Steve Franks
Innovation Process Creation | Entrepreneur Advising | Business Author
Innovation Process Creation
You know your field - and I know how to develop innovation in ANY field.If you are a business owner or CEO who wants the long term stability that an ongoing process to create innovation can produce - then I'm your guy.Hit that arrow on the right to contact me and learn more.I can help your company establish a process for producing innovations year after year. I'll work hands-on with you to get your process up and running, then cheer you on from the sidelines.Before moving to entrepreneur coaching, I worked as an innovation consultant for 6 years, helping Fortune 500 companies invent breakthrough next-generation products and customer experiences.
Entrepreneur Advising
You're the domain expert - I'm the experienced entrepreneur advisor.If you are a founder or CEO getting ready to Launch, need to Pivot, or are ready to gear up and Grow, I can help you think through your business model and plus up your strategy.Hit that arrow on the right to contact me and learn more.Every business has strengths and traction that they can leverage plus gaps that they can fill or develop. Your success doesn't depend on some plan - it depends on how well you tangibly leverage strengths and fill gaps in your business. We'll use that framework as we think through six essential areas of your business model.Over 20 years I've advised roughly 4,000 startup entrepreneurs and founded several startup venture accelerators around Northeast Indiana. In other words, this is not my first rodeo.
Business Author
My essays and articles about Entrepreneurship and Innovation are published at Substack. Go read and subscribe!For all of you bootstrapping entrepreneurs, I've published 2 DIY E-Books to help startup founders and product innovators "coach themselves" - for the price of a few lattes.
What The Entrepreneurs Say
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1. Jared Christiansen
Professional Photographer
Website and PortfolioJared sums up concisely what I am shooting for when I advise entrepreneurs.
*******************************"I met with Steve about a year before I started my photography business. His questions (asked with kindness and curiosity) were direct, challenging and necessary.He helped me see what I couldn't at the time. He was planting seeds and giving me guidance that still sticks today. He helped me get honest with myself and my venture.My full-time photography business and career is going on 6 years strong now, and it was my conversation with him that was the turning point.I'll always be grateful to Steve for helping ignite that spark that I needed. Thank you!"
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2. Evan Roberts
Helps teachers supplement their income by tutoring students
LinkedInHaving the confidence to launch a major expansion turned an already-successful personal tutoring business into a full time growing venture with much higher growth potential. I provided the confirming second opinion.
*******************************"Steve has been a great resource for me as I begin my entrepreneurial journey. He helped me navigate whether or not to pursue a 2nd business venture during the summer of 2025. After that conversation, I decided to pursue the 2nd business and have doubled the revenue of the existing service based business and generated over $50k+ in cash collected revenue during August, September, and October of 2025."
About Me
A resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, I have nearly always worked around entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.The first company I started was a software company. Since then I have started or co-started several companies or programs:- a technology accelerator program
- a co-working space
- several venture accelerators
- 2 student entrepreneur programs.I hold an MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth Graduate School of Business with concentrations in marketing and finance. Upon graduation I was awarded the 1996 George Hay Brown Outstanding Marketing Scholar Prize.The icon for this section is a caricature by a talented young artist, Ashton Weir
@ash.art_0303 on Instagram.