Ry Walker of Differential
When Ry Walker and Tim Metzner decided to launch their own business,
Differential, as a venture to help other startups, they didn't have to look far to find an ideal clientele in the town they know and love.
How did you start your business?
Tim [Metzner] and I met in 2012, discovered we had a similar vision for our "ideal jobs" and decided to work together to make it a reality. We met with more than 50 entrepreneurs and dozens of influential people in the Cincinnati startup ecosystem to refine the vision.
How did you come up with the idea for your business?
The idea came out of our desire to impact the Cincinnati startup community to the greatest extent possible, given our interests and talents. We're huge proponents of
Lean Startup, and it's baked into our methodologies and thinking, and we believe it can have a big impact on the success of local startups.
What local resources did you take advantage of and how did they help?
The leaders in the Cincinnati startup ecosystem will welcome anyone who wants to get involved. We've had multiple meetings with people from
CincyTech,
Allos Ventures,
Brandery,
Queen City Angels,
Uptech,
NKU's Inkubator and
Haile Foundation, as well as people like David Willbrand, Vance Van Drake and Chris Fister.
Everyone has been extremely helpful in helping us achieve our goal to shape our model so that it is complementary to their goals and objectives. Our aim is to be another spoke in the wheel that is moving our startup ecosystem along.
What’s next for you and your company?
We expect to announce our first services-for-equity relationship within the next few weeks, as well as formalizing a few relationships that will allow us to expand the reach of our process beyond our services-for-equity partners.
Interview by Sean Peters