Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Central & Northern PA  (BFTP-CNP) has added Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR), Marty Bradley, to assist in moving energy-related technology from the campus to market. Marty brings extensive experience running start-ups to the table. He understands the challenges of launching products on a dime, searching for funding sources, and identifying market potential.

Here at the ITN basecamp, Malcolm Furman adds to the region’s entrepreneurial support by engaging his background at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in technology review and grants.  Malcolm interacts with faculty across ITN to accelerate new technology development and link companies with campus expertise.

If you’re an existing company looking for a cluster of energy-related activity, the Virtual Energy Incubator (VEI) has launched. Check out this cloud community of start-up energy companies and clean technology bolstered by BFTP-CNP resources and expertise. This vibrant online initiative is led by Brian Krier.

Since three times is a charm, we’re betting you’ll find this trio a winning ticket for Central Pennsylvania’s energy innovation.

With the growth of gaming across the country, several issues were raised between attendees. How do we define gaming in this region? What are the current projects underway in the group? What challenges does the region face in terms of growth in this sector? One topic bantered about was the need to educate businesses that “gaming” does not equate to “playing.” New technology and the influx of a younger generation has created the opportunity for more effective, engaging, learning tools. The ability to interact with a scenario, while learning new material, decision-making skills or “how to” accomplish a task is an important element to employee training and growth.

As you might expect, the group is a tech savvy bunch and plans to communicate between meetings using Ning.com (http://ssgx-cpa.ning.com)  Join the group virtually, or network in person at the next meeting slated for September 8th, tentatively set at Millersville University. (email ITN directly at itnwk@psu.edu)

Reaching into our network, ITN pulled together talent from the Penn State College of Medicine and Lancaster General Health. Both academic institutions understand the need to be connected with industry and the importance of hearing straight from a CEO.  In these meetings, faculty hear first-hand the practical challenges a management team faces from customers and competitors. In turn, the executives hear how new technology is being tried and tested by experts and what impact the new health care regulations are having at premier health care campuses. These insights assist executives like Richard Dennis, President, Die-Tech  and Anson Flake, CEO of HydroWorx, in steering product development and strategic marketing as they aim to develop the answer to specific industry problems.

So what are the ingredients of a good deal? According to Joe Kaufmann, of Kensey Nash Corporation, they look something like this: Clearly define what you’re giving up, clearly define the milestones (R&D, financial and commercialization), and what happens if things go bad? Since it’s not just the agreement, it’s the partner that matters too, Nash also rattled off the keys to finding a good company partner: The right company, the right focus and the right relationship, were all at the top of his list.

Adding to the partnership discussion, Armando Anido of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. encouraged the audience of entrepreneurs and company executives to have multiple potential partners at the table to get the best deal. In his view, there are so many competing priorities within a big company that it’s not hard to envision a deal falling apart due to internal corporate changes. With mulitple players at the table, companies don’t find themselves dependent on, and therefore at the mercy of, one partner’s terms.

Another major factor in closing a deal, according to Anido, is finding internal champions. He cited his experience having to identify several champions inside Pfizer, courted by his company execs and his board. “And even then,” says Anido, “be prepared to spend a lot of late nights talking them back from the edge to keep them in the deal.”  Finding an internal champion is easier said then done, according to David Pompliano, who brought his entrepreneurial experience as CEO of BioLeap, Inc. As a start-up company CEO, he points out that it’s hard to  find people willing to be internal corporate champions because they’re still skeptical on the science. The initial challenge, before internal champions, is simply trying to be heard within a company. Even after you get a foot in the door, Pompliano suggests companies get ready for “horse trading.”  That’s what it takes for a young company to develop a partnership. “You give away ownership in molecules to get validation,” says Pompliano.

Despite the road blocks, all three panelists agreed there are plenty of opportunities for small companies to grab the attention of a larger corporation. “The big guys are not going to be able to handle all the acquisitions,” comments Anido. When the opportunity does land on your doorstep, Pompliano reminds start-ups, “it’s not just about being cheaper, big companies are looking outside for new innovation.”

One cautionary word from the CEO’s was on the sales front. “Make the sales and marketing decisions before the trials, you can’t wait until FDA approval,” shares Anido. Companies need the trial data, marketing claims, and advantages to move the product from approval to actually getting used.  He stressed the need to talk to potential customers over and over again because customers say something different every time they’re asked a question. “FDA approval is not the end game.”

Learning to prepare and deal with failure is as important as handling success. In the event an existing partnership, product development effort or licensing  deal does go south, Kaufmann has these solemn words of advice for company owners, “Know when to run, take your beating and move on.” In short, know when to pull the plug.

1. The Gen Y demographic (born 1977 - 1997) is the first generation to grow up with entrepreneurial role models (instead of corporate). More resources at colleges and universities to support entrepreneurship than ever before.  Donn Fenn, author UpStarts!

