On the entrepreneurial spectrum I’ve owned or co-owned 4 small businesses, coached over 2,000 startups (from angel and VC backed tech startups to bootstrapped side gigs), co-founded and operated a co-working space, started several venture accelerators, and managed an entrepreneur grant fund.
On the innovation front, I’ve led and trained corporate teams conceiving new products, services, and business strategies. I learned from a brilliant innovation mentor, Ron Sears, over 6 years.
Educationally, I hold an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth Graduate School of Business, where I was awarded the 1996 George Hay Brown Outstanding Marketing Scholar Prize. I’ve taught entrepreneurship and innovation at the undergraduate and graduate levels, but it was the hands-on coaching work I’ve done that taught me the most.
I live in Fort Wayne, the growing second largest city in Indiana, where I collect local art and work with nonprofit Believe in a Dream to help high school students become independent entrepreneurs.
Contact me at …
- steve@stevefranksinnovation.com
- Twitter – @swfranks
- Instagram – @steve_franks
- LinkedIn – Steve Franks
