founding Board Member of Cintrifuse, a fund of funds, and Founder & Managing Partner of Refinery Ventures.  He is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.  Tim has invested in many successful companies including dotloop (acquired by Zillow), Advertising.com & Third Screen Media (both acquired by AOL/Time Warner), and BuzzMetrics (acquired by Nielsen). Tim holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and serves on the Advisory Board of The Institute for Management & Engineering (TiME) at Case Western.  

In this episode, host David Ponraj speaks with Wendy Lea, CEO of Energize Colorado and Advisory Council Member of National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE). Lea discusses the roots of Energize Colorado & ecosystem building, and how the main mission is to close the gaps that are significant for underserved entrepreneurs. Lea also mentions NACIE, and the development of the Regional Innovation Hubs, which allow for technological advancement and growth of tech businesses. Included, Lea speaks to the importance of global service providers, specifically McKinsey in Ohio, who teed up and researched the opportunity to launch Cintrifuse, a public private partnership. The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) is in the Department of Commerce, and it helps with supporting entrepreneurs who are advocating for innovative technologies. Regional Innovation Hubs include an economic development initiative to increase technology and innovation related change. Added, Regional Innovation Hubs include a ten billion dollar program in which ten regional hubs will be launched over time. This is one program in CHIPS & Science. The goal for a region is a billion dollars for five years. This would be catalytic capital to allow for technological advancement and talent patterns, which can center around diversity and inclusivity.Although the deadline has passed, the EDA has issued an RFI (Tech Hubs Request for Information) requesting feedback from the public about the program design, structure, and evaluation of the Tech Hubs program, and the EDA welcomes ideas that will help encourage growth of the Tech Hubs. For further information, and to check for similar opportunities in the future, visit www.eda.gov.For more information on Energize Colorado, visit https://energizecolorado.com/.To learn more about NACIE and the Regional Innovation Hub, check out https://www.eda.gov/strategic-initiatives/national-advisory-council-on-innovation-and-entrepreneurship and https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/regional-technology-and-innovation-hubs. For more context on McKinsey, take a look at this article https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/building-innovation-ecosystems-accelerating-tech-hub-growth.

Joel Luxenberg is a jazz musician turned serial entrepreneur living in Los Angeles. Joel has cofounded, invested in, and advised dozens of Startups and Venture Funds, including EC, Crowdfunder, Investedin, Wells Compliance Group, Logical, DeepCurrent, Science, Amplify, and The Crypto Company. Joel has given lectures and presentations for USC, UChicago, EY, Deloitte, Microsoft, Cintrifuse, Capital One, and contributed thought leadership on the topic of UBI and PLG Automation/Technology Delivery for various podcasts and conferences. Joel has served with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including LA Tech Gives Back, PDXJazz, and RAPP, a role model based community mentorship program.

Andy and Rob talk about Cincinnati Bengals stars Joe Burrow and Sam Hubbard's purchase of a farm. An honest-to-God farm. Also, Gen Z is coming to the workforce, and companies have got to do something about it because they're not like previous generations, even those kooky millennials. They also talk about a nonprofit devoted to increasing Black business in OTR, and the funeral of Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel.Interview starts at (22:54). Rico Grant is a serial entrepreneur and something of a Renaissance man. After a gig with GE, he joined Cincinnati startup booster Cintrifuse as a sideways in to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship, and today he is the founder of Paloozanoire – a lifestyle conference focused on enriching the lives of people of color throughout the Midwest – as well as barbershop and art gallery the Gallery at Gumbo and Cinema, a bar that serves as a love letter to Black film. Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Pete Blackshaw joins host Tim Schigel to talk about his efforts at Cintrifuse to create a startup economy in Cincinnati. Pete talks about how his career working with companies like Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Nestle influenced his work with startups, and how programming helps to grow culture and community. The two discuss the impact of transforming Cincinnati's airport into a startup and technology platform, as well as initiatives that excite Pete like sustainability, electrification, and zero waste.

This week on the feed we're featuring the Fast Frontiers Podcast by Refinery Ventures.Refinery Ventures is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They bridge the gap and mentor teams between post-seed and Series A funding where they invest $1M to $2M.Tim Schigal is the Managing Partner at Refinery Ventures, and the host of Fast Frontiers. Tim created ShareThis, a social media pioneer that nearly a billion people use to share online content every month. ShareThis, based in Palo Alto, CA, was one of the fastest growing companies in the country, growing to $50 million in less than four years which earned him the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in his region. Tim also launched and managed Cintrifuse, one of the best performing fund of funds in the country, investing in 15 top-tier early stage funds across the U.S. Tim has been in venture capital since 1998.In this episode from December 8, 2020, Tim interviews Scott Dorsey, co-founder and managing partner at High Alpha, a venture studio in Indianapolis. Scott is the former CEO and co-founder of ExactTarget, which was acquired by Salesforce in 2013 for more than $2.5 billion dollars.A couple of powerhouses in this episode! You can learn more about Refinery Ventures at refinery.com. OK, enjoy this episode of Fast Frontiers, right after this.Subscribe to Fast FrontiersLearn more about Refinery VenturesLearn more about High AlphaFollow upside on TwitterJoin the upside network

My guest is, Pete Blackshaw - CEO of Cintrifuse. Pete is also an entrepreneur, an author, and... a provocateur. As I shared with Pete in the podcast... I had to toss out my script and was both energized & exhausted with our discussion...! So, do listen in on Tuesday and Thank you as always for your support... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/denise-venneri/support

Raja Rajamannar is a transformative business leader with substantial senior management experience across different geographies around the world. Managed large-scale businesses at Fortune 500 companies across financial services, consumer-packaged goods and healthcare, including at Unilever, Citigroup, Anthem, and Mastercard. Wide-ranging success in navigating highly regulated environments, leading transformational strategies – both growth and turnaround - and driving shareholder value. In addition to managing diverse businesses, has also significant experience managing functions including Marketing & Communications, Innovation, Sales & Business Development, Corporate Development (M&A), Data Analytics and Digital. He currently serves as the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Mastercard and the President of its Healthcare division. Is a member of the Management Committee of the enterprise. Also is responsible for exploring and developing business opportunities in new verticals such as health care. He is globally recognized for his innovative thinking, leadership in business transformation that he has brought to executive roles across industries, and leadership in Mastercard's marketing and brand transformation. Award-winning throughout his career, most recent ones being: WFA Global Marketer of the Year (2018), Forbes 2018 Top 5 World's Most Influential CMOs, Campaign Power 100, Business Insider's 25 Most Innovative CMOs in the World, , Billboards 2018 Top Branding Power Player and The CMO Club Hall of Fame. He serves on the board of PPL Corp (NYSE:PPL) and on non-profit boards including Bon Secours Mercy Health, New York City Ballet, Cintrifuse, ANA and World Federation Advertisers (WFA). --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/shobhana-viswanathan/support

We speak with Alisa Smith, Director of Innovation Services at Cintrifuse. She focuses on creating partnerships between regional corporations and the startup community. Alisa is passionate about empowering women to become more financially resilient. This episode, she shares with us how through her work and her podcast, The Beehive, she has gained insights into startup innovations and what corporations can learn from startup innovation environments. She feels strongly about the power of innovation storytelling to gain influence and believes that story is significant from the conception stage of an innovation to the consumer stage. Listen in as she shares with us her tips for creating an innovative atmosphere, whether that is in a startup or a large corporation; how to truly achieve diversity within an organization; and finally, a great story structure for crafting a successful innovation story! Check out Alisa’s podcast, “The Beehive:” https://thebeehivepodcast.com/aboutalisa/ Listen to some of her favorite “The Beehive” episodes, as mentioned in our show: “The Beehive,” Episode 34, “Kim Ades Focuses on Emotional Resilience:” http://thebeehivepodcast.com/34-kim-ades-focuses-on-emotional-resilience “The Beehive,” Episode 67, “Kara Goldin Launched Hint Water:” http://thebeehivepodcast.com/67-kara-goldin-launched-hint-water Check out Cintrifuse, a public-private partnership established to drive growth in the Cincinnati Region: https://www.cintrifuse.com/ For more information, visit our website: https://untoldcontent.com/ You can also find us on Instagram: @untoldcontent

In this episode, we talk to Raja Rajamannar (Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mastercard) as we discuss his new book, why he is excited about blockchain in the healthcare space, and so much more.  Purchase Quantum Marketing: Mastering The New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers **More On Raja** Raja Rajamannar is an accomplished global business executive with more than 25 years of experience, the last six of which have been in the role of Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Mastercard and President of the company's healthcare business. In his role as President of Healthcare, Raja has overseen the creation, development and successful scaling of Mastercard's healthcare business across multiple regions. This is now one of the fastest growing businesses at Mastercard. Raja joined Mastercard in 2013, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience as a global executive, managing large P&Ls and driving business transformation across multiple industries and geographies. Raja served as Chief Transformation Officer of the health insurance firm Anthem (formerly WellPoint). He helped craft the company's new business direction and strategy, managed its $11 billion Medicare Advantage business, and led large M&A initiatives for the company. Prior to that, he also served as Chief Innovation & Marketing Officer and Chief Executive of International Operations at Humana. Raja is consistently recognized globally as a highly innovative and transformational leader with a deep expertise in Marketing, Data, and Digital technologies. Some of his recent accolades include: Global Marketer of the Year award by the World Federation of Advertisers, top 5 “World's Most Influential CMOs” by Forbes, top 10 “World's Most Innovative CMOs” by Business Insider, and inductee to The CMO Club Hall of Fame. He has also been recognized as one of AdWeek's most tech-savvy CMOs. He recently assumed the honorary role of President of the World Federation of Advertisers. Raja has also been recognized by ANA Educational Foundation as the Marketer of the Year in 2019. At Mastercard, Raja is responsible for successfully leading the company's marketing transformation, including the integration of the Marketing and Communication functions, the development of its Priceless experiential platforms, and the creation and deployment of cutting edge marketing-led business models into the core of the company. Raja has overseen the successful evolution of Mastercard's identity for the digital age, pioneering Mastercard's move to become a symbol brand and launching its breakthrough sonic brand platform. Interbrand has ranked Mastercard as the fastest growing brand across all industries and categories, worldwide. Earlier in his career, Raja held a number of leadership roles during 15 years with Citigroup including Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Citi Global Cards; Chairman and CEO, Diners Club North America; Regional Cards Director, EMEA; and Marketing & Sales Director, Citi Gulf Markets. Before that, he spent seven years with Unilever in sales and product management roles. He began his career with Asian Paints in India. Raja received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management, in Bangalore, India, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. He is a member of the Board of Directors of PPL Corporation, a Fortune 500 power generation and distribution company, and Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the major hospital systems in the US. He serves on the boards of Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based public/private startup catalyst organization, the ANA, and the New York City Ballet. Raja regularly delivers keynote speeches at esteemed marketing, health and business industry events, including the World Economic Forum, Cannes Lions, CES, SXSW, and Advertising Week. The marketing transformation work led by Raja at Mastercard has been developed into case studies at both Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management, and taught in top academic institutions around the world. Hectic is an all-in-one business management software built specifically for freelancers who arejust getting started or looking to take their freelance business to the next level. Sign up at gethecticapp.com/thestartuplife Follow The Startup Life Podcast Facebook Page Want gear from The Startup Life? Check out our gear! Follow us on Clubhouse to ask our guests questions as well.  Check out other great podcasts from The Binge Podcast Network. Written by: Dominic Lawson  Executive Producers: Dominic Lawson and Kenda Lawson Music Credits: **Show Theme**  Behind Closed Doors - Otis McDonald  **Break Theme** Cielo - Huma-Huma 

