Engaging the Business Community in Support of Economic Development: Rensselaers Emerging Ventures Ecosystem Tom Begley, Dean Gina Colarelli OConnor Associate Dean & Director, Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship Lally School of Management & Technology Northeast Business Deans conference September 20-21, 2012 RPI President George Lows Vision: A University Government Industry Partnership Government University Industry Economic Impact Technology Transfer Education Management Teams University Research IP Capital Angel, Venture, Corporate Technological Entrepreneurs Technical Teams Trustee: Elements of Entrepreneurial Success Local Conditions in 1980 The regional economy was dominated by New York State government and a small number of major companies: General Electric, Sterling Pharmaceuticals, Schenectady Chemicals Regional industry in long term decline. GE employed 50,000 in Schenectady after World War II; less than 10,000 then. Sterling Pharmaceutical was acquired by Kodak and moved to Philadelphia. No entrepreneurial culture nor supporting infrastructure. Universities were disconnected from the regional economy 1980 Pilot Test: The RPI Incubator & Tech Park Incubator Success Rensselaer Technology Park ( ) Capital Region Technology Development Council NYS Science and Technology Foundation NYS Centers for Advanced Technology George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation Office of Technology Commercialization Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship Derivative Effects Incubator Success Rensselaer Technology Park Capital Region Technology Development Council NYS Science and Technology Foundation NYS Centers for Advanced Technology George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation Office of Technology Commercialization Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship Evidence of Success 2 nd Generation Effects SUNY Incubator Sematech Center for Economic Growth Union College Incubator RPIdea Lab Tech Valley New Venture Capital Funds: High Peaks Ventures, TS Capital; First Albany Capital The First 20 Years: Laying the Groundwork 1981 Incubator 1983 Tech Park 1986 First courses 1988 Center for Eship & New Tech Ventures (CENTV) 1989 Venture Affiliates of RPI 1990 RenTech 1992 Entrep Of the Yr 1996 Biz Plan Comp 1999 Endowment The Next 12 years: Escalating Activity 2001 Tech Valley BPC 2006 Vice Provost-Eship 2006 Lemelson-RPI Prize 2008 Entre In Residence 2008 Class of 51 Comp 2009 Exemplars Program 2009 Buhrmaster Grant 2010 E&I Council 2010 Eship Club relaunch 2010 Elevator Pitch Comp 2010 Founding team, NYS BPC 2011 EVE Launch 2011 Revised Student IP Policy 2012 RPI BPC re-Launch 2012 Foundry RPI 2012 Host, NYS Regional BPC 2012 Incubator-Tech Park Consolidation RPI Research Awards Granted FY00 to FY11 Mgmt Teams IP VC Techl Entreps Tech Teams Discovery / Imagination InventionFeasibility Strategy/ Entity Creation DemoLaunch Entrepreneurship Continuum & RPI Support SCTE Office of Research, OTC VP of E*ship IncubatorTech Park Vice Provost-Entrepreneurship Drive Entrepreneurship into courses across the schools CourseFinder: 103 courses Create content for Faculty Video clips Contests to Stimulate Students to Recognize Opportunities Change the World Challenge Class of 51 Elevator Pitch Competition Expose Students to Entrepreneurs New Horizons Speaker Series Induce students to think/act entrepreneurially Exemplars program Career workshops Sept 2012NE Region Biz Deans Council12 Severino Center for Techl Entrepreneurship Sept 2012 NE Region Biz Deans Council13 Mission: To introduce the practice and impart the principles of Entrepreneurship to every student at Rensselaer. Provide opportunities to learn fundamental principles of entrepreneurship and study historical cases of successful entrepreneurs. Provide opportunities to listen to, interact with and work with experienced entrepreneurs. Guide, mentor and coach student-based start up businesses. Connect student entrepreneurs to resources and networks within & beyond the Rensselaer community. Objectives Provide & support opportunities to learn fundamental principles of entrepreneurship and study historical cases of successful entrepreneurs. Provide opportunities to listen to, interact with and work with experienced entrepreneurs. Help students who are seeking business opportunities to find and initiate them, & help students with ideas for new innovations to find help in commercializing them. Guide, mentor and coach student-based start up businesses. Connect student entrepreneurs to resources and networks within & beyond the Rensselaer community. . Partners Student Reach and Outcomes 2011 32 interactions with 18 teams 7 Buhrmaster grants 3 winners at NYSBPC 1 at Loyola 2012 125 interactions with 53 teams 6 Buhrmaster grants 1 Walmart national winner 1 Accepted to Rice 