Olivia offers AlphaLab cohort companies great advice on improving efficacy and increasing productivity.

Have You Met…Olivia Payne, AlphaLab Coordinator

Innovation Works
Nov 5 · 3 min read

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: I am a native of Pittsburgh! I grew up in East Liberty, right down the street from AlphaLab.

Q: How did you hear about Innovation Works?

A: I heard about Innovation Works from Pam Eichenbaum, IW’s Senior Business Development Associate. I met Pam during her freshman year of college, when I worked at The Hillel JUC as their director of operations. Pam was a very active student in the organization.

Q: What drew you to work here?

A: Working for Innovation Works, at the accelerators, is a great opportunity to keep up to date on current technology trends and keep up with Pittsburgh’s evolving workforce. Everything is going the way of tech, and I’m enjoying adding all of the techie buzz words to my vocabulary.

Q: Let’s say I’m an entrepreneur in Southwestern Pennsylvania, what can I ask for your help on?

A: If you are doing B2C sales, you can ask me for help with trying to find your product market fit. I love giving advice from the consumer’s point of view and working through different marketing approaches. I also like to work with companies on anything operations related; trying to find areas to strengthen efficacy and productivity.

Q: With your background in operations and program management, what is the number one piece of advice you would give a startup?

A: I would say, definitely focus on your product, but don’t forget about your team. What kind of team do you want/need to make your business successful? What’s the office/company culture that you want to present to your future employees? When you have time, come up with an idea of what you want in your personnel code and what your onboarding will consist of, so that you have it ready as your company grows.

Q: What technology/industry are you most excited about and why?

A: I don’t have one technology or industry that I’m most excited about.That said, I do love a good CRM. I love for things (all types of things) to have a place and to be in order and to be easily accessible.

Q: Step back to Olivia at age 18, what line of work had you envisioned for yourself? How closely aligned is your current work to that vision?

A: I entered college at the age of 17 and majored in pre-med biology. In a session where they described our four year curriculum and started talking about cadavers, I stood up and left to change my major. The closest I get to that vision these days is when I’m working with a life sciences company.

Q: What issues that face our region are you most passionate or fired-up about?

A: As our region grows and attracts more companies, families and individuals, I am interested in how the region is going to ensure a bright future for ALL of its citizens. We need to make sure that our region’s business and real estate initiatives are equitable and inclusive on all fronts.

Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.

A: I love to volunteer! I am currently on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh section. I love the NCJW because they are a service organization that serves all types of people. They have a great focus on underserved youth, women, and the community as a whole. I also love to volunteer for organizations who, as part of their mission, actively work to foster inclusion in the arts.

Q: What does an average Saturday look like for you?

A: Waking up early to have breakfast with my family and then taking my 6 year-old to jujitsu, then swimming and then whatever family fun can be had depending on the time of year.

Q: When asked for a ‘fun fact’ about yourself, what’s your go-to?

A: I love karaoke! My go-to song is ‘Dead or Alive’ by Bon Jovi. Another fun fact is that I speak intermediate German and I’m currently learning Russian and Mandarin.

Startups and investment

Posts from experts at Innovation Works.

Innovation Works

Written by

Innovation Works (IW) is one of the nation’s most active seed funds. AlphaLab Gear and AlphaLab are nationally ranked startup accelerator programs of IW.

Startups and investment

Posts from experts at Innovation Works.

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