Business Incubator Series: Linda Darragh, ARCH New Business Incubator, University of Chicago – Illinois (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Vandana Upadhyay

Irina: How many of these companies are technology businesses? Is there any industry preference?

Linda: Almost all are technology businesses. A lot of it is mobile and Internet but there are business services as well. Among the ones that won last year, one is a business service software, a simpler version of Salesforce.com, and it is really getting some interesting traction. Another is Watermelon Express, which is a real-time integration across the Internet, cell phones, and texts for test preparation like the SAT or GMAT. It has gotten awards and attention from a lot education technology companies. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Ross Sanders, Bizdom U – Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio (Part 6)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi

Ross: Our selection is a rigorous process. We are trying to get the more serious people because we have invest a lot time and energy and resources into these folks, so we want to get in people who are really serious about it. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Linda Darragh, ARCH New Business Incubator, University of Chicago – Illinois (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Vandana Upadhyay

I am talking to Linda Darragh, who is director of entrepreneurship programs and clinical associate professor of entrepreneurship at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. She teaches the New Venture Lab and the Social Entrepreneurship Lab and has been a coach for the New Venture Challenge, Chicago Booth’s business plan competition. She launched the global version of the New Venture Challenge that assists executive MBA students on the London and Singapore campuses to start and expand entrepreneurial businesses. She also initiated the Entrepreneurial Immersion trip series that went to China in 2007 and to India in 2008.

Prior to this position, Ms. Darragh taught entrepreneurship courses at the Kellogg School of Management from 1999 to 2005. She organized Springboard: Mid-West, a nationally recognized investor forum for women entrepreneurs, in both 2001 and 2003. Her work with women seeking equity investment led her to initiate the Ceres Venture Fund, in which she is an investor. She is a board member of TiE Midwest, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, and the Illinois Technology Association. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Ross Sanders, Bizdom U – Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio (Part 5)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi

Ross: Our entrepreneurs get access to resources and funding for their business. We think it is a huge opportunity. They get a stipend, as I mentioned, for the four months, while in the program. We provide laptops and BlackBerries; really everything connected with to program, so they get a ton of assistance in taking the business from A to Z as a result of being associated with Bizdom U. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Ross Sanders, Bizdom U – Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio (Part 4)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi

Irina: How many companies have you incubated to date?

Ross: Right now we have 11 companies that we are working with. There are a few more that we have launched. They have not recorded funding yet, but we have 11 that have gotten funding. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Jerry Creighton, Enterprise Development Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark (Part 7)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Jerry: Very few of the SBA [Small Business Association] programs are of any value to us. Most of the companies here, their main asset is intellectual property. Intellectual property is different from brick-and-mortar [property].

If people go through SBA funding sources, they have to use their personal assets. That’s my biggest frustration, the lack of interest in the United States, in most states, definitely in New Jersey, in helping the companies that really create the jobs, that are the future of our country. We’re not getting a lot of support. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Ross Sanders, Bizdom U – Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio (Part 3)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Praveen Karoshi

Irina: Could you describe an ideal company that would benefit from your program?

Ross: Most people that we bring into our program do not have established businesses. They are people who are seeking out ideas.

I can give you an example. There was a woman [Judy Davids] who had a lot of different ideas. She didn’t know which one to settle on, so we brought her into the program. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Jerry Creighton, Enterprise Development Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark (Part 6)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Jerry: What our success is in, it’s the tech development side; it’s helping the economy grow; it’s creating jobs; it’s attracting businesses and investors to New Jersey, and building a high-tech, world-class workforce of people who want to stay in the state. Those are my mission objectives that are consistent with the university.

I look at that in a couple of different ways. For example, the 90-some companies that I have in here, their combined revenue is $82 million, which is a real good contribution, because of the tax base and everything that goes with that.

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