Connect Before You Communicate with Start-Up Founder Jenny Ro, PhD

  This episode features Jenny Ro, Ph.D., who's had a fascinating career journey so far. While a college student, Jenny worked with four companies, including Proctor & Gamble, and commercialized her own invention without a patent. During our conversation, Jenny describes being mentored by "Super Connectors" and learning how to build human relationships to solve problems. Jenny's goal is to enable everyone to do that. We discussed a range of topics relating to innovation, mentoring, and the importance of effective communication, such as: - Jenny's story about her biologist days and how Ohio State football helped her conduct her field research - How she perfected her "story" as she made her way through the fields of Ohio looking for wild birds - What led Jenny to start her company CuriousReactor and what her plans are for the future of the company - How the company can benefit scientists, who often may be introverts - Jenny's belief that the tech transfer system is broken and what should be done to fix it - Jenny's thoughts on when an idea is worth patenting and when it's not worth it, as much can be done without a patent - Why Jenny believes that COVID is accelerating connections - Why Jenny thinks the peer review process will be affected in the longer term, after we move beyond the current COVID circumstances