Business Incubator Series: Interview With Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures – Philadelphia And New York City (Part 8)

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 will decide not to move forward after the program, which is part of the process of vetting these ideas in the market place. I don’t think they want to discourage that. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Julia Rosen, Associate Vice-President For Innovation And Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, Venture Catalyst At ASU — Scottsdale, Arizona (Part 6)

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. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures – Philadelphia And New York City (Part 7)

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 of the company called Optimost. Mark will now be running the New York program on the day-to-day basis this summer. We think he brings in a lot expertise and a [good] local network. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Julia Rosen, Associate Vice-President For Innovation And Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, Venture Catalyst At ASU — Scottsdale, Arizona (Part 5)

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 and the world is immensely helpful. It is a specialized set of tools which we have already been accessing, that is already adding value. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures – Philadelphia And New York City (Part 6)

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 different locations, compete in challenges, and earn the rewards from local business for frequenting them and participating in gaming events around their location.

We have several other companies that are all interesting and have been funded and are doing great things, so I could keep going … >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Julia Rosen, Associate Vice-President For Innovation And Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, Venture Catalyst At ASU — Scottsdale, Arizona (Part 4)

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. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures – Philadelphia And New York City (Part 5)

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 of processes. There are a series of topics of interest to them, so we bring in speakers. For example, we know we are going to have investors, marketing specialists, and social media people.

There are certain set of topics that are interesting to all early-stage companies. But, we really work with each company to see where it is with the appropriate set of factors for it to make a measureable impact in three months, and every piece of advice and sense of direction we give to each team is relative to where that team is and what it needs specifically. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Julia Rosen, Associate Vice-President For Innovation And Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, Venture Catalyst At ASU — Scottsdale, Arizona (Part 3)

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. >>>