Startup 3.0: Seeing the System - Part 1 of 2

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:05:50 GMT

The use of system dynamics to model entrepreneurship and start-up engineering, conducted by MIT SDM Fellow Fady Saad.

Startup 3.0: Seeing the System - Part 2 of 2

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:05:50 GMT

The use of system dynamics to model entrepreneurship and start-up engineering, conducted by MIT SDM Fellow Fady Saad.

Entrepreneurial spirit, startups at MIT

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:30:45 GMT

Lorna Gibson is the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

MIT's Vision for the Digital Economy and Closing Remarks

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:06:17 GMT

Andrew McAfee, 1988, 1989, LGO 1990, Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist, The MIT Center for Digital Business

Erik Brynjolfsson, PhD 1991, Director, The MIT Center for Digital Business, Schussel Family Professor of Management Science, MIT Sloan School of Management

David Schmittlein, John C Head III Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management

Big Data: The Management Revolution

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:06:17 GMT

Andrew McAfee, ’88, ’89, LGO ’90, Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist, The MIT Center for Digital Business

Andrew McAfee is the associate director and principal research scientist at The MIT Center for Digital Business. He studies the ways that information technology (IT) affects businesses and business as a whole. His research investigates how IT changes the way companies perform, organize themselves, and compete. At a higher level, his work also investigates how computerization affects competition, society, the economy, and the workforce. He and Erik Brynjolfsson are co-authors of the ebook Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation,Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy. The book brings together a range of data, examples, and research to show that the average US worker is being left behind by advances in technology.

He coined the phrase “Enterprise 2.0” in a spring 2006 Sloan Management Review article to describe the use of Web 2.0 tools and approaches by businesses. He also began blogging at that time, both about Enterprise 2.0 and about his other research. McAfee’s blog is widely read, becoming at times one of the 10,000 most popular in the world (according to Technorati). He also maintains a Facebook profile and Twitter account. In addition to the blog that is part of this site, McAfee also writes a blog as part of harvardbusiness.org’s “HBR Voices.” His posts are also regularly reprinted at forbes.com. McAfee’s book on Enterprise 2.0 was published in November 2009 by Harvard Business School Press. In the July/August 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review McAfee and Brynjolfsson published “Investing in the IT that Makes a Competitive Difference,” a summary of their research investigating IT’s links to changes in competition. This work was the first to reveal that competition began to heat up in the US in the mid-1990s—to become faster paced, more turbulent, and more winner-take-all—and that this acceleration was greater in industries that spent more on IT. This research continues, and continues to highlight that technology appears to be significantly reshaping the landscape of competition. McAfee is the author or co-author of more than 100 articles, case studies and other materials for students and teachers of technology. This work has convinced him that modern information technology is the most powerful tool available to business leaders, yet also the most misunderstood and under-appreciated resource at their disposal. He has written columns for the Washington Post, the Financial Times, and Canadian Manager, and been a guest on the Charlie Rose show.

The Coming Industrial Revolution

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:06:17 GMT

Rodney Brooks, Founder, Chairman, and CTO, Rethink Robotics, Panasonic Professor of Robotics (emeritus), MIT

Rodney Brooks is the Panasonic Professor of Robotics (emeritus) at MIT. He is a robotics entrepreneur and the founder, chairman, and CTO of Rethink Robotics, Inc. He also has a collection of formers. He is a founder, former board member, former chairman, and former CTO (1991–2008) of iRobot Corp (Nasdaq: IRBT), which has delivered over eight million consumer robots, and over four thousand military robots. Brooks is the former director (1997-2007) of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and then the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

In his 27 years on the active faculty at MIT and Stanford, he carried out research in robotics, developing the behavior-based approach to robotics, developed the first mobile robots that could interact with people, the first humanoid robots in the United States, and made basic contributions to computer vision and artificial life, and was active in developing technology for planetary rovers. He supervised 27 wonderful PhD’s and is eternally grateful for those experiences. Brooks is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a founding fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS), a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the other AAAS), a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a corresponding member of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and a foreign fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

He received his PhD from Stanford in 1981, in Computer Science, and before that, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pure mathematics at the Flinders University of South Australia. Early in his career he held post-doctoral positions at Carnegie Mellon University and at MIT.

Fireside Chat with Vivek Ranadivé,'79, SM '80, Chairman and CEO, TIBCO Software

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:06:16 GMT

Moderator: Andrew McAfee, 1988, 1989, LGO 1990

Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist, The MIT Center for Digital Business

Speaker: Vivek Ranadivé, ’79, SM ’80

Chairman and CEO, TIBCO Software

Vivek Ranadivé founded TIBCO in 1997 with the vision of bringing real-time technology into the mainstream. His acclaimed New York Times business bestseller, The Power of Now: How Winning Companies Sense and Respond to Change Using Real-time Technology (1999), has been widely used in academia and been the subject of numerous interviews. His subsequent book, The

Power to Predict (2006), shows the impact of predictive business on mainstream companies from Procter & Gamble to Harrah’s and reveals how companies can break new ground in their quest to anticipate customers’ needs, create new opportunities, and predict and sidestep unwelcome surprises.

Ranadivé has appeared as a featured expert on real-time computing on CNBC and in publications such as The Economist, Fast Company, and Red Herring. Ranadivé has consistently been recognized as a visionary for the future of business integration, securing him a place in InfoWorld’s 2002 Top Ten Technology Innovators. He was recognized by Ernst & Young as a 2002 Software Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2008, he was named the South Asian CEO of the Year by SAMBAA. He was also featured in “Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath,” a New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Outliers, as an example of innovators who win by “breaking the rules.”

Prior to founding TIBCO, Ranadivé was president and founder of a UNIX consulting company. Previously, he held management and engineering positions with Ford Motor Company, M/A-Com Linkabit, and Fortune Systems. Ranadivé is a frequent presenter on such topics as the future of integration, enabling real-time business, and unleashing the power of information across enterprises to become more competitive. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He received both a Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

Fireside Chat with Thomas M. Siebel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, C3 Energy

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:06:12 GMT

Moderator: Erik Brynjolfsson, PhD 1991

Director, The MIT Center for Digital Business, Schussel Family Professor of Management Science, MIT Sloan School of Management

Race Against the Machine

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:06:12 GMT

Erik Brynjolfsson, PhD 1991

Director, The MIT Center for Digital Business, Schussel Family Professor of Management Science, MIT Sloan School of Management

Technology, Progress, and Employment Panel Discussion

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:06:12 GMT

Moderator:

Andrew McAfee, 1988, 1989, LGO 1990

Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist, MIT Center for Digital Business

Panelists:

Jeremy Howard, President and Chief Scientist, Kaggle

Tim O'Reilly, Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Carl Shapiro, 1976, PhD 1981, Transamerica Professor of Business Strategy, Haas School of Business, The University of California, Berkeley

Trust Center TV: December 3, 2012

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:31:24 GMT

Bill recaps a talk about immigration and entrepreneurship, and there are some competitions approaching.

