CLEVELAND, OH. December 3, 2019 – Flashstarts is pleased to announce that they will focus on innovation consulting for corporations beginning in January 2020. Flashstarts is taking their hard-won, startup-proven, deep practical knowledge of how to deliver effective, meaningful innovation to the world of mature businesses.
After seven years of serving as an accelerator and micro-vc fund, Flashstarts is evolving. From 2013-2019 Flashstarts supported hundreds of entrepreneurs through their labs and accelerator programs; and have helped their portfolio companies raise over $45 million in follow on capital. In addition to their investment funds, they developed one of the largest startup internship programs in the country; and have shared their methods and research with collaborators from around the world. Flashstarts also founded StartMart in 2015 as a robust co-working space that serves as home to dozens of small businesses, freelancers, and high tech startups. Over the past seven years, they have helped build sustainable companies and create hundreds of jobs. For the Flashstarts team, this change was inevitable since they have lived on the bleeding edge of technology and process for the better part of a decade. Flashstarts will bottle that entrepreneurial DNA and wisdom for new audiences. “It’s been thrilling to be surrounded by such talented individuals who push the boundaries of what’s possible. We are thankful for everyone who has been part of our process and are excited to explore the next chapter,” says Flashstarts’ COO Shannon Lyons.
Flashstarts will offer corporations and organizations the ability to integrate entrepreneurial methodologies and develop intrapreneurs (employees who do for corporate innovation what an entrepreneur does for a startup). From corporate blockchain strategy to developing new products and becoming “crypto literate”, Flashstarts will inject clients with live startup DNA. In addition to project-based consulting, Flashstarts will also host innovation sprints that will teach intrapreneurs about business modeling, customer/user validation, crypto literacy; and will expose them to emerging technologies like blockchain. Flashstarts partners, Charles Stack and Shannon Lyons, are poised to infuse the landscape of corporate innovation with scrappy, high-impact methods that build successful startups.
“The greatest value we can offer to our clients is our radically different perspective. We come from the startup world where rapid iteration, fast failure, wonky new technologies, minimum viable products, and agile development are the norm,” says Flashstart’s CEO Charles Stack. ”Thoughtfully injecting some of that DNA into mature corporations will enable and spur innovation.”
There are already three one-day sprints scheduled for Q1 2020 and Stack will deliver an intro session at the Blockland Solutions Conference on Tuesday at 11:00 am. Visit the new website to learn more.
