When Penny Lee started at 1776 as the company's first Chief Strategy Officer in February, she was already intimately familiar with the team.
Lee met 1776 co-founders Evan Burfield and Donna Harris when they were all establishing K Street Capital. Then, Burfield and Harris only had a rough idea of what this thing called 1776 would look like, where it would be located and what it could turn into.
Now, 1776 is a globally known name, with campuses in Crystal City, D.C., Brooklyn and Dubai. It's had plenty of executive shake-ups in the past year, with Harris stepping down as co-CEO in November, and the additions of Peter Cherukuri as Chief Innovation Officer in August and Lee as Chief Strategy Officer earlier in 2017. The Washington Business Journal reported Thursday that more executives are planning to leave along with a few members of the D.C. staff in the coming weeks.
In her new role, Lee's charged with looking at the full structure of the part-venture firm, part-incubator company. She's keeping the 1776 brand aligned with the company's vision for itself.
"It's the jack of all trades (role), you could say," Lee told DC Inno in an interview. "The main focus for me in this role is as we've gotten larger and as our footprint is now in New York and Dubai that we continue to maintain our brand integrity, and that is to be able to make access to success available."
So, what does that mean for the company's headquarter location?
Well, that's where the UNION network and 1776's new low-key secret startup cohort come into play. As a part of her strategy for 1776 in D.C., she wants to grow the community surrounding the headquarters.
"I still think that 1776 is a place to convene all. It's a place that I still think is the largest as far as companies being incubated here," Lee said. "The campus has a mission in and of itself: both to make sure that our startups here that are incubated are prepped for growth and at the same time to be able to convene the conversations with the policy leaders and thought leaders in the city to make sure that they see and have exposure to the startups, as well."
They're starting by expanding the UNION network, an online platform created by 1776 meant to connect startups anywhere to mentors in their community. To do that, 1776 is first moving its entire 2017 Challenge Cup pitch competition over to the network. Each of the startups in all 75 cities will be put on the platform, with the hopes that they can find a meaningful place to communicate with local entrepreneurs and tech people.
And while they expand UNION, Lee and the team at D.C. have been stealthily working with 20 startups for their first official startup cohort program—all culminating with a Demo Day-esque event on May 16. The cohort will take place quarterly.
"Since 1776 started, there's been a lot of other co-working, incubators, accelerators and others that have popped up in the city. We want to do our part. We are all together in this village to create the strongest ecosystem that we can have," Lee said. "We want to make sure that we cross-pollenate, that we share, to make sure that we as a city and as a region are as strong as we possibly can be."
She recognizes that although 1776 is a worldwide startup organization, not just exclusively a D.C. tech company, they have a lot of eyeballs and influence in the local community. Working with local D.C. area universities, expanding UNION locally so more people are hosting mentor sessions, and bringing a variety of judges to their local events and demo days is top of mind for Lee as she settles into her new role.
"There's a lot of conversations with individuals and with the other startup hubs," Lee said of expanding the UNION network. She jokes around the office about "forming a more perfect union." Puns aside, that's simply her goal for the platform.
"One of the reasons for going with '1776' was this notion of a revolution taking place," Lee said. "There's an energy and excitement that's going on out there."
Sure, 1776 is expanding beyond just its D.C. campus. It's finding a voice in Brooklyn, and subsequently New York's tech scene. It's finding a voice in Dubai. While Lee focuses on the strategies for those locations, too, she's not leaving D.C.'s established voice behind.
"Being in the capital city that it is, having the access, you have some of the smartest individuals in this town that any issues is identifiable," she said. "I think that what makes this campus unique is the ability to gather some of the biggest thought leaders in our country and taking them from just identifying a problem to finding a solution."