Company of the Week - Wefunder.com

Thu, 03 May 2012 01:56:02 GMT

Mike Norman and Wefunder.com is changing how startups raise money through crowd funding.

Company of the Week - Ginger.io

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:49:58 GMT

Ginger.io is an analytics company focused on mobile health data, Winners of the SXSW Accelerator competition in the Health Care category.

Company of the Week - Meriday Animation

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:24:28 GMT

Derek and Remington gives us an inside look on what it is like to start a company as a married couple and how they are taking a classic cartoon character into the modern era.

Company of the Week - Gotham

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:09:09 GMT

Slava and Brett have developed a bike light so secure that comic-book villains couldn't even steal.

Start-Up Thinking: How Systems Thinking Helps Entrepreneurial Ventures Start, Grow, and Mature -- Sorin Grama and Sam White

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:18:22 GMT

About the Presentation

Soon after a business plan is hatched and long before manufacturing ramps up, start-ups begin to apply systems design principles to create their breakthrough products. It turns out that systems engineering, an art developed and perfected in large organizations, applies just as well to small entrepreneurial ventures. What can start-ups learn from the likes of Ford and Boeing? Sorin Grama and Sam White, who launched Promethean Power Systems just after Grama graduated from SDM, will discuss how systems thinking shaped their start-up journey and helped them address social challenges while developing their first product.

About the Speakers

Sorin Grama, SDM '06, is the co-founder and CEO of Promethean Power Systems. He previously worked for National Instruments. He has a BS in electrical engineering from Ohio State University and an MS in engineering and management from MIT.

Sam White is the co-founder of Promethean Power, where he lines up partners, customers, and funding. His experience in business development includes five years with the Institute of Management Resources in Madrid. He has a BA from Union College and recently graduated from the Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University.

About the Series

The MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.

Start-Up Thinking: How Systems Thinking Helps Entrepreneurial Ventures Start, Grow, and Mature -- Sorin Grama and Sam White

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:34:52 GMT

About the Presentation

About the Speakers

About the Series

Legatum Lecture : Dr. Noubar Afeyan of Flagship Ventures

Wed, 18 May 2011 19:00:56 GMT

Afeyan, Noubar Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Flagship Ventures Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, a firm he co-founded in 2000 that focuses on inventing, launching, funding and building new ventures. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT where he has taught courses on entrepreneurship and innovation since 2000. In addition, he recently joined Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering as a visiting scholar. Dr. Afeyan has authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987. During his 23-year-long career as inventor, entrepreneur, CEO and venture capitalist, Dr. Afeyan has co-founded and helped build over twenty life science, technology and energy startups. Currently Dr. Afeyan serves on a number of public and private company boards and he is a member of several advisory boards including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, the Whitehead Institute at MIT, the SKOLKOVO School of Management in Moscow and the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia. Dr. Afeyan's past and current ventures include: PerSeptive Biosystems, ChemGenics Pharmaceuticals, EXACT Sciences, Color Kinetics, Celera Genomics, Affinnova, Adnexus Therapeutics, BG Medicine, LS9 and Joule Unlimited.

MIT's Entrepreneurial Development and Impact Over the Past 50 Years

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT

06/05/2010 9:00 AM Wong AuditoriumEdward B. Roberts, '57, SM '58, SM '60, PhD '62, David Sarnoff Professor of the Management of Technology; Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship CenterDescription: Ed Roberts reviews the effects of entrepreneurship within MIT and the relation of MIT entrepreneurship to larger communities. Much of the research under discussion comes from a 2006 study of MIT alumni conducted by Roberts and Charles Eesley of the Sloan School. The study polled MIT alumni about companies they had started or co"founded and which were still in business. 20% reported founding a total of 25,800 companies that met this standard. These companies had a total employment of 3.3 million and generated revenues of almost one trillion dollars. Put in other terms, living MIT alumni constitute the equivalent of the eleventh largest economy in the world. "MIT is the most productive institution anywhere in the world in creating new companies," Roberts says. The study found many intriguing trends. For one, the rate at which alumni have been starting companies has accelerated over the decades. The number of alumni starting their first firm (as opposed to their second or third company) has grown from about 1000 in the 50's to 9000 during the 90's. Entrepreneurship is spread throughout the alumni, regardless of where or what they studied. When alumni found multiple companies, the second tends to do better than the first, and the third, better than the second. Non"native students found companies, usually in the US, at twice the rate of native students. Women alums are less likely to found companies than men. The effects are highly concentrated geographically: 31% of the firms and payroll are in Massachusetts. Two questions often provoked by these results are: why has this happened and how can my region or country create an MIT? While Roberts disavows any firm conclusions, he points out that MIT has a long history of deliberate, focused efforts at nurturing entrepreneurship, particularly over the last forty years. His talk reviews the many chapters of this relationship, which ranges from promoting business plan competitions among students, to organizing the licensing office around a focus on start"ups, to sponsoring educational and networking events among alumni, to integrating the campus around the entrepreneurial mission. As to the second question, Roberts says one of the key ingredients is patience. Building the MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem took a long time. Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