On Episode 10 of Leadership Lessons in Health-System Pharmacy, you will hear from Jennifer M. Dauer, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, as we discuss strategy as a key ingredient to pharmacy leadership. In Jennifer's current role, she is responsible for driving all aspects of strategy for the organization, including all seven health sciences colleges, and identifying key initiatives to guide this transformation. Her focus is on the creation and implementation of the enterprise strategic plan, advancement of specifics on enterprise top priorities, development of industry partnerships and breakthrough business development opportunities, and accelerated technology development and commercialization efforts. In her past roles, Ms. Dauer was a Managing Directory at CincyTech, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Growth at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital, leader of Cincinnati Children's Innovation Ventures, and Vice President and General Manager of various business units at Procter & Gamble. Over her 26 year tenure at P&G, Jennifer worked to create and implement global business strategies and innovation programs delivering significant organic and new business growth. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Relations from Brown University. She has served on the boards of several start-up companies such as Navistone, Abre, Airway Therapeutics and Enable Injections. Other past leadership involvement include serving as the Chair of the CincyTech board, a member of both Cintrifuse and the Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) boards, and several regional community organizations (YWCA of Cincinnati, The Seven Hills School, Crayons to Computers). She is a member of Class 36 of Leadership Cincinnati.

BLA Young Professionals discuss startup ecosystems, venture capital, & why doing work you care most about is so important with Cintrifuse Managing Director Sarah Anderson.

Why do stories matter to the innovation process? What values can be instilled in innovators who share stories? How do innovation leaders inspire creators to tell and share their success and failure stories? For this episode, we speak with Pete Blackshaw, CEO of Cintrifuse, an organization focused on making Cincinnati an innovation growth center through the combined efforts of investors and entrepreneurs. Pete focuses on the intersections between business, marketing, and innovation, and the collaborative work it takes for all to have successful innovations and stories. Together, we geek out about the basic tenets of rhetoric and discuss the need for engaging narratives in innovation. For more information, visit our website: https://untoldcontent.com/ You can also find us on Instagram: @untoldcontent

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Pete Blackshaw, CEO of Cintrifuse, a syndicate “fund of funds” and startup incubator created by P&G, Kroger, Western & Southern and other major entities in the Greater Cincinnati region. He’s dedicated to developing a world-class innovation ecosystem to fuel economic growth, local attractiveness, jobs and big company innovation. He and Cintrifuse are putting Cincinnati on the startup map. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

Pete Blackshaw is the CEO of Cintrifuse, a syndicated venture fund and startup catalyst organization dedicated to making Greater Cincinnati the #1 startup hub in the Midwest and a top innovation center in the nation. In this episode we talk with Pete about his work across the globe and the opportunity for Cincinnati and cities like it across the country.Pete joined Cintrifuse from Nestlé, S.A. in Switzerland, where he was Vice President of Digital. Pete earlier served as CMO of NM Incite, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey. He is the author of “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000” (Doubleday). Pete is a passionate entrepreneur who founded PlanetFeedback.com, one of the web's first consumer-feedback portals, which he sold to Nielsen. He also co-founded the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and served as Chairman of the Board of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus. In 2019, he served as an innovation juror at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Pete is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of California, Santa Cruz.• Connect with Pete on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/consumergeneratedmedia/• Follow Pete on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pblackshaw• For more information on Cintrifuse, please visit: www.cintrifuse.com

Big thanks to John Stieger of Cintrifuse for hosting me and Ry Walker (founder/CTO, Astronomer.io) on this conference call on angel fundraising. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aftertheexit/message

Pete Blackshaw joins Jonathan & Michael for a dive into the evolution of customer experience in a post-pandemic world. In particular, how should banks and financial institutions be thinking about their business. They also discuss entrepreneurship and innovation being key to taking advantage of the opportunities being created alongside the disruptive challenges in the market. ABOUT PETE BLACKSHAW Pete Blackshaw is CEO of Cintrifuse, a syndicate “fund of funds” and startup incubator created by P&G, Kroger, Western & Southern and other major entities in the Greater Cincinnati region. He's dedicated to developing a world-class innovation ecosystem to fuel economic growth, local attractiveness, jobs and big company innovation. He recently served as VP of Digital Innovation and Service Models, and earlier Global Head of Digital Marketing. & Social Media, at Nestle, S.A.s global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. Pete pioneered Nestle's industry-recognized Digital Acceleration Team (DAT), the Silicon Valley Innovation Outpost (SVIO). the HENRi Open Innovation platform, and the migration of 210,000 employees to the Facebook Workplace collaboration platform. He served as CMO of NM Incite, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey centering around enterprise social media strategy and insights. He is author of a book by Doubleday entitled “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World,” and periodically authors columns in Advertising Age centered around the book's themes. Pete founded PlanetFeedback.com, one of the web's first consumer-feedback portals, and co-founded the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). He recently served as Chairman of the Board of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus and in that capacity sat on the National Advertising Review Council. He's a 2016 Mediapost "Online All Star" recipient, a 2014 inductee of the World of Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame, and a 2010 Grand Prize winner of the “Great Minds” award from the Advertising Research Foundation. Pete is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow Pete on Twitter: @pblackshaw ABOUT CINTRIFUSE Cintrifuse has one very clear mission: to make Greater Cincinnati the #1 tech startup hub in the midwest and among the most attractive innovation hubs in the nation. Follow Cintrifuse on Twitter: @cintrifuse Check their website for more info: https://www.cintrifuse.com ABOUT DIGITAL DOLLAR SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL INBOX UPDATES! https://digitaldollar.substack.com For more information about our sponsor, visit https://10xts.com Follow us on Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/digitaldollar/message

Tim is a serial entrepreneur and investor with roots in the Midwest, experience in Silicon Valley, and connections around the world. He currently serves as the Managing Partner at Refinery Ventures in Cincinnati.In this episode we talk about building innovation ecosystems, scaling companies and his path to founding Refinery Ventures. Tim created ShareThis, a social media pioneer that nearly a billion people use to share online content every month. ShareThis, based in Palo Alto, was one of the fastest growing companies in the country, growing to $50 million in less than four years which earned him the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in his region. Tim also launched and managed Cintrifuse, one of the best performing fund of funds in the country, investing in 15 top-tier early stage funds across the U.S. Tim has been in venture capital since 1998. Prior successes include Advertising.com (AOL), Get2Chip (Cadence), DotLoop (Zillow).Tim grew up in Cleveland as the son of a steelworker and Vietnam veteran. He received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is a Member of YPO, a global network of chief executives.Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schigel/For more information on Refinery Ventures, please visit: https://refinery.com/

This week, Mike talks to Pete Blackshaw, the CEO of Cintrifuse, a startup incubator created by P&G, Kroger, Western & Southern and other major entities in the Greater Cincinnati region. It is obvious that one thing they share is their enthusiasm for opportunities in the Cincinnati region for business.   Mike and Pete discuss:  Pete’s quotable, “look back to look ahead” and what that means for big businesses who are trying to keep up with digital innovation (4:44) Inc. Magazine’s profile on Cincinnati (5:46) read here Why Cincinnati is actually a better place for start-ups than cities on the east or west coasts (8:19) Inevitably, when people think of start-ups they think about talent availability. Pete points out that Cincinnati is bounding with amazing talent in every area of business.   Why talent an non-issue in Cincinnati (10:28) The impact of what he calls the “Amazon Effect” is on a city (11:50) Mike and Pete also discuss how mid to large sized businesses benefit from a robust start-up culture in the areas of:  Agility to innovate (18:04) Diversity (“Diversity and innovation share a symbiotic relationship.”) (20:25) How technology works differently in different global markets (21:00) And the impact he has seen in developing countries as they adopt technology (21:42) Mike and Pete agree that “if you’re NOT aware (of the opportunities), you can get passed up quickly by the world around us.” (24:25) Pete Blackshaw Cintrifuse #StartUpCincy

Pete Blackshaw is an executive with an entrepreneurial spirit and a keen eye on marketing. He's the CEO of Cintrifuse, a company that utilizes networks to help launch startups. He was Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble then CEO of PlanetFeedback.com. When Planet Feedback was bought by Neilsen he became their Executive Vice-President of Digital Strategic Services. He is also the author of 2008's Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000.In this episode Pete discusses his career and values as an executive and marketer. His initial interest for politics transformed into a passion for business. He talks about how he has seen the internet evolve and how he thinks marketers should appreciate the traditional values while also build on the past. Plus, a surprise nugget about his contribution to one of the biggest cult classic films of the 90s.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode comes from the Cincinnati Podcast Festival on November 1, 2018.Eric Weissman is the Vice President of Communications, Community & Economic Inclusion at Cintrifuse.Cintrifuse has one clear mission: to make Greater Cincinnati the #1 tech startup hub in the midwest and among the most attractive innovation hubs in the nation. It creates jobs, brings talent, attracts investment, and unlocks our region's potential to lead innovation in a wide range of industries.Eric was part of the founding team of Cintrifuse. Responsible for establishing the strategy, messaging, branding and positioning for the effort to catalyze growth through attracting and retaining startups. He leads the team credited with igniting the #StartupCincy effort, evolving it from just a social media hashtag to a movement and now a reputable community recognized from coast-to-coast. Learn more about Cintrifuse: https://www.cintrifuse.com/Follow Eric on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eweissmannFollow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Pete Blackshaw, newly appointed CEO of Cintrifuse, a fund of funds and startup incubator created by Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Western Southern, and other major entities in the Greater Cincinnati region. Pete uses his marketing and management expertise to react to anecdotes from “Total Anecdotal: A Fun Guide to Help You Become a Better Speaker and Writer.”

