Discover How to Make Confident Asks with Eric Smith, Executive Director of the UA Center for Innovation
Eric Smith has over ten years of experience in Technology Commercialization and a passion for entrepreneurship. Eric came to the University of Arizona Center for Innovation after serving as the Commercialization Network Manager for Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the University of Arizona's office responsible for moving UA research and technological innovation into the marketplace.
While Eric was at TLA, he focused on building and leveraging a network of domain experts and business leaders who consult on university technologies to help reveal their commercial relevance. He also managed the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps grant program, or NSF-I-Corps, which teaches inventing teams about Lean Startup methodology and customer discovery.
An entrepreneur in his own right, Eric started, developed, and sold his first company to embark on a career in various technology startups. He holds a BS, BA in Business Management, B.S. in Entrepreneurship, and an MBA from the University of Arizona.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Eric Smith plays the speed round with Stephanie Sims
- The best ask Eric’s ever heard
- Should your ask be more specific or general?
- Preparing for your ask: how to carry out a better customer discovery
- How the Tucson startup ecosystem is supporting new entrepreneurs
- Why you need to get comfortable asking
- Common mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a pitch
- Eric talks about the value of doing your research before an ask
- How the UA Center for Innovation is serving scalable science and technology companies
In this episode…
First-time founders are always eager to pitch even before figuring out who their customers are and what they want. According to Eric Smith, Executive Director at the UA Center for Innovation, these founders often have one thing in common: they fail to carry out useful customer discovery. The result is an ask that does not inspire confidence in the customer or a potential investor.
How, then, do you carry out useful customer discovery? Eric says ultimately, you need to have a clear understanding of what exactly you're asking for and why you're asking for it. Armed with that information, you should ask your prospects questions that’ll help you discover their pain points and identify who's giving you the money.
Learn more about making confident asks in this episode of the What's Your Ask show with Stephanie Sims as she hosts Eric Smith, Executive Director of the UA Center for Innovation. Stephanie and Eric discuss what to do before you ask, how to conduct better customer discovery, common mistakes made when preparing a pitch, and more.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- UA Center for Innovation
- Eric Smith on LinkedIn
- Eric’s Email: [email protected]
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
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