M
ark Kvamme has this crowd rapt, and he isn't even speaking. We're in a cavernous Italian restaurant called Mr. Anthony's on the outskirts of Youngstown, Ohio, and the lunchtime audience is filled with members of the local chamber of commerce. He has just told the story of how as a consultant back in 1997, he advised Steve Jobs to try narrating Apple's iconic "Think Different" television ad. While he plays a recording of Jobs toasting "the crazy ones" over an orchestral swell, Kvamme, eyes downcast, looks prayerful. The clip ends, and he snaps to attention. "Let's be crazy!" he concludes. "Let's change things here in Ohio!"
Kvamme (pronounced KWAH-me) is a partner at venture capital powerhouse Sequoia Capital, and he might easily be mistaken for a guest speaker flown in to inspire the local business set. But the Silicon Valley native -- and son of tech industry icon Floyd Kvamme -- is an Ohio fixture now. In January of last year he accepted an offer from John Kasich, an old friend and the state's newly elected Republican governor, to revamp Ohio's economic development agency, a temporary gig that by June of 2011 had evolved into a $1-a-year, full-time post as the state's jobs czar. His mandate: to Think Different about how to reverse Ohio's generation-long economic decay.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Can a Silicon Valley insider save Ohio's economy? - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blog Term Sheet