2. Every layer you put between you and your audience, are all the more ways the relationship will get screwed up. Gary Hustwit, Objectified documentary Producer 

3. Google grants. In kind advertising for non-profits. Non Profit Marketing Panel

4. Just because something is public, doesn’t mean we want to publicize it.   Danah Boyd, Microsoft Research

5.  Develop your interaction and feedback channel first, then layer content on top. This is the new publishing model. Paul Ford, Harper’s Magazine Editor

6. DIY U: EduPunks, EduPreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Ed. Author Anya Kamenetz

7. Whatever you start out thinking your business model is, your basic assumptions are wrong. Evan Williams, CEO, Twitter

8. Content is the cost of entry. Gary Vaynerchuk, VaynerMedia/Wine Library 

9. Students are invested in the ties (community) not the technology. Donn Fenn, author UpStarts!

10. What are you doing to drive or incent your power users - Contests? Advance information? Access to unique content? Naveed Anwar, Senior Director, Developers Network, PayPal

11. It’s not about hiding, it’s about maintaining space to open up.(as it relates to posting on Facebook and other social media.)  Danah Boyd, Microsoft Research

12. Be passionate about a “thank you” economy. You can’t scale caring. Gary Vaynerchuk, VaynerMedia/Wine Library 

13. Stickybits.comThe hit of the event schwag bag!

14.  Make it easy for users to participate and get content. Don’t let data gathering (filling our lengthy forms) get in the way. Naveed Anwar, Senior Director, Developers Network, PayPal

15. Everyone wants to be a 19 year old kid and close too fast. Take time to build a business relationship. Gary Vaynerchuk, VaynerMedia/Wine Library

Inside Saturday’s forum, developers from Foursquare and PayPal shared their views on how to incentivize web visitors to become power users. Points, contests, or in Foursquare’s case becoming “mayor”, are all ways they encourage communities to attract and retain their best web customers.  The ability to offer these power users access to early beta tests, advance information, input on design, anything that would make this group feel special, is the way to attract and retain a loyal community.

Outside the session, Foursquare armed their team with a box of low-tech chalk. The guys were busy drawing on the sidewalk encouraging attendees who crowded the lunch trucks, the SoBe tent, or who were lining up to take test rides in a new red Chevy convertible, to “check in” on Foursquare and let the world know of their real-time location.

This mixture of fun and serious business continues all day, every day here. It’s perhaps the most impressive characteristic of this group. Anil Dash, the guy behind Expert Labs government crowdsourcing  research in Washington D.C., announced he was headed to a spirited kickball game. He posted his plans on Twitter (@anildash), trying to lure competitors to the park for free tacos (at 10:30am) and fun. 

One of the keynotes was quirky Danah Boyd from Microsoft Research in New England. Dressed in gray and white striped socks and red laced boots, she regaled the hundreds in attendance with examples of recent privacy blunders on the web (Facebook and Google) suggesting “just because something is public, doesn’t mean we want it publicized.” Her final comment to developers, designers, and marketers was to make sure we are building a world we want to live in. During her presentation, two artists sketched enourmous artistic renderings of the speech, putting her ideas and thoughts into art, right there in front of us as we listened. If that isn’t creative enough, a rap artist is taking the ideas from each keynote and turning them into a musical rendition to be posted later this weekend.

Off site meet ups have been hosted by the likes of Mellow Johnny’s, the renowned local bike shop associated with Lance Armstrong. While shopping for top-notch cycling attire, attendees heard the CTO of Pixar, and Twitter execs, discuss how to leverage social media to create an effective, profitable, campaign. In the midst of all this, film hot-shots were being interviewed with the whirl of tires being aligned as the back drop.

Examples of this type of high energy interaction between the local community,  business professionals, young entrepreneurs, and event attendees takes place continuously in Austin. These guys have figured out that everyone engages in a different way. Whether it’s music, visual, face-to-face, podcasts, print or video you can find what sparks your creative engine at this event and learn from it. These are all ideas we should consider and act upon as we build and expand our own network in PA.

In Pa, ITN has assisted HydroWorx by connecting the company with talented faculty in graphics & design, and business at one of our members, Millersville University. Together the faculty pair led a select group of students as they compiled and ultimately presented their findings on market research and competitive analysis to company executives. From Anson’s view, the collaborative opportunity injected a small team into his company for a short-term, specialized project. As he put it, a faculty team identified by ITN is like having your own scout for research talent. ITN did the searching, calling, and connecting of faculty in his designated sweet spot while faculty did the heavy lifting guiding, leading, and supporting students as they addressed real-world issues from HydroWorx.  

According to Anson, ITN’s model of representing a group of small colleges and universities is both a pre-launch and post launch opportunity for companies. Pre-launch involves demographics, market validation, product development, packaging, messaging, the works. Post launch is all about studies to confirm and validate the product deliverable, lending further credibility to the product once it lands squarely in the market.  With so many experienced faculty to choose from, across such a broad spectrum, the odds of finding the right fit are equally as good, if not better, than working with only one institution.

