Lunch & Learn: Jeff Coney (Entrepreneurship)

The Kapnick Lunch & Learn is a casual lunchtime event for Northwestern undergraduate students. Come hang out with the Kapnick Center, eat lunch, mingle with classmates and enjoy conversation with our guest speaker!

Lunch & Learn is capped at 10 students.

Out of respect for our guests and your classmates, if you are unable to show up within the first 6 minutes of the start time, please refrain from signing up.

Jeff Coney has over 40 years’ experience in entrepreneurship, startups, business development, finance and technology commercialization. Early in his career he held positions at the Arthur Andersen, City of Chicago and Metropolitan Structures. He then spent 15 years as a software entrepreneur. He co-founded and operated Facility Management Systems (FMS). FMS was subsequently sold to a publicly traded company in 1996.

He then spent 18 years at Northwestern University serving as Director of New Business Initiatives and Director of Economic Development, retiring in 2018. He was responsible for technology-based economic development initiatives - Illinois Technology Enterprise Center, Northwestern Student Holdings, Corporate Liaison Network and Chicago Innovation Mentors. In 2009, he was part of the leadership team that launched the Innovation & New Ventures Office (INVO). INVO is responsible for technology transfer, patenting, licensing, faculty-initiated startups and commercializing research across the University.

Since leaving Northwestern, Jeff has had mentoring roles with SCORE, Future Founders, Sunshine Enterprises and NextLevel Exchange.

Throughout his career, Jeff has been actively involved in giving back to the community. For 25 years he served as a board member of the Youth Job Center in Evanston, including 4 years as board president. Currently, he is a board member of the Oakton College Educational Foundation and serves as board secretary.

Jeff has been an avid runner for many years. He has completed 16 marathons including 7 Boston Marathons.

Jeff holds BA and MBA degrees from Northwestern and is a CPA.

Topics Covered:

• Chat with Jeff about his career path and experience
• 3 Essential Roles in Any Business: Finders, Minders & Grinders
• Open discussion / Q&A

3 Essential Roles in Any Business: Finders, Minders & Grinders

When a startup is successful beyond anyone’s imagination, a question naturally arises: Why did it take off? Ask 10 people involved with the company and you’ll get 10 different stories: for one, it was the founder; for another, early access to its target audience; for a third, it was pricing that set it apart from its competitors; and so on. Then there are companies that tackle a smart area in an emerging market, have a great team, work diligently and still fail miserably. While there are a million unique problems for every individual technology company, in order for a company to be successful at all, it needs three things—or more specifically, three types of people: Finders, Minders and Grinders.