Recipe for Reinvention - Meredith McDermott

Meredith McDermott (MM 2015), currently a Human Experience Lead at Gray Swan AI, focused her Entrepalooza session on her winding journey to her current role, including the times she had to reinvent herself and her career. 

Her undergraduate education was not in design, but after graduating and exploring various opportunities, McDermott pursued a Master’s degree in Interaction Design at Carnegie Mellon. She went on to work at LinkedIn as a UX researcher, which was also a pivot, and loved the culture that the company had in the mid-2010s. The structure and resources the organization offered, along with the emphasis on collaboration, made it the perfect place to start her new career. 

However, Meredith soon had to face reinvention again, as she and her family made the move back to Pittsburgh from San Francisco, where she started working for Duolingo in 2018. Her role at Duolingo brought about changes—the type of research she was conducting structurally changed, her team shrank in size, and 2020 forced their work online. Throughout these changes, Meredith was still able to complete work that was meaningful to her and to continue to optimize the Duolingo platform for users. 

In her most recent act of reinvention, Meredith now works for Gray Swan AI alongside fellow Carnegie Mellon graduates, and her work focuses on keeping the human experience relevant in a world dominated by AI. 

Her career has taken turns that she could not predict, but instead of digging her heels in, Meredith welcomed change and found that reinventing her life was simply a part of her journey. For aspiring entrepreneurs who listened to Meredith’s session on reinvention, they learned the importance of flexibility, as not everything can be trusted to work out as we initially intend.

More Than My Title - Sarabeth Berk Bickerton

Entrepalooza attendees also had the opportunity to listen in on the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services (MIIPS) seminar course during the event. This seminar session, featuring author Sarabeth Berk Bickerton, aimed to help attendees realize that they do not have to be confined by their skills, degree, or even their future job titles. Her book, More Than My Title, urges people to differentiate themselves as professionals, making them stand out more and giving their unique abilities the deserved recognition.

According to Sarabeth, professionals need to move past the titles they were given and focus on defining their professional identity, not just the title of their job, but a title that accurately describes what they actually do. She asserts that who you are emerges from your actions, and in some cases, people have jobs with a wide set of tasks and skills, thus requiring a more unique title.

To create this unique title, Sarabeth developed a framework titled 'Three Types of Professional Identity.' The types are as follows: Singularity, Multiplicity, and Hybridity. These categories help professionals define what type of worker they are, ranging from being solitary, to working together with others, to wearing many 'hats' in their role. A starting point is for someone to complete the statement, “I work at the intersection of xyz,” as it helps them to narrow down their professional identities.

An example of this classification is Sarabeth herself, as her differentiated title is a Creative Disrupter, a combination of her hybrid professional identities, which are artist, researcher, educator, and designer. By presenting this title, Sarabeth generates intrigue, emphasizing that specificity makes one memorable.

This session reinforced the notion that future professionals do not need to conform to industry standards; instead, they can present themselves as a culmination of their various experiences, skills, and areas of expertise.

Venture Funding Panel - Jordan Marinkovich & Austin Lignell

For students looking to pursue entrepreneurship, the question likely on their minds is: “Where will I get the funds to start my business?” Platform Manager of Innovation Works, Jordan Marinkovich, and Director of 99 Tartans, Austin Lignell, answered audience questions about the nuances of securing funding.

Both speakers provided unique perspectives on venture funding and the timelines of startups. 99 Tartans is an angel syndicate composed of CMU alumni that invest alongside a main investor. Innovation Works is an early-stage investment network seeking to drive innovation in Pennsylvania’s technological industries.

Jordan and Austin were asked about the factors that influence venture capital investments in startups. They both emphasized that no single element guarantees funding for a company. Several factors come into play, including the ability to present a pitch that is open to feedback from investors, a deep understanding of the specific industry and its challenges, and awareness of the overall market and technology landscape. These factors all contribute to a startup's chances of securing funding.

Additionally, they were asked what makes a good investment and what makes a bad one. Unfortunately for aspiring entrepreneurs, distinguishing between good and bad investments can be quite challenging, as they often appear similar. Austin noted that for some companies, everything may seem to be going perfectly during the investment process, only for them to fail unexpectedly. Conversely, some startups that face difficulties during their early stages can still achieve success. The conclusion is that timing, hard work, and a bit of luck all contribute to a startup's chances of succeeding.

Jordan acknowledged that most investments tend to be poor ones, and there is no guaranteed formula for success. However, she emphasized that having a strong foundation of customer obsession—truly understanding the audience's problems and how to solve them rather than merely selling technology—is a trait commonly associated with successful ventures.