The Clean Energy Revolution

Mon, 03 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT

05/03/2010 4:30 PM Copley Place MarriottBrian Dumaine, Sr., Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine; Nancy Floyd, Founder & Managing Director Nth Power; Scott Stern, Visiting Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management; Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious MaterialsDescription: Beyond guts, a great business plan, and friends with deep pockets, clean energy entrepreneurs will need patience and perhaps most of all, a favorable policy environment to succeed. Fortune magazine editor Brian Dumaine leads a discussion with panelists from the worlds of venture capital, academia and industry on "how to build a winning green tech company." Nancy Floyd sees talented and practical entrepreneurs "solving problems we see in front of us." Some of these may be "game changers," although they are "certainly not science experiments." Her firm insists that investment"worthy renewable energy ventures must not pose an additional cost premium, which means that projects must be "at grid parity or below." She also dismisses the notion that a great idea will be totally disruptive, completely upending or bypassing current powers in the energy and utility industries. "I think that's a stupid strategyYou need to engage those incumbents in a smart way. That's the only way to get companies launched here." The good news is that there are "many, many companies requiring less than $50 million that may have a huge impact on core technologies." Kevin Surace's company replaced 6,500 windows on the Empire State Building with new energy efficient glass, saving the owner $410 thousand per year. Green tech, he passionately believes, "has to pay back, and pay back fast, or cost less up front." Government subsidies for energy conservation, and public incentives for consumers to buy green don't last forever, so entrepreneurs need to create a cost"saving product that will sell itself. Surace sees market"friendly green tech as vital to turning around the U.S. economy, bringing manufacturing back home, and reducing the nation's $16 trillion debt. But while he believes that "the best business plans don't require government intervention," Surace acknowledges not only the necessity of government backing in such giant energy startups as solar installations, but a wholesale shift in the regulatory environment. "The solution to all of this nobody wants to talk about is a carbon tax." "We need an ecosystem for energy that is more developed," agrees Scott Stern, who worries that the U.S. has squandered its global leadership role in addressing climate change, and is currently in political gridlock around comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. In spite of this paralysis, Stern recommends that entrepreneurs look ahead and invent for the future. "Right now, we have bad prices for carbon We must think down the road: How will the institutional environment for paying for energy change over time, and how will the institutional environment for supporting energy infrastructure change?" Stern suggests that eventually, society will recognize that the cost of emitting carbon will be more expensive than a carbon tax. This is a long"term challenge that poses an opportunity to entrepreneurs to develop "a range of technical options." Stern hopes that some of these new energy products might eventually diffuse through the market and become universally adopted, as did semiconductors and the Internet. About the Speaker(s): Brian Dumaine, Sr. oversees Fortune magazine's international coverage and its European and Asian editions. He also directs Fortune's green technology and environmental policy stories. He is the author of the The Plot To Save The Planet: How Visionary Entrepreneurs and Corporate Titans Are Creating Real Solutions To Global Warming. Dumaine has worked at Fortune for 28 years in various writing and editing positions including assistant managing editor. He has won numerous journalism awards and written more than 100 feature stories for the magazine, including covers such as "America's Toughest Bosses," "The Innovation Gap," and "America's Smartest Young Entrepreneurs." Throughout his career, he has produced investigative pieces as well as articles on marketing, investing, technology, and corporate crime. Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise Forum

Bill Porter in Conversation with Howard Anderson

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

04/28/2010 12:00 PM Wong AuditoriumWilliam A. Porter, SF '67, Co"Founder & Chairman Emeritus, E"Trade Financial Corporation; Howard Anderson, William Porter Distinguished Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship, MIT SloanDescription: Some of the lessons Bill Porter picked up as a 13"year"old ranch hand in Colorado seem to have lasted a lifetime. When his boss told him to drive over a treacherous mountain pass into town for some chicken feed, Porter said he could not yet drive. He was told, "Just do it." And when he faced taking a team of horses out to pasture for the first time, he got the same advice. Porter says he learned from those experiences: "There are risks involved, but so what? What's the worst that could happen? You might have to get another job." This formative time helped shape a career that began with Navy service, then many years devising products for different industries. After a stint at Sloan, Porter decided he "didn't like his job." He was eager to "go commercial" with several promising new inventions, including an exhaust gas sensor, and a remote access back pack camera, and so started his own company. He struggled to raise capital, and had to "bet the farm." Finally "things were going swell," says Porter. Then came the crash of 1974, and his one big contract fell through. It wasn't fun telling his 250 employees he couldn't pay them, recalls Porter. Undaunted, he pulled his company through the downturn, and finally sold it to Warner Communications. Then came Porter's 'lightbulb' moment. He became fascinated by the possibility of analyzing and predicting trends in the stock market. At around the same time, he bought an Apple II computer, and discovered he could pull down stock quotes at night online, freeing him of newspapers and the monthly brokerage statement. Porter thought, "Why isn't somebody doing this right?" In the early 80s, with his "legally blind programmer" and $15 thousand, he started a company called Trade*Plus _ ushering in the era of online stock trading. By Porter's account, the company expanded so fast that it couldn't keep up hiring and training employees. In the 1990s, this company was renamed the E"Trade Group, and Porter in his own words, "became pretty wealthy." Porter has given generously to MIT, funding a new building at Sloan with the long"term goal of helping the business school become more effective in marketing the "neat new widgets" coming from the Institute's scientists and engineers. He has a few words of counsel for students and entrepreneurs: the "very best field to get into" is life sciences, and the best source of funding is "your own money," followed by that of your friends and family. Venture capital financing, says Porter, should be your very last resort. About the Speaker(s): William A. Porter, Jr. served as President of E" Trade Group Inc. until October 1993 and its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary until March 1996. Porter has held numerous senior management positions, including Chairman of Trelleborg Rubber Company; President of Tretorn Shoes; President of Commercial Electronics Inc. He founded E*TRADE Group Inc. (formerly Trade*Plus) and served as its Chairman from its inception to December 1998. He also founded E*TRADE Securities, Incorporated in 1992. Porter founded International Securities Exchange Holdings Inc. (formerly International Securities Exchange Inc.) and served as its first Chairman. Mr. Porter serves as Chairman Emeritus of E*TRADE Financial Corporation (previously E Trade Group Inc. Porter received a B.A. in Mathematics from Adams State College, an M.S. in Physics from Kansas State College, and a Masters of Business Administration in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Sloan Fellow. Howard Anderson, founder and former president of The Yankee Group, has 30 years of experience in the operations of a high"technology market research firm. He is also a co"founder of Battery Ventures, a venture capital firm in the Boston area, and, most recently, YankeeTek Ventures, a high technology venture capital firm in Cambridge. Anderson was recently selected by Network World as one of the 25 most important people in communications. He has presented keynote addresses at both Comdex and Network Interop. He is also a contributing columnist to Forbes Magazine. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

The Tough Get Growing: How to Succeed in a Down Economy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