Sarah Anderson is the Managing Director of Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati based incubator/accelerator program and their Syndicate Fund. Cintrifuse also runs Startup Cincy with the goal being to invigorate the Cincinnati and Ohio startup ecosystem and push MidWest innovation. Prior to Cintrifuse, Sarah was a VP at JP Morgan and before that focused on capital markets.... The post How VCs and Fortune 500 Make Serious Money Investing in the Midwest with Sarah Anderson of Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund appeared first on The Syndicate.

We’re back with another special Pitch Night episode! This time, we’re exploring what successful tech disruption looks like in an industry not typically known for innovation or adoption of new technology: food and beverage, or F&B. Specifically, can technology show us how to pour a beer better? There’s far more at stake than maximizing the taste of your favorite brew. The average draft beer system delivers a surprisingly inefficient pour. About 30 percent of every keg is wasted on average, adding up to nearly $2 billion in wasted beer each year. Josh Springer, founder and CEO of Bottoms Up Beer, invented brand new technology to fix this problem. As the name implies, Bottoms Up’s innovative draft beer dispenser fill glasses from the bottom, through a special magnetically-sealed hole in the base. The result? Beers can be “poured” faster and hands-free, waste is cut to about two percent, and businesses increase their venue by 30 percent. Josh presented this unique (and funny) pitch on how to pour a beer that maximizes profit at a recent Powderkeg event cohosted with Cintrifuse. We’ve once again included the follow-up Q&A with the evening’s advisors in this episode of the podcast. On top of providing a few laughs, it should illustrate the huge potential for tech disruption in the food and beverage space and other traditionally non-tech industries. In this episode with Josh Springer of Bottoms Up Beer, you’ll learn: --- What’s wrong with the way every restaurant and bar serves beer. --- How Bottoms Up increases its customers’ revenues by 30 percent or higher. --- The unique opportunity for advertisers built into every Bottoms Up glass. If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

You’ve founded a company. Now, how can you lead it to sustained success? Today on the show, we have Todd Uterstaedt. He’s the host of the podcast, From Founder to CEO. He’s also the co-founder and CEO of an executive coaching firm called Baker & Daboll and a mentor with Cintrifuse. Todd is here to talk about stepping up and scaling yourself, your team, and your company. How can we do it as the new wave of “small business leaders” — whose businesses are growing so fast that they’re anything but

There's a lot of talk around "nimbleness" inside big companies. But the legacy internal red tape stands in the way of operations and the lessons of traditional marketing behavior are difficult to unlearn. That's been the responsibility of Pete Blackshaw, Nestlé’s Global Head of Digital Innovation Service & Service Models, who has spent the last few years working on changing up the company's internal makeup so it can move faster. Blackshaw discusses the ease and difficulty of being a direct-to-consumer brand, his upcoming new job at Cintrifuse and more.

On this episode of Origins, we interview Sarah Anderson and Emily Geiger, who are responsible for two critical components of Cintrifuse, a unique organization and public-private partnership established to drive the next phase of growth in the Cincinnati region. Sarah is the Managing Director of the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund, a fund of funds that invests in VC managers across the U.S. Emily is the VP of BigCo Innovation at Cintrifuse, where she focuses on bridging partnerships, as well as exploring new potential areas for innovation and collaboration between large companies in the Cincinnati region and the broader U.S. startup community. Cintrifuse is a special organization - Unlike any other we've had on the Origins pod - made up of a diverse group of people, funds, startups, big companies, and ideas all dedicated to establishing a stronger tech presence in Cincinatti in order to improve the economy in the region. But it's also had a big impact on startups and VC across the U.S., and so we're thrilled that Sarah and Emily could spend some time giving us a look inside the Cintrifuse universe.

And…we’re back! Powderkeg: Igniting Startups returns after a brief hiatus with something of an experiment ahead of season two of the podcast. (We’re calling it an “in-between-isode.”) This show features a Q&A-meets-pitch event featuring one veteran entrepreneur and two founders who are earlier in their journey and have exciting startups of their own. Our first guest is Scott Jones, a serial tech entrepreneur and investor who’s perhaps best known as the inventor of voicemail (yes, you read that right), co-founder of Gracenote and ChaCha, and Chairman of the Indianapolis-based coding bootcamp Eleven Fifty Academy. Joining him are two entrepreneurs from Cincinnati: Summer Crenshaw, co-founder and COO of the recruitment app Tilr, and Ry Walker, CEO of the data engineering platform Astronomer. After diving into a few of the highlights and key lessons from Scott’s storied career, we give Summer and Ry a chance to pitch their companies and receive real-time feedback and actionable advice. In the process, Scott shares his expert strategies that should be of use to every entrepreneur, such as how to disrupt your space by “cross-pollinating” ideas from other industries and when to explore new business ideas versus when to go all-in on your best one. (P.S. All three of our guests will also be featured at the upcoming Fuse50 conference in Cincinnati on May 17, which we’re hosting in collaboration with Cintrifuse. This is part of Powderkeg’s new event series designed to help “fuse” together all of the awesome tech hubs growing and thriving outside Silicon Valley. In this episode with Scott Jones, Summer Crenshaw and Ry Walker, you’ll learn: --- How Scott became a successful serial entrepreneurial by always thinking outside the box (5:26) --- The secret to learning quickly and innovating in a space that’s brand new to you (10:25) --- How tilr is using tech to disrupt an industry that’s stuck in its ways (17:13) --- Tried-and-true tips for cross-pollinating ideas between industries (26:15) --- Why Astronomer thinks it’s time for a revolutionize data collection and management (28:50) --- Expert advice on when to explore new ideas and when to put your eggs in one basket (34:52) --- The most important things to do when you start scaling your company (42:37) --- If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes

Sarah Anderson of Cintrifuse joins Nick to discuss LP Value Creation, Why DPI is King, and Secondaries as a Means of Exit. In this episode, we cover: What is the investment focus/philosophy at Cintrifuse? Can you tell us a bit more about the Cintrifuse model? What impact has the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund had? Can you explain how this benefits large corporates? What about startups-- what's in it for them? Are the corporate LPs hesitant to invest directly in funds-- Is that why they come to you? Does your diversified portfolio preclude certain vertically-focused corporates from investing in a fund of funds model? Does Cintrifuse work w/ other types of financial institutions, aside from insurance? If so, how have you seen them react to the explosion in crypto and disruptive fintech? Tell us about your role as matchmaker-- how do you get involved and facilitate between VCs, startups and corporations? What's the strategic value-add to a VC fund manager? What industry disruptions have you observed and what are the impacts on large corporate companies? Advice for entrepreneurs-- whether underserved spaces or where they should be focused that they're not? What message do you want to send to founders? In Rob Go's recent study on fund metrics, he said "In the early days of a fund, VCs tend to optimize for TVPI. But in the long run, DPI is king. You can't feed your family with TVPI, and you can't spend IRR." Is he right and what do you suggest to Fund I and Fund II managers that have attractive paper gains but no distributions to paid-in (ie. a DPI of zero)? Let's discuss reinvesting in startups, I want to talk about doubling down on firms and investing more in their new funds. When Chris Duovos was on we discussed the concerning stats related to persistence. And Antoinette Schoar, of MIT did a notable study on fund returns, which showed persistence of returns from private-equity funds has gone down in the last decade. She said: “If LPs are not vigilant, we'll start seeing persistence at the bottom. So many LPs want so much to get into PE that they are not sensitive enough to poor perf and keep reinvesting in partnerships that are not deserving” Sarah, what's your take on the study and her position here?"   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Taking a more thoughtful approach to understanding market focus was a major learning for Wendy Lea, when as an experienced CEO of a very hot, very high growth VC backed freemium software startup, her urgency to execute led to mistakes that she now recognizes were avoidable. Answering a question posed by a student startup, she references Steve Blank as someone she learns from every single time they meet and shares her thoughts on why a customer development playbook is a necessary reality check to all the BS talked around product-market fit. Having delivered business solutions in 30 countries, Wendy brings a worldly point of view to digital innovation and her entrepreneurial pursuits - she's currently CEO of Cintrifuse and on the Board of Techstars.  In 2012 and 2013, she was recognized as a Women of Influence in Silicon Valley and in San Francisco.

Wendy Lea has had a lifetime of high-profile successes in building successful businesses. Leaving Get Satisfaction after years as CEO, Wendy was lured to Cincinnati to develop and grow an enduring business ecosystem that brings together startups, bigcos, government nonprofits, neighborhoods and even the clergy. The results already have been amazing. But Wendy is not your garden-variety winner. What you'll hear in this Real Leaders podcast is deep and candid reflection on what has motivated Wendy in her career and what gaps she's looking to fill across her life.

