Impressive Technology for Student Learning

I attended a forum yesterday entitled, “Fueling High Tech Careers in NJ–(STEM-Science, Tech, Engineering & Math Education Initiatives) presented by the Electronics, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Industry Network of the NJ Tech Council.    Moderated by Bill Kroll, CEO of Matheson TriGas, the panel consisted of a range of technology academicians who shared with the audience their efforts to educate New Jersey students about technology and influence their career choices.  Some of the presentations including video were very impressive. 

Nancy Butnick, Special Projects Leader, of the Liberty Science Center, presented fantastic footage of surgery being conducted with the use of robotics that included views of internal organs as part of the Cardiac Classroom.   As she showed and explained, the doctor sits in a machine that enables them to make hand and arm movements that the robot emulates to conduct the surgery.   Students from high schools around New Jersey are able to view this and other initiatives by attending the Science Center.  Their goal is encourage interest in engineering, math and science.

Dunbar Birnie, Chairman, Materials Sciencee and Engineering, at Rutgers shared student projects focusing on Energy Applications and Solar.  This included toy cars powered by solar cells built by students.   Dunbar “dreams of running a High School statewide Solar Design Competition.”

Kenneth Zushna, Executive Director, New Jersey Technology Educators Association, shared the mission of their organization to educate students about  “practicing the process of design and innovation”.   Though not offered at all high schools in New Jersey, a teacher with a Technology Education Certification assists students in achieving Technological Literacy.

As noted during the panel discussion, in roads have not been made in having girls pursue careers in engineering and science.   Reasons shared by some women attendees included social pressure during teen years, as well as women professionals facing hurdles in becoming re-engaged in their industry following  child rearing.   Anecdotes were shared about some successes, but the general concensus was that results were far below expectations.  One left the conference after viewing some of the videos as to how students could not be motivated to become active as the technology on display was so impressive—and gave such a preview to an adventurous future.

Lively Turnout Celebrates Entrepreneurship at NJ Entrepreneurs Forum

Wrapping up the business season, NJEF held its last networking event leading into the summer break which traditionally is an evening celebrating  entrepreneurship.   A variety of entrepreneurs game enough to practice their funding pitches in front of a friendly audience of peers, consultants, a couple of angel investors and a vc were on hand. 

In addition to entrepreneurs such as Mark Fitzsimmons, CEO & Founder of Arxscan and serial entrepreneur, and former corporate executive Sue Perotty of KnowledgeFlow, the first and second place winners of the Rutgers business plan competition presented.  The first place winner was The Intersect Fund, a not for profit venture that provides both microlending and consulting services to urban entrepreneurs.  The second place winner was StratiMed Group, a company offering a handheld device for conducting patient surveys while the patients are present at the doctor’s office.

Jeff Milanette of Innovative Partners and Dan Conley of NJAngels host the monthly meetings.  They noted that the funding season slows for the summer and their Forum will start up again in September.

FUNDNG BIO PHARMA: Strategies for Reaching Investors

A breakfast seminar hosted by Yankee Public Relations on June 9th brought to the fore the current financial crisis uniquely being experienced by biopharma companies.  As noted in the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, Cash Dries Up for Biotech Drug Firms by Keith J. Winstein on March 16, 2009, “approximately 120 of the 360 publicly traded biotechs have less than six months of cash left, compared with just 12 companies in that position a year ago, according to Burrill & Co., a venture capital concern in San Francisco that follows the industry.”

Moderated by Fred Feiner, President of Yankee Public Relations, three panels comprised of biopharma executives and key industry service providers discussed the financial crisis and strategies to address the challenges being faced.  Recommendations from the first panel comprised of biopharma executives  included:

• Stay focused on revenue producing opportunities
• Reduce expenditures head count
• Be prepared to provide potential investors with the right details they require, and not provide too much information that distracts them
• Explore revenue opportunities that are nearer at hand for some products to hold over the company for their other products with longer term revenue horizons
• Network through the shareholder base to find investors
• Have a strong management team in place
• Have your story down in advance of meeting your investors
• Be creative in looking for non traditional sources of funding
• Be resilient, be optimistic
• Do not assume all departments of a large strategic partner view your venture the same way or that they won’t change their mind given a change of events

This panel was comprised of Annarie Lyles, SVP Genmab, Ellen McDonald, SVP Regado,Evan Myrianthopoulos, DOR Biopharma, and Andrew Reaume, CEO Melior Discovery. 

In the second panel that focused on what investors desire to hear, Jeffrey H. Nicholas, Partner in the law firm of Fox Rothschild, described the current crisis as a Darwinian period during which a good number of biotech firms are being eliminated and an excess of high quality human capital being available for a good period of time to come.  He shared instances of company boards more readily prompting changes in a venture’s executive team knowing that alternatives exist due to the current availability of seasoned executives.  He emphasized that deals are being made where promises of commercialization exist.    This panel also included: Gene Detroyer, Five Prime Advisors, John Pennett, Amper, Politiziner & Mattia, Emilio Ragosa, Morgan Lewis and Avjit Roy, Five Prime Advisors.