11/16/2009 6:00 PM KresgeBo Fishback, VP, Entrepreneurship, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Eugene Fitzgerald, '85, Merton C. Flemings"SMA Professor, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Helen Greiner, '89, CEO, The Droid Works; Daphne Zohar, Founder and Managing Partner, PureTech VenturesDescription: Stay calm, stick with your vision and business fundamentals, and you'll survive and perhaps even thrive in rough economic times, counsel these entrepreneurial aces. In a conversation with the Kauffman Foundation's Bo Fishback, panelists reflect on their experiences bringing novel tech products to market and new companies to fruition, in good times and bad. Daphne Zohar attributes much of her company's success to its unusual approach: PureTech Ventures is an institutional entrepreneur that "starts companies from scratch, backwards, looking for an unmet need." Her team investigates thousands of technologies brewing in academic labs, then, says Zohar, "we brainstorm and come up with ideas ourselves, forming a company in a proactive way." Zohar's group seeks out the very best researchers from the start -- the first step in building what she calls an "entrepreneurial trinity: people, money, technology." Zohar has been starting companies since she was a teenager, and is relatively unfazed by the current crisis. PureTech is bullish enough to have started a hair follicle company for such disorders as baldness and acne. It's "an area where there are no solutions, but it's clear that if there were something, a lot of people would be happy." As a veteran of a half dozen startups, Eugene Fitzgerald has developed a healthy respect for macroeconomic cycles. The contraction of funding opportunities in the current climate may not be such a bad thing. "When you're in a phase with cheap capital around, you could form an idea incomplete on the technological level, and run with itCheap capital biases people toward selling their vision alone." With investors hard to come by, entrepreneurs will have to ratchet down their expectations, and "build companies the old fashioned way, over a longer period of time." A recession focuses people on researching and developing an idea so it "will sell tomorrow." Fitzgerald also sees "lots of opportunity during a time of gigantic changes," if entrepreneurs can remain fixed on an idea, settle for growing slowly, and reach that "magic point" when the economy starts to leap back. As an 11"year"old Star Wars fan, Helen Greiner was "enthralled by robots." When she started her first company right out of MIT in 1990, she had high ambitions but little commercial know"how -- Greiner lacked even a business plan -- and she saw almost a decade of hard knocks before securing venture capital for iRobot. During this period, which taught Greiner "the value of cash," she partnered with Fortune 500 companies, and found work with DARPA and military contractors as well. All of these proved invaluable opportunities to learn about manufacturing and customers. When Greiner finally introduced her mainstream product, the Roomba vacuum, in the midst of recession, she encountered widespread skepticism. Says Greiner, "If you look at the market opportunity for robots when we started, you would have said zero." But she notes that with disruptive technologies, you "have to use a little bit more imagination" and "do a lot of evangelizing rather than just selling." About the Speaker(s): At the Kauffman Foundation, Bo Fishback's responsibilities include developing and advancing transformative programs that strengthen entrepreneurial engagement in the economy and help entrepreneurs succeed. Fishback joined the Kauffman Foundation in 2006 as a director in the advancing innovation area, where he studied the country's best business accelerators and university"based commercialization programs. In 2007, he joined Kansas City, Mo."based BioMed Valley Discoveries, a translational research and development organization affiliated with the Stowers Institute whose mission is to translate basic biomedical research into applications that improve human health. Fishback has been involved in a range of entrepreneurial initiatives. He is a founding team member of Orbis Biosciences, a drug delivery and particle fabrication company. Fishback is also a co"founder of Lightspeed Genomics, a next"generation genome sequencing company that was spun out of a research program at MIT. In addition, Fishback developed the Equity Simulation Tool, OwnYourVenture.com, an educational tool aimed at helping people understand the impact of raising equity financing. Fishback received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise Forum

Leadership and Entrepreneurship

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

10/20/2009 4:00 PM e51"335David Fialkow, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners; Ben Fischman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Retail Convergence, Inc.; Alex Laats, 89, President, BBN Technologies' Delta DivisionDescription: While their ventures couldn't be more dissimilar -- engineering high tech defense gear for soldiers, and running an exclusive online boutique -- this panel's entrepreneurs share some common experiences and lessons. Moderator David Fialkowwould "love to tell you I'm wicked brilliant, analytical, clairvoyant, but I'm not." As he sees it, a large part of business success depends on "the people you meet, and understanding how relationships lead to other things." One member of Fialkow's extensive yet intimate business network is Ben Fischman, who affirms this emphasis on relationships as he recounts his own journey through several enterprises. As a Boston University junior, Fischman hungered to channel his energy into business, and with some friends, seized on the idea of a store selling truly comfortable baseball caps. The scheme earned venture capital funding, and rolled out over several years, five LIDS stores to hundreds of kiosks countrywide. During these initial years, Fischman gained the "most important wisdom: to surround myself with people who know a lot of stuff I don't know." Another lesson arrived with the hire of a CEO "who within six months, single"handedly destroyed the company's culture" and led it to Chapter 11. Fischman now takes a more leisurely pace vetting candidates before hiring them. New opportunities arose, leading to e"commerce ventures and his current company, Rue La La, a "viral" online business that "creates incredible addiction" in its customers." Fischman modestly describes himself as "a one"trick pony," capable of pulling together a team of great people "with thick skin, creativity and guts," who can adjust when the business plan doesn't unfold as written. Another Fialkow colleague, Alex Laats, found his way into business in a roundabout way. An MIT math and physics major with a Harvard law degree, Laats ended up in MIT's Technology Licensing Office, where he seized opportunities "to get close to technology and entrepreneurs." By 1996, he was "getting antsy to start his own business." He found venture capital for a business phone product that was ultimately acquired by 3Com. His next enterprise was "not a disaster but not a success," raising $42 million in a single round of money"raising, in 1999. But the company "hadn't solved its major problems yet," and it was a time when the "business world ran into telecom breakdown." Still, Laats gained from this experience: "It's about not being successful. It's important to know those lessons are often times more valuable than victory lessons." His most recent work involves a new division at famed R&D services company BBN, creating products for the government, among others. It wasn't the easiest fit at first, admits Laats: "I started with nothing, just me and two guys. They didn't know what to do with me." But he's already got some major successes under his belt. There's Boomerang, a counter sniper product used by American soldiers in Afghanistan, and another venture that brought in $75 million in revenue last year, profits that prove the viability of his business concept. About the Speaker(s): David Fialkow is the co"founder and managing director of General Catalyst Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in technology"based companies. Fialkow and General Catalyst co"founded Upromise, a rewards program designed to help parents save for college. At MIT, Fialkow teaches a Sloan Innovation Period course called Leadership and Entrepreneurship, which explores a range of entrepreneurship issues, from how to attract venture capital to developing the skills needed to lead. . He is also a member of the MIT Leadership Center Advisory Council. Fialkow previously co"founded and operated numerous businesses focused on building applied technology"based platforms and tools. These include National Leisure Group, Alliance Development Group, Retail Growth ATM Systems and Starboard Cruise Services. He serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the Pan"Mass Challenge and the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. He is a graduate of Colgate University and Boston College Law School.Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Leadership Center