I interviewed Tim Sinclair in Episode 015. During the interview, Tim mentioned that he had gone through the inaugural class of the Ocean Accelerator. He also mentioned that Ocean is a faith-based tech accelerator. I had never even considered the intersection of faith-based organizations and tech accelerators and was immediately intrigued. I asked Tim if he could put me in touch with Ocean, which he did. Scott Weiss is the CEO of Ocean and James Clair is the Marketing Manager. UPDATE: Ocean came out with important news for potential applicants just before the podcast release. They have increased their seed funding for companies accepted into their 2017 class from $35,000 to $50,000. Everything was already in place for the episode release when the news came out, and it would have been difficult to alter the audio to make the change. Contents Episode Outline Resources Mentioned in Episode Episode Transcript Disclosure concerning affiliate links Episode Outline Click [Website] to go to the corresponding website location. Once on the website, you may listen to the episode starting at any timestamp [mm:ss]. [00:00] Intro [Website] [03:12] Accelerator Defined [Website] [04:54] Accelerator Capital and Convertible Notes [Website] [07:28] Ocean's Founders [Website] [08:07] Accelerators Versus Incubators [Website] [09:05] Ocean's Unique Spiritual Component [Website] [11:39] Focusing on the Founder [Website] [12:27] Non-Business Relationships and Stakeholders [Website] [13:17] Ocean's Message [Website] [13:49] Ocean's Five Capitals [Website] [15:24] Maintaining Balance during a Business Venture [Website] [16:35] Marketplace Success [Website] [17:41] Ocean's Work Ethic [Website] [19:18] Ocean's Program Overview [Website] [19:48] Demo Day and Business Curriculum [Website] [21:16] Keynote Speakers – Day One [Website] [23:23] Keynote Speaker Discussion – Day Two and Beyond [Website] [24:53] Ocean's 2017 Program Plans [Website] [25:20] Ocean's Policy on Faith [Website] [26:12] Faith as a Component of Business [Website] [27:32] Ocean's Program [Website] [27:45] Weekly Program – Speakers and Workshops [Website] [30:20] Syncing Program Behavior with Business Life [Website] [31:47] Ocean's Field Day – The Importance of Customer Dialogue [Website] [32:39] Relocating as a Founder with Family [Website] [35:27] Ocean's Ideal Company and Founder [Website] [37:29] Ocean Capital [Website] [38:07] Ocean's Origins at Crossroads [Website] [40:48] Ocean's Mentors [Website] [41:29] Role of the Mentor [Website] [42:36] Mentor Demographics [Website] [44:49] Partners [Website] [45:51] Brand Identity Kit [Website] [46:23] Design Style Guide [Website] [46:44] A Creative Space to Build Relationships [Website] [48:20] Cincinnati as a Hotspot for Entrepreneurs [Website] [48:51] Cincinnati's Community Spirit [Website] [50:02] Cincinnati as an Ideal Region for Startups [Website] [51:23] Appropriateness of Cincinnati for Founders with Families [Website] [52:37] Ocean's Schedule for Applications [Website] [53:19] Benefits of Demo Day [Website] [54:42] Post-Demo Day Activities [Website] [57:08] Universal Message of God's Interest in Enterprises [Website] [58:39] Conclusion [Website] [Website Contents] Resources Mentioned in Episode Please see Disclosure* (below transcript) concerning affiliate links on this page. 805 Creative – According to the website, 805 Creative is an “Ohio-based creative agency dedicated to empowering our business partners with compelling ways to communicate their stories.” Listen or read at [44:49]. Business Canvas Map – Also known as the Business Model Canvas. A strategic management template for visualizing a business's partnerships, resources, revenue, and customers. Ocean's program provides mentoring through the canvas creation process, focusing specifically on planning, the business model, the strategy canvas, and value proposition. Listen or read at [19:48]. CincyTech – “A trusted partner for high potential technology companies in Southwest Ohio,” according to the official website. Scott Weiss mentions it to emphasize the many organizations surrounding Cincinnati which make it an ideal place for entrepreneurs. Listen or read at [48:20]. Cintrifuse – Cintrifuse is Located in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. According to the website: “Cintrifuse acts as a connecter and supporter to create a global destination for entrepreneurial success. Cintrifuse connects the region's high-potential, venture-backable startups to advice, talent, funding, and customers.” According to Scott Weiss: “Cintrifuse's role is to coordinate all the activities, to minimize wasteful redundancy, and to get everyone in this broad region, which includes northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio, to work cooperatively so that we share resources and share programming.” Listen or read at [50:02]. Lean Startup – Business development method pioneered by Eric Ries. Lean Startup's methodology is built on the principle that designing products to meet the needs of early customers can prevent many product failures and funding expenses in the future. The claim gained widespread renown after the publication of Ries' bestseller,The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses*. Listen or read at [32:25]. Ocean – Ocean is an independent tech accelerator that is uniquely faith-based and focused on building founders. Ocean application – Ocean's application window is (currently) September 1 to October 31. Listen or read at [52:37]. Ocean Capital – Ocean Capital is a separate legal entity from the Ocean Accelerator but affiliated with the accelerator. It collects money from a broad range of investors. It puts money it into convertible notes for the companies in the accelerator. When investors get a return, the entity tracks the flow of money so that investors can be properly taxed. The entity does not have investment profits and losses. Listen or read at [37:29]. Ocean on LinkedIn Ocean on Twitter – @OCEANAccel [Website Contents] Episode Transcript Intro [00:00] Ron Gaver: This is Episode 017 of the SaaS Business Podcast: Ocean, The Tech Accelerator [00:16] Scott Weiss: One of the benefits of Ocean for any startup is [that] our demo day is on a large auditorium stage in one of the Crossroads buildings. This past year, we had 1,400 people attend live. We had 1,800 people stream it live. So that's a total live audience of over 3,000. Last year, after we finished, we posted the stream (the stream's downloadable). Ten thousand people downloaded the stream between last year's demo day and this year's demo day. So, if you're launching a business, you get to come here. You get to go on a stage designed to speak to thousands. You get [a] professional production team fine-tuning your speech. You're streamed live. Your slides are amazing. You get to launch your brand to, literally, thousands of potential customers and hundreds of potential investors. We work real hard to make sure that the audience has a high percentage of angels, angel funds, and customers. [01:32] Ron Gaver: Hello and welcome to the show! I'm your host Ron Gaver. This is the podcast designed to help you put the pieces of the puzzle together to start, grow, and succeed in your SaaS business. [01:44] Ron Gaver: Before we get into the show, I would like to personally invite you to visit our website. The URL is SaaSBusinessPodcast.com. When you visit, please be sure you sign up to get the FREE Resource Guide. This is a living guide that grows with the podcast. By signing up, you will always have access to the latest edition. [02:01] Ron Gaver: For each show, you will also find extensive show notes on the website. Show notes now contain ALL links for resources mentioned in a show, an outline of the show, and a full transcript. I have designed these show notes to help you quickly find valuable information. To get to show notes, just enter the base URL, a forward slash, and the three-digit episode number. [02:22] Ron Gaver: This podcast, the Resource Guide, and show notes are produced at considerable expense. They are my gift to you for your continuing growth and success. [02:37] Ron Gaver: I interviewed Tim Sinclair in Episode 015. During the interview, Tim mentioned that he had gone through the inaugural class of the Ocean Accelerator. He also mentioned that Ocean is a faith-based tech accelerator. I had never even considered the intersection of faith-based organizations and tech accelerators and was immediately intrigued. I asked Tim if he could put me in touch with Ocean, which he did. Scott Weiss is the CEO of Ocean and James Clair is the Marketing Manager. Welcome Scott and James. [03:07] Scott Weiss: Hey, how are you? [03:08] Ron Gaver: Just fine, and you? [03:10] Scott Weiss: We're doing great up here. Thanks. [Website Contents] Accelerator Defined [03:12] Ron Gaver: Good. Alright, well let's get right into it. For the sake of the audience: not everyone may fully understand exactly what an accelerator is, what you do as an accelerator; and then, beyond that question, I would like to know how Ocean is different. We'll get into that, I'm sure, in a great deal of detail; but, first of all, what is an accelerator from your point-of-view, and what is an accelerator's purpose and function? [03:37] Scott Weiss: That's a great question. I'll lead off. So, let's start with the founder. The founder has a great idea, and they work on it, they tinker on it, they devote themselves to it, and it gets to a point where they need some help; and that's the role of investors. Whether they be friends, family, or angels, the capital they provide enables the idea to continue to move forward. [04:01] Scott Weiss: Accelerators do two things: we provide a roadmap that allows the entire thing to accelerate—to speed up, to compress a year of business growth into a few months; and, secondly, we provide access to mentors that will enable the founder to have a far greater circle of knowledge than they have alone. There's about 220 accelerators in the United States, and all of them do that. Most of them, including Ocean—ours—also provide a level of seed funding—a small amount of money that allows the founder to relocate and participate residentially in that accelerator, as well as enough money to keep the enterprise going. In essence, that's—from my —what an accelerator does. [Website Contents] Accelerator Capital and Convertible Notes [04:54] Ron Gaver: Alright, then, you mentioned the aspect of capital. [04:58] Scott Weiss: Mmhm. [04:59] Ron Gaver: And so with the capital usually comes something on your end—there's a bit of dilution as far as the founder's ownership of the company, generally. Is that true across the board, or is it not? [05:10] Scott Weiss: Well, actually, there's a narrow range of what accelerators that provide capital get in exchange for that capital. Let's start with Ocean, the accelerator that James and I are honored to work for. Our note, when the company accepts it, is a convertible note. It's debt. It does not dilute the cap table. It maintains their equity ownership. And if that company raises subsequent money, the holders of the note—which is a separate guy who manages all that—determines whether or not we want to convert that note into equity at that time or simply get our money back with a modest interest rate. So that's a very “founder-friendly” capital structure. On the other end, accelerators will take anywhere from 6-10% direct equity in the company in exchange for the capital they're investing. That begins the dilution process for the founder, because they're giving up direct shares or direct equity for the money. [06:14] Ron Gaver: Well that's good. I didn't understand what the “convertible note” part meant. Now I understand. And that sounds like an excellent option for the founder to basically be able to pay that back if he or she so desires. [06:27] Scott Weiss: Well, to be clear, it's if the investor so desires. [06:30] Ron Gaver: Oh, okay. [06:32] Scott Weiss: It's the investor's choice. I'm not an investor in our fund because I work there, but if the investors say, “Hey, we really like Ron's company, and we want to convert our debt into equity.” Boom! That happens. Or they say, “We really like Ron, but the company's not our cup of tea. We'll just take out money back.” And it's money back with a very low interest rate. So the investor chooses, not the founder. [06:54] Ron Gaver: Okay, and what did you say the dilution is, usually, on that, in your case? Or does it vary? [06:59] Scott Weiss: There is no dilution with a convertible note. It only dilutes if it converts and the terms of the conversion are spelled out based on the amount of funds raised, so if the company goes out and raises money with an evaluation of three million bucks, and you've got fifty thousand dollars in seed capital from an accelerator that converts at fifty thousand, you can see that the dilution would be very, very modest. [07:23] Ron Gaver: Alright. I didn't understand, then. I'm sure that there are others who would not have understood that. [Website Contents] Ocean's Founders [07:28] Ron Gaver: So, we've talked, just briefly, about what an accelerator is, and how it functions (at least, peripherally). Now I'd like to talk about how Ocean is different. I realize, from your webpage and from talking to you and from talking to Tim Sinclair (who went through your program), there were three founders, originally. They're Tim, Tim, and somebody else whose name was never actually documented on that page. [07:53] Scott Weiss: Chad. [07:54] Ron Gaver: Those were your three founders? [07:56] Scott Weiss: Tell you what: let me back up and just tell you what makes us different, and then we'll jump into the story of how we got here. [08:01] Ron Gaver: That's great. [08:02] Scott Weiss: Perfect. I'll prattle on a little bit more, and then I'll let James jump in. [Website Contents] Accelerators Versus Incubators [08:07] Scott Weiss: So, we've already covered in very high-level, broad strokes, what an accelerator is. The other important perspective is: there are 220 accelerators in the United States, and there are over 1,000 incubators. Let's go sidewise. Very high-level—the difference between an accelerator and an incubator is that accelerators tend to be time-limited. You get accepted, and you get so many months in the program, and then you get out; and accelerators tend to give you money. Incubators generally have no time limit. You get in and you stay as long as you are getting value from the incubation. And, generally, you pay the incubator. Almost every university in the United States has an incubator, and students have access to it, but they're paying for it with tuition dollars in order to that incubator. [Website Contents] Ocean's Unique Spiritual Component [09:05] Scott Weiss: So there are 1,400 organizations out there trying to help high-tech entrepreneurs grow businesses faster, and we're just like all of them. We're just one of 1,400 and we think we're pretty good (and we can talk about that later), but what makes us different—what makes us truly unique—is we are one of only two accelerators in the United States that integrate a spiritual journey with the business journey we take you on. And we do that because our focus is not exclusively on the business. Our focus is on the business and the founder, and the lens we look at it with is faith. [09:45] James Clair: Yeah, to pop in and add onto what Scott was saying: when Scott was laying out exactly what an accelerator is, you can think of it like putting guard rails around an entrepreneur or packaging a program for an entrepreneur, to accelerate their business; not a package or a program for a business that leaves out the entrepreneur. All of our curriculum and program—its scope is centered on the founder as an individual because we understand that they have the ability to create multiple ventures that are successful. And they also have the ability to recover from a failed venture versus most businesses and products that don't get off the ground. Unfortunately, most of them never recover. [10:33] James Clair: So, this sustainability and life expectancy of a founder is much, much more