Local Entrepreneur Finds Success Despite Economic Limitations
Virtually every state, region, and city in the US has identified biotech as a key sector for economic development. With visions of Rt. 128 and South San Francisco dancing in their heads, government leaders institute policies designed to recreate the successes of other regions. Comprehensive approaches targeted at stimulating innovation and competitiveness (and therefore company creation) generally address four primary issues: access to financial capital, access to human capital, access to intellectual capital, and access to facilities & infrastructure.
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| December 16, 2009 | "How the Government is Using IT to Improve Healthcare" Recently there has been a lot written and talked about regarding Health Information Technology and there is still a lot more that needs to be done. Join the NVTC Business and Enterprise Architecture Committee as we take a look at how the government is using enterprise architecture to influence changes in healthcare. |
| January 12, 2010 | "Show Me The Money - Intro to Federal Funding Sources" |
| January 13, 2010 | Entrepreneur Center Networking Event - "Network, Mix, and Mingle!" The Entrepreneur Center @NVTC is hosting a Networking Happy Hour to unite members of the region’s emerging business and entrepreneur community. Discover your future business partners and grow your company in a relaxed atmosphere. You can't afford to miss this networking opportunity. |
| January 14, 2010 | "Seize Your Share of Business with Internet Savvy" This short seminar, hosted by the Mason Enterprise Center on Prince William campus, will take a look at social media networking and marketing. |
| January 15, 2010 | "Eliminating the Mystery Behind Green Certifications and Reporting" Presented by the NVTC Green Technology and Energy Task Force. Speakers include Jeremy Cohen, U.S. Green Building Council, and William Thomas, General Counsel for the Carbon Disclosure Project. |
| January 15, 2010 | Greater Washington Economic Conference Sponsored by Cardinal Bank and George Mason University. Speakers include Mason President Alan Merten, University Professor and Dwight Schar Faculty Chair Stephen Fuller, Professor John McClain, Alex Orfinger, Roy Webb, and Greg Leish. |
| January 26, 2010 | "How to Win SBIR Funding" SBIR grants (Small Business Innovation Research) and it’s sister STTR grant program (Small Business Technology Transfer) provide $100K - $900K in early stage R&D funding. 11 participating federal agencies use this program to fund early stage technology development that will help them meet their missions. This workshop is lead by one of the leading SBIR instructors/consultants in the country, Mr. John Davis of The SBIR Resource Center. |
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SOM Students Collaborate with Mason Inventors to Research Product Feasibility
School of Management (SOM) students are stepping out of the box once again with an innovative way to gain some real world experience by using Mason’s own intellectual property for their semester projects. For four years, Professor Jim Wolfe’s MBA711 course, Entrepreneurship, has been working with Mason’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) to give graduate students an opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of the challenges they face bringing a product from the idea phase to the marketplace.
Business Alliance - Grubstake Breakfast
250 entrepreneurs, investors, Mason students and faculty gathered at the fall Business Alliance Grubstake Breakfast to network and connect with eight exciting young companies seeking $250k-$2M to hear from a panel of investors regarding investment opportunities and market criteria.
Amplified Blog: "Where Should Intellectual Property be in a Business?"
You might have missed this, but over the last few days Ebay found a buyer for most of Skype. The Skype story has many threads that resonate with issues such as the success of peer-to-peer data networks, the affect of true price competition on the incumbent telecommunications companies and what happens when a company buys a business that is outside of its core competency.
Sales and Marketing:
Sales Hunters and Farmers Will Starve in a Sales 2.0 World
Despite centuries of discovery, salespeople are still cast in ancient agrarian terms as “hunters” or “farmers.” Organizations value aggressive hunters who dote on Big Corporate Game, compete for new major accounts, and ink million-dollar-plus deals. Hunt. Kill. Carve. Eat. Drool! Farmers, on the other hand, are installed-account focused. They’re patient, nurturing, and empathetic. Vision, without as much saliva. Even still, farmers are expected to grow cash crops, not weeds. Could any sales organization survive without them?
New Method of Measuring Alkalinity in Water
One of Mason’s more interesting “green” inventions was the result of a father/son collaboration. Dr. Ken Hintz, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Volgenau School of Engineering and his son, Dr. Christopher Hintz, teamed together while Chris was doing postdoctoral work at the University of South Carolina.
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Award & Funding Opportunities
Lemelson-MIT Program
Funded by the Lemelson Foundation and administered by MIT's School of Engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creatives lives and careers through invention.
Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Postdoctoral Association are accepting nominations for the inaugural Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, which recognizes and celebrates a scientific researcher who has successfully commercialized his or her discoveries through entrepreneurship.
Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship Program
The foundation has announced that the 2009-10 Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship Program's online Request for Proposal is available. The Kauffman foundation will award up to fifteen Dissertation Fellowship grants of $20,000 each to Ph.D., D.B.A., or other doctoral students for the support of dissertations in the area of entrepreneurship.
Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program
The center's Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program provides nonprofit sector leadership training through seminars, applied research, and mentorships. The program is open to young scholars and practitioners interested in building third sector capacity in their home countries or regions. Fellows are based at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty Request for Proposals
The SEVEN (Social Equity Venture) Fund, a nonprofit organziation that works to promote enterprise-based solutions to poverty, has published its second annual open Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty Request for Proposals.