Greater Washington Innovation Awards™ Nominee Q&A

ChurnZero, Emerging Tech 
Innovation Awards Nominee 

You Mon Tsang, Founder and CEO
churnzero.net


What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation happens when one does something and people say "wow, that's useful" or "hey, that's helpful" or "why didn't I think of that " or "that's extremely cool" or "where can I get that?" or "why didn't I think of that?" or "that saved me a lot of time/money/stress." 

What makes your company/organization innovative?
The ChurnZero team is a hand-picked group of risk-takers that are motivated to build a new kind of software platform for an emerging business department called customer success. Starting a company that is going for the "Next Big Thing" requires people who are not scared to blaze a pathway through an unexplored frontier. We have those people.

What or who are some innovative companies or people that inspire you and your team?
I get inspired by inspiration at all levels: from Larry Page and his moonshots to Elon Musk and his boldness to all the folks looking for an investment on Shark Tank (which I love to watch) to my fellow DC-area entrepreneurs who are grinding to make a difference every day. I am inspired by all those who put themselves out there to do something risky and difficult.

What about Greater Washington has positioned us as an innovative region?
I spent 20 years in the Bay Area and started three companies there. The Bay Area has a unique and incredible ecosystem for technology innovation. But it has a weakness; it can be technically myopic as the innovation can build on each other without a global context. The Greater Washington region has a global worldview that allows a different kind of innovation to flourish. Here, we tend to build for the world rather than for the tech-forward.

What advice would you give to up-and-coming leaders striving to be innovative in today’s business environment?
Innovation is idea and execution. And execution is more important. There are many people with ideas that rub them raw. Always take steps towards executing the idea, not just refining it. The road to a successful innovation is completed by taking many, many small steps forward and not being discouraged by the inevitable slips backwards.