valuable than an individual idea, and, like Scott said, our difference is that lens of faith. And you can think of it like an orientation point. So a lot of decisions are made, unfortunately, with a motivation for financial gain, as the first thought or sole inspiration. We believe that Scripture clearly lays out that God, and the disciplines and principles that He taught, are what should be our initial point of inspiration, and that financial decisions are simply a filter that we run those following decisions through. So, we don't want to tether ourselves to our money. We want to tether ourselves to our faith and use smart, financial intellect and decision-making to forward our progress. [11:29] Ron Gaver: Alright, I understand, and I think that I would certainly embrace having your faith at the center of all that you do and having God at the center of all that you do. [Website Contents] Focusing on the Founder [11:39] Ron Gaver: So you're trying to focus more on the founder. Not only on the business, but also on the spiritual, the physical, the relational, and the intellectual because, you say, essentially, that the founder has a greater shelf life than any business, potentially. [11:53] Scott Weiss: Well said. [11:55] Ron Gaver: And then you explore the role of faith. One of your founders said that that is, arguably, the proper place for faith to be put in building the business and putting it all together, and so you're trying, also, to build the person up, strengthen that person, and edify that person to bring the spiritual to bear on that person's business so that that person is a more graceful founder or can more gracefully transition into that business and not burn out in the process? [Website Contents] Non-Business Relationships and Stakeholders [12:27] James Clair: Yeah, exactly, because, oftentimes, we can forget that there are non-business-related relationships at stake—most notably family, friends. So if we consider the entire amount of stakeholders that exist within an entrepreneur's idea or their business venture, we want to make sure that we don't exclude those relationships and the physical health that's put at risk when a founder, unfortunately, is not tethering their decisions to the right source. A lot of people can identify with what it's like to lose friends during a business venture, to have lost marriages, to gain weight, to go through physical ailments—a lot of people identify with that. [Website Contents] Ocean's Message [13:17] James Clair: It's not just the high-tech founders that come through our accelerator, and that's also another layer to our uniqueness—that our message translates to a vast kingdom. And that's our mission: to expand God's kingdom; and we are looking to do it through the marketplace, or into the marketplace through entrepreneurs. But they have the ability to take that with them and transfer that to their families, to their friends, and then to future business associates, well after they're out of their current venture. [Website Contents] Ocean's Five Capitals [13:49] Ron Gaver: I find this idea to be very exciting because, looking at starting a business, one thing I would not be willing to sacrifice—or the things I would not be willing to sacrifice—would be my marriage, my family, and my health. My friends, maybe a little bit after that, but my marriage, my family, and my health—those are the things that God has given me to be a steward over, and those are the things that I must maintain. I have a mandate to do so, and I have a responsibility to do so. The sacrifice that goes along with losing those things is, in my mind, a failed proposition. [14:26] Scott Weiss: We would agree. It's also important for your listeners to know two things. We are trying to help the founder see these five capitals (and you articulated them already): [in ascending order, financial, intellectual (or ideas), physical (or health), relationships, and spiritual]—to see they have all five of these things, in different measure and at different times in their life, and the key to navigating a successful startup is to recognize that you have access to all five capitals. And while you're watching the business, you don't need to sacrifice your family, but you are going to impact your family. You simply will have far less time for your family. You will need to use many of your relationships to build your business, just to interview them (what do they think about your product?), to do your pitch, to ask for money possibly, to ask them to become a customer, or ask them to ask friends to become customers. [Website Contents] Maintaining Balance During a Business Venture [15:24] Scott Weiss: So, we try to help the founders understand: you're not going to have a balanced life; you're going to have an unbalanced life. Now, how do you enter that journey, recognizing its imbalance, and come out on the other end with healthy relationships intact? You do that by taking everyone on the journey with you, by over-communicating where you're heading, by using the other capitals you may have in excess to feed the capitals differently than you normally would. So, while I no longer have the time for the relationships I used to have, I will have access to new learning, new intellectual development, new networks, new people—let me introduce them to my wife, my children, whoever is important in that family. So this is very much an issue of: it's not about balanced life. It's about understanding the impact the imbalance it's going to cause and using the resources available to you to navigate that successfully. It's a real important concept that often gets lost. I'm just going to carry on, so I'm just going to throw the second thought at you pretty quickly, if that's OK. [16:34] Ron Gaver: Sure. [Website Contents] Marketplace Success [16:35] Scott Weiss: We are very, very focused on the founder, but we recognize the founder comes to us with an idea that ignites his or her passion. They have this idea, they want to create it, they want to see this enterprise enter the marketplace and grow, and hopefully succeed, and hopefully succeed at whatever level's appropriate for that idea. So, we don't have a different benchmark for marketplace success.The marketplace determines success, and we strive to prepare the founders to have their invention, their idea, their product, their company, succeed; and succeed at the highest levels. We think its excellence is absolutely an affirmation of the gifts God has given you, and using your gifts to deliver excellent results is what we aspire to do. So this has helped the people understand the journey they're on and to use all the things it's provided to them and to navigate that journey successfully, and navigate that journey, delivering, an excellent company that delivers excellent results. [Website Contents] Ocean's Work Ethic [17:41] Scott Weiss: So, in many ways, when we're interviewing candidates, we try to help them understand: coming here is more work than going to most accelerators. The outcome is more enriching, more edifying, and you will leave here (if you engage in it) with awareness and knowledge and relationships that we think will serve you the rest of your life, but it's a lot more work. It's not easier, it's harder. [18:10] James Clair: Yeah, very much so. Hearing Scott brought to my mind: when God is shining a light in some of our darkest corners—many times, we can be scared, or we can be afraid of what impact and anxiety that's going to bring to us or to the people around us; but one fruitful piece of our overall mission is that we want to change that feeling for a founder from being afraid and scared to feeling free; and that there's freedom in identifying these characteristics and behaviors that we have as individuals and how they affect, not just our personal lives, but the success of our business. And, many times, [for] the biggest fault-line in our individual ventures, there's a relatable behavior that's reflecting in our personal life; and addressing those realities and really dying to them and bringing truth to what that really should mean for us is what ties together both of those pieces really well. [Website Contents] Ocean's Program Overview [19:18] Ron Gaver: One thing that, Scott, you mentioned, “taking everyone along on the journey”—and I think that that's a great concept—how do you implement it, though? Do you use it by talking to people more, by demoing your product—is that what you said? By basically involving them as much as possible in this whole process with you? Is that how you do that, or can you elaborate a little on that? [19:39] Scott Weiss: Sure, I think I can. Let me paint a pretty clear picture, and this will take just a few words and then I'll pause and answer any questions. [Website Contents] Demo Day and Business Curriculum [19:48] Scott Weiss: The Ocean program—once you arrive, it's a four-month program and then demo day occurs and then there's one month following demo day that we're all together. And accelerators, while they do the same thing, do it differently; and one way to look at accelerators is there are very unstructured accelerators (you get in and you have access to a bunch of mentors and advisors and customers, and you're kind of on your own), or you have structured accelerators. We are a structured accelerator. So, the companies arrive, and we have laid out a curriculum that starts everybody at one level and takes them up through, and past demo, day; and it's a business curriculum that's built on the business canvas map that really gets them focused on what value they're creating in the marketplace, validating that value, and getting out there and testing it, and then generating revenue off of it. [20:44] Scott Weiss: We have a variety of speakers that come in and talk about that, and entrepreneurs who have both succeeded, and many of whom have failed (or failed once or twice and then succeeded); and they just come in and tell their stories that supplement whatever concept we are focusing on that week. So that's the business curriculum, and every week there is a speaker on the business side of it to prepare the knowledge base of the founders to accelerate—to run their business more effectively and to grow faster. [Website Contents] Keynote Speakers – Day One [21:16] Scott Weiss: So let's say it's day one. The very first speaker we had this last year happens to be a venture capitalist who drove over (about six hours) and taught a session on: what is the mission of your company? He taught very well. He's taking them through questions and answers, and he's really engaging, and then he kind of stops and he says, “You know, I'm on my third fund.”  (Which means he's succeeded. So he's been able to raise money three times—it's now many, many millions of dollars in funds.) “And I have this many analysts who work for me. And I personally hear 300 pitches a year.” (I think is the number he said—maybe it was 500, I forget.) “And you will never get to me to give me your pitch unless you can answer the question: ‘What is the purpose, the mission, [and] the vision of your company?' And I'm not looking for an advertising slogan. I'm looking for the insight and depth that communicates to me that you have found something that uniquely will add value in this world.” [22:20] Scott Weiss: And then he unfolds all of the worksheets he and his analysts use to determine that. So you're sitting there, day one, and you're hearing a live, venture capitalist give you the answer to the quiz. How do you get them to open the door and talk to you about your idea? You tell them the vision and mission of your company in great depth and in a way an investor, or potential investor, can understand it. [22:44] Scott Weiss: That's kind of day one. They all go out to lunch. They have a great time. They come back. And day one, I had a creative director from a local studio there, and he led a session that he called (I think it was a “he”), led a session on, “I believe in God, I believe that God's a creative force, and I believe God wants me to create, and that's what it means to be in God's image.” And all that he talked about was his personal faith journey and how God had come alive in him and given him the courage to step out and create these incredible visual images that multiple clients pay for. [23:21] Scott Weiss: That's it. That's day one. [Website Contents] Keynote Speaker Discussion – Day Two and Beyond [23:23] Scott Weiss: And the next day the companies all come back in, and I walk up to the front of this great co-working space we have, and it just happened to be my turn, and I say, “Okay, let's talk about the venture capitalist.” [23:34] Scott Weiss: We begin getting all these companies—there were nine of them, so there's about thirty-five people in the room—processing through what the vision and mission of their company is. They're jumping on Google. They're looking stuff up. They're just busy little beavers. And I let that go for about ten minutes, and then I say, “Wait a second. What does any of that have to do with the guy in the afternoon?” And the room just explodes. So half the companies will say, “It has nothing to do with it.” And half of them will say, “It has everything to do with it.” [24:02] Scott Weiss: And the way we drive integration is we then just process that discussion and then have, over the balance of the week, three or four more speakers come in and speak to the exact same thing, but more and more overtly on how understanding what God wants you to do may have an awful lot to do with the vision and mission of your company; and we replicate that each week, in a different way and more creatively, to get the companies to begin integrating this concept of: “I'm on this journey called life, and I happen to be creating a company; but God has a plan for me in this journey called life, and how do I put this together in a way that honors Him and maximizes my meaningfulness on this earth?” So let me unpack it a little bit more because that's an awful lot to swallow, and you're sitting there saying, “Geez, how do they do that?” [Website Contents] Ocean's 2017 Program Plans [24:53] Scott Weiss: Next year, what we're going to do is—because we think, “Ok, that worked really well”—but next year, when the companies arrive the very first week, instead of sitting in Cincinnati and going to our great co-working space and starting this, we're taking them all off to a local park. We're getting everybody a room in the lodge, and we're going to spend three days getting personal and intimate about: “Where are you in your walk with God?” [Website Contents] Ocean's Policy on Faith [25:20] Scott Weiss: We do not select based on your faith. We've had Christian believers in the accelerator. We've had non-Christians. We've had seekers, people who say: “I think I'm an agnostic or humanistic. I'm not really sure. I'm trying to figure this all out.” We've had all different religious faiths from the Christian side. We select based on your willingness to go on this journey, and we're very clear, while we respect where you're at, understand: the journey we're laying out for you is from a Christian perspective. We all believe that's a source of great truth for all of us. [25:54] Scott Weiss: So, we're going to take them out for three days We're going to have multiple workshops leaders come in. We're going to have all kinds of exercises, and begin unpacking: “Where are you? Where are you in your walk with God? Are you having one? Are you not? How does that manifest itself? What do you believe?” Then we're going to come back and do all this business/faith stuff. [Website Contents] Faith as a Component of Business [26:12] Scott Weiss: Then, about two months later, we're going to go away again, and on that weekend sojourn, we're going to say, “Here are the biblical truths, the biblical principles, we've been talking about. How are you going to apply those—if you choose to—in your business?” And we have taken the time to unpack key biblical truths into business principles, and almost all businesses in Judeo-Christian cultures use biblical principles in running their business. Love others as you love yourself. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Treat the customer the way you want to be treated. We get them to unpack that and to write out their objectives for their company so they have specific goals for the culture and company they're trying to create. [26:59] Scott Weiss: Then we come back, we get through demo day, and then we're going to take them off again. Now they've met all these investors, they've had this launch. What are they going to do all this as they leave us and launch into the world? How's this all going to come to life in how they're going to run a company based on biblical principles that, hopefully, has great commercial success? So it's an intense, fun, creative process that involves literally dozens and dozens of people, willing to give of their time and talent, who come to us from all over the country to help make this possible. [Website Contents] Ocean's Program [27:32] Ron Gaver: You've gotten into some of your program—the actual functioning of the program, month-in/month-out, day-in/day-out, week-in/week-out—and there's one graphic on your website that is a circle with the formal program in it and you have monthly events, weekly events, and daily events. Could you go into a little bit about how that program works? [27:53] Scott Weiss: Absolutely. [Website Contents] Weekly Program – Speakers and Workshops [27:45] Scott Weiss: The weekly events are the series of speakers that I outlined. Every week, we have someone come in and lead a workshop on a business topic that's aligned with accelerating high-tech companies. We have a speaker come in every week and lead a session on a faith topic, and then every week we have a workshop that integrates them. Every week we have at least one, but generally two, guest speakers for something we call “coffee chats,” and these are founders, these are people who've started businesses. Last year, we had a founder from Israel drop in. We've had a major leader from Google drop in. We have all kinds of local entrepreneurs. A young man who's been on shark tank came and talked, and they just tell their story. And we tell them, “This week we're talking about this business topic and this faith topic.” And they tease out of their story something that's occurred to them that exemplifies either or both of those topics. [28:48] Scott Weiss: Every week we do a community meal. We provide soup (I love soup), and we'll have all the founders there. Their families are invited. All the mentors are invited. We'll have all the lawyers who volunteer for us. We'll have 30-50 people every Friday for a big community lunch and soup, which forces you to sit next to somebody and drink or sip out of a bowel. So, it gets everyone talking, and suddenly we're not in an accelerator anymore; we're just doing life. Every week we'll have optional participation in a Bible study. Every week we'll have optional physical activity. [29:25] Scott Weiss: Daily, we ask each company to journal. We post a journal question up on the board—we're going to do that differently next year—and the journal question is very much against their faith walk, very much is taking them on a guided journey of questions that, if you went back and read all the answers you wrote to these journal questions, you'd have a pretty interesting diary or chronology of ever-deeper growth and understanding. [29:52] Scott Weiss: And then, about two weeks into the program, every week we practice pitches on a stage, with microphones, with slides, leading up to our demo day, which is probably one of the highest-attending demo days in the United States in terms of physical audience size and streaming audience size. So, we do the combination of all those things to make the program entertaining, engaging, creative, and fun. [Website Contents] Syncing Program Behavior with Business Life [30:20] James Clair: Yeah, it's important to have those different layers because we want the program to reflect how we live life. There are routines and there are rhythms that we don't do every day but that we want to make sure we prioritize, and that we make space for, as we go through the journey of the program. So there's a key reflection in what we do outside of our businesses and what we do in life, and we put that into the program so then that way, if you don't have a very good rhythm or routine with spending time journaling or in Scripture every week, we want to almost kick-start that rhythm for you, so that when you leave the program, you're going to take that behavior with you. Same thing with the encouragement of physical fitness, and then encouragement of getting in a small group and discussing your faith or Scripture. [31:15] James Clair: Especially when you're in a format like we are, we find that routine to be very beneficial because they're also naturally integrating what they're currently going through in their companies into whatever topic we're discussing in the Bible studies. So, the program—although it looks very cool and it's laid out (we've got monthly, weekly, daily)—we could easily eliminate whatever words we put in there for those bubbles and put rhythms and routines in our daily life, and it would make perfect sense to a lot of people. [Website Contents] Ocean's Field Day – The Importance of Customer Dialogue [31:47] Ron Gaver: Okay, so the cornerstone of the program is the faith aspect of it, and, of course, you bring in the other speakers who talk about more technical, business-type aspects, and then, on the monthly events, you also get into legal, investment, leadership, and something called “field day.” I'm not sure what that is. [32:05] Scott Weiss: That's just getting people out to validate their idea in the marketplace. The number one cause of high-tech failures is people fall in love with their own idea and actually never talk to anybody in the marketplace about it; so whatever they're working on (whether it's B2C or B2B), we line up time, space, and interviews with the right audience to validate their idea. [32:25] Ron Gaver: Alright. In the Lean Startup vernacular, something like, “Get out of the office.” [32:29] Scott Weiss: Exactly. That's exactly what it means. Get out in the field, and go and talk to customers. It's a big principle we teach: to constantly listen to the marketplace. [Website Contents] Relocating as a Founder with Family [32:39] Ron Gaver: Hypothetically, let's say I'm a founder. I've been accepted and you've made the convertible note available to me, and I'm relocating to Cincinnati for the four-to-five months—well, five months, including the month after demo day—and I've got a family. How do the founders usually negotiate that with their families? What do you usually see happening there? [33:04] Scott Weiss: That's a great question. So this past year—our program runs January through May, so we just had our bon voyage party for this year's class—this past year, there are nine companies that got accepted. We take anywhere from about eight to twelve. It's hard to get in. There are hundreds of applications that get boiled down to the people we offer to. Of those nine, five were from outside the Cincinnati region. Two of those were from Europe and relocated from the United Kingdom (both were from London, coincidentally) to Cincinnati. One was a single person (and her co-founder popped in and out), and the other was a married gentleman with a wife and two children. [33:48] Scott Weiss: The “spouse with children” is a common story from people relocating to Cincinnati or in Cincinnati. About half of our founders tend to be married with family. So, we go through all this in the interview process. We want to understand their game plan. [34:04] Scott Weiss: When that individual arrived, we had reached out to our network and we had already lined up twenty or thirty rental properties of people willing to rent to him on a short-term basis. He, from London, envisioned his family being here on two separate times during his five-month sojourn (so they would relocate for an extended period and then they would go home); and then he would fly back and forth from London twice and spend a week there and Skype in or stream in and participate in the program that way. [34:36] Scott Weiss: So we helped find housing at a very favorable rate. We then worked with a non-profit that gives away automobiles, and they gave him a car. He's going to give it back to us when he's done, and we'll give it back them, but he had free use of a car for his duration, as did the other person from London (as would anybody relocating here who doesn't have a vehicle—we would arrange that). And we lay this all out so, when they get here, we know how their family's going to navigate it, they know how their family's going to navigate it. When that individual's family showed up from London, we also had arranged families of our mentors to take time out of their lives, show them Cincinnati, invite them over to their home, take them out to dinner—without imposing, giving the family time, but still being welcoming. That's how we do it. [35:24] Ron Gaver: Showing them great hospitality. [35:26] Scott Weiss: Exactly. [Website Contents] Ocean's Ideal Company and Founder [35:27] Ron Gaver: Now as far as the type of companies that you look for: do you look for any specific type of company—or the one speaker that you referred to last year was looking for people who could clearly articulate their mission—is there a particular type of mission that you focus on when you're selecting applicants, or is it basically just whatever floats up to the top? [35:53] Scott Weiss: We're very focused on the industry being high-tech because you can accelerate a high-tech company. If we're making fans, you can't accelerate because you've got to cut molds, you've got to make the product, and you have to test the product; but high-tech is coding so we can accelerate. They have to be high-tech. The product has to be at or beyond the MVP stage (minimally viable product stage). We don't like to start with companies before then because it's too hard to get them ready for demo day. [36:22] Scott Weiss: There has to be at least two founders. We won't take solo founders—it's just too hard. And they have to be willing to [take], and seeking, this spiritual journey; and we sort that latter piece out in an extended interview either live or via Skype. At this point, we've done dozens and dozens and dozens of these, so we have a pretty keen sense when someone's being honest and sincere in their answers and when, perhaps, they're just saying they want to do that so they can get in and get the money. So that's kind of what we look for: high-tech, at least two founders, willing to relocate, product at or beyond the MVP stage, and a sincere and open heart to a spiritual journey. [37:03] Ron Gaver: And you also prefer one of the co-founders to be a technical founder, I believe? [37:09] Scott Weiss: We skew that way, just for practical reasons, although we've taken about a third of the companies where neither was a technical co-founder, but they were able to resolve that issue through outsourcing or hiring a CTO. Chances for commercial success are higher if one of them understands coding and can actually build the product. [Website Contents] Ocean Capital [37:29] Ron Gaver: As far as Ocean is concerned, the accelerator itself is a non-profit organization and then there's Ocean Capital as well, which is basically the financial end of it. [37:38] Scott Weiss: Correct. That's a separate legal entity that, under IRS rules, is an SPV (special purpose vehicle), which means it collects money from a broad range of diverse investors, and its job, as a legal entity, is to track the flow of money so that, when those investors get a return, that they can be properly taxed. The entity itself doesn't make any profit. It doesn't lose any. It collects money and puts it into convertible notes for the companies. [Website Contents] Ocean's Origins at Crossroads [38:07] Ron Gaver: And as far as Ocean, the accelerator, the non-profit side of that—it grew out of Crossroads (the church), and then an organization within Crossroads called Unpolished, which I believe was a group of business people getting together and talking about business, and then they wanted to do something more. Is that correct? [38:26] Scott Weiss: That's a great story. Unpolished is a group within a large church—very vibrant and active community in Cincinnati called Crossroads Community Church—and this group had coalesced and formed and was meeting monthly and providing speakers; and they're sitting around one day, brainstorming (it's a small leadership team): “What else can we do?” And three of the participants in that were high-tech founders—had all founded high-tech companies, and one had had a successful exit (had started a company, grew it, sold it, and was now starting another one)—and those three articulated that the path for a high-tech founder is arduous and fraught with risk and often results in significant damage to health, relationships, and faith, which James talked about earlier. So they said, “Let's start an accelerator. Let's create an accelerator that approaches it differently—that focuses on the founder, with this lens of faith we've been talking about all afternoon.” And the larger group and the church said, “That's a great idea!” And Crossroads very generously kick-started the entire campaign with a donation that allowed for the conversion of this old warehouse space into a fantastic co-working space. So that's how it all started. [Website Contents] Ocean's Financial Support [39:41] Ron Gaver: You say they kick-started it. I read somewhere on your website that they did it with a 2014 Beans and Rice Week? [39:49] Scott Weiss: They do a really interesting fundraiser where, every week, they ask their entire community to take on a third-world diet, which is largely vegetarian and beans and rice, and to contribute the difference they would spend normally for food (dining out, buying a first-world diet)—to calculate that and contribute that to Crossroads. Crossroads collects that money, which is a large sum—the first year was like $350,000, last year was $700,000—all of that money, a hundred percent, goes outside Crossroads to support a variety of partnerships or programs, that don't have any relationship with Crossroads, around the world. It supports building schools in Nicaragua. It supports Ocean. It supports paying to have public swimming pools open in the greater Cincinnati area in a year when the city didn't have any money to keep the pools open. So they give that all away and we were the very fortunate beneficiaries of some portion of that the first year. [Website Contents] Ocean's Mentors [40:48] Ron Gaver: Then as the founder arrives—we've talked about family accommodations, and that's something you call concierge, but there's also really a package of things that you do. We've talked about seed financing. We've talked about the unique, five-month curriculum with all that that entails. A couple of things we haven't gone into too much: first, your mentors. You say you have a great pool of mentors, and I've seen on your webpage a bunch of pictures of all the different mentors. Could you kind of give a characterization of your cadre of mentors—not necessarily saying “this person, this person, this person,” but the type of people that come and support and want to be a part of this? [Website Contents] Role of the Mentor [41:29] James Clair: Yeah, that's very much the guardrails of the program. We introduce a very diverse mentor—I should first say, we identify and address a very diverse mentor pool—and our goal is to educate them as to what it means to be a mentor in an accelerator space, and what it means to be a coach in an accelerator space where you have nine founders (like we had this last class) but 100 mentors and coaches. Obviously, ten mentors and coaches aren't going to meet with every founder every week—the capacity of that doesn't make sense—but it's the right person at the right time, and that's where we come in, where we say, “This entrepreneur is at place X, and that's perfect alignment with this mentor that we have in our pool.” So we're going to introduce them, and we