1 NYSBPC winner Contestants grew from 33 to 120 RPI = 25% of finalists 4 new student based companies in downtown Troy Others in home regions. Programs Entrepreneurs breakfast Student Sandbox Student E*ship Club REI P EOY Entrepreneur of the Year Legal Helpdesk Entrepreneurs breakfast Speakers Mike Ridley, Deadmans Productions Fritz Langer, McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams Chuck Haviland, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna Jeff Schwartz, Phillips Lytle Susan Farley, Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley and Mesiti Dan Farrow, Abbott Energy John Schneiter, Free Form Fiber Harry Ruda, Wing Power Energy EIRs/Advisors Team Formation Support Foundry at RPI Jason Kuruzovich Wednesday Night MOKRs Local Entrepreneurs attend Buhrmaster 69 Grants Established in 2010 Funding student startups to do market research Force students into the market. Connect them with mentors to cope with what they learn. Based on the quality of the presentations, I think the coaching that was done was excellent. Rarely do you see such good presentations in general, let alone from students John Cococcia, FA Tech Ventures Planning Team for NYS BPC Ithos Global Ithos Global VectorGen VectorGen Grey Castle Security Grey Castle Security Paper Battery Co. Paper Battery Co. Dkorr Dkorr Tech Valley Connect Tech Valley Connect InflatablePFD.com InflatablePFD.com Tidy Tots Tidy Tots Rensselaer Entrepreneurship Interns Program Affiliate Faculty T. Ravichandran NEW IN 2012 Jason Kuruzovich Lois Peters Hao Zhao Susan Sanderson Dmitri Markovich William Tracy Ongoing Efforts. Build/RPI Biz Plan competition Upgrade EIR Role + add affiliates. Build Foundry: Summer Program Morph Innovation Council/Re-legitimize High School BPC More Buhrmaster Grants. DECO initiative RPIs Incubator First university based incubator in the US. More than 265 companies supported since Venture Affiliates of RPI: Accountant, Lawyer, Marketing Consultant. Regular meetings, colocation. RenTech: Tech Park, Incubator, OTC, Eship Center Directors reviewed portfolio companies, facilitated help. More than 80% survived at least 5 years. Several prominent successes, across sectors. Structural experimentation: Moved from Physical facility+service to virtual to distributed. Now exploring tech specific regional shared incubators. Sept 2012 NE Region Biz Deans Council30 Technology Park 23 Buildings, 70 tenant companies. Mix of post incubator, service provider and new businesses of mature companies (GE Digital X- Ray). Multiple technology domains. Access to RPI resources, faculty, students. Sept 2012 NE Region Biz Deans Council31 Developing Close in Relationships with Investment Community Venture Forum Alumni Investment Network Eastern NY Angels and other NYS Angel networks. .406 Fellows Program Sept 2012 NE Region Biz Deans Council32 Venture Summit discovery showcase Venture Summit Panel Discussion..Spring 2012 Fellows program Successful entrepreneurial university students: Build network with select group of proven entrepreneurs from leading universities. Foster connections and understanding of the venture capital industry..406 facilitates internships/employment in companies within portfolio/network. Exclusive deal platform with key legal, accounting, and PR partners provides Fellows with low cost package to start new businesses. Exposure to top industry practitioners via educational modules Opportunity to participate in offsite meetings with.406 and other industry professionals. Babson Columbia Northeastern Yale Boston College Dartmouth Olin UPenn Brown Harvard Rutgers Carnegie Mellon MIT Tufts The Community Gets Engaged & the Ecosystem Grows Investment Community High Peaks Ventures FA Technology Ventures Eastern NY Angels Grand Slam Alley UVANY EO alumni Start Up Infrastructure Accelerate 518-incubator network Center for Economic Growth Venture BPlan Series NY State BPlan Competition Start Up Weekend NYSERDA NY BEST Consortium Local Chambers of Commerce Entrepreneurs organization (EO) Legal Community start up practices Management Teams University Research IP Capital Angel, Venture, Corporate Technological Entrepreneurs Technical Teams Elements of Entrepreneurial Success Challenges 1.How move from a culture of invention to a culture of entrepreneurship? 2.How far to open the door to external sources of funding? 3.Unintended consequences to students? To Faculty? To RPI? 4.Role of Universities in Economic Development? Biz Models? 5.Attracting seasoned management talent. 6.Alumni Involvement: Cannibalize Charitable Giving? Research Economic Development Rensselaers Emerging Ventures Ecosystem Invention New Business Creation BACKUP SLIDES Sept 2012NE Region Biz Deans Council40 Recent Successful Exits 41 High Growth/Revenue Generating 42 At the Precipice 43 Promising Starts 44 Ascentori Technologies, LLC