For students, the experience is one more notch on the belt for those seeking every advantage in building their portfolio and getting a foot in the door as a future hire. In this case, the Millersville student’s successful data collection and information analysis was integrated into HydroWorx existing research and is being used to enhance their decision-making process. These budding professionals got the chance to understand working on a specific timeline, under pressure, and making presentations that had an impact on real business decisions, and then hearing the feedback. All while calling a dorm room home.

Back at ITN, we’ll continue to work on the challenges - coordinating schedules, improving communication, and increasing face time between companies, students, and faculty, all immersed in crammed schedules. This project was a great chance to get our feet wet with HydroWorx, and now, as we discuss our next joint effort, we’re ready to take the plunge.

Steve Hulse of JPL talks with JoAnn Lawer of Lancaster General Hospital

As is usually the case, the draft business model initiated more questions than answers, focusing on which end-users would be willing to part with cash for the product and the true value-add to a customer. It was clear that innovation in healthcare can be a tricky ride as companies try to navigate the HIPPA and new technology guidelines. With input from those in medical and healthcare education, the conversation turned to opportunities around licensing, product integration and/or tweaking the existing concept to target a different set of customers.

Mel Billingsley (left) of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, Alan Snyder of Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Eric Darr of Harrisburg University.

This type of engagement between faculty and corporate project teams is invaluable to those immersed in development. The discussion allows the team to consider additional issues around realistic sales channels, legal concerns, and business development questions before they head too far down the road and it’s painful to turn around. It was a great example of the willingness of the business community here to support new business ideas and the entrepreneurial activity created when faculty and small business connect.

Whether the team decides to ditch the project completely, dig deeper into the market to find answers, or alter their current strategy, this type of discussion is worth hitting the brakes for a 90 minute time investment to support business innovation. At the end of the day we’ll either have a new company, a new division, a new product (or some variation of the three) or smarter executives and faculty primed for the next opportunity. Either way, the road ahead looks promising.

Major topics on the call included questions around how to treat students (graduate students vs. undergraduates) as they get involved in  projects. What happens when students move into the lab and begin working on specific research? Are medical and law students treated the same as students involved in research?

The age-old issue of getting agreements in writing appears to be a step people still avoid. It’s a simple step that can eliminate many a sleepless night and large investments in legal battles if parties would simply take the time to document their mutual understanding prior to moving forward. This doesn’t have to invovle the next iteration of search technology either. Issues can be as simple as developing new website designs (created by students) or faculty course design. Laying out who owns the final product in advance can go a long way in saving relationships.

Joint ownership of IP, and assigning patents to companies or back to faculty, are additional tricky and potentially time consuming endeavours. If ownership of IP is between multiple parties (either people or people/colleges/universities), there are specific items to discuss on how those parties can move forward on development. And if outside funding has occurred to support IP development, meaning an NSF or NIH grant for example, then approval for assigning IP becomes more involved - and takes longer.

When faculty members want to pursue starting a company and integrate their IP into the start-up, things get really interesting.  Is the role of the faculty member as company owner or as a key management team member? Will the university take an equity stake to license the technology or not? Will a specific faculty member’s skills translate to strong start-up company leadership? (Most investors say no.) These were all part of the dialogue. 

For colleges and universities looking into a new IP policy, tapping into a qualified IP resource for Q&A early in the process can be a big help, and time-saver.  You might also want to take a look at Wendy Kennedy’s “So What? Who Cares? Why You?” It’s a reader-friendly, colorful workbook for those seriously considering launching a company - whether faculty or not - and can be a valuable handout. The more access everyone has to simple, easy-to-read guidelines and forms, the smoother the process can be for all parties involved.

The pair from LVC are both energetic faculty and not afraid to try new ideas in the classroom. They are two of the three professionals involved in the Digital Communications Group at LVC. Meeting JPL’s Director gave us all a chance to hear more about what an entrepreneurial organization looks for in young talent. She was well versed in many aspects of JPL and understood the corporate culture they continue to foster.

As part of the discussion, the Director shared that JPL values students who can cross multiple departments with strong collaboration. Even better if they have cross discipline training; some expertise in both communications and graphic design, for example.  According to her business feedback though, this is rare. For their part, LVC is working on just such an endeavour inside the Digital group. Faculty from Art, Business and English are leading the effort to bring business skills into the artistic, digital, creative space.  

After years of developing a well-known, well-respected intern program, JPL has the luxury of attracting and hiring mostly seniors, and is willing to pay for top talent. It was apparent that part of this has to do not only with the candidate’s skill set but in JPL’s ability to evaluate what candidates have learned  from their successes and mistakes. What changes did the student made to a project? Why? What’s the thought process? How did they react to constructive feedback, someone who didn’t love their design? It was a valuable conversation and I credit LVC and JPL for the willingness to sit down and hash out a few ideas around the table.

Imagine what we can accomplish if more meetings like this take place: Faculty interested in hearing what the business community wants from graduates. At ITN, we’re willing to shell out a few bucks for a cheap lunch  or coffee in the spirit of helping our network members connect with business, and we plan to do more of it.