believe that that mentor is going to help shape [the founder] or help put that founder back on track—or you could even say “introduce a discipline” that will help put the founder back on track—[or] share life experience, and don't let me make it seem like it's just business. [Website Contents] Mentor Demographics [42:36] James Clair: These mentors have voiced that they're really passionate about sharing their faith journey and their faith story, just as much as their business successes and even business failures. Our mentor pool—they're not just diverse in the sense of demographically but geographically. Scott has mentioned different mentors and speakers coming in from Israel or East Coast or California, Silicon Valley, the South. That aligns perfectly with our mission of Kingdom expansion globally, and our program speaks to a lot of people, not just in Cincinnati, not just in the mid-West, but [as] we've seen in our applicant pool, in the UK. It speaks to people in Europe. It speaks to people around the globe. We want our mentor pool to be capable and ready, and we want to arm them well enough that when we introduce them, our founders are going to benefit from that exponentially. [43:33] Scott Weiss: So I would just add, Ron, the mentors will break into two broad groups. All of them want to share their personal life story, their faith journey, and they break then, subsequently, into two groups. We have a large group of subject matter experts—accountants, marketing, product developers, project managers, legal—and then we have a smaller group of people who have started businesses and understand the journey. That smaller group tends to form an intimate, one-on-one relationship. One person from that smaller group will end up being with one of the companies for the whole five months. They'll be there every week. They'll have them over their house for dinner. The person who has started the business has the time, the energy, and the maturity in their faith to be able to kind of wrap their arms around a company and be a truth-teller—not to run the business, not to tell them what to do, but to listen and give them honest feedback. Everyone else tends to cluster around tasks, as James pointed out, and we tend to pulse them in and out based on their subject matter and where each company is on any given week. [Website Contents] Partners [44:49] Ron Gaver: In conjunction with that, you also have some partners—some business partners, law firms, banks, Crossroads itself, an organization called 805 Creative (which is a design and creative production agency). [45:02] Scott Weiss: Yep. Companies all get free legal advise the whole time they're in the program. That's a combination of the generosity of the University of Cincinnati Law School, which provides legal fellows, and they're supervised by a local law firm. Last year it was Frost Brown Todd, and it'll either be them or another great local law firm next year (there's two law firms that want to do that). And then all these other business partners line up, and they're very clear: “We will donate this much time.” So the lawyers just said, “We'll be your lawyers.” Each studio says, “We'll give you 20 hours.” And, when we line them up with the company, we say, “Okay, you're asking this agency to do some work for you. And at 20 hours, the clock starts running and you're paying for it, so let's get really focused so you can get done what you need done in 20 hours.” That's what we coach them on doing. [Website Contents] Brand Identity Kit [45:51] Ron Gaver: One of the objectives of that creation experience is a brand identity kit? [45:56] Scott Weiss: Yeah, some of the companies need that. Some do not. This past year, most of the companies had well-established brands and arrived with trademarks in place and graphic design done and operational websites. If the company doesn't have it, we provide that. If they do have it and want to validate it, we provide that. But most of them have really solid brands. In fact, only one of them needed a lot of branding work this past year. [Website Contents] Design Style Guide [46:23] Ron Gaver: And there's something called a style guide in there? [46:26] Scott Weiss: Yeah, that's just a tactical tool on design (the product design itself); what the interaction is like if it's a B2C business (business to consumer). Of the nine companies, almost all of them were B2B (business to business) this past year, so while the style guide is still important, it's not as profoundly important. [Website Contents] A Creative Space to Build Relationships [46:44] Ron Gaver: So then, they're there. Are they all basically in one co-located space, and they feed off of one another and thrive on the ideas and inputs from one another? [46:56] Scott Weiss: Yes, we have a fantastic space. It's a large space, so each company gets a table and all those tables are co-located, and the intimacy and friendships and relationships and energy that come out of that is amazing. And, consistently, when the companies leave, in their evaluations, they tell us: “The most important thing are the relationships I formed.” [47:19] Scott Weiss: They can then get up and walk from there to multiple places in the building, into a private conference room, all glassed in, and they can jump on a video network feed and talk to a customer anywhere in the world (or anybody anywhere in the world), or they can put a presentation up in a larger conference room and have customers come in. They can walk to other parts of the building, which are just quiet spaces, where you can go work alone on your laptop or sketchpad, or you can go and pray or study. And then we have “huddle” areas—we have couches thrown around with area rugs where [I could go] if I wanted to get four or five people together and just hash something out. Whiteboards everywhere—moveable whiteboards everywhere—and everything's open. [48:01] Scott Weiss: There is no closed space. And everything is reserve-able or schedulable, or if it's open, just walk in and use it. We then we have a kitchen area that we use for soup day, and we do a happy hour every Friday and about half of them are on our space, and that's when we set up the beer and the soft drinks and all that good stuff. [Website Contents] Cincinnati as a Hotspot for Entrepreneurs [48:20] Ron Gaver: You're also big fans of Cincinnati itself. You site various things that are going on in the Cincinnati area and the area around Cincinnati, as far as start-up events, accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, universities, something called CincyTech, funds and angels groups, economic development, and various associations. You seem to be real community supporters, and (from my point-of-view) you feel Cincinnati is a great place to do this kind of work. [48:50] Scott Weiss: Yes. [Website Contents] Cincinnati's Community Spirit [48:51] James Clair: What we do is a reflection of what already exists in Cincinnati, that there is an output now of an entrepreneurial spirit that has existed in Cincinnati for a while, and now there are minds and the intellect coming together and opening up about some of these innovative ideas on how this can work in a place not located on the West Coast. And we embrace the community because—I love that you referenced the beans and rice fast; that is the community of Crossroads Church—it was our catalyst to becoming who we are and opening this space that we're in. [The community that goes to Crossroads—not eating lavish meals for a week or pausing their grocery trip for a week, and deciding to go deep into their cupboards—sacrificed.] They made that sacrifice so that what we're doing right now would come to fruition, and I believe that we just simply reflect that in how we speak about our city and how we speak about the community. It's just an affirmation both ways. This is an output that's tethered to a Divine source. [Website Contents] Cincinnati as an Ideal Region for Startups [50:02] Scott Weiss: There's many great places in the world to start a company—to start a high-tech company—so this is not about being better than anybody, but Cincinnati is a very competitive space and has access to four terrific universities (so a broad swath of engineering talent), has access to a large number of customers who are seeking startups to offer creative solutions and that are willing to do tests and are willing to invest their money, has a unique infrastructure where those large companies have formed something calledCintrifuse (named after Cincinnati)—and Cintrifuse's role is to coordinate all the activities, to minimize wasteful redundancy, and to get everyone in this broad region, which includes northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio, to work cooperatively so that we share resources and share programming. So, we think this is a very vibrant, dynamic region for startups, and then the city itself is in the midst of a huge renaissance and can be read about in travel magazines or dining experiences. It's a fun place that's attractive to a lot of entrepreneurs to come and start a business and, hopefully, stay; but, if they depart, depart with the sense of, “I was in a very blessed area for a period of time.” [Website Contents] Appropriateness of Cincinnati for Founders with Families [51:23] Ron Gaver: Would you say that Cincinnati is a family-friendly city? [51:27] Scott Weiss: I would say it's both a family-friendly city, and it's increasingly a city that attracts and has a lot to offer single people who are just starting their careers. [As I mentioned earlier, a number of our founders are married with families, but a larger number are single, and the city has enough to offer them as well.] [51:47] James Clair: Yeah, and that's a great point: for the effects that starting and scaling a business have on a married founder—when I think about moving myself from maybe my hometown or home area, across the country to a new city—the way we support that individual founder is just as much as we would the married founder—the one, you know, relationship from a long distance. We leverage Cincinnati as a diverse city that just has this infectious fun about it, and it's a place where you have an opportunity to do a variety of things no matter, geographically, where you're from. There's a lot of things here that are applicable to, not just mid-western, skyline Chili. It's not all Chili in Cincinnati. There's, like Scott said, a renaissance that's really diversified, honestly, Cincinnati's portfolio as a city. [Website Contents] Ocean's Schedule for Applications [52:37] Ron Gaver: Alright, then as far as Ocean's schedule for a year, when do you usually open up applications? [52:43] Scott Weiss: We'll be opening up applications in September—very early September; maybe very late August—and that'll all be announced on our website. We accept applications from (let's call it) September first to the end of October. We go through our screening process in November and make offers shortly after Thanksgiving [at the end of November] for a class that starts the second week of January. [53:06] Ron Gaver: And that begins your cohort, that goes through it, marching down to demo day as the major milestone at the end; and you said it's a very well-attended—both physically and virtually—event. [Website Contents] Benefits of Demo Day [53:19] Scott Weiss: So first, one of the benefits of Ocean for any startup is [that] our demo day is on a large auditorium stage in one of the Crossroads buildings. This past year, we had 1,400 people attend live. We had 1,800 people stream it live. So that's a total live audience of over 3,000. Last year, after we finished, we posted the stream (the stream's downloadable). Ten thousand people downloaded the stream between last year's demo day and this year's demo day. So, if you're launching a business, you get to come here. You get to go on a stage designed to speak to thousands. You get [a] professional production team fine-tuning your speech. You're streamed live. Your slides are amazing. You get to launch your brand to, literally, thousands of potential customers and hundreds of potential investors. We work real hard to make sure that the audience has a high percentage of angels, angel funds, and customers, based on whoever's in whatever class; and it works incredibly well as a company launches a public event to say: “I am here, and I am ready to go into business,” or “I am in business and I'm ready to meet you and do more business.” [Website Contents] Post-Demo Day Activities [54:42] Ron Gaver: So demo day comes, and demo day goes, and then your companies are still with you for another month. What happens in that month? [54:51] Scott Weiss: Post-demo day, we help the companies take action based on whatever occurred on demo day. So one company is actively negotiating with two different investor groups as we speak, so we are continuing to provide support for them. They're still working out of Ocean—met with them today. Another company came out of Ocean and finalized its application to get into a different accelerator, an accelerator that is core to their industry and will give them access to a dramatic number of customers. They were successful and that will be announced publicly Wednesday. It's a major accelerator. One company received hundreds and hundreds of customer inquiries, who want to hire them, and they're processing through: “How do we manage that and monetize that and service all that?” [55:42] Scott Weiss: So, each company ends up with opportunity coming out of demo day, and we provide support on: “What do you do with that?” And then we also have a few weeks of integrating the entire program back to: “What does this mean for you now in your life? Where do you go from here in your life? The company's a very important part of that, but you're a far more important part of that. You are what God cares about. Where are you going to go?” And then we kind of have a ceremony—we call it a bon voyage party—and we launch them. As of this point, about three of the companies have moved on—they've left our building; they've moved on. One came in and said goodbye today, and the rest are still kind of hanging around, figuring out where they're going to rent space and all that good stuff. [56:29] James Clair: You hit this pinnacle at demo day, and it's amazing, and the companies do an amazing job. They deliver on the highest stage with the most visibility they'll ever have at one time, in their young companies. Post-demo day it's—what Scott said: “What does this mean now? How do I digest this in a healthy way, the feedback that I received from demo day, both good and bad? I retain it as a leave the accelerator.” And that's really what we're there for. We're there to be [sounding boards] and to help them digest and retain feedback from demo day. [Website Contents] Universal Message of God's Interest in Enterprises [57:08] Ron Gaver: That was pretty much the end of my list of questions. The next thing that I was going to ask you is: is there anything that you would like to say or cover that I haven't asked you about yet? [57:18] Scott Weiss: I'm reflecting on this great conversation we've had, which I'm so appreciative of. We've had a terrific conversation, and for anybody in your audience who listens to it, the universal message is: you, individually, matter. You matter to something much bigger than any of us, and that's God, and He cares deeply about you, and He cares about your enterprises and your visions and your dreams. And whether it's a high-tech company trying to get into an accelerator, or someone trying to get an education or someone trying to get a job at a local garage, lean into your gift and lean into it with the knowledge [that] God wants you to utilize that gift to your best ability; and in that leaning into it with the spirit of “what does God want me to do in this,” greater riches will come to you than in any other way in your life. So, our message would just be: lean into the gifts you have, and keep asking yourself, “What does God want me to do in this?” And more will come back to you than you can possibly imagine. [58:20] Ron Gaver: Well, thank you very much for your time

