Founder Spotlight: Sherry Shannon-Vanstone
Serial tech entrepreneur, angel investor, builder of high-performing teams.
Sherry has led start-ups to successful exits in Silicon Valley and the Toronto-Waterloo Tech corridor. She is President & CEO and Founder of Profound Impact, a data analytics firm that leverages AI to provide the perfect match of funding opportunities with academic researchers and corporate partners. She has a MS in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee and in 2019, Sherry received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Western University.
How did you transition into becoming a founder and start your entrepreneurial journey?
Sherry had the privilege to work for several starts up early in her career and successfully invested in those companies. When she was with one of the companies in Silicon Valley, she was frustrated with the lack of culture and respect for each member of the team. Sherry notes, it was quite toxic for most people but not as much for her as she was a fighter. When she left that company, Sherry decided two things - firstly, she wanted to bet on herself and secondly, she wanted to work for or start her own company built on the foundation of diversity of thought and respect for all.
What sparked the idea for this venture?
Sherry’s current start up was inspired by the work of her late husband, Dr. Scott A. Vanstone. Scott was not only a world leading researcher but he was also an entrepreneur. Additionally he was able to get over $6 million in research funding - this funding advanced his research and also helped him find and fund his company. Without that funding he would not have been as impactful and in fact, would have delayed the secure smartphone deployment.
How are you scaling the business?
There are two areas of scaling at Profound Impact:
1. Utilizing more advanced AI and machine learning technologies to scale the SaaS platform, Research Impact,
2. Modifying the go-to-market strategy to engage directly with researchers, who will influence and hopefully, champion a faculty or institution-wide license.
What are the main challenges as a founder in this industry?
Customer acquisition is the main challenge. The team has spent a significant amount of time in developing a new go-to-market strategy that they are executing and iterating.
What are the next steps for the business?
Profound Impact is currently in negotiations with a strategic partner who will help disrupt the research funding industry and also inject a large amount of money so that they can expand into the US market.
What are the major takeaways learned through the journey as a founder?
Here’s Sherry’s mantra -
1. Ask - for help, for advice, for money
2. Be passionate, persistent and most importantly believe in what you are doing because starting a company is a long term challenge
3. Build a diverse team
and 4. Be a life long learner
How has the network gained through CWN helped?
Sherry says, “CWN has increased my exposure and helped build my credibility throughout its network”.
Sherry is also the co-founder of Women Funding Women Inc. Read more about how Women Funding Women is harnessing the power of collaboration in its quest to bridge the funding gap.
