Developing the Founder Behind the Venture

Several years ago, one of our members, Justin McKennon of Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA), was asked to establish a new division here in the Berkshires. At the beginning, it was essentially a one-person operation. Over time, I had the opportunity to watch that division grow, adding talented people from across the country while maintaining remarkably little turnover. The leader who once spent much of his day solving technical problems gradually found his responsibilities changing. Today, he spends more time with customers, strategic partners, and opportunities outside the office than he does sitting behind a desk. Yet every time I visit, I am reminded that his leadership is evident throughout the organization, even when he isn’t there.

Watching that transformation unfold caused me to think differently about what it really means to build an innovative company.

When we talk about entrepreneurship, we naturally focus on ideas, technologies, products, and investment. Those are all essential ingredients, but at some point the challenge becomes something much larger. A founder, or any entrepreneurial leader, eventually realizes that success is no longer determined solely by what they can accomplish themselves. It depends on what they can accomplish through other people.

As a company grows from two people to four, it has doubled in size. That may seem like a small milestone, but it fundamentally changes the nature of the organization. Every new hire introduces another personality, another perspective, another set of strengths, and another set of expectations. At the very same time, the pressures facing the business continue to mount. Customers are waiting. Cash remains tight. Deadlines matter. The leader’s responsibility is no longer just to build a product or solve a technical problem. It is to build a team capable of accomplishing something that no individual could accomplish alone.

Over the past several years, our entrepreneurship programming has given us the opportunity to work alongside dozens of founders. Every entrepreneur’s journey is different, but one thing has become increasingly clear to our team. While successful companies often begin with innovative technologies or compelling ideas, their long-term success depends just as much on the people leading them through each stage of growth.

That realization led us to ask a simple question. As the Massachusetts innovation ecosystem continues to mature, where can the Berkshire Innovation Center make its greatest contribution?

We believe one answer is by investing in founders.

This fall, we will launch the BIC Founders Accelerator, a six-month program designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the increasingly complex challenge of leading a growing company. Participants will continue advancing their ventures, but the program recognizes that founders must continue developing alongside their companies. Leadership, communication, decision-making, self-awareness, and organizational effectiveness all become more important as companies grow, and they deserve the same intentional attention that founders give to developing their products and technologies.

The program will be led by Dr. Dennis Rebelo, the Berkshire Innovation Center's Chief Learning Officer. Dennis brings decades of experience in organizational learning, executive coaching, and leadership development, and his Orienting Intelligence™ framework provides the educational foundation for the accelerator. His work explores how leaders develop the judgment necessary to navigate complexity, uncertainty, and change—the very conditions entrepreneurs encounter every day. Plans get interrupted. Power dynamics shift. Teams grow. Customer expectations evolve. Founders who can adapt without losing sight of their mission are better equipped to guide their organizations through those moments. Those are skills that can be developed, and they are central to the work of the Founders Accelerator.

One of the insights that has emerged from Dennis's work is that founders and their teams often possess more capability than they are able to demonstrate under pressure. Complexity has a way of narrowing our thinking just when organizations need their best judgment. Helping leaders recognize those moments—and respond more effectively—is an important part of the accelerator's approach.

That work reflects something that has always been central to the Berkshire Innovation Center. Our programs are shaped by the people we work with and the relationships we build. We are continually learning alongside our members, our partners, and the entrepreneurs who walk through our doors. Sometimes that learning leads to a new partnership. Sometimes it leads to a new facility or a new technology initiative. This year, it has led us to invest more intentionally in the people building innovative companies.

The technologies these founders are developing will undoubtedly shape the future of our economy. Just as important, however, are the organizations they build around those technologies. Lasting innovation depends not only on breakthrough ideas, but on healthy organizations capable of sustaining them. Strong teams create resilient companies. Healthy cultures attract exceptional talent. Thoughtful leadership enables innovation to flourish over the long term.

Applications for the first cohort open August 8 and close September 15. The program is designed for founders scaling companies, with preference to those in the sectors that the BIC is most active in – clean energy, life sciences, advanced optics, robotics, applied AI, quantum, and aerospace / defense. Additional information and application materials are available at www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com, and our team is always happy to speak with founders who would like to learn more.

I often think back to that one-person division and what it has become. The technology is impressive, but what stands out even more is the organization that has been built around it. That experience reminds me that the most enduring companies are built not only through innovation, but through leadership.

In the end, the most successful entrepreneurs build far more than companies. They build organizations that create opportunity for others, strengthen our communities, and inspire the next generation of innovators. If the Berkshire Innovation Center can help support founders on that journey, then we will have made a meaningful contribution not only to their success, but to the future of innovation across the Berkshires and throughout Massachusetts.