Startup Wisdom: Elliot Turner
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Elliot Turner started his first company as a sophomore in high school. Now with two successfully acquired startups under his belt, he has invaluable insights to share. Here are highlights from his discussion with Katie Farrer of IBM THINK Leaders. Check out the full podcast at http://bit.ly/1XCCPa2
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Startup Wisdom: Elliot Turner
- 1. Startup Wisdom 5 questions for Elliot Turner, Founder & CEO, AlchemyAPI Presented by IBM THINKLeaders!
- 2. ELLIOT TURNER HQ: ! Denver, Colorado, USA Industry: !Company: ! Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson Computer Software AlchemyAPI (Acquired by IBM in 2015) One of the largest Arti鍖cial Intelligence (AI) platforms for understanding data on the web with users across 36 countries 息 2015 IBM Corporation 2!
- 3. 1 When founding your startup, was your goal to be acquired? 3!
- 4. Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! 息 2015 IBM Corporation 4! Startups mean: High growth & a liquidity event At the end of the day, you want to grow, and you want to have some sort of thing that happens at the end that makes it all worthwhile to the investors, to the team, to everyone involved.
- 5. 2 What is the transition from startup to acquisition like? 5!
- 6. It wasnt just about our position in the marketplace, it wasnt just about our technology. It was about the DNA of our team, about the velocity that we can create useful artifacts for the world to leverage. Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! On AlchemyAPIs acquisition: 息 2015 IBM Corporation 6!
- 7. 3What can corporations learn from startups? 7!
- 8. Big companies need to learn from startups and startups need to learn from big companies, there's a virtuous cycle that we can all bene鍖t from. Startup strengths: Speed, agility, cross-business integration Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! 息 2015 IBM Corporation 8!
- 9. What mistake has taught you the biggest lesson? 4 9!
- 10. If youre not cultivating the next set of leaders, making sure that they not only have the capability, but the autonomy to do their jobs, to trust in their decisions, you will hit a wall and its going to impede your ability to continue climbing up that mountain. Lesson learned: Build out your team quickly Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! 息 2015 IBM Corporation 10!
- 11. Ultimately, as a founder and CEO, everything that goes wrong in a startup is your fault. The buck stops at the top. Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! 息 2015 IBM Corporation 11!
- 12. What advice would you give someone thinking of starting a company?5 12!
- 13. The path for any startup is never going to be a string of one success after another. There's going to be ups and downs, good times and bad. And for you to get through those bad times, to really take that marathon run, you have to have those things that youre passionate about anchoring you and grounding you. Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson ! 息 2015 IBM Corporation 13!
- 14. THANKS! @IBMThinkLeaders www.ibm.biz/thinkleaderscommunity ! Interview by Katie Farrer Designed by Elizabeth Wood