Shortly after graduating I-Corps, Matt Crowley and Bill Wichert were accepted to the prestigious Techstars Accelerator. Then, they made the bold move to pivot their startup, Signal Cortex, which is now an operations management platform for building and field service companies. Matt and Bill recently spoke with UARF's Elyse Ball about the high and lows of entrepreneurship, solving real customer problems, and the importance of having a group of entrepreneurs as friends.

Elyse: Tell me a little about yourselves and your backgrounds.

Matt: I was born and raised in Cleveland, went to Case Western for computer engineering, and worked at Microsoft as an engineer. Then, I discovered airports, which was awesome! I worked in the airport industry for six years. I was the CIO for Cleveland Hopkins and Philadelphia International Airports. 

Bill: I've lived in the Cleveland area my whole life. I went to Tri-C. Eventually, I figured out a good direction for myself, which was a cross between business and technology. After being at Case, I took on the role as a manager at the airport working for Matt, then took over as CIO when he left. When the opportunity presented itself, I went to Philadelphia International Airport to join up as the Innovation Program Manager. 

Elyse: How did the idea for Signal Cortex come about? 

Matt: When I joined the airport in Cleveland, I started to sense there was this big communication problem between managers and frontline employees. It wasn't because the frontline employees weren't good at their jobs. It wasn't because the managers didn't have big hearts and weren't trying to do it. It was this breakdown in communication between the customer, the manager and the frontline employee. One of the greatest examples: I was walking through the terminal and a dog pees on the floor. And I'm like, this is a spill hazard, it's in the middle of the walkway. So I ended up standing in front of this puddle of dog pee for two hours, because I made a phone call and it took that long for it to jump through the dispatcher to the shift manager to the frontline employee. I wouldn't say that was a breaking point, but it was very emblematic. It was one of those things where we said to ourselves, “We can improve this.”

Elyse: You pivoted pretty significantly between the customer segment you started with in I-Corps and where you are today. Was that pivot a difficult decision to make, especially given your previous work experience at airports? 

Matt: I mention airports, because even going through I-Corps, we were focused on that. While we had all this great experience in airports, we decided to go learn about other markets and go on ride-alongs with people and figure out if there are other folks with similar problems.

Bill: When we went through I-Corps, we used our interviews badly. We interviewed based on a structure of almost validating our own thoughts, not digging deep enough into the customer. So we got a lot of validation for what we had planned on doing and we thought, “Great. Look at all these people. They're saying we're right.” But when we went back to them and said, “Would you buy it?” They said, “Of course not.” So, we asked, “Wait, wait, wait. But you said this is the problem.” They responded with, “Yeah, but I'm not buying that. That won't fix my problem.” That was the start of the pivot. Once we got into Techstars, we started leaning into the Clayton Christensen “Jobs to be Done” model. You need to find the motivation for why a buyer is buying something and what their true internal processes are. As an example, one of the buying motivations of our first customer was that he was driving around at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, going to different states to address customer issues. He could no longer manage all the pieces of his business, and it was starting to eat into his family and personal time. When we figured that out, it was like we found the group that has the problem. And within three weeks we had our first customer. 

Elyse: One of the things that we frequently hear from new founders is that it’s challenging to transition from a customer discovery mode to a sales mode. How have you achieved that? 

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In what other ways have others helped you out?

Alireza: I think in all aspects. You need to be open to learning from others, even those who reject you. I was rejected two times from the UA $10k startup challenge and two times from I-Corps Sites. Each time I reached out to judges and asked for feedback so I could improve. Also I’d like to listen to people who criticize my idea because they may have a point I can use to improve. 
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Nate: When I was working alone, I was essentially developing things and not getting feedback. I wound up getting into Bounce and that really opened up a tremendous amount of networking; I met over 50 local entrepreneurs in 6 months of being there. I’ve worked with Alec at MAGNET, he’s a mentor. The I-Corps program was tremendously helpful. If it wasn’t for I-Corps, me and Ali wouldn’t have met. We went through that together! At the time, my business skills were lacking. 

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What’s it like balancing the requirements of grant funding?

