IST: Innovative ‘Business Accelerator’ Rolls Out New Web Site
May 29, 2008
The Lion Launch Pad was featured today in a news article on the College of Information Sciences and Technology’s site: “Innovative ‘Business Accelerator’ Rolls Out New Web Site”. The article discusses the focus on the mentoring aspect of the Lion Launch Pad, which was a key driver for the new site. The article also gives some good background on the program, as well as why we’re calling it a ‘business accelerator’.
From the article:
“The Lion Launch Pad is called a business accelerator because it’s not a business incubator in the conventional sense,” according to Shedd. “Similarly, the Lion Launch Pad is quite different from the existing incubators at Penn State, so we wanted to distinguish it.”
The article also mentions the upcoming feature story on the Lion Launch Pad and entrepreneurs in IST in the forthcoming summer edition of i-Connect, the college’s alumni magazine.
All in all, great press for the program! Thanks very much to Charlie DuBois and the IST Communications team for taking the time to understand the Lion Launch Pad and its mission!
Xobni, New York Times, and Business Accelerator Programs at Stanford and Cornell
May 5, 2008
The New York Times has recently published two interesting articles for Penn State entrepreneurs. The first appeared today, If You Use Outlook E-Mail, Meet Xobni, heralding Xobni’s emergence from private beta. After more than seven months of being invitation-only, the product for Microsoft Outlook is now available for public download. The article is a great write-up on the product, as well as on the recent acquisition negotiations with Microsoft that Xobni walked away. Brad Stone, the reporter, mentions Xobni’s plans to expand its focus to include web-based email such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail. Great coverage for a fellow Nittany Lion!
The second article, A Classroom Path to Entrepreneurship , appeared late last week. The article, which discusses a New Jersey pasta sauce company formed through an entrepreneurship class at Monmouth University in 2005, discusses the growth of entrepreneurship education around the country, as well as different models used for these classes. Glenn Rifkin, the reporter, also discusses Babson and its yearlong course for incoming freshmen where each class is given $3,000 in seed funding. According to the article, the students have never failed to make back the initial investment and all profits are donated to charity.
It is interesting and exciting to see entrepreneurship education similar to the various programs at Penn State increasingly gain a national spotlight. The New York Times article follows recent announcements at Stanford and Cornell regarding the formation of two apparently officially sanctioned business accelerator programs, similar in concept to the Lion Launch Pad.
At Stanford, The Stanford Daily Online reported on the creation of Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE) Ventures. SSE Ventures appears to be a business advising and funding engine for Stanford students by students. “SSE aims for the division to establish ties with the venture capital community….SSE will invest its available resources in a small number of ideas, with as much as $50,000 or $100,000 devoted to each proposal, depending on the needs of the final selections.”
Also recently, Cornell announced the creation of a business incubator for undergraduates - the Student Agencies eLab. The program will work with 24 student “clients” in its first two years, as well as work to build a network of alumni, mentors, and professional services.
It’s great to see other universities continuing to embrace the support of undergraduate entrepreneurs with similar programs.
New Lion Launch Pad web site
April 25, 2008
The new web site for the Lion Launch Pad has been re-launched! We aimed to keep it simple and succinct, though if there is any content that would be useful, please let us know. Some additions are planned for the next few months.
Further Updates
February 27, 2008
There has been quite a lot of discussion in the blogosphere around the Lion Launch Pad and the Blue Line recently. Much of it appears to have been driven by a recent article in the Centre Daily Times. As of February 8, 2008, Dave Barton requested that the offices at 234 E. College Ave., Suite 2342 no longer be affiliated with the Lion Launch Pad. Dave wanted to realign the focus of the space, which he was providing. It appears that this space will be renamed The Blue Line and Dave will continue his strong support of Penn State and Centre County entrepreneurs. We certainly wish him all of the best and look forward to continuing to work together on initiatives in the future.
Dave is a strong supporter of making Penn State and the Centre Region more entrepreneurial. His help in 2007 was key in getting the Lion Launch Pad started, and he should be recognized for his significant financial support and time commitment to the Lion Launch Pad.
The Lion Launch Pad has initiated a search for alternative space and we are currently exploring our options. Additionally, Liz Kisenwether and Robert Macy have begun open mentoring sessions on-campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are also in the process of launching a new web site.
If you are interested in the mentoring sessions, please contact Liz or Robert for an appointment during the following time blocks:
Liz - Kunkle Lounge Tuesdays 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Robert - 429 Business Building Thursdays 1:30-3:30
We certainly appreciate the strong interest in entrepreneurial programs related to Penn State and look forward to continuing to support aspiring entrepreneurs.
Updates
February 7, 2008
Daehee Park asked the question that needed to be asked. What’s happening around here?
Apologies for the lack of updates on the blog - this is my fault. It’s incredible what an intense life consulting is, especially when you’re on a project with compressed timelines. That’s left me little time to blog, though it does not mean that there have not been changes.
Thanks to Dave Barton, the Lion Launch Pad Entrepreneur “Cafe” space is now open for business. We converted the back space into an area that’s perfect for drop-in student entrepreneurs working between classes. Outfitted with Wi-Fi, here’s what it looks like:
With this space, we’re aiming to support any serious student entrepreneurs. If you applied in December, we’ll be getting in touch with information. If you haven’t applied yet, but are interested, please contact me at sheddr (at) sheddtech (dot) com.
Go2Athlete on TV
January 2, 2008
Go2Athlete, one of the companies working out of the Lion Launch Pad, was featured on WTAJ News in December.