NJEN Angel Gathering Brings Out Entrepreneurs

A beyond capacity turn out occurred on June 3rd at the New Jersey Entrepreneurs Network in Princeton which brought together a full panel of angels and angel groups who were readily accessible to attending entrepreneurs.   Deploying what they called a ‘reverse angel fair”, angel panelists sat among the audience in designated tables which allowed easy access by entrepreneurs to approach them and discuss their funding needs following the event’s panel discussion.

One attending entrepreneur,Michael Marsan, President of New Market Translations which has a disruptive technology for the translation services industry, expressed his enthusiasm for the panel and the accessibility that was given.  He was very pleased to see the broad panel representation from regional angel groups and the innovative way that NJEN offered contact with them.

The panel included:

• Mario Casabona, President and CEO, Casabona Venture LLC  & Chair of JumpstartNJ Angel Network
• Larry Chaityn, Chapter President of Keiretsu Forum NY Tri-State
• Loren D. Danzis, Delaware Crossing Investor Group
• Ellen Sandles, Executive Director, Tri-State Private Investors
• Christopher Starr, Executive Director Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Funds
• David Twersky, President, Robin Hood Ventures
• Joan Zief, Golden Seeds

This meeting wrapped up the business season for NJEN meetings which will start up again following the Labor Day weekend.  More info: www.NJEN.com

Carbon Nanoprobes Takes Venture Pitch Olympics

The competing entrepreneurs were there…and the panel of vc’s and angels were waiting for them.  The twice year Elevator Pitch Olympics & Expo was held at the Marriott Hanover in Whippany on May 29th which serves to showcase entrepreneurs seeking funding from around the tri-state area and give them an opportunity to see where their venture stacks up against each other in front of venture capitalists and angel investors–while vying for a lessening amount of investor dollars in a tough economy.

Carbon Nanoprobes emerged the winner among the approximate 35 pitching entrepreneurs.  Participating entrepreneurs’ short pitches are judged on a combination of presentation quality and venture fundability by an investor panel.  Brian Ruby made the most compelling case for funding,  for his venture Carbon Nanoprobes, an emerging nanotech solutions provider that enables the acceleration of research and development through use of its molecular imaging technology.   This years Olympics drew in a broad range of pitching entrepreneurs from TimeoutTV, a venture optimizing airport real estate through tamper proof video screens in restrooms and other areas to Twin Hens, a food company specializing in frozen pot pie entrees to a high technology ventures such as iSpeech’s text to speech software and Carbon Nanoprobes.

Judging panelists included:

• Thatcher Bell, Principal, DFJ Gotham Ventures
• Matt Bieber, Senior Associate, Originate Ventures
• Conrad Everhard, Esq. Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP
• Paul Lewis, Angel Investor, Partner, Lewis LLC
• Jeanne Sullivan, General Partner, StarVest Partners, LP

The Venture Association’s next Expo is scheduled for late October 2009.  More information:  www.VANJ.com

Invention to Venture Part of 2009 Green Ventures Conference at FDU

The two day Sustainability Conference at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison offered something for everyone in the Sustainability and Green spheres.   The two and half day Conference offered seminars, panels and workshops on topics ranging from Green Jobs to Neighborhood Green Incubators.

Part of the Conference was Venture to Invention, a workshop series developed with support from the Kauffman Foundation and The Lemelson Foundation.  Judith Sheft, Associate Vice President of Technology Development at NJIT, coordinated the full day of workshops focusing on Green Entrepreneurship that included Green IP, Green Venture Funding, Strategic Partners and more.  I spoke with a few of the attendees as to what their ventures were and what challenges they were facing.  One attendee who had a patentable idea was trying to find the pathway to appropriate IP protection on a limited budget.  Another was a future entrepreneur with a head full of ideas and seeking to learn more about the entrepreneurial journey and where to jump in.

For the second year in a row the FDU Sustainability Incubator team put together an event that drew passionate attendees.  Building off of  last year’s success, the event was expanded to just over two days and included a video conference for the kick off networking social of Bob Wilard, Author & Business Sustainability Champion.

If you missed the Conference, check out it’s web site:  www.greenventuresconference.org

Dr. Greg Olsen & Bill Joy Keynote Rutgers Entrepreneurship Day

Rutgers Institute of Business, Engineering, Science and Technology (aka BEST) hosted a half day conference entitled ”Economic Growth Through Innovation” that offered top speakers and panelists who shared their thoughts and experience about successfully bringing a technology through the commercialization. 

New Jersey’s most notable entrepreneur and space traveler, Dr. Greg Olsen shared both his experiences as entrepreneur and his unique exploits in space travel with a full auditoreum of attendees.  Explaining that four key elements of a successful venture are: Capital, People, Facilities and Leverage and that while the first three will fluctuate depending upon the business cycle, the last factor, Leverage, is a constant.  He encouraged entrepreneurs to leverage relationships with clients, partners, individuals, universities and others that will enable their venture to move forward by recreatively using their limited resources.   He cited, one example, a trade of skill and talent an organization might value from the entrepreneur in exchange for work space that would onlt require a limited, if any, exchange of money. 