The Next Giant Leaps in Energy, Environment, & Air Transportation

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

06/11/2009 1:00 PM KresgeThe Honorable John P. Holdren, '65, SM '66, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President; Dr. Ian A. Waitz, Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor and Department Head, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT ; Michael B. Bair, SM '93, Vice President, Business Strategy & Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Dr. David Danielson, Ph D '08, Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency; Founder, MIT Energy Club; Dr. Alan H. Epstein, '71, SM '72, Ph D 75, Vice President for Technology and Environment, United Technologies Pratt & Whitney, and R.C. MacLaurin Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT; Dr. Lourdes Q. Maurice, Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Environment, FAADescription: It's no exaggeration to say John Holdren's job involves tackling the most critical issues of our age: economic recovery and growth, health care, energy, climate change, global pandemics, national security, ecosystem preservationthe list goes on. As President Obama's science and technology advisor, Holdren leverages the resources and collective acumen of the nation's researchers and innovators to address these complex and urgent matters. To an MIT audience, Holdren makes the case that aerospace science, technology and education will provide a "crucial contribution to and driver of many relevant capabilities" the U.S. will need to meet this century's challenges. He cites in particular the relevance of "nitty"gritty things like infrastructure" in aerospace research and industry -- -- including military and civilian satellites enabling earth observation and tracking for national security purposes or weather forecasting. These technologies engender "spin"offs into other domains of the economy, health care and the environment." In addition, the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station are inspiring students to pursue science and engineering. Holdren hopes these young researchers will eventually pave the way to clean energy and a revitalized economy. President Obama has put science and technology "front and center," and these priorities are reflected in a budget that provides big boosts for science, and also for transportation infrastructure and applied energy technologies. Government agencies are trying to resolve the "budget"vision disparity" in the space program; air traffic control problems resulting from the steady expansion of civil air traffic; and the problem of greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy of aircraft. But Holdren worries about maintaining the administration's ambitious space and aeronautics agenda, in the face of ballooning government programs, and ongoing military commitments. Aviation and space communities must work together across government, industry and academic sectors to overcome these obstacles -- "a giant leap requiring giant partnerships." A group of aerospace leaders respond to Holdren's talk. Michael Bair notes that the aviation industry is growing faster than GDP, but challenged by "an awful business model" and an expanding carbon footprint. He sees hope in fuel efficiency improvements, especially biofuels, and new air traffic policies. David Danielson believes young entrepreneurs, inspired by 9/11, the economic crisis, and the 90's internet boom, will rally to transform our energy economy, with the help of new policies and funding, a firm embrace of "thinking big," and an acceptance that "it's OK to fail." Seeking a less polluting hydrocarbon to power his airplanes, Alan Epstein needs a big infusion of capital from the financial community to help attract biofuel producers to aviation, and looks to places like MIT for "ingenuity and invention" to make biofuels a practical, cost"effective reality. A key lesson learned in kindergarten -- 'tell the truth' -- will serve the aerospace community well, counsels Lourdes Q. Maurice. This means admitting "tradeoffs between noise and emissions," for instance. She also argues for inclusivity among decision"makers around energy and environment issues, and decisions informed by science. About the Speaker(s): John P. Holdren, President Obama's "Science Czar," previously served as Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, as well as professor in Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Director of the independent, nonprofit Woods Hole Research Center. From 1973 to 1996 he was on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where he co"founded and co"led the interdisciplinary graduate"degree program in energy and resources. Holdren holds advanced degrees in aerospace engineering and theoretical plasma physics from MIT and Stanford and has specialized in energy technology and policy, global climate change, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as foreign member of the Royal Society of London. A former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, his awards include a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, the John Heinz Prize in Public Policy, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and the Volvo Environment Prize. He served from 1991 until 2005 as a member of the MacArthur Foundation's board of trustees. Ian A. Waitz also serves as the Director of the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER), an FAA/NASA/Transport Canada"sponsored Center of Excellence. His principal areas of interest are the modeling and evaluation of climate, local air quality and noise impacts of aviation. Waitz has written approximately 75 technical publications, including a report to the U.S. Congress on aviation and the environment. He holds three patents and has consulted for many organizations. During 2002"2005 he was Deputy Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has also served as an associate editor of the AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power. In 2003, Waitz received a NASA Turning Goals Into Reality Award for Noise Reduction. He was awarded the FAA 2007 Excellence in Aviation Research Award. He is a Fellow of the AIAA, and an ASME and ASEE member. He was honored with the 2002 MIT Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Award and appointment as an MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow in 2003. Waitz received his B.S. in 1986 from the Pennsylvania State University; his M.S. in 1988, from George Washington University; and his Ph.D.in 1991, from the California Institute of Technology.Host(s): School of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

From Information Theory Courses at MIT to Providing Chips and Technology for a World with Four Billion Cellular Subscribers: Memories and a Look Ahead

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

02/19/2009 4:30 PM 10"250Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, SM '57 PhD '59, Chairman, Qualcomm, Inc.Description: Cellphone and mobile communication aficionados (not to mention the rest of us) appreciate that our favorite tech gadgets increasingly resemble props from Star Trek. A shout out then to Irwin Jacobs and Qualcomm, the company perhaps most responsible for such astonishing gear. In his talk, Jacobs narrates his journey from MIT, as a faculty member in the early 60s, to California and his initial entrepreneurial venture, Linkabit. Jacobs and other MIT talent applied information theory to projects for NASA and JPL, including coding for deep space probes, and processor designs. Before Jacobs moved on, Linkabit had come up with the idea for satellites that enabled live data communications between headquarters and retail stores for both Wal"Mart and 7"11. The company's designs led to the direct broadcast satellite systems for XM and Direct TV. Its digital scrambling system fed digital technology into TV transmissions. The even bigger story for Jacobs (and the world) involves his next venture, Qualcomm (for Quality Communications), launched in 1985. This fruitful collaboration among MIT and Linkabit graduates launched the wireless telecommunications revolution. Qualcomm first gave the trucking industry OmniTRACS, a satellite"based commercial mobile system, and then dreamed up a technology for wireless and data devices -- Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) -- that has revolutionized business and personal communications. Qualcomm made it possible for a multitude of users to share a confined spectrum space, and then for high speed data to fit comfortably alongside voice applications. There are four billion mobile subscribers around the world, says Jacobs, of which 100 million users get voice plus data. Even in these dire economic times, new subscribers are growing, and he predicts six billion subscribers by 2013. Qualcomm's hard at work optimizing how data and voice share transmissions, making new applications possible (and affordable) worldwide. The goal: wireless broadband connectivity for all, and to each his or her own Smartphone or Kindle. As cellphones proliferate and merge with mobile computing, we'll be able to keep tabs on each other via GPS, says Jacobs. He believes phones "will quickly replace credit cards, even replace money." He sees particular opportunities in telemedicine, where phones armed with sensors can transmit patient information to specialists in hospitals, who then zip back treatment recommendations. Jacobs takes pride in Qualcomm's efforts to leverage wireless cellphone tech for social benefits: helping Indonesian women in business ventures; bringing farmers and fishermen a way of determining market prices for their goods without a middle man; and bringing in 3G phones for kids without computer capability in China. About the Speaker(s): Irwin Mark Jacobs pioneered the development and commercialization of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology. He served as chief executive officer of Qualcomm until July 2005. Jacobs previously served as co"founder, president, CEO and chairman of LINKABIT Corporation, directing its growth from a few part"time employees in 1969 to more than 1,400 employees in 1985 and first introduction of Ku"band Very Small Aperture Earth Terminals (VSATs), commercial TDMA wireless phones, and the VideoCipher satellite"to"home TV system. LINKABIT merged with M/A"COM in August 1980. More than 35 San Diego telecommunications companies, including Qualcomm, trace their roots back to LINKABIT. From 1959 to 1966, Jacobs was an assistant/associate professor of electrical engineering at MIT. From 1966 to 1972 he served as a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego. At MIT, Dr. Jacobs co"authored a basic textbook on digital communications entitled, Principles of Communication Engineering. Jacobs has received numerous honors, including the National Medal of Technology Award in 1994 -- the highest award bestowed by the president of the United States for extraordinary achievements in the commercialization of technology, or the development of human resources that foster technology. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1956 from Cornell University and his SM and Ph.D in electrical engineering from MIT. Host(s): School of Engineering, School of Engineering

