Editor’s Note: Cincy Inno has partnered with Untold Content, “a writing consultancy for thought leaders,” to share some of its “Untold Innovation Stories,” interviewers with local leaders from #StartupCincy who are making an impact on the ecosystem. The piece was republished here with permission from Untold Content and was edited for Inno style. Read previous editions to the series here.
Wendy Lea's Innovation Story
Former CEO of Cintrifuse, current board leader of Techstars, entrepreneur, mentor and community steward, Wendy is well-versed in the role technology innovation plays in the growth and efficiency of corporates and in the economic impact of entrepreneurship in states and regions. From implementing “go to market” solutions to the largest tech companies in the world and diving into the startup space, to forging public-private partnerships and more, Wendy is uniquely positioned to build innovation economy.
UC: What is your field of speciality? WL: I specialize in technology, and more specifically, innovation around economic vibrance.
UC: Where does your personal and/or organizational innovation story begin? WL: My fascination with innovation in economic development began with entrepreneurship when I co-founded OnTarget, which served Fortune 500 technology, telecommunications and services brands with highly targeted sales marketing processes and consulting. From there, I grew involved in mentoring and investing in other startups. This put me on the radar for Cintrifuse, a public-private partnership that enables high-growth startups to prosper in Cincinnati, where I was later recruited as CEO. A collective of CEOs gathered research that compared the greater Cincinnati region to its peer cities in the areas of density and maturity of startups, capital into the region and overall corporate engagement. According to the research, Cincinnati didn’t rank so well; thus, Cintrifuse was born. The goal was to condition the region for more startups and shift Cincinnati’s economic trajectory by becoming the No. 1 innovation hub in the Midwest.
At the start, I was given some very interesting assets, including the fund of funds, which gave us connectivity to VCs that invest in early stage startups, and our co-working space, Union Hall, which acted as a front door to entrepreneurship. The third asset we had to build on our own. With my team, we had to establish a blueprint of capabilities that would bring startups out of their homes to connect with investors, customers and each other.
First, we needed to spread awareness and attract startups with our marketing initiative, StartUp Cincy. Then, within Cintrifuse, we built the system and workflow. This programmatic system was designed to deliver value to members of our startup community over the life cycle of their business. Now, Cintrifuse encourages startups to pace themselves and get smart. Whether through bootstrapping efforts or other investments, startups have to obtain funding. Then, when they are closer to enterprise-ready, they can offer their innovative solutions to large companies.
And here’s the truth of the matter: Over the dozen cities I’ve been to, before and after this experience, I’ve never seen a systematic, programmatic capability offered to startups. Ever. And now, Cincinnati has it.
UC: What impact has your innovation had on your organization or the field at large? WL: And so then the impact is easy, right? The impacts are reflected in the startup community, the density and maturity of those startups, their customer engagement and capital into the region. When it comes to startup community building across the Midwest, we became very high profile. Our blueprint was recognized in Inc., magazine as the best model for startup success.
UC: What one piece of advice would you give to future innovators? WL: My main advice is: Be bold with your vision. Be aggressive in finding leverage with process, people and partnerships. Be consistent in communicating progress with all stakeholders — startups, corporates, investors, universities and government organizations — and stay focused on the upside for all involved in the initiative.
When work gets hard, passion goes down and stress goes up; it’s difficult to maintain passion if you don’t see daily progress. The daily progress — that daily struggle — is what the innovation game is all about. And if you don’t put KPIs or frequent measures of progress in place, the struggle will turn into a sinkhole. I want readers to walk away asking themselves: “What am I doing to focus on the upside everyday, every month, every quarter? And how am I measuring my progress and ability to execute?”
UC: What role do you feel that storytelling plays in innovation? Could you describe the importance of storytelling to your own work? WL: Storytelling is important in tech innovation, and it looks a little different depending on the size of your company. Technology innovation entrepreneurs and startups — folks who don’t have a budget to go get a PR firm — have to do it on their own. Everyone is a publisher now. The nature of technology, and tools like blogging and LinkedIn, make it possible for individuals and startups alike to self-market.
Corporations, on the other hand, can be high level and abstract when it comes to the structure and strategy for communicating their ideas. That’s not how startups talk about their own innovation. Their storytelling is much more directed at gaining visibility for their category overall (like A.I. and health care) to their very specific product and service, or a compelling explanation of their own personal journey. It’s storytelling beyond a presentation of ideas.
