P&G exec talks Cintrifuse's role and growing the city's next bigco

For the first time in more than six years, Cintrifuse, Cincinnati’s startup catalyst group, has named a new board chair, and it’s a longtime Procter & Gamble executive who’s on his third career stint in the Queen City. 

Guy Persaud, P&G’s president of new business, said he wants to help make the region the No. 1 startup hub in the Midwest. That’s long been a Cintrifuse goal since its formation in 2012. But he thinks the scope should be bigger than that.

“I would love to make it eventually No. 1 in the country, which I think it can,” Persaud said. “That’s where we’re setting our sights.”

Persaud succeeds Valarie Sheppard, who recently retired as P&G’s treasurer and controller. While Persaud carries on the P&G torch — former P&G CEO Bob McDonald served as board chair prior to Sheppard — he’s the first leader from the company’s new business division to serve in the role, something both he and Pete Blackshaw, CEO of Cintrifuse, called a natural fit.

Blackshaw said Persaud brings a fresh perspective — and at just the right time. Cincinnati startups are celebrating a record year in terms of capital raised, and Persaud wants to see the city’s biggest companies, or bigcos, invest more locally. 

“There is a symbiotic relationship between startups and bigcos. The problem is that when big meets small, friction often occurs,” Blackshaw said. “The difference maker is executive leadership. When CEOs and other senior leaders make it a priority to innovate with and through startups, and to tear down barriers that get in the way, the sky’s the limit. Guy brings entrepreneurial experience that will help our region move faster, more courageously and more boldly… and is fast becoming one of our most influential advocates.”

Since his appointment earlier this year, the group has rolled out three key priorities: 

I chatted with Persaud earlier this week to learn more about those new goals, and why he’s so high on Cincinnati right now:

Tell me a little more about each of these priorities and how they will position Cincinnati for growth. Our goal is to make the Greater Cincinnati region the No. 1 startup ecosystem in the Midwest. I would love to make it eventually No. 1 in the country, which I think it can. We have so many opportunities here that other cities don’t. I’ve worked in four continents and 60 countries and the combination of things in Cincinnati — the accessibility, the cost of living, the restaurants, the bigcos, the Fortune 500 companies, what’s happening at the airport and in fintech, that lends itself to being a real hotbed.

In the past, I don’t think there was the intention to make Greater Cincinnati a thriving startup hub. You could argue that a couple decades ago, or even maybe a decade ago, maybe this wasn’t an amazing, sustainable place for our companies and talent to thrive. But things have changed. Covid has made doing things virtually so much easier. People are interested and willing to come here. We’re starting to develop enough critical mass.

The second priority is to create the next unicorns at home, so we have the next P&Gs and Kroger. We have some success stories starting to emerge — 80 Acres Farms landed a $160 million raise and CinCor raised $143 million — so we’re starting to see some momentum.

But we need our first anchor. And then we need to celebrate it broadly. I’m very confident we’re going to have one very soon.

For the third, we’re starting to identify, what are the innovation challenges bigcos have, and how can we outreach and scout for technologies or ideas that might exist from startups in the area.

When you talk about creating the next unicorn — that is something Cincinnati’s startup ecosystem has been lacking. Why is reaching that milestone so important? The impact that a single company can have on an ecosystem is huge. It’s a magnet to start to attract more talent to the region, more startups and also broaden our industry footprint. We’re trying to develop fintech, we’re trying to make a much bigger difference in sustainability. It has an incredible ‘rising tide lifts all ships’ kind of impact.

I don’t think we’re just going to see one (unicorn) emerging. I think we’re going to start to see a handful.

What interested you in this board role? Why take on something like this? It’s something I’m passionate about and I hope I get to do for a while. Since I started in March, we’ve been trying to roll up our sleeves and make things happen and organically grow. The innovation we’re adding at P&G links well to the innovation we're trying to do in the region. It’s a unique and obvious connection. 

Pete Blackshaw said you’re a good fit for the board chair for a number of reasons. One being because you love Cincinnati. This city became my home. My family is from a country called Guyana, which is a very small country in South America next to Venezuela, and I was the first person (in my family) born in the developed world. I studied in North American and Europe and traveled all over the world.

This is my third time coming back to Cincinnati (with P&G). When I first came in 1999, I was living at One Lytle Place, and I remember watching the barges go by and thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ I was a little lost. It’s crazy to think about that today, and how much I love this place. Our city has so many things going for it that people outside our region don’t see. But people are starting to connect the dots.