Priceline Founder Lends Expertise to YBI Company
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio company via680 LLC is getting an assist from a co-founder of the Priceline.com booking service.
Jeff Hoffman is on what he describes as a “world tour of entrepreneurship” on behalf of the White House, the State Department and other entities promoting business startups. “I spend all my time mentoring entrepreneurs and helping them launch,” he said. Among the entrepreneurs he is working with is Tony DeAscentis, founder and CEO of via680.
DeAscentis was introduced to Hoffman about a year ago though Jim Cossler, YBI’s CEO. Hoffman had received one of Cossler’s YBI updates featuring via680 and its Ving technology. “The next thing I knew I was out to lunch with Jeff then back to the office for a working session -- talk about a great experience,” DeAscentis recalls.
Since that initial meeting, DeAscentis says Hoffman has provided “invaluable coaching” to him, sharing his knowledge of entrepreneurship and tech start-up strategy. “Last year my team and I had the opportunity to work with Jeff and his company ColorJar,” he continued. “The experience spanned about 30 days culminating in a four-day long working session with Jeff and his colleague from ColorJar held right here at the YBI.”
Hoffman was among the 18 speakers Friday at the inaugural TEDxYoungstown event. His talk focused on “The Power of Wonder,” as he put it.
“The most successful people I’ve ever met were the ones that remove all their filters and they look at a much broader world than everybody else takes in,” he said in an interview prior to his talk.
Just like a 5-year-old child going to the mall asks “18 million questions,” really innovative people do the same thing, he observed. “They never stop being a 5-year-old. They never stop wondering about everything around them, why it works or why it doesn’t work, and how you can make it better,” he said.
“People tend to get stuck in a lane, so if you work on health care then all you really do all day is think about health care,” he added. “You need to take a little time -- every day, every week, every whatever -- to expose yourself to a broader world beyond that bubble you live in because that’s where innovation comes from.”
Hoffman said he is “very impressed” with YBI. “They get it. Jim obviously gets it. Tony gets it. They are sharp, sharp entrepreneurs with good ideas who know how to build them,” he remarked. “They understand you’ve got to mix two things. You’ve got to have innovative, creative new ideas then you’ve got to have execution. … They’re focused on building great things in Youngstown.”
The Priceline co-founder said he enjoys Cossler’s “energy and commitment,” and he likes the often-amusing email newsletters he sends. “It works because I read them,” he said. “He gets to the point and they’re entertaining.”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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