Startup Wisdom 5 questions for Elliot Turner, Founder & CEO, AlchemyAPI

Presented by IBM THINKLeaders!

ELLIOT TURNER

HQ: !

Denver, Colorado, USA

Industry:

!Company: !

Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

Computer Software

AlchemyAPI (Acquired by IBM in 2015) One of the largest Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms for understanding data on the web with users across 36 countries

© 2015 IBM Corporation 2!

1 When founding your startup, was your goal to be acquired?

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Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

!© 2015 IBM Corporation 4!

Startups mean: High growth & a liquidity event

“At the end of the day, you want to grow, and you

want to have some sort of thing that happens at the end that makes it all worthwhile

to the investors, to the team, to everyone involved.”

2What is the transition from startup to acquisition like?

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“It wasn’t just about our position in the marketplace, it wasn’t just about our technology.

It was about the DNA of our team, about the velocity that we can create useful

artifacts for the world to leverage.”

Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

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On AlchemyAPI’s acquisition:

© 2015 IBM Corporation 6!

3What can corporations learn from startups?

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“Big companies need to learn from startups and startups need to learn from big companies, there's a virtuous cycle

that we can all benefit from.”

Startup strengths: Speed, agility, cross-business integration

Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

!© 2015 IBM Corporation 8!

What mistake has taught you the biggest lesson? 4

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“If you’re not cultivating the next set of leaders, making sure that they not only have the capability, but

the autonomy to do their jobs, to trust in their decisions, you will hit a wall and it’s going to impede your ability

to continue climbing up that mountain.”

Lesson learned: Build out your team quickly

Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

!© 2015 IBM Corporation 10!

“Ultimately, as a founder and CEO, everything that goes wrong

in a startup is your fault. The buck stops at the top.”

Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

!© 2015 IBM Corporation 11!

What advice would you give someone thinking of starting a company? 5

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“The path for any startup is never going to be a string of one success after another. There's going

to be ups and downs, good times and bad. And for you to get through those bad times, to really take that marathon run, you have to

have those things that you’re passionate about anchoring you and grounding you.”

Elliot Turner, Director, Alchemy, IBM Watson

!© 2015 IBM Corporation 13!

THANKS!

@IBMThinkLeaders www.ibm.biz/thinkleaderscommunity

!Interview by Katie Farrer Designed by Elizabeth Wood