Podcast Summary: "Harnessing Innovation to Maintain Your Competitive Edge"

Your Next Move, produced by Inc. Magazine in partnership with Capital One Business, delves into the strategies employed by leading entrepreneurs to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving business landscape. In this episode, host Mike Hoffman engages in insightful conversations with two trailblazing founders, Luan Cox of Finmarket and Sheila Leirio of OHI AI, exploring how they leverage innovation to sustain their competitive advantage.

Introducing the Innovators

Luan Cox – Founder of Finmarket At the outset ([01:01]), Luan Cox introduces Finmarket, a company dedicated to providing point-of-sale (POS) technology to banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders. Finmarket specializes in facilitating point-of-sale financing, particularly in the home improvement and healthcare sectors. Their comprehensive tools enable businesses to embed lending seamlessly into their operations, enhancing customer experience and streamlining financial transactions.

Sheila Leirio – Founder of OHI AI Sheila Leirio presents OHI AI ([01:34]), an AI-driven virtual personal assistant designed to function as the operational hub for families. OHI AI addresses everyday challenges such as scheduling conflicts, email management, and task delegation. Sheila emphasizes the mission of the company: "to allow us to take care of our families, to be able to sit down for meals, take care of their nutrition and just free up our minds from this cognitive overload that we have in life" ([01:38]).

Leveraging Experience for Innovation

Disrupting the Status Quo Luan Cox shares his journey of continual innovation, stating, "We are in the process of disrupting ourselves, so we are going to release a product very soon that will make our product obsolete" ([02:50]). This philosophy underscores the importance of self-disruption to stay ahead of market trends and technological advancements.

Sheila Leirio echoes this sentiment, highlighting the need to build upon previous experiences: "If we decided to step off and we didn't build off of our previous knowledge of experience either in finance or in the care industry...then it's hard to kind of innovate from that thing that we're trying to disrupt ourselves" ([06:59]).

Strategic Customer Acquisition and Business Models

Finmarket’s Approach Luan discusses Finmarket’s initial challenges in securing paying customers: "We had this big idea... but nobody would pay us. We can, you know, and so that is a hobby. Right. That's not a business" ([08:44]). Persistence led Finmarket to secure a key partnership with one of the top five largest credit unions in the United States, followed by a top 10 national bank, validating their technology and business model ([10:23]).

OHI AI’s Growth Strategy Sheila outlines OHI AI’s rapid customer acquisition: "We launched the alpha in August of 2023 really fast because it's now the AI world, generative AI. And we immediately got customers coming in. We had 500 families" ([13:07]). Strategic partnerships, such as integrating with Instacart, have been pivotal in scaling OHI AI’s offerings and enhancing user engagement ([15:19]).

Data-Driven Decision Making

Finmarket’s Data Utilization Luan emphasizes the critical role of data in Finmarket’s operations: "We use data and credit underwriting models...which is very heavily data driven" ([53:55]). This approach not only improves approval rates but also refines financial products to better meet consumer needs.

OHI AI’s Data Strategies Sheila elaborates on how OHI AI leverages data for operational efficiency and product development: "We collect the daily dump. Get rid of this cognitive overload and allow us to actually delegate these everyday things" ([53:48]). Regular customer interviews and data analysis inform ongoing product enhancements, ensuring the AI assistant remains aligned with user expectations ([54:25]).

Balancing Innovation with Resource Allocation

OHI AI’s Milestone-Driven Growth Sheila discusses the importance of setting clear milestones and prioritizing projects that align with these goals: "We have to focus on the milestones we've got to achieve through the gates and we've got to earn the right to get to the next gate" ([27:34]).

Finmarket’s Flexible Approach Luan adopts a flexible, builder-centric approach, maintaining that "everything is a priority and everything can be done equally and with quality" ([29:08]). This mindset allows Finmarket to adapt swiftly to client needs and market changes without rigid prioritization frameworks.

Navigating the Innovator’s Dilemma

Self-Disruption vs. Legacy Constraints Sheila reflects on her experience with Care.com, highlighting the challenges of innovating within a public company constrained by legacy systems: "We couldn't innovate fast enough as a public company. Like, we were stuck there" ([33:04]).

Luan contrasts this with his approach at Finmarket, where being a serial entrepreneur enables continuous innovation: "It's a mindset... always be two or three steps ahead" ([35:05]). This proactive stance ensures that Finmarket remains a leader rather than a follower in the fintech space.

The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Both founders share personal insights on how their immigrant backgrounds have fueled their entrepreneurial spirit. Luan notes, "Every day that I'm alive is an innovation" ([39:18]), reflecting the resilience and adaptability ingrained from his journey from Vietnam to the United States. Similarly, Sheila speaks about the influence of her upbringing in the Philippines, where gender gaps are narrower, fostering a natural inclination towards leadership and innovation ([40:19]).

Cultivating a Culture of Creativity

Insights from Karen Bonner, VP of Brand and Acquisitions Marketing at Capital One Business Karen Bonner underscores the role of leadership in fostering creativity within established companies: "Cultivating a culture of creativity always starts with leadership" ([42:24]). She advocates for:

• Encouraging Cross-Collaboration: Facilitating interactions across departments to spark diverse ideas.
• Providing Creativity Tools: Implementing platforms and tools that enable all employees to contribute creatively, regardless of their role.
• Recognizing and Rewarding Creativity: Celebrating successful innovations and treating failures as learning opportunities to maintain an ongoing creative culture.

Embracing Change to Stay Competitive

Key Lessons by Sarah Lynch Sarah Lynch highlights the necessity of embracing change to avoid obsolescence, citing examples like Amazon’s transition from book sales to a tech giant through strategic innovation ([45:07]). She distills vital lessons for businesses:

1. Anticipate Market Shifts: Regularly monitor trends to proactively adapt.
2. Understand Changing Customer Needs: Continuously align product offerings with evolving consumer demands.
3. Never Rest on Success: Consistently seek improvement and diversification to maintain market relevance.

Audience Q&A: Leveraging AI and Data

Top AI Tools Recommended Luan recommends tools like Scale AI for creating personalized prospecting emails, emphasizing the importance of AI in enhancing B2B operations ([50:10]).

Sheila promotes OHI AI and Perplexity, highlighting their roles in boosting productivity and providing comprehensive information sourcing ([50:47]).

Maintaining Human Touch with AI Sheila stresses the integration of humans within AI systems to ensure a personalized user experience: "Humanity within AI is we have humans in the loop" ([51:56]).

Smart Use of AI for Productivity Luan explains Finmarket’s use of AI to handle repetitive tasks, thereby allowing human employees to focus on more complex issues: "We use AI in customer support...making our humans be 10 times more productive" ([52:34]).

Data-Driven Growth Strategies Both founders emphasize the dual use of data for operational efficiency and informed decision-making, ensuring their businesses remain agile and responsive to market needs ([53:55] - [54:25]).

Conclusion

The episode of Your Next Move offers a comprehensive exploration of how seasoned entrepreneurs like Luan Cox and Sheila Leirio harness innovation to sustain and enhance their competitive edge. Through strategic self-disruption, data-driven decision-making, and fostering a culture of creativity, these leaders exemplify the dynamic approaches necessary to thrive in today’s fast-paced business environment. Additionally, insights from industry experts like Karen Bonner and Sarah Lynch provide valuable guidance on maintaining creativity and embracing change, ensuring businesses not only survive but flourish amidst continual disruption.

Listeners are encouraged to adopt these innovative strategies to navigate their own entrepreneurial journeys successfully.