Kay KoplivitzStartup Week schedule
Next week, more than 175 events are planned to inform, inspire, connect and entertain entrepreneurs, investors and other interested in startup businesses in Chattanooga. A weeklong schedule of events begins at 2 p.m. Sunday with a new feature added this year known as the Innovation Office Hop from 2-5 p.m. Sunday. All members of the community, particularly those less familiar with the district, are invited to join on this Sunday afternoon stroll between several of the cutting-edge offices in downtown Chattanooga’s Innovation District.
When Kay Koplovitz began in the television industry in the 1960s, there were only three television networks and no top female broadcast executives.
Koplovitz, who wrote her master’s thesis on satellite technology and its potential impact on communications in the late 1960s, had a vision for a new type of television. When she tested her thesis in the business world, she helped to not only revolutionize television, she also broke the industry glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to head a television network.
“I really felt I had a great idea and wanted to pursue it,” said Koplovitz, the founder and CEO of USA Networks. “It took seven years and it wasn’t easy to get started, but satellite television proved to be a great disruptor.”
Decades later, the TV pioneer and entrepreneur is helping other female industry disruptors grow their businesses through a nonprofit accelerator known as Springboard Enterprises that has already trained 627 woman-led companies in technology and life sciences to raise more than $7 billion in capital.