Staying Ahead of the Curve

By Jared Marquette

At the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, we do not solely work with new businesses and startups.  I know, you weren’t aware of that, but tis true.  We have a few tricks up our sleeve.  

One of those tricks, which isn’t a trick at all, is helping large existing corporations create more customer focused, lean operating employees and culture.  Truth is, growing a business can often mean losing touch with your customer, not growing to know them better.  And thats a problem.

Jumpwerx, a Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Jumpstart Foundry collaborative initiative, is solving that problem in a unique way; we created a Flux Capacitor and can travel back in time to a place where the large organizations were just startups an allow them to get back in touch with their roots and learn from our guidance.

Hold on, Mitch, from Jumpstart, said we can’t do that.  Says I am way off.

Apparently, instead of time travel, we have created a program that brings in large organizations and takes them through the steps of operating more as entrepreneurs.

That makes more sense.

This week, the EC will be bringing in 25 employees from Schneider Electric. We will be working with them and their leaders to understand how to create and sustain a culture driven by focus on the consumer needs and staying ahead of the curve.  

Schneider Electric really does deserve a pat on the back.  By giving their employees the tools and acumen they need to understand their markets, create solutions, and execute upon those items, they create an opportunity for innovative and collaborative culture to thrive. These employees will be better equipped to understand the process of building items read to bring to market, and instead of waiting to be told by the market what is next, they will be ready to supply the market with what it wants as it realizes what’s next.