Critical Mass Business Talk Show: Ric Franzi Interviews Dr. Cynthia West, Director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics (Episode 1599)

2025-06-19

Dr. Cynthia West is the Director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics, and Clinical Associate Professor at Chapman University. After spending 30 years as a sales and marketing leader for tech startups, she returns to her roots in academia. As Director, in just one year, Dr. West has re-invigorated the Center by raising over $2.2 million dollars in external funding, launched 8 new programs for entrepreneurs, and secured a grant that opens the Center doors to any community...

Dr. Cynthia West is the Director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics, and Clinical Associate Professor at Chapman University.

After spending 30 years as a sales and marketing leader for tech startups, she returns to her roots in academia. As Director, in just one year, Dr. West has re-invigorated the Center by raising over $2.2 million dollars in external funding, launched 8 new programs for entrepreneurs, and secured a grant that opens the Center doors to any community entrepreneur. For these and other accomplishments, she won Mentor of the Year 2024 from Women in the Housing & Real Estate Ecosystem (NAWRB) and Partner of the Year 2024 from the Brea Chamber of Commerce.

During her tech startup years, Dr. West had two successful startup exits. TestDrive, a try before you buy software platform, was sold to R.R. Donnelley & Sons in just 14 months. She and her co-founders took Audio Highway, an audio on demand platform and MP3 player, public in just 3 years. She helped Project Insight, an Irvine-based project management solution, convert from a professional services company to a SaaS software company with recurring revenue. She led a turnaround team at PROS, an AI revenue management solution, to close the company’s biggest deal in its 30-year history, with Lenovo. Then, in the middle of the pandemic, as VP of Global Sales, she led the team that closed Fresco’s biggest customer in its 12-year history, completely via remote. When she was 12 years old she sold 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, so that should have been her clue that she was destined for sales!

Dr. West is the author of Techno-Human Mesh: The Growing Power of Information Technologies, in 2001. This book predicted the social and political challenges in the tech industry 25 years ago.

Cynthia is a citizen of the world, having lived in Spain and France, and speaks Spanish and French conversationally. She has a partner and two children. She is a foodie and enjoys cycling and swimming to work it off!

Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at REF Orange County.

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