Finnegans Brew Co.’s Finnovation Lab is kicking off a partnership to connect seasoned industry veterans with impact-oriented entrepreneurs.
The partnership is with Voyageur U, a Minneapolis-based organization that educates people on how to become fractional executives and helps connect that network to opportunity. Fractional executives are sort of the gig workers of the C-suite — industry veterans who lend their expertise to businesses in need of specialized leadership. For example, a retired chief financial officer might bring their experience to a handful of startups, acting as CFO in a part-time capacity.
For the Finnovation Lab, which offers space for startups with a social impact mission, that could mean entrepreneurs get regular access to a chief marketing officer or an experienced tech guru.
“You want variety,” said Jacquie Berglund, CEO of Finnegans. “Everybody wants to give back, so we are just bringing that all together in one space to help lift that up.”
The Finnovation Lab's goal is to support food and beverage startups with a mission toward social impact that are valued between $1 million and $5 million. The two organizations signed the contract earlier this month, and John Arms, co-founder of Voyageur U, said the partnership will last until the teams hit their mission.
“We want to help a million people become fractional,” Arms said. “There are millions of people who need to leave the corporate trap that they find themselves in and go independent and be self-reliant and be self-determined.”
Being a fractional executive is different than consulting or freelancing, which tend to be more project-based, because fractionals join leadership teams and are invested for broader business development. He said the partnership has mutual benefits. The startups at the Finnovation Lab are bootstrapping big ideas and are trying to foster a network while building capital. Fractionals in his network will come in three times a month to assist with those goals.
Voyageur U has about 750 fractionals in its orbit, some beyond Minnesota, and they will show up for informal water cooler meetings, which can manifest into pop-up advisory boards or deep dive sessions. It starts next month, and the plans are likely to evolve.
“Some smart startup businesses are like, ‘I gotta have a finance person for like an hour, I gotta do a deeper dive.’ So we're trying to provide that supply for them,” Arms said.
Connie Rutledge, CEO of the Finnovation Lab, has been working with startups for 25 years. But as the lab has supported more founders in the consumer packaged goods space, she found a blind spot and learned the complications of the industry.
While she excels with educational work, the founders can tap fractionals or corporate sponsors for partnerships, corporate connections and the CPG-specific knowledge. “The fractionals are one way to connect founders to industry expertise,” Rutledge said.
She said the goal is to create free-flowing relationships throughout the ecosystem to help the Twin Cities become a hub for innovations in consumer products.
Finnovation Lab also hosts fractional events, like Frak 2023, which will happen in late October.
Arms said Voyageur U helps corporate executives find a new path where they can give back their expertise. Some get burned out on corporate life, others just want more freedom.
“We want to bring freedom, opportunity and fulfillment to every worker in the world,” he said, recognizing the loftiness of the goal. “We know that the last 50 years has not really been a great stage for that for millions of people.”
He said there are about 33 million business in the country. There’s 500 on Fortune’s list, “and the rest of us.” He said Voyageur U is dedicated to the latter.
“Nobody at Pepsi is hiring a fractional CMO or CTO, right? They're all serving the bread-and-butter of America,” he said.
