Choose a Venture Worth Building

This is the fourth in a series of ten letters I’m writing to the next generation of founders in Ohio.

I’m writing them because we are living at a turning point. Ohio has the talent, the grit, the values, and the industrial backbone to become a Startup State. But it will only happen if enough people choose to build — not just small companies, but ambitious ventures that redefine what’s possible.

These letters are about what it means to build. To take an idea that lives only in your head and turn it into something tangible — a product, a company, an institution. To see something broken in the world and decide you are going to fix it. To see a future that doesn’t yet exist and decide you are going to create it.

Whether you’re sitting in a lecture hall at Ohio State, coding late at night in Dayton, or sketching a product idea at a coffee shop in Cleveland, if you’ve ever felt the spark that says maybe I could build something bigger than myself, these letters are for you.

Ohio’s opportunity isn’t just to build startups but to build ventures that matter to Ohio, America, and our civilization.

On a personal note, I became an American citizen this week. As our family continues to build our future in Ohio and America, my motivation is greater than ever to help more of you—founders and aspiring ones—build great companies from within Ohio.

Too often, when people hear the word startup, they think of an app. A clever tool to order food faster, share photos differently, or shave seconds off a workflow.

But the world doesn’t need another one of these apps. The world needs companies that, among other things, can reshape healthcare, reinvent energy, transform education, secure our digital lives, and reimagine manufacturing and logistics.

We are living in a moment of profound technological acceleration. Artificial intelligence, biotech, robotics, climate technology, and space exploration are no longer “the future” — they are here. These are the foundations of civilization, not just niche industries. [1][2].

And they are exactly the kinds of challenges Ohio is built for.

Ohio has done this before.

• The Wright Brothers turned Dayton into the birthplace of aviation.

• Goodyear turned Akron into the rubber capital of the world.

• Procter & Gamble shaped Cincinnati into a global hub for consumer goods.

• The Cleveland Clinic became one of the world’s leading medical institutions [3][4].

They started as “companies” and over time became civilization-scale ventures — They created industries, reshaped communities, and left legacies that defined Ohio for generations.

And in the past decade, new founders have proven to have the ambition to attempt building next-generation institutions in Ohio:

• CoverMyMeds (Columbus): one of Ohio’s first unicorns, acquired for $1.1B by McKesson, reshaping how prescriptions are processed [5].

• Root Insurance (Columbus): IPO in 2020, pioneering usage-based insurance with tech at its core [6].

• Physna (Cincinnati): backed by Sequoia, building a 3D search and design platform, used by national security stakeholders [7].

• Forge Biologics (Columbus): advancing gene therapy manufacturing [8].

• AssetWatch (Columbus): scaling industrial IoT and predictive maintenance platforms [9].

• Athersys (Cleveland): advancing stem cell therapies with a global footprint [10].

These ventures demonstrate that leading companies can be founded in Ohio, backed by venture capital, and scaled into thriving businesses. I believe that these companies, along with others, serve as the bridge between Ohio’s industrial legacy and its entrepreneurial future.

But, Ohio is underperforming.

We are the 7th largest economy in America [11], yet in 2024, we captured only 0.54% of national venture capital investment [12]. Too many of our brightest minds leave for the coasts—many who stay never consider entrepreneurship as a viable path.

And when they do start, too many think too small.

Ohio doesn’t need more lifestyle apps. It needs ventures bold enough to tackle the systems that shape civilization.

So why now?

Because civilization is being rewritten in real time:

• AI, genomics, and robotics are transforming healthcare [13].

• Energy is being reinvented through innovations in nuclear, renewable, and grid-scale technologies [14].

• Education is being reshaped by digital platforms, immersive simulation, and AI tutors [15].

• Manufacturing & Logistics are being reborn through robotics, additive manufacturing, and advanced materials [16].

These are civilization-scale shifts, not small opportunities. The ventures that emerge in the next decade will play a pivotal role in shaping how humanity lives, works, and thrives for the next century.

If you’re reading this and thinking, but I’ve never started anything before, you must ask yourself: What if it’s not a disqualification? What if it’s actually an advantage?

The founders who will build the most important companies of the coming decades are not necessarily the ones with the most experience. They might be the ones with the courage to start, the moral clarity to care about the right problems, and the urgency to move now.

And while Ohio has unique strengths in healthcare, energy, education, logistics, and manufacturing, no founder should feel boxed in.

If your vision is to reimagine social networks, build tools for creators, or design entirely new consumer platforms — build it. Great founders always find a way. Ohio’s right-to-win sectors give us a foundation. But audacious ventures can come from anywhere. What matters is clarity of vision, moral conviction, and a path to greatness.

Imagine Ohio as the home of companies tackling the most critical challenges of our time:

• Healthcare ventures out of Cleveland that set new global standards.

• Energy ventures out of Columbus that reinvent how we power the world.

• Education ventures out of Cincinnati that reshape how kids everywhere learn.

• Manufacturing ventures out of Dayton that bring new industries to life.

But also — imagine bold, contrarian ideas that no one saw coming. Social platforms, AI-native companies, and entirely new industries that don’t yet have a name.

That is what it means for Ohio to become a Startup State.

Here’s my challenge to you: Even if you start small, dream big. I encourage you not to settle for incremental. You might be building a “startup,” but how wonderful it would be for you, for Ohio, and for America when your startup becomes a platform that moves civilization forward.

The future of Ohio, and the future of America, will be shaped by those who dare to tackle the essential, not by those who optimize the trivial. And the next civilization-scale founder of Ohio might be you.

If this sparks something in you — a thought, a question, a hunger to build — don’t let it fade. Join the conversation. Get inspired, stay connected, and surround yourself with others choosing to build the future right here in Ohio.

We came to build.
Yon

(Missed the previous letters? Read them here)

1. McKinsey Global Institute. The Future of Work After COVID-19. McKinsey & Company, 2021.

2. World Economic Forum. Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023.

3. Lamoreaux, N. & Sokoloff, K. Inventors, Firms, and the Market for Technology in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. NBER Working Paper, 1999.

4. U.S. News & World Report. “Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Overview.” 2024.

5. Columbus Dispatch. “McKesson Buys CoverMyMeds for $1.1 Billion.” 2017.

6. Nasdaq. “Root Insurance IPO.” October 2020.

7. TechCrunch. “Physna Raises $20M Led by Sequoia.” 2021.

8. BioSpace. “Forge Biologics Raises $330M Series C.” 2021.

9. Crunchbase. “Nikola Labs Company Profile.” 2024.

10. Athersys Inc. Annual Report, 2023.

11. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). “Gross Domestic Product by State: 2023.”

12. PitchBook Data. “2024 Annual U.S. Venture Report.”

13. National Institutes of Health. “Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Research Programs.” 2023.

14. International Energy Agency. World Energy Outlook 2023.

15. Christensen, C. et al. Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. McGraw-Hill, 2016.

16. World Economic Forum. The Future of Manufacturing: 2024 Report.