• About
  • Article PDF
  • White Papers
  • Listening Tours​
  • Contact
  • Support Us
  • Advertising & Sponsorships
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Times Of Entrepreneurship
Growth and Equity for a Changing World
Times Of Entrepreneurship
No Result
View All Result

Hult Prize-Winning Startup From Ohio State Aims to Put Stories At The Center Of Team Management

by Shirly Piperno
June 29, 2021
in Ecosystem
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Members of the Helm team are still in college as undergraduates. Kai McKinney, Times of E’s interviewee, is at far left.

For our Startup Spotlights, Times of Entrepreneurship scouted the most successful startups that spun out of top university competitions and programs. The impact of such awards can be many years in the making, especially in the DeepTech space.

A brief overview: Helm is a platform for managing culture-drive teams that gives every team member a voice – adding their story to the decisions that build culture and drive progress. Helm started at Ohio State University. This interview was conducted with Kai McKinney.

Which university challenge did you win and when? Or how are you affiliated to a university?

At the Ohio State University, we won three major startup challenges: The Hult Prize (Campus Competition), the Best of Student Startups (BOSS) competition, and the Business Builders IdeaPitch competition. We started Helm at Ohio State as undergraduates, and much of our team is still enrolled in school in addition to running Helm. 

What is your elevator pitch? Has it changed much since you started? 

Helm is a platform for managing culture-drive teams that gives every team member a voice – adding their story to the decisions that build culture and drive progress.

It’s changed quite a bit – most drastically, we switched from a hiring-focused platform to a team management platform (focusing on retention and engagement of existing team members) at the beginning of the COVID crisis. We knew we could make a sizeable impact in hybrid and remote workforces by helping teams that were undergoing drastic change, like growth or going remote.

Along the way, our team has prioritized community, building organizations like LaunchpadOSU, a free startup weekend for all students, and movements like Can’t Stop Columbus, a COVID volunteer initiative.

What should we know about you?

Our biggest asset, and the thing we’re most proud of, is our team and the community that surrounds it. We share a drive and a mentality to serve, build, and endure that’s led us to where we are now. We’re particularly proud of the Columbus startup/tech community we work in – it’s unique collaborative, helpful, and humble. I wrote an article about it!

What are you looking for?

Right now, we’re working with a growing number beta users, and we’re always grateful for connections with more culture-focused companies, people who work in HR/People Ops, and generally anyone who’s passionate about company culture and teamwork! We’re specifically working with Series A and B companies undergoing significant growth. In addition, we value advice from people who work around culture and startups, including org behavior psychologists, consultants, People Ops + HR folks, and leaders and managers. Later on this summer, we’re raising a seed round.

Why should someone invest in you?

We’re really proud of our product – it’s innovative, effective, usable, and adds real value – and our business strategy. But like I said earlier, our greatest asset is our team. Like any other startup team, we’ve endured hardship and worked hard to persevere. Unlike some, we’ve always gotten stronger, more confident, and more capable. And we’ve always worked to include our community in our thinking, putting users and user-centered research at the center of our thinking. Ultimately, our team has always gotten stronger the harder the process gets, and coupled with our user-centered research and development approach, it means we’re always in the position of executing on opportunity.

How much total funding have you raised so far and from which sources?

So far, we’ve only raised small pre-seed amounts from student startup incubators and friends and family. We’re currently working on a seed raise that should formalize late this summer.

How many employees work for your startup? 

There are 5 of us working full-time on Helm. In addition, our team is composed of equity-compensated advisory board and some part-time independent contractors. 

Is there a clear evidence of success you would like to share? 

We’d point to our strong cohort of beta companies that have adopted our product into their workflows and teams, surfacing employee-led insight that’s led to real impact within the organization. With the user as our north star, we see every customer testimonial, case study, and user-led insight as success.

What has surprised you the most after winning/ about starting this?

Ideas are easy and execution is hard. I guess it’s not that much of a surprise, given that everyone tells you about it, but actually working through it really proves the point. But also, people are really nice and always willing to help, share expertise, brainstorm, and listen – especially people in tech and business in Columbus. 



