Professional Development: Psychological Science in Action: Building a Startup that Works

Entrepreneurship can be an all-consuming endeavor, requiring emotional resilience and deft team-building skills. Industrial/organizational psychologists Ali O’ Malley and Nikki Blacksmith, both entrepreneurs and consultants, recently discussed entrepreneurial identity and how to market your product or service in an APS webinar, “Building a Start Up That Works.” 

This webinar aimed to guide psychological scientists who have entrepreneurial ambitions. O’Malley is the founder of Reflexion Group, where she serves as a coach for executives and startup founders. She discussed the identity change that comes with being an entrepreneur and founder. 

“It’s not just new economic behavior—it is changing who you are,” she said.

Identity encompasses your social network and your ability to recognize opportunities, find resources, and form connections for your start up to get it off the ground, O’Malley explained.

She advised entrepreneurs to be willing to let go of previous identities, roles, skills, and expertise that have defined them in the past.

“So it’s being willing to dial down and let go of previously held identities, and to embrace new ones—things you haven’t done before,” she said. “Be willing to be the beginner rather than the expert.”

Blacksmith is the co-founder and CEO of Symeta, Inc. She consults investors to find the best people to hire for startups. She discussed how to communicate psychological research to businesses. As a psychologist, she was trained to be nuanced and less direct in explanations of research. But in business, simplicity, clarity, and results form the best explanations, she said.

“In the business world, there’s no room for nuance,” she said. “It’s get to the point right away. Make sure you’re being extremely clear. There’s no room for confusion.”

It also may be tempting to avoid buzzwords and business jargon, but that’s part of pitching to businesses, she added.

“We have to embrace the buzzwords to build trust, so we don’t seem like outsiders,” she said.

Being an entrepreneur from any kind of science background, she concluded, means embracing the language of business and being direct, concise, and results-driven.

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