Nate: From my experiences so far, in order to qualify for an SBIR, everyone involved in the startup company would need great titles and to be experts on paper. However, I think in order for a startup to be successful, it should not be full of experts on paper at the onset, but aspiring talents that have skin in the game. This is the team I have formed. If you were to apply for an SBIR grant, they are looking for a solid team of experts from the start. A startup should be free to transform so rapidly as it grows; the team should grow and change, striving to be great and evolving to become what the industry customers are interested in. In the case of the SBIR method, the starting team would not be the most efficient team at another level. That’s one thing I see being an issue with SBIRs because essentially, you’re supposed to establish a concrete team and it’s not flexible.


What would you tell a student who was thinking about being an entrepreneur?

Nate: If a student got really interested in this, it must be a passionate project for them. I don’t think anyone chooses to be an entrepreneur... maybe they do, I’m not sure. But if you just want to make it happen, I think that’s the first inspiration and at that point, everything is risky. You’ll be risking school, because you’ll be distracted. That’s how it was for me. I would actually compare it to having a girlfriend. I mean, it’s a commitment. Haha. I compensated by taking fewer classes every semester and graduated in six years instead of five.

Alireza: Don’t do it, unless you enjoy it! In the startup world, you’ll face many challenges. You need to find a way or make a way in order to move forward. If you’re not enjoying it, it’ll get very hard.

Nate: At some point people will question your decisions. My professor got me into a great grad school and because it was too big of a time commitment, I turned it down. In having that conversation with him, there were a lot of questions! That was a turning point for me. 
   People are giving you advice but you’re not taking it and you think to yourself, that could be dangerous but if you find you’re turning into an entrepreneur and you’re pursuing your passion and doing what you believe is right… people will question and not be happy with how you live your life. I believe that’s kind of confirmation that I’m doing the right thing. At some point, you will probably be an outcast completely, which is kind of the phase that I’m in right now. As long as you believe you’re doing the right thing, eventually people will be like, hey, yeah, they’re doing the right thing.

Alireza: In school you don’t find many people who think the same way as you do. Students do research or study for courses and this is what students are “supposed” to do but I was doing what I am really interested in, and I was different. 

The entrepreneur community is quickly growing, especially with the extra time everyone has seen in the past year. We are able to slow down for a second and rethink our steps from our past and rethink our future. Learning never ends, and what better way to learn than to hear from I-Corps participants and local entrepreneurs Nathaniel Hawk, CEO and Founder of Xadite Perceptions and Xadite Quantum, and Alireza Bagheri, CEO and Founder of G-Angel, who spoke with UARF's EbaNee Bond about their own journey and experiences through entrepreneurship.


What is your field of study and what inspired you to it?

Alireza: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. So, my father is an electrician. I grew up with electrical tools around the house. As a kid, I used to fix my game consoles when I was 8 years old. My father encouraged us to study electrical engineering, and here I am.

Nate: Electrical Engineering. My grandpa is an electrical engineer and his dad was a mechanical engineer. It’s weird, but engineers run back through our family. I think it’s kind of how our minds work; We take things apart and can learn how the systems work. When I was younger, when something broke like a computer or a lawn mower I would take it apart, figure out why it’s not working and fix it.  


What word/title would you use to describe yourself? Why?

Nate: An applied researcher. I value fundamental research a lot, but now I really enjoy making practical products out of existing research. There’s soooo much research and a huge chunk that is untapped. Today, my day to day role is more like a Project Manager.

Alireza: A problem-solver. When I see a problem, it gets me involved. 


What’s your day to day look like?
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Nate: I wear a lot of hats and I have a lot of interest in different things. I’ve tried to section it out into different days. 

Alireza: Wearing plenty hats too. There are days that I am writing a proposal for a grant or funding. Another time, I am writing codes for the prototype. Or, I am reading medical papers on the effect of Intravenous medications for different medical conditions. Or, I am preparing for a pitch or a technical presentation. Or, I am having a chat with potential customers. At the same time, I have responsibilities as a graduate teaching assistant too. And this list of tasks goes on and on. Sports and traveling is a part of my life too. I try different sports and I like competitive group sports like volleyball. I recently joined sailing and surfing club that’d be a new thing for me. ​