Grow to IPO - Kanishka Maheshwari

Kanishka Maheshwari (DC 2006, HNZ 2006) spoke to students about his career, helping them learn about the life cycle of a startup and the intricacies of a lifetime in the tech industry. Starting out as an engineer at Salesforce, Kanishka became familiar with the push and pull between product and sales, as the platform's massive user growth created performance challenges.

With hopes of starting his own business, Kanishka left Salesforce and relied on his own discipline to find a problem to solve. He found that being able to solely focus on this new venture allowed him to discover the problem and the subsequent solution that became his startup, InterPrime. A treasury management service, InterPrime kept businesses' money secure and allowed it to be invested safely, while also enabling them to survive shifting market rates.

In founding InterPrime, Kanishka found that his Carnegie Mellon connections served him well, as his co-founder was a fellow CMU grad. Kanishka noted that while some may be reluctant to work with their friends, he asked, "Who else would I want to work with—my enemies?" He encouraged future entrepreneurs to consider working with their friends, asserting that as long as respect is maintained during disagreements, issues could be minimal.

After surviving the chaotic instability of COVID-19 and remaining a profitable business despite it all, InterPrime reached an inflection point in 2021, where competition grew fierce, and they had interest in being acquired. At the end of the day, it was a practical decision, according to Kanishka, as the team had a good relationship with the acquiring company, which ultimately led to InterPrime being acquired by Rho in 2022.

Other aspects of growing a business that Kanishka included are the importance of product-market fit, how to honor intuition despite data, defining the scale of your enterprise, and focusing on the customer. He focuses on these aspects as the VP of Product at Circle, another startup in the financial sector, and he uses everything he learned at Salesforce and InterPrime to grow this new enterprise.

For Kanishka, being an entrepreneur involves learning from past experiences, dedicating himself fully to his company, and recognizing when it's time to walk away and start fresh.

Corporate Innovation Panel - Dr. Deepan Chandru Kamaraj & ​Dr. Jimmy Williams Jr.

The final session of Entrepalooza featured two speakers who are leaders in corporate innovation.

Dr. Deepan Chandru Kamaraj is the Director of Analytics & Informatics at UPMC Enterprises, and his division’s goal revolves around innovation and investment. In practice, they focus on research and development, identifying companies that solve problems in the medical sphere and seeking to license their technology or partner with them to potentially integrate them into the UPMC ecosystem.

Dr. Jimmy Williams is an independent director and chair of the board at Fortius Metals and retired from ATI Materials as the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He previously served as Executive Director and Distinguished Service Professor of the Engineering and Technology Innovation Management (ETIM) program at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Deepan and Jimmy understand that innovation in corporations and large organizations involves extensive trial and error. A crucial aspect of innovation that Deepan and Jimmy stressed was the ability to pivot, recognizing that failure is inevitable and that a plan should be in place to fall back on. Jimmy emphasized that effective leaders should create an environment where failure is acceptable and innovators should not be punished for it, as failure is an inherent part of the process. He emphasized the importance of cultivating a culture that anticipates failure while also promoting open conflict and respectful disagreements.

Deepan agreed that allowing space for respectful disagreements was vital for innovation teams to move forward, and provided an example of the retrospective sessions his team holds after experiencing failure. These sessions involve listing what went right, documenting what went wrong, and seeking conflict resolution. He stated that he wants conflict to be present because it compels people to articulate their disagreements in a language the other person understands, and it signifies a healthy work culture.

Advice was given regarding success, with Jimmy emphasizing that it isn't determined by intelligence, but rather by understanding the ecosystem around you. Recognizing that a product needs to be differentiated, not simply similar to competitors, is crucial for achieving success in the startup world, as uniqueness helps businesses stand out. Furthermore, how you and your organization pivot after encountering a roadblock not only defines your leadership but also impacts your company's success. Deepan added that success relies on the speed and execution of the solution being offered, which can be challenging to manage in startups with small teams.

The relationship between leadership and innovation can significantly impact the success of organizations, whether they are corporate or startup entities, because effective collaboration is crucial for developing solutions.

Conclusion

Entrepalooza brought together entrepreneurs, innovators, and industry leaders for a day of candid insights that illuminated the realities of building, funding, and reinventing a career or company. By engaging directly with professionals who have navigated uncertainty, embraced change, and led with curiosity, students left with a deeper understanding of what it takes to thrive in innovation-driven fields.