The Ohio University Alumni Association is excited to introduce you to the next installment in our virtual series, Empower Hour! Beginning in 2021, this event takes place once a month on the third Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. EST.

Empower Hour is a program that explores important and relevant topics centered around the theme of continued personal growth and education. We want to equip OHIO alumni with the knowledge they need to become their best selves!

This Empower Hour segment is called "Using Entrepreneurial Knowledge to Gain a Competitive Edge." Dr. Luke Pittaway, the O’Bleness Professor of Entrepreneurship at Ohio University, will interview the OHIO alumni founders of DeliverThat, Aaron Hoffman and John Zinno. Founded in Athens, Ohio in 2013, DeliverThat is a national last-mile delivery service recognized as the industry leader in restaurant catering delivery and setup. The interview will focus on Aaron's and John’s experience as graduate entrepreneurs, will explore the key learning competencies they have acquired from their entrepreneurial journey and will apply this knowledge to everyday work.

Dr. Luke Pittaway is the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the College of Business at Ohio University. He was previously the Chair of the Department of Management and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. Dr. Pittaway is also the O'Bleness Professor of Entrepreneurship. His research focuses on entrepreneurship education and learning and he has a range of other interests including: entrepreneurial behavior; networking; entrepreneurial failure; business growth; and, corporate venturing. In 2018, Dr. Pittaway was nominated and selected to be USASBE's Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year.

 

Aaron Hoffman is the CEO and co-founder of DeliverThat, a third-party delivery service provider that is an industry leader in restaurant catering, meal-kit, and grocery delivery fulfillment.

As CEO, Aaron has grown the company from three full time employees in 2016 to over 40 by 2020. In addition, he's overseen the national expansion into 87 major metropolitan areas across the US & Canada. Aaron's true passion is providing cost-effective, scalable solutions.

In his spare time, he enjoys golfing, exercising, and mountain climbing.

As CPO, John has helped build DeliverThat into a nation-wide delivery service using his customer service experiences learned at Ohio University. He has been responsible for scaling the education and principles instilled in both drivers and internal employees to a team of over 3,000.

In his spare time, he enjoys basketball, mountain biking, and traveling.