Here’s the clip on YouTube:
There are no superheroes
December 16, 2007
Everybody knows some of the biggest entrepreneurs in recent history: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Pierre Omidyar, Steve Jobs, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, but we often fail to give credit to those who have helped them.
There exists an aura of the sole programmer hacking away all hours of the day, or a visionary making key decisions in the clutch by him or herself.
Assuredly, there have been many instances when those who have risen to the top have done extraordinary tasks, but more often than not, more than just skill, they have had people who share in their dream.
We have a familiar word for this phenomena: networking.
Aside from the obvious helpers: family, friends, and teachers; there is often time a key person to the story that is often neglected when the founders go prime time.
Bill Gates had Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, among others. Andy Bechtolsheim, the founder of Sun Microsystems, gave two guys $100,000 for their Backrub search engine. That would be Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google fame.
Even the Weebly guys, who I recently did a story on, received key help from an IST professor, as well as PSU alum and Xobni Co-founder Matt Brezina.
I just recently learned how powerful Penn State networking is. I just got off the phone with the Chairwoman of the Israeli Venture Capital Association — albeit I was writing an article for a major Silicon Valley online blog, and not doing business– all because of several PSU connections.
I didn’t use to think this way– I told my Dad I would never come to Penn State, although he would try to convince me that it was the right thing to do. In every place he has traveled around the world, he would always receive help because of the Penn State connection in places like Colombia, Nigeria, South Africa, Qatar and several other nations.
Before I was born, my Dad moved the family to State College to teach here at Penn State. Early October, I met with his first graduate student , who is now high up in the IST department. This man referred me to the above-referenced IST professor, who in turn referenced me to the Lion Launch Pad, where I recently applied, and also tipped me off to the Weebly story.
Writing for the Daily Collegian, I pitched the Weebly story to my editors–and through Dan Veltri, I interviewed Xobni’s Brezina, who recently connected me with editors at two major tech and venture capital blogs, one of which is VentureBeat.
This is the reason for the call spanning seven time zones.
Although I have many more goals than simply writing about other people’s technology, the network I have built in recent months is all due to my father, and the Penn State connection.
My dad used to attest that Penn State has the largest alumni network in the United States, and it is also happens to be a top-notch University.
This is why I applaud what Lion Launch Pad and Rob Shedd are trying to accomplish– use this immense valuable resource we have here at Penn State, and bring great minds together to provide a platform for entrepreneurship launches.
In the real world, there are no superheroes–but there are plenty of people who have and will help us along our creative journey.
Hand in hand with these helpers and mentors, only can we achieve greatness.
Collegian: Penn State grads launch lucrative site from class idea
December 11, 2007
The Daily Collegian published an article today regarding the PSU Y Combinator startups - Weebly and Xobni. It’s good background on some of the details regarding the founding of Weebly. In it, Xobni co-founder Matt Brezina makes the following statement:
“You don’t get exposed to [startups] enough at Penn State,” he said. “You think you’re going to be working at Lockheed Martin, while, if you’re at Stanford, you do a summer internship at YouTube.”
Good point and precisely one that we’re working to remedy with the Lion Launch Pad.
The last quote from Weebly co-founder Dan Veltri (”Don’t get stuck in the status quo.”) was good advice, as well. Always be searching for ways to change the status quo and innovate.
The Pirates of Happy Valley
We were pirates. And we still are. My business partner and I have been “stealing” our time away from Corporate America since the age of 19. So far, it’s working!
When we began building our first business years ago, we had to be “creative”. We didn’t have office space or computers so we had to “secretly” use computer labs and library study rooms for our business needs. We didn’t have money to attract top talent so we had a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver to whom ever we thought we needed to have working with us. We couldn’t advertise (digitally or in print) around campus because we were for-profit and certainly not interested in sharing what little profits were we making with the university. My point being, typical business hurdles aside, starting a business as a PSU student was tough.
Office Designed for Entrepreneurs
November 7, 2007
As you view the YouTube video tour of the new Lion Launch Pad, understand that everything about it was designed and chosen very carefully. We searched for over six months to find the right location, equidistant from Schreyers, Smeal, IST and Engineering for easy access by students and their advising faculty. We found this space across College Avenue from the HUB. Being downtown, on College Avenue, also provides visibilty (we hang out a banner during football weekends) and encourages burning the midnight oil, the necessary fuel of entrepreneurs. No one likes working late in an empty building in a dark business park.
The space was originally divided up into individual offices and rooms. We blew all that out creating one large room and furnished it with open modular cubicles. The only doors are on the conference rooms and the bathrooms. Again by design. In Silicon Valley it is famously noted that Andy Grove, chairman of Intel, and Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, both work out of cubicles. The open design encourages free communication and collaboration. Opening up the space also afforded rich and expansive views of downtown and campus to all the occupants. This provides abundant natural light during the day and important views of activity at night, relieving the sense of isolation. We took our cues from both a Harvard Business School article, Why Office Design Matters and an essay, Bionic Office, by Joel Spolsky. A new innovation room is in the works based on this article by IDEO’s David Kelley.
Sense of community is important as well and all work is not done in a cubicle in an office. The Pad’s building has a large outdoor patio area and green space all around. Lots of low walls and wide steps to sit on when the weather is nice. We provide free wi-fi access in these areas. The smell of the Cheese Shop roasting coffee across Calder Way greets Launch Pad’ers each morning.
