ABOUT MAry J. Cronin

Three of my favorite things are helping people turn great ideas into startup ventures, consulting with founders about growing and eventually exiting their business, and coaching thought leaders who are ready to share their vision with the world. Luckily, being an entrepreneurship coach and business advisor provides daily opportunities to work with amazing founders.

As a Research Professor at Boston College, I teach, research, and write about entrepreneurship. That’s a license to immerse myself in innovative business models, world-changing ideas, and emerging technologies. BC accomplishments that I’m especially proud of include:

• Designing a new entrepreneurship program for the diverse students at BC’s Woods College for Advancing studies.

• Recruiting successful entrepreneurs to co-develop and teach courses in Funding for New Ventures, Design and Prototyping for Entrepreneurs, Business Planning, Social Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Leadership.

As a Business Advisor, I combine research insights with my front-line experience as a serial entrepreneur. Leading my own ventures was a lot more challenging—and even more rewarding—than I had ever dreamed. I developed expertise in:

• Raising startup funding

• Pitching and winning multimillion dollar contracts

• Recruiting and managing a multigenerational team

• Growing revenues and profits year over year

• Negotiating successful exits

My latest book, Starting Up Smarter: Why Founders Over 50 Build Better Companies was inspired by getting to know entrepreneurs who launched successful companies as a second or third career. The more I learn about the resilience and strength of older founders, the more I want to celebrate their stories and the challenges they have overcome to achieve their business and life goals.