By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi Kerry: The public funding that DreamIt receives is not contingent on how many of our entrepreneurs are successful. I think that is probably because our investors agree with us that this model of succeed fast or fail fast is valuable. They understand that some of the companies
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: Do you engage with companies after they’ve completed the incubation program? Julia: Not as well as we should. This is a struggle that I think most accelerators have. Once you don’t see them quite as frequently, it’s harder to keep track.
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi Irina: Do you have any special initiatives at this time? Kerry: I would say our expansion in New York City, which should be our first time operating in the city, this summer. We brought on a locally-based managing director, Mark Wachen, an entrepreneur who was the founder
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: Are there any tools that help you to accomplish your mission? Julia: We are, at present, the only U.S. university that is part of the TechStars Network. Being able to access and have a forum in which to talk to other accelerators from around the country
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi Kerry: Scvngr is our best-known company. They are a mobile game platform that is used both in the B2B space, in that museums and cities can host Scvngr hunts for residents who can explore a community, and also a consumer game, where users can check in at
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: What are the sources of your applications? Julia: They come from all over the world, from students to faculty in greater Phoenix, the nation, and the world. They really come from all over the place.
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi Irina: What tools do you use to accomplish your mission? Kerry: Because we don’t specialize in a specific industry, protocol, or niche, and we don’t specialize in a particular stage – they are obviously all early-stage companies – we don’t think they need a curriculum or set
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Julia: Many times, our early-stage entrepreneurs don’t have the resources to pay professional service providers. They’re much more interested in working with a group of bright graduate students. So, we connect entrepreneurs with students who might be able to perform certain services for them.