Leadership Development

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT

12/05/2008 12:00 PM Faculty ClubEric Amundsen, '94, SM '99, Associate, Wolf Greenfield; Karina Funk, CE '97, Equity Research, Winslow Management Company; Ajit Kambil, '85, SM '89, PhD '93, Global Research Director, Deloitte; Dava Newman, Sm '89, PhD '92, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering SystemsDescription: A trio of graduates from MIT's Technology and Policy Program (TPP) discuss their career paths, bumps and all, and offer guidance to current students. Having studied as a mechanical engineer, Eric Amundsen "never in life thought (he) would be an attorney." Then he "stumbled across patent law." He attended a graduate student seminar where he was forced to rank his likes and dislikes. When he analyzed his priorities, he discovered that engineering was not the best fit, while patent law "matched up close to 100%." Amundsen feels vindicated in his choice. He continues to put his technical expertise to good use, enjoys helping clients "get value out of their IP," offers strategic advice, and negotiates difficult problems. Whatever the situation, Amundsen notes that "it often comes down to relationships: You can be the best attorney in the world but if (clients) don't like talking to you, you're not going to serve them well." From Amundsen, this parting lesson for career"builders: "Pay attention when you get a sure gut feeling that something's not right." Karina Funk "went from engineering, to dabbling in policy, explaining science to policy"makers, to business and operations, to finance and investing." Funk credits MIT with her ability to open doors to many fields, because "unlike other academic environments," the MIT culture encourages combining disciplines. After developing an interest in health and the environment, and realizing she was not going to make a difference in the policy world, Funk turned to business. She describes an early experience that resulted in an important insight she's since carried with her. Two weeks before starting a graduate degree in physics at Berkeley, she realized she "didn't want to be a lab rat." (She found the TPP program instead.) She tells her listeners: "You figure out what you don't want to do. I'm not kidding when I say some of my best decisions have come very quickly when I've been literally stopped dead in my tracks, disgusted or disappointed by the path ahead of me. I know I have to make a change." Within the context of an "elevator pitch" to launch an entrepreneurial business school in Asia, Ajit Kambil describes some milestones in his career, and his philosophy. A cancer survivor, Kambil has learned "you live every day; make the most of it." For him, this means less emphasis on success, and more on "what you are going to give." His TPP focus, around information technology, engaged him in further studies of how information systems affect organizations. Kambil has been in academics; started various companies, "some duds, some successes;" and written a book on auctions and markets, looking at why the Dutch "are so good at flowers." He learned that certain problems that crop up in life take a long time to answer. His recommendation: "Persist." He also suggests "setting bold goals" to stretch yourself and others to a higher purpose, building a network with a few good people, and preparing before taking the lead on a new challenge.About the Speaker(s): Dava Newman specializes in investigating astronaut performance across the spectrum of gravity. She is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) on the MICR0"G space flight experiment to quantify astronaut intravehicular activity (IVA) onboard the International Space Station. Previously, she has been the PI for Space Shuttle experiments dealing with load sensors and astronaut workloads. Newman earned a Ph.D. from MIT in Aeronautics, Biomed and Engineering.Host(s): School of Engineering, Technology and Policy Program

Innovation to Commercialization: Using Government Funding to Kick Start Your Start-Up

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

06/04/2008 7:00 PM KresgeBruce Gellerman, Public Radio International ; Thomas Allnutt, Program Director, National Science Foundation; Milton Chen, vsee; Christopher Loose , PhD '07 , Founder and Chief Technology Officer, SteriCoat Corp; Bill Townsend , SM '84, PhD '88 , Founder, Barrett TechnologyDescription: This informative roundtable provides useful tips to aspiring entrepreneurs on obtaining government dollars. Through conversation and Q&A, moderator Bruce Gellermanelicits some key dos and don'ts from a National Science Foundation small business program officer, and from tech CEOs who have benefited from the government's programs. Thomas Allnut says that NSF is but one of 10 agencies that distribute money to small businesses, and that his program is "in the middle of the pack, with $110 million per year to give away to responsible small businesses to get technology into the market place." All told, in 2007, the government gave away $2.5 billion to businesses of fewer than 500 employees. While some agencies, like Department of Defense, have mission"driven solicitations (e.g., better bullets or vests), NSF has a broader mandate. While NSF's first phase grants of $100 thousand and second phase grants of $750 thousand per year may seem small potatoes to some entrepreneurs, Allnut says, "We want to take small companies withoutcapitalization, who can't afford to take a huge risk on technology and give them a little boost to try something they wouldn't try otherwise." For Milton Chen, an assortment of small business grants at vital times during his company's evolution "let me sleep a little easier." His real"time video conferencing software company, VSee, had begun shipping its product, and cash flows were zooming up and down. "Having extra money helped; we hired some extra people." Looking back, he says, it was a good move not seeking venture capital funding at this time, since they expected a rapid ramp up to profitability, and government funding bought VSee the time to work on "subtle, hard science issues" before facing the vicissitudes of the marketplace. Christopher Loose began a company out of the MIT 100k Competition, developing "cutting edge functional surfaces to prevent infections." He's completed NSF first phase funding, which enabled Semprus Biosciences to develop a broad package of data about safety and efficacy. He recommends talking to program directors before writing a grant application, in order to "work within the spirit of SBIR." He also thinks the very process of applying is "a good exercise," forcing you to "think through your development plan critically." Bill Townsendhas been building his business for 20 years, and credits SBIR grants with "helping out tremendously." His robotics company "had a hard time raising money. Robotics might look interesting on the outside, especially to engineers, but it's 1/3rd the size of the scented candlestick market." His was "not a compelling story for VC." He sold the government on the "long term bet" of robotics. Small business grants prove perfect for medium growth, he says _"it's one of the few ways to get money other than credit cards." About the Speaker(s): Bruce Gellerman has won more than 40 national awards for environmental, financial, investigative, scientific and social affairs reporting. These include the Sigma Delta Chi"Bronze Medallion, the Ohio State Award, the AAAS"Westinghouse Award, and the Unity Award. His work has been published in the New York Times, The Scientist, and the Boston Globe and he's the author of the book Massachusetts Curiosities. Gellerman has also taught journalism in Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kazakstan, Armenia, Albania, Sierre Leone, and Uganda. He recently was selected as a Fulbright Senior Specialist and recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise Forum

