Jan 15, 2021
Have You Met…Leah Simoncelli, AlphaLab Gear and Hardware Cup Coordinator
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in Greensburg, PA, which is a lovely, small 17,000-person town about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. Luckily, my parents still live there (and they’re in our COVID bubble) so we get to visit often.
Q: How did you hear about Innovation Works? What drew you to work here?
A: I boomeranged back to the Pittsburgh-area after about 10 years in DC and Santiago, Chile. I started to learn about the nonprofit sector here and came across a short-term position to coordinate two competitions: the Hardware Cup and the UpPrize Social Innovation Challenge. I met Ilana Diamond and the rest of the Innovation Works team and I was hooked. Luckily, I was able to turn that short-term position into a full-time role at AlphaLab Gear. And the rest is history!
Q: Let’s say I’m a tech entrepreneur in Southwestern Pennsylvania, what can I ask for your help on?
A: I can help with pitch preparation, deck review, digital marketing strategy, strategic communication, and connections to corporates/innovation groups/accelerators across the country.
Q: Reflecting on your experience guiding early stage companies that have participated in AlphaLab Gear and the Hardware Cup, what is the number one piece of advice you would give a startup?
A: Surround yourself with the right people. Entrepreneurship can be especially lonely, but there is a deep network of folks in Pittsburgh who are willing to share their time and expertise with you. The catch is that the information can sometimes be contradictory. Listen, weigh your options, and trust your gut.
Q: You’ve been busy pivoting the Hardware Cup from a geographically-focused competition to one organized by industry verticals. What are you most excited about this updated format? What is your biggest takeaway from this pivot?
A: While I loved traveling the country to find the most exciting hardware startups in the nation when we focused on geographic regions, I really believe that this new format is more beneficial for everyone involved. By focusing on industry verticals, we can target the best corporations, investors, and startups in each category and get them connected. And running it virtually makes the Hardware Cup more accessible to all. COVID was the impetus for these changes, but that they were the right moves regardless.
Q: In addition to the shift in the Hardware Cup format, we are launching a new competition in collaboration with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. Can you tell us more about the JHF Healthcare Safety Challenge and how it fits in with the 2021 Hardware Cup?
A: We are really excited about working with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation on the Healthcare Safety Challenge. The purpose of this Challenge is twofold: 1) to find the most exciting healthcare/patient safety innovations in the US and around the globe and 2) to connect the entrepreneurs, corporates, investors, academic institutions, and patient safety organizations who are working on these issues. Pittsburgh is perfectly poised to be a leader in this area and the Healthcare Safety Challenge will shine a spotlight on the work being done here, around the country, and around the world.
The tie-in to the Hardware Cup is that we want startups who aren’t already in the patient safety space to think about how their tech might be applied to this area. We’re providing a $5,000 kicker prize in the other Hardware Cup verticals to incentivize applicants to find a connection between what they’ve developed and how it could be applied to healthcare safety.
Q: What technology/industry are you most excited about and why?
A: I can’t pick just one! The industries we’re focusing on this year are AI/robotics, cleantech, life sciences, consumer products, smart home/connected devices, and smart cities/autonomous navigation, as well as healthcare/patient safety through the Healthcare Safety Challenge. One of the best things about the entrepreneurial world is that you can follow trends and do your research, but you never know for sure what the next unicorn will be.
Q: Step back to Leah at age 18, what line of work had you envisioned for yourself? How closely aligned is your current work to that vision?
A: In seventh grade, I had a class assignment to write a persuasive speech and I strategically wrote about why I should have a cell phone (well ahead of when my parents believed I should have one). I then “practiced” this speech with my parents, honing it and perfecting it. By the time I turned in the assignment, I also had a new cell phone! That was my first foray into strategic communication and it stuck. So 18-year-old Leah might be surprised to see me working with cutting-edge startups, but my marketing/communications role would be no surprise at all.
Q: What issues that face our region are you most passionate about?
A: Immigration issues are really important to me. My husband is a green card holder, so I’m intimately familiar with the immigration system in the US and how difficult it can be to navigate. Interestingly, immigration and entrepreneurship go hand in hand — some of the most successful and innovative startups in our region are founded and run by immigrants. We’re lucky to have their creative endeavors in our city and we need to do everything we can to support them and the generations of immigrants to come.
Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.
A: I started teaching ESL to immigrants and refugees at age 18 and have continued that work in one form or another since. I’m a natural communicator and it’s really rewarding to share my love of language and help others to effectively communicate in a new language.
Q: What does an average Saturday look like for you?
A: The pandemic and becoming a mother have changed this answer a lot. But without a doubt, my answer is hanging out with my perfect 11-month-old daughter, Elise and my wonderful husband, Felipe. On Saturdays, we like to take a long walk together in our neighborhood and then order dinner from a local small business.
Q: When asked for a ‘fun fact’ about yourself, what’s your go-to?
A: I’m a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient (equivalent of Eagle Scout for Boy Scouts). I learned a lot of really important leadership skills, and I’m still in touch with many close friends from my troop. But don’t ask me to build you a fire!
