Profile: Cheryl Turnbull

Meet Cheryl Turnbull. Senior Director, Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University. 

Name: Cheryl Turnbull

Job: Senior Director, Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University

City: Columbus

Q: What is it that you do at Ohio State? 
The Tim and Kathleen Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University was formed to create a coordinated, collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem across the university by providing opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni to engage with the rapidly-growing startup community in central Ohio and beyond. Our support services are organized around capital, talent, programs and venture acceleration.

Q: What’s a problem that you are working to solve? 
If you look at the components of a successful startup, there are three basics: technology (or idea), capital and talent.  

Ohio State faculty researchers continually develop technologies that have received hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars of research funding – so we have the technology component of startup covered! 

Additionally, the university Board of Trustees committed $100 million to invest in a series of funds based in central Ohio that can support these startups (including Drive Capital, the Ohio Innovation Fund, the Rev1 Fund, and the Catalyst II Fund). So, it’s really the talent component in short supply. We are always looking for experienced business leaders who know how to bring a technology to market.

Q: What’s a lesson you’ve learned that has helped shaped your work? 
Startups always work better with a team that consists of a technology leader (the inventor) and a business leader, or experienced executive. No matter how smart each leader is independently, you need both skill sets in order to create a successful startup company.

Q: What’s a trend in technology or innovation that you believe doesn’t get enough attention? 
One technology that I think has been marginalized as a fad is crypto-currencies. Most people tend to think solely of bitcoin. But a crypto-currency is really just a means of digitally tracking ownership of an asset. This asset can be a token (like bitcoin), but it can also be a title – such as to stocks, bonds, a patent, a home or a piece of art – anything in which the ownership trail is critical.  

Think of how banks, securities firms, and security firms will be impacted. Innovative companies need to look outside of their own technology space to see how new technologies (or the odd virus) can force a change in their business models.

Q: What’s one moonshot idea that could help make Ohio a world leader in technology and innovation? 
Technology and innovation are fueled by people. My moonshot would be to allow Ohio to set its own h1b visa quotas – and to make them expansive. Our success is dependent upon attracting outstanding and diverse talent and students to Ohio – and retaining them!

Q: What’s a recent book, podcast or news story that you found interesting? 
I’m currently reading The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. It is a fascinating account of Churchill’s management of Britain during the Blitz. We all believe we are “under siege” from the coronavirus. But here is an account of a leader who had to rally a nation – and in particular London – that was being bombed every night. Surrender would have stopped the immediate pain. Churchill had to inspire a people to sacrifice and be larger than themselves as individuals in order to rescue the world.

Q: What's your favorite place in Ohio? 
One of my favorite places is Ohio Stadium on game day!

Q: What makes Ohio special to you?  
Buckeye nation is compassionate and caring, innovative and creative, dedicated and driven. And, I love that you can go anyplace in the world, shout O-H and have someone shout back I-O.

Connect with Cheryl on LinkedIn.