Profile: Carrie Murphy
Meet Carrie Murphy. Senior Director, Ohio at Venture For America
Name: Carrie Murphy
Job: Senior Director, Ohio at Venture For America
City: Cleveland
Q: What is it that you do at Venture for America?
Venture For America (VFA) is a national Fellowship program that is creating economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs.
VFA identifies highly talented recent college graduates via our rigorous selection process that is designed to test candidates’ adaptive excellence, grit and resilience, and ability to contribute to a growing startup. After four weeks of training, VFA Fellows spend two years working for a startup in one of 14 U.S. cities with an emerging startup ecosystem, including Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Throughout the fellowship, they learn how to contribute to a growth business and also benefit from mentorship, ongoing training, and the nationwide VFA community and network. When Fellows and Alumni are ready to build companies of their own, VFA provides resources to help them become successful entrepreneurs.
Q: What’s a problem that you are working to solve?
Venture For America was founded in 2011 with the vision to foster entrepreneurship in cities with emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems. Since then, the Fellowship has grown from 40 Fellows in 2011 to over 1,000 recent college graduates having launched their careers with VFA. More than 450 companies have hired Fellows in 18 U.S. cities, and 30% of Alumni have founded companies that employ approximately 470 people.
We’re also committed to making VFA an onramp to entrepreneurship. Study after study has shown that diverse teams are more effective, solve problems better, create better products and services, and ultimately, perform better financially. The more diverse the viewpoints and experiences of our Fellows, the stronger and more inclusive our community becomes. Connecting our startup partners with a diverse talent pool helps them better achieve their goals and positively impact the communities where they operate. Partnering with entrepreneurs and founders from diverse backgrounds gives our Fellows better opportunities to learn and grow as professionals. This year, our 2020 Class is on track to be the most diverse class with over 50% identifying as female and over 50% identifying as a racial or ethnic minority.
Q: What’s a lesson you’ve learned that has helped shaped your work?
Really getting to know and meeting your customers or clients. Whether it’s been in a recruiting, sales, fundraising or community building role, it’s been so important and helpful to meet those individuals. It’s more challenging today but getting out of the office and meeting someone in person goes a long way. It not only recharges you as an individual but helps you better understand and support your customer. We’re in a time where in person cannot happen but don't be afraid of having video meetings when possible. If it’s not in person or over video, make the genuine effort to learn more about the person you're speaking with, their priorities, pain points, and how you can help them.
Q: What’s a trend in technology or innovation that you believe doesn’t get enough attention?
If you asked me this question before COVID-19, it would have been the same answer. But now even more so, creating technology infrastructure and a culture that allows for remote work to be successful is a trend that I think doesn’t get enough attention and has potential to have a huge impact for businesses.
Obviously not all companies can do remote work but for those who can, it can be worth the investment. It’s critical for there to be support from leadership and the right technology and practices adopted but benefits have been widely studied. First and foremost, it allows for access to more talent. Additionally, allowing employees to work remote also reduces time spent commuting, improves employee retention, lowers costs for companies, and if done right, can and should increase productivity and profits.
Q: What’s one moonshot idea that could help make Ohio a world leader in technology and innovation?
Focusing on the strengths we currently have the infrastructure to support, whether it’s manufacturing, food and beverage, healthcare, insurance, etc. and innovating. Making an effort to invest in new technologies, practices, and growth initiatives. Taking more risks in those areas.
Q: What’s a recent book, podcast or news story that you found interesting?
Daily family walks have become a very special (and maybe necessary for our sanity) part of our routine during quarantine. Every morning, we listen to the Planet Money podcast. The episode “Where’s the Vaccine?” was super interesting. You apparently need 900,000 chicken eggs every single day for 6-9 months to make the needed vaccine supply for the US. I had no clue that the government pays for a year-round supply of eggs, just in case there is a pandemic flu outbreak!
Q: What's your favorite place in Ohio?
Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. First off, I can walk there from my house. I go there to workout at GrooveRyde. I can also go shopping at local boutiques and eat food from local places like Chutney B, Nature’s Oasis, Brassica (shout out to Columbus), and Mitchells. Even my grandmother lives in the apartment complex. It’s the best place to go and run into people you know!
Q: What makes Ohio special to you?
The people. Our immediate family is here. The people are so friendly, supportive and caring. We have the best neighbors. I also love that somehow everyone has a connection to Ohio. Having previously lived in NYC and speaking to many people who do not live in Ohio, I’m always surprised by how many people have a random connection to Ohio.
Connect with Carrie on LinkedIn.