Meet Shannon Lerda, Co-founder @ Elevator Co-Warehousing + Community

How would you describe the startup culture in Nebraska?

I think there’s a lot of promise in Nebraska. The people we talked to — specifically at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and the Nebraska Business Development Center — were very supportive and encouraging when we were in the idea phase and looking for direction on how to begin. We received tremendous support from Nebraska-based investors for our seed round to launch our first Elevator location.

Obviously, the fundraising climate has changed over the past 18 months and it’s more difficult to raise money than it was before. But I think it will come back around and become more founder-friendly again.

How do you balance taking risks and making calculated decisions in pursuit of innovation?

That is a really great question. My co-founder (my husband Emiliano) and I are polar opposites. So we have the advantage of balancing each other out. Emiliano is very much a visionary who sees the future and can develop strategic big ideas. I’m a little more risk averse, and kind of ground him, as well. And so we balance each other out a lot.

I think it’s important to surround yourself with a sounding board of experienced advisors, investors and community partners who you can talk to when you’re developing an idea and determining the best strategic path forward. Get a diverse array of opinions and then distill that for your own personal situation and you’ll come out with the best action plan.

How do you define success and what metrics do you pay the most attention to?

For me, success has two different buckets — one is personal and the other is professional. I think you can be successful on one side and not on the other. But my goal personally is to be able to balance professional and personal success. I focus a lot on self care, working hard, but also taking time to fill my bucket and do special things with my husband and our children. 

On a professional level, success to me means building a business with purpose where I can feel really excited day after day and year after year. It means doing what I do professionally without burning out. It’s having a business with purpose where I can see we’re helping other people. That gives me a ton of energy and enthusiasm for what we’re doing and makes all the hard work worthwhile.

What are the top one or two challenges / opportunities Nebraska startups face?

I would say the top challenge for startups in Nebraska right now in the big picture is the macroeconomic environment and the struggling venture capital community. The difficulty of accessing funding has spilled over into Nebraska. Fundraising is one of the biggest challenges right now. Again, I think that’s cyclical, so it’s going to start coming back and improving — hopefully in the near future.

The other challenge is access to investors and introductions to investors who don’t already know you. If you know the person already, it’s easy to get a meeting and have a conversation or get a referral. But if you don’t have those existing relationships, it’s hard to get plugged in and get some one-on-one face time with potential investors.

What is one emerging industry or technology that you believe will have a significant impact on the Nebraska startup ecosystem in the next few years?

I can’t say I’m an expert in this area, but from the things I’ve read recently I think there’s two areas that could have ripple effects. One is AgTech, which is getting a lot of attention and focus — as it should, being in Nebraska. Artificial intelligence also has a ton of potential. AI has a lot of applications and we’ve only just begun to utilize it.