A group of senior biomedical engineering students at The University of Akron participated in the spring 2020 cohort of the program to further research into the development of a cuff-less blood pressure monitor. Team members Megan Laws, Allie Stephens and Alison Targosky answered some questions about their product.
Tell us about your product, the cuff-less blood pressure monitor.
“The monitor is a cuff-less device that will determine blood pressure noninvasively utilizing Korotkoff sounds. These Korotkoff signals are detected using a microphone module and filtering system. The cuff-less feature reduces the risk of product misuse and misplacement and allows for the device to be more comfortable for the patient. After further miniaturization, the product is expected to be wireless so that measurements can be taken easily without the need for excessive, bulky equipment.”
What influenced you to conceptualize a cuff-less blood pressure monitor?
“The original idea was conceptualized last summer at the 2019 Biomedical Engineering Society Coulter College design training program. The competition pushed the team to think outside of the box and create innovative solutions to pressing medical problems. Through several interviews with health care professionals, we saw a common issue with the typical blood pressure monitor’s cuff component. By using a cuff-less design, we were able to alleviate many of the issues that had been expressed with the current equipment.”
As part of the I-Corps program, you had to interview potential customers for your product. Who did you interview for feedback? Was there anything that surprised you from the interviews?
“We began the interview process by speaking directly with health care workers that would be operating the device. These professionals had great insight about the pitfalls of current devices and the environments in which they are used. Blood pressure has what appears to be an infinite number of applications and we seem to uncover new settings that rely on blood pressure monitors with every interview. I-Corps encouraged us to interview more people that would have business insight, aka those with purchasing power. This got us to shift gears and interview people who are more involved with the supply chain, including purchase coordinators from various hospitals. As engineering students, we didn’t have a significant amount of experience with purchasing processes, so these interviews were very insightful when trying to determine our path to market.”
Where are you at now with the project?
“There is still a bit of development to complete on the device. Our most recent accomplishment was successful testing of the Proof of Concept Prototype. This testing proved that we can pick up on Korotkoff sounds without restricting an artery in the traditional manner with an arm cuff. With some design refinements, we will be able verify some critical outputs and miniaturize components for easier operation. To fund this development, the team has been spending the past several weeks since graduation applying to various design competitions and grants.”
How did the I-Corps program help you along this development journey? What was your biggest takeaway?
“I-Corps gave us the opportunity to further refine our target market by doing over 20 customer interviews. These interviews allowed us to explore different stakeholders and their input about what the problems are with current blood pressure monitors. The mentorship that I-Corps provided allowed us to investigate stakeholders we may have never even thought of, such as purchasing coordinators and buyers. The biggest takeaway from the program would be the development of our business model. This is something we were not familiar with prior to I-Corps, and with their guidance, we were able to develop a working business model canvas. I-Corps also shed the light on our device’s value. The original problem that we were solving was related to accuracy, but we didn’t realize that we can also save time for healthcare workers with this device.”
Your group was a recipient of the 2020 Lubrizol Life Science Health Design Awards. What was it like to get such recognition for your project?
“It was truly an honor and a testament of our hard work toward the project over the last year. Our 2020 graduating class had many talented teams that were solving significant problems, and to be selected as one of two winners amongst our class enunciates our dedication to this project’s success.”
Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your research and development process?
“Yes, in mid-march, when Akron decided to continue the rest of the academic semester online, we knew that we were not going to be able to get the project to a place that we originally wanted by the time the team graduated. Without the ability to meet in person and physically develop the device, all design efforts were halted for our project. Even during I-Corps, it was difficult to obtain an interview with a health care professional because everyone’s time went toward COVID-19 relief. Fortunately, we were able to develop our business models and other aspects of the device that we could do virtually during this time.”
Group members: Senior biomedical engineering students Megan Laws, Arael Monroe, Jillian Savage, Allie Stephens and Alison Targosky
Media contact: Alex Knisely, 330-972-6477 or aknisely@uakron.edu.

By Dan Shingler
Akron's got another software startup that appears to be gaining traction, although treading water — in a good way — might be a better way to put it.
Fontus Blue, which moved into the downtown Bounce Innovation Hub in June, doesn't make the sort of app most people will ever use, though millions may taste its results.
The company's offering, Decision Blue, is a subscription-based software as-a-service product that helps water-treatment plants address issues and produce water that consistently exceeds testing requirements by providing treatment formulas and regimens based on real-time modeling.​