Emily Lutzker

Bio:

Former artist and stand-up (h)ac(k)ademic turned entrepreneur, daughter of the original ideas lady. It is genetic. Out of all of the many businesses that I conceived in the past, OpenInvo was the only one that I ever wanted to be the owner of.

• Title: Founder & CEO, OpenInvo
• Age: 41
• Location: SoHo
• Contact: @openinvo

Founding and running a startup is a significant time commitment.  How do you balance personal time and business?

Personal time, what's that? Seriously, OpenInvo is based on using interdisciplinary thinking to advance innovation, so just about all of my personal time IS about the company. Whether it's an going to an art exhibition (visual innovation) or a restaurant (food innovation) it's all potentially inspiration for the business.

What are some of your favorite ideas currently up on OpenInvo?

I can't disclose any specifics, because of the sensitivity of the intellectual property, but we get amazing ideas of all sorts – anything from an exercise machine with a patent pending, to a design for a sustainable pre-fab house, to recipes for new beverages, medical devices, concepts for advertising placement and treatments for television shows.

In your opinion, what is one thing that NYC is lacking?

Affordable healthcare.

What is your favorite property in Monopoly?

Like Dagny Taggart, I like the railroads. If I have to pick only one, I'd go for Reading.