We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan Lilly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

In many entrepreneur ecosystems there is support for early stage startups, but little-to-no help for second-stage growth companies trying to scale-up.

That’s where we step-in.

We define a second stage company as one with 10+ employees and $1 million+ in established annual revenue. While we work with many tech companies founded here in the U.S., we have become known for how well we serve international tech companies expanding to the U.S. market. We currently serve 37 of these clients from 11 different countries.

We help these companies make entry into the U.S., establish a presence within Global Ventures, and begin making the connections that allow them to grow. From business service providers (like accountants, lawyers, etc.), to researchers at the Florida Atlantic University, to industry connections in South Florida, their success is most dependent on the strategic introductions we can help make for them.

Ryan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Twelve years ago, during one of my last semesters in college, I interned at a business accelerator on a research park campus in Virginia. That’s where I first found joy in helping entrepreneurs reach success.

From there I moved to Illinois where I worked within a city’s economic development department. We were able to help take an old factory building and turn it into an incubator for green/clean-tech startups. I ran the entrepreneurship center there and also helped serve small businesses throughout a four county region.

Illinois was a little too cold for my wife and I, so nine years ago we moved to North Florida, where I ran an incubator which operates under a Chamber of Commerce / Economic Development Organization. During my time there, I also began seeing the importance of serving second-stage companies — the ones which had already achieved success and were trying to scale faster.

I began doing talks (like TEDx) on the importance of supporting entrepreneurs and have written a couple of books on the topic as well.

Six months ago I began my role managing the Global Ventures program at the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. We absolutely love South Florida and are committed to making this our home long-term. The entrepreneur ecosystem here as a lot to offer, and I’m excited to be working with so many international companies on achieving the American Dream.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I first began helping entrepreneurs, I would sit-down with them in my first meeting and start spouting-off all the ways we could help them. What I learned to do instead is to listen 80% of the time, then respond the other 20%.

Every entrepreneur’s needs are different — depending on their industry, company growth stage, the psychology of the owner, etc. — so only once I’ve really developed an understanding of where a company is at and where they want to be do I then begin trying to direct them.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of entrepreneur service organizations still make the mistake of leading with their services, rather than lending a listening ear at the start.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

We have just-over 3,000 books in our home. My favorite genres are business and personal development. In the area of entrepreneurship, there have been some key influencers for me personally:

1. Tony Robbins – The biggest distinction I’ve made in over a decade of helping entrepreneurs, which is also something Tony teaches, is that 80% of a founder’s success can be attributed to their psychology. I can create the perfect environment for a company — give them every resource and connection imaginable — but if the owner doesn’t have the mindset to really leverage those resources and turn them into a profitable company, there’s nothing I can do. The saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink” comes to mind. I’ve found Tony Robbins — his books, audios and events — is one of the best places to start in terms of developing that mindset. It’s way more than just getting yourself “motivated.”

2. Michael Gerber – The E-Myth by Michael Gerber is a book every entrepreneur should read. Gerber talks about three types of people needed in a successful business: an entrepreneur (ideas), a manager (order), and a technician (work). Sometimes entrepreneurs may have one or more of these mindsets within themselves, but often they need a partner who can complement them where they’re lacking. Gerber also stresses the importance of building repeatable systems in a business: systems are what allow a business to scale!

3. Seth Godin – If you’re looking for ideas related to marketing, Godin’s books are fast reads and easy to digest. In his book Purple Cow, he talks about how remarkable products market themselves. If a company’s products are not selling well, many tend to think they have a marketing problem. In reality, it has more to do with devising a truly remarkable product or service which has built-in word of mouth. Innovation is where it’s at!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://globalventuresfau.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/researchparkfau/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ResearchParkFAU
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2358563
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/researchparkfau