Mark and Tim sit down to discuss venture fund / limited partner dynamics, how Tim's firm Cintrifuse helps entrepreneurs, and ShareThis - a company he founded where he is now the chairman.

Cincinnati Business Talk highlights the positive side of Cincinnati area businesses. Tim Schigel is an accomplished entrepreneur and venture investor.  As Chairman and Founder of ShareThis, he created one of the largest platforms on the Web, powering the sharing of all forms of content through all social media channels for over 650 million people worldwide.   Some of the world’s most successful brands, such as American Express, AT&T, Disney, Toyota and more, use ShareThis insights to deliver digital brand advertising across the Web.  The company has raised over $60 million and in 2013 was recognized as the fastest growing company in the San Francisco Bay area. In addition, Tim manages a fund totaling over $50 million for Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based regional innovation initiative.  Investors in this fund include American Financial, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Duke Energy, Kroger and Procter & Gamble.  In 2012, Tim was asked to lead the digital efforts for the Republican National Committee and the presidential election. Prior to founding ShareThis, Tim was Director with Blue Chip Venture Company, where he led the firm's investment in marketing and technology leaders such as Advertising.com (AOL/TW), Nielsen Buzzmetrics (Nielsen) and Third Screen Media (AOL/TW). Tim remains active in venture capital and startups as mentor, advisor and investor in DotLoop, The Brandery and LISNR, and also served on various non-profit and university boards. This show will air at 4 PM on Friday April 11th.  Listen to this link: http://tobtr.com/s/6186647 You can listen to the show on Apple iTunes as a Podcast. You can add the podcast at:   http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Cincy-Business-talk.rss You can add Cincy-Business-Talk as an RSS feed to your Outlook email program. The exact feed http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Cincy-Business-talk.rss