This story and others on Times of E are made possible by a sponsorship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. The Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation uses its grantmaking, research, programs, and initiatives to support the start and growth of new businesses, a more prepared workforce, and stronger communities. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

Tags: HelmKai McKinneyOhio State University
Shirly Piperno

Shirly Piperno

Related Posts

A Crop Intelligence Startup Backed by Salesforce’s Benioff Aims to Help Farmers Feed the World

by Lori Ioannou
March 13, 2023
0

Ofir Schlam is the founder of Taranis, a startup that uses drones to monitor and analyze crops. Photo: courtesy of...

How Saint Javelin Plans To Help Rebuild Ukraine

How Saint Javelin Plans To Help Rebuild Ukraine

by Nina Roberts
February 22, 2023
0

Saint Javelin founder Christian Borys in Lviv, Ukraine. Credit: Courtesy of Saint Javelin Anyone who has read about the war...

A Founder’s Collaboration Skills May be the Key To Success, Especially in Deep Tech

A Founder’s Collaboration Skills May be the Key To Success, Especially in Deep Tech

by Elaine Pofeldt
February 18, 2023
0

Satlantis, a Spanish company whose equipment is shown here, is involved in a collaboration at UF Innovate. Aitor Moringo is...

Homepage Header

Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Leaders: Miami, Pittsburgh, Virtual

by Elizabeth Macbride
January 27, 2023
0

GET Champions: Tech Leadership in Miami Forward-thinking Miami tech industry leaders are invited to apply for GET Champions Miami. The program will...

A $350 Billion U.S. Chip Manufacturing Boom

A $350 Billion U.S. Chip Manufacturing Boom

by Elizabeth MacBride
January 6, 2023
0

The $350 billion chip manufacturing boom in the U.S. As I journalist, I’ve learned to ask myself: What are the...

Real Estate Entrepreneur Offers an Alternative to the American Dream of Homeownership

Real Estate Entrepreneur Offers an Alternative to the American Dream of Homeownership

by Lori Ioannou
December 8, 2022
0

Mark Wolf of AHV Communities is a pioneer in the build-for-rent real estate sector. Unlike many entrepreneurs who’ve made their...

Subscribe to Times of E’s Free Weekly Newsletter

Learn about the emerging ecosystem of diverse founders

Popular

  • A Crop Intelligence Startup Backed by Salesforce’s Benioff Aims to Help Farmers Feed the World

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Top 20 U.S. University Entrepreneurship Competitions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • VC Spotlight: Living Cities Raising $100M Fund of Funds To Help Close Wealth Gap

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Venture Capital Returns Are More Skewed Than People Realize

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel Investors Are the Engines Of The Women’s Economy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent

Editor’s Note:  One Guiding Principle for Bank Regulators

Editor’s Note: One Guiding Principle for Bank Regulators

March 20, 2023

Weekly Newsletter: Small Business’ Surprise Rebound; Michelle Yeoh’s Leadership; Indy’s Agtech Superstar; $100M Fund of Funds

March 20, 2023
Black man in a suit

VC Spotlight: Living Cities Raising $100M Fund of Funds To Help Close Wealth Gap

March 17, 2023

Recommended

  • Health
  • Climate
  • Deep Tech
  • Finance
  • Education
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Mentorship
Man in black standing in a technology classroom

In a System Without Much STEM Support for the Most Vulnerable, it’s Up to a Teacher Willing to go a Step Beyond

1 year ago
woman scooping brown and white ice cream

Will Altruism Fade As The Pandemic Wanes?

2 years ago
  • About
  • Partner
  • Bespoke Research
  • Listening Tours​
  • Contact
  • Support Us
  • Privacy Policy

(703-966-7357)

© 2020 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
No Result
View All Result
  • Research
  • Finance
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • New Builders
  • Ecosystem
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Editor’s Note

© 2022 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Support Times of E

Times of E covers the emerging ecosystem of diverse founders.

With your support of our journalism, you will receive our weekly newsletter and one of these resources for free: 

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?