A Conversation with Jack Welch and Alex D'Arbeloff

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

04/12/2007 12:00 PM Jack Welch, Founder Jack Welch Management Institute ; Alex d'Arbeloff, '49, Professor of Practice, MIT Sloan School of Management; Honorary Description: You won't catch Jack Welch changing his tune on the basics of business success, at least not in this conversation with Alex D'Arbeloff. He dismisses criticism in the business press that his ideas need revision, and repeatedly hammers home his central themes. -Your job in a business environment is no different than managing a sports team: you want to field the best players," says Welch. -Weed out the weak, encourage the average to bet better and show them how and let the top people know how much your love them and care about themThat is the game." There's too much concern about eliminating poor performers, says Welch. -Why focus on the losers? It's society's little guilt trip." The key is getting the top tier of employees excited, giving them the self-confidence to reach and do more. -If you're a boss and a bore, slap yourself," he continues. Leaders of organizations must structure rigorous appraisal and training regimens, so employees know where they stand. -Candor is the biggest thing we build," notes Welch. He offers additional observations and insights in response to questions from D'Arbeloff and the audience. Welch is concerned by the current brain drain of the nation's best and brightest MBAs, who head to six-figure starting salaries at hedge funds and private equity firms rather than building careers in companies. He scoffs at the notion of -work-life balance," insisting on the word -choice" instead, since he believes that flush companies try to buy off employees with flex time -and massages at 3 o'clock," rather than offering appropriate compensation and intrinsic job value. Also, telecommuting -is another fad that will die of no success," since without face time, employees aren't entitled to move up the ladder. Welch declares there will be -no new age employees in my start up. I want players who are sweating, animals, people who don't take no for an answer, who are there 24/7." Welch spies a -massive opportunity" in the green movement, and says CEOs today have no option but to believe in global warming, and drive their organizations and products in that direction. -That's what your job is. Sense it early and move before the trend, and have your products out there." He's also betting that the U.S. will ultimately outrun China in economic growth. -The ability to have hungry, innovative people matched up with liquidity allows us to have an entrepreneur class unmatched anywhere," concludes Welch. About the Speaker(s): Jack Welch received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1957, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois. He joined General Electric in 1960 as a junior engineer. He became a vice-president of GE in 1972, senior vice-president in 1977, vice-chairman in 1979 and became the corporation's youngest Chairman and CEO in 1981. During his 20-year tenure, the company's market value grew from $12 billion to $280 billion. He was known for eliminating red tape and bureaucracy. Welch has written two books, including Jack: Straight from the Gut (2001), and his most recent, with wife Suzy Welch, Winning (2005).Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Why Large Companies Should Out-Innovate Small Ones

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 05:00:00 GMT

11/02/2006 12:00 PM E51-115 WongDan Hesse, SM '89, Chairman and CEO EmbarqDescription: Given the choice, Dan Hesse would opt for working in a big company rather than a small one, especially when it comes to innovating. He backs up this preference with years of experience, from his days running a start up (-It was really hard work") to leading some of AT&T's pioneer telecom ventures. Hesse first describes some of his formative projects for AT&T, including the -all you can eat" long distance WATTS line and AT&T's first internet and wireless divisions. What he learned was how to -sit down with the guys in the labs," and also with customers, applying market research to generate new inventions. He came to appreciate AT&T's very deep pockets for R&D, which made it possible for -the large guy to completely change the game" and -make it almost impossible for smaller guys to compete." His new enterprise, Embarq, (an offshoot of Sprint Nextel) is the nation's 4th largest local telephone company, present in 18 states with $6.5 billion in revenues. Hesse is determined to fight the slow but relentless loss of market share to wireless and cable companies. His plan involves changing the image of the firm -to get customers to embrace innovation" and try Embarq's new products, which include: One Voicemail, a service that provides a single voicemail messaging system for home and wireless phones; Smart Connect, which enables an Embarq phone user to switch transparently from mobile frequencies to Wi-Fi as the phone moves from outside to inside; Media Safe, 25gb of internet storage for Embarq's DSL subscribers to stow their videos and tunes; and the Offer, a company promise not to raise the DSL subscription price _ ever. He offers general advice on innovating, especially aimed at large firms that -typically don't innovate because they're too comfortable." He suggests integrating across platforms to make life simpler for customers; cultivating a competitive corporate culture, in which delegation, teamwork and employee recognition play important roles; studying the market; incubating new projects while maintaining steady revenues in the old business; figuring out a business model that -gets things down to single-user economics;" and -shamelessly stealing good ideas." Most important, when it comes to creating the next new thing, nothing beats leveraging the assets of a large company. When customers trust the company and the brand, marketing new ideas is easier, concludes Hesse. About the Speaker(s): Dan Hesse joined Sprint in June 2005 to lead the effort to create Embarq, which separated from Sprint Nextel in May 2006. Embarq generates over $6 billion in revenues annually, providing voice, data, wireless and entertainment services in 18 states. Previously, Hesse spent 23 years at AT&T. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the president and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless Services, at the time the United States' largest wireless operator with over 12 million customers. Hesse has been named Wireless Industry -Person of the Year" by RCR Magazine and -Executive of the Year" by Wireless Business and Technology Magazine. He is also a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Hesse received an M.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.B.A., with distinction, from Cornell University, and a B.A., with honors, from the University of Notre Dame. Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Talk to an Angel: Crucial Connections to Early Stage Capital