Having sold one of his businesses just prior to the Internet bubble bursting which was a combination of great timing and some luck, Dr. Olsen recommended that entrepreneurs not seek the best deal, but a good deal.   He encouraged the entrepreneur to be aware of the point when the executive tream has been put in place and is working effectively as a timely opportunity for the venture’s sale. 

Bill Joy, Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems, offered a great perspective on the emerging frontier of technology in the early 1980’s.  Describing the emergence of local area networks and the Internet as period when “Everything was up for grabs”, he shared the excitement of being at a place in time when enormous opportunity abounded.  He equated it to entrepreneurs being asked “what would you do, if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” which projected a confidence that they were involved at a time when their were almost unlimited amout of opportunities to solve problems of far reaching importance.

Following these two key note speaches was a panel hosted by Inc. Magazine, moderated by Inc.’s Deputy Editor, Mike Hofman.  The panel included , Lexy Funk, CEO of Brookyn Industries, Dan Hoffman, CEO of M5, Tomasz Imielinksi, VP of Technology of Ask.com, Dr. Randall Pinkett, CEO of BCT Partners and David Edwab, Director of Men’s Warehouse. The event concluded with Dr. Pinkett presenting the Campus Challenge CEO Awards.

Stevens Institute Inaugurates Entrepreneurship Day

Friday, the May 8th, was an exciting day at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.  It was their inaugural Research & Entrepeneurship Day, showcasing academic projects that potentially will lead to new ventures.   The University is very much committed to bettering the commercialization process of their academic institution–which is home to some great talent and patentable technology. 

The Research & Entrepreneurship Day brought together a broad spectrum of the New Jersey entrepreneurial, technology and venture capital community.   The agenda included three key note speakers: Matthew Clark, Director, UniversityPrograms Department of Homeland Security, Kelly Miller, Chief Information Officer–National Security Agency and David S. Rose, Chairman and CEO-Angelsoft.

I had the opportunity to speak with one student entrepreneur, JR Oreskovich of Trust Technologies, who as part of a Stevens student team developed an orthopedic sensor device that will minimize post-operative injuries and reduce rehab time for leg injuries. JR and I spoke a bit about the exciting career options that may be available to him and his team members, if they choose to move forward to commercialize their new design.  And they very much sound like they will be seeking the funding to take their design to the next stage. 

Look for more such events at Stevens as they look to provide quality access points for entrepreneurs, funders, and academic researchers to network…an important contribution to the commercialization process within universities.  Next event is the Alternative Energy Workshop on June 2nd.

The Different Journeys of Entrepreneurs

One of the nicest benefits of being the publisher of NJEntrepreneur.com is being able to meet so many innovative entrepreneurs.  In my last business I spent so much of my time building the operational structure of the business  that I had very little time to network.   It is very typical for entrepreneurs to go through phases when they are hunkered down and working alone.  Even if they have employees, it is often a situation where they need to stay narrowly focused and not seek an outside outlet.   It has been widely documented that isolation is a major challenge of the entrepreneur.  

NJEntrepreneur.com is a site that embraces the New Jersey entrepreneurial community and is out there amongst those who are making it happen—the entrepreneurs and the individuals and organizations supporting them.

Having met so many entrepreneurs over the last few years, I am much more aware as to how the entrepreneurial journey varies from individual to individual —there  is the scientist entrepreneur, the young entrepreneur, the woman entrepreneur etc.   The motivation for starting a business is very personal, the support surrounding each is unique, the degree of success is relative….each has their  own story as to how taking on risk changed their lives.

We have attempted to profile these different perspectives in our print Quarterly.  We have featured Dr. Olsen who sold his first company for $600 million before the Internet bubble, the executives of Bluenog who had just received vc funding and Needebot which was just starting to look for venture capital for their new search engine.   Each at a different stage in their entrepreneurial journey.  Not until you start meeting so many entrepreneurs do you realize the innovation that is occuring in the entrepreneurial arena.  I heard one entrepreneurial speaker once say that he wakes up each day excited knowing how many problems there are out there waiting to be fixed.

I was speaking with Don Shatinsky who runs the EDA Commercialization Center for Innovative Technology who was in attendance at the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies’ Innovation Summit on April 28th.  Don expressed his enjoyment of the the last speaker, Jason Fried, CEO of 37Signals, who was very candid about the nitty gritty of starting and building a business.   Rothman Insitute has run an Innovation Series for the last few years that has brought very high quality dialog about innovation and entrepreneurship New Jersey.  Jim Barrood is the Executive Director.

This is my first post to my new blog about the entrepreneurial community in New Jersey.  I hope to share some of the grass roots stories that are happening here in New Jersey that are exciting about being an entrepreneur.  And also intertwine good advice and noteworthy entrepreneurial events that may assist individuals in this arena.

I will keep you posted!

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