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT

06/07/2006 7:00 PM KresgeJames Geshwiler, MBA '00, Managing Partner, Common Angels; Cynthia Fisher, Co-Founder and President ViaCell, Inc; David Friend, CEO and President Carbonite; Bob Greene, SM '88, Managing Partner Contour Venture Partners; John May, Managing Partner new Vantage GroupDescription: The best way to find your angel within the pool of an estimated 8.5 million U.S. millionaires, says John May, is through networking. Search your community for -cashed-out entrepreneurs and high net-worth individuals" using lawyers, accountants, tech councils and regional business incubators. But, warns David Friend, -the worst time to meet them is when you're trying to get money out of them." Establish a friendly relationship with your potential angel, -talk about windsurfing or technology first, then come back and ask for advice." Says Friend, -Most people like me who started their own business love to give advice -- it's in the blood." The one area where seeking angel investors may prove fruitless is biotech, suggests Cynthia Fisher, who acted as her own angel when launching her first company. -Biotech is hot but there's a long lead time: eight to 10 years of drug discovery and tens of millions of dollars, or north of that, with private equity." Think venture capital and government funding, she recommends. Pitch an angel -on nonfinancial areas," suggests May: Say -I want your Rolodex and a shoulder to cry on, access to people to form a team, help with intellectual property." This can lead to a -bond that lasts longer than a pure bank or VC relationship." But be careful what you wish for. Once on board, an angel investor may wish to offer guidance in an intrusive way. Fisher says, -It can be life or death based on do you have a shared vision for the long and short term goals of the company. It is a marriage." Greene says, -You might meet a great billionaire angel who offers you a million dollars to start and you're totally beholden to him or her. And then they control the cards. It's good to diversify." Ultimately, prepare to give up some control. Says Fisher, -He who has the gold, rules." But responds, Green, -If managers are doing a decent job, the last thing a VC or angel wants is for you to toss the keys to them." Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise Forum

Angel Groups in Action: Funding Early Stage Innovation

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 GMT

06/01/2005 7:00 PM KresgeDaniel Roach, Manager, Brown & Brown, LLP; Jeffrey Sohl, Director, Center for Venture Research ; Professor of Entrepreneurship and Decision Sciences, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire ; James Gerhwiler, Chairman, Angel Capital Education Foundation; Managing Director, CommonAngels ; Edward B. Roberts, '57, SM '58, SM '60, PhD '62, David Sarnoff Professor of the Management of Technology; Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Jerry Schaufeld, Former Director, Slater Fund; Founder and former Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum Description: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Every man contemplates an angel in his future self." Among these panelists, the aphorism might move more along these lines: "The experienced entrepreneur contemplates his future self as an angel investor." First, the overview: Whether acting within a group, or as an individual, the angel investor in 2004 was responsible for pumping $22.5 billion into 48,000 ventures, according to Jeffrey Sohl. This compares to the 3,000 or so venture capital (VC) deals made in the same year, totalling $20.9 billion. And while the angel investor "tends to operate in the $50,000 to $1 million range," quite a bit less than the average VC deal, angels are essential for jumpstarting a new business. Angels are known for patience. That's because "angels are experienced business people and know how long it takes to build a company to the point of tangible outcome," says Ed Roberts. But it's not just their early stage significance that counts, he says. Angels are "in business not solely for the sake of return on investment 'They are people who want to participate in more than money. They want to get into the act of a close relationship with an entrepreneur." Jerry Schaufeld describes angel investors' "ability and willingness to reach into the risk of an extraordinarily early deal," and how this motivates them "to contribute their experience into running and building these companies. James Geshwiler, who runs a group of like-minded angel investors, says, "It's hard to be an entrepreneur. To know that someone you respect and look up to in the industry says, 'You're doing something good enough for me to write you a check,' that's a huge psychological validation at a time when probably your friends, spouse and family are saying why are you doing this, why start a company?" Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise ForumTape #: T20080 Beta is T20081 and 20082

Placing Your Bets: Where Will the Smart Money Land?

Wed, 02 Jun 2004 04:00:00 GMT

06/02/2004 7:00 PM Robert Metcalfe, '68, General Partner, Polaris Venture Partners; Founder, 3Com Corporation; Ann Winblad, Co-founding Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; Guy Kawasaki, Managing Director and Chairman of Garage Technology VenturesDescription: In this freewheeling conversation, three veterans of the IT and venture capital worlds describe the current state of technology investing, and make a stab at predicting the next hot markets. Ann Winblad points to wireless as a sector that is breaking open and offering "lots of important, small problems to solve." New companies will emerge as customers demand solutions to security and network management. Guy Kawasaki says the "sale of digital content is another hot area." When someone wants to glimpse a piece of video on a site like CNN, "They say you have to pay 9.95 a month when all you want is to take a sip." Metcalfe raises the possibility that "all information will be stored forever," creating an opportunity for businesses to manage content in new ways. He also worries that "we'll be buried by longitudes and latitudes from all the global positioning satellites." Winblad agrees that we now have "the ability to track anything or anyone, anytime, anywhere, and to remain connected to a network." However, there aren't enough innovative companies devising ways for consumers to use these new tracking technologies, she says. The group debates whether investing in hardware, particularly routers, will prove profitable. Software-enabled improvements in switching and routing might be the better risk, says Winblad. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Bob Metcalfe developed Ethernet as a standard for connecting computers for high-speed data transfer. He joined Polaris Venture Partners in January 2001. Before that, Metcalfe was Publisher/CEO for IDG/InfoWorld. His weekly Internet columns for this publication have been collected in his latest book, Internet Collapses and Other InfoWorld Punditry. Metcalfe founded 3Com Corporation in 1979 and stayed with the billion-dollar company through 1990. Metcalfe received bachelor degrees in electrical engineering and management from MIT (1969), and an M.S. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard University. Ann Winblad's firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners focuses on software investing. It manages $1 billion in capital, and has launched more than 90 software companies. Winblad has more than 25 years of experience in the software industry as a successful software entrepreneur, strategy advisor, author and venture capitalist. She has consulted for such clients as IBM, Microsoft and Price Waterhouse, among others. Winblad is co-author of the book Object-Oriented Software and has written for numerous publications. She received a B.A. in mathematics and in business administration, and an M.A. in education and international economics from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Kawasaki was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, and a founder of various personal computer companies. Kawasaki is a columnist for Forbes Magazine and the author of seven books, including The Macintosh Way, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy and Selling the Dream. His most recent book is Art of the Start. Kawasaki holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Stanford, an MBA in marketing from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate from Babson College. Host(s): Alumni Association, MIT Enterprise ForumTape #: T18755.

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