Presented at NCIIA Open 2013 on how we recruit and cooridnate an industry advisory board for NUvention Web, a web entrepreneurship course taught at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL

1. The Role of Alumni in
Interdisciplinary, Experiential
Entrepreneurship Courses
Todd Warren & Mike Marasco
Northwestern University
3/22/2013 – NCIIA Open

2. Agenda
• My journey from Alum to Adjunct
• NUvention Overview
• Alumni Engagement Structure
• Creating and integrating alumni in curricula
– Advisory Board
– Broader Feedback
• What works and what hasn’t
• Alumni Engagement Playbook
• Lessons Learned

3. Journey from Alum to Adjunct
• 21+ year career at Microsoft
– Many product areas: new and
existing products
– Taught at NU on a leave in 2001
• Engaged to teach after leaving
Microsoft
• Engineering Dean asked me to
work with the entrepreneurship
center
• Led to NUvention Web
• Joined a Venture Firm

4. What is NUvention?
• Interdisciplinary/Experiential
• What students are asking for
• Alums with deep experience chair classes
• Evolution of case based learning
• Best simulation of creating a product/service and business
• Start-ups are not a goal but nice follow-on validation
• A partnership of students, faculty, alums, government, and industry
• Expanding to Digital Media and Nano

5. Nuvention Web
• Focused on Web or Mobile Applications
• Business and Design and Software Engineering
• Undergraduate and Graduate
• Two Quarters
• Mentored and Evaluated by Advisory Board

6. • Work together as a team to:
– Develop a workable business
concept
– Research and classify customer
needs
– Design a compelling web or mobile
product
– Build and iterate the product in a
team environment
– Launch the product on the web
– Attract and retain initial customers
Course Goals
NUvention team brings customer on stage

7. • Each Course has an Alum Chair
– Coordinates teaching team and advisory board
• Alums support and mentor teams
– Guest Lecture, Guest Critique, Primary Mentors
• Alums and Advisors on the Advisory Board
– Mentor Teams, Attend Final Presentations, Give
Feedback on the course structure
• Share our projects with the broad Alumni
Community
– LinkedIn Groups
4 Ways we engage Alums/Advisors

8. • Ask Deans/Development
– Often they are looking for a way to engage successful,
entrepreneurial alumni
• Cast a broad net
– Ask them to meet or coach a team
– Guest Critiques terrific in iCorp format
– Use your Alumni’s Network
– Attend Local Networking/Pitch Events
– Ask students
• Create a “big tent”
– Engagement Levels Vary
Engaging Alumni and Industry

9. • Before Class: Review Curriculum, Recruit for
Lectures and critiques
• Teams Selected: Get AB Feedback,
preferences for mentoring
• During Class: Teams Required to get
feedback from AB Mentors
• Quarter End: AB Meeting
– 50-75% attendance
Advisory Board Engagement

10. Full Name Expertise Connection Current Title
Frank Barbieri Startup Founder Chair Connection SVP Corp Dev and Strategy, YuMe
Viresh Bhatia Startup Founder Alumni / Local Founder, Installshield
Jeffrey Bier Founder / Venture Capital Alumni Investor, Beir & Co.
Bill Bliss Serial Startup CTO Alumni VP, VMWare
Kapil Chaudhary Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Director, IA2 Fund
Jim Ewel Startup CEO Chair Connection CEO, Adomotry
Rick Fink Venture Capital Alumni Managing Director, Miramar Venture Partners
Grant Gochnauer Startup Founder Alumni / Local Co-Founder, Vodori
Gabe Greenbaum Venture Capital Alumni / Local Senior Associate, OCA Ventures
Suneel Gupta Serial Startup PM Alumni VP, Product, Groupon
Josh Hernandez Startup CEO Through Student / Local Founder & EVP, Tap.me
Warren Holtsberg Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Principle, MVC Capital
Tim Krauskopf Serial Startup CTO Trustee / Local Principal, Round Lake Designs, LLC
Paul Lee Venture Capital Local Venture Partner, Lightbank
Bret Maxwell Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Partner, MK Capital
Matt McCall Venture Capital Alumni / Local Partner, New World Ventures
Kristin McConnell Startup CEO Alumni Founder, Limelife .com
Jon McNeil CEO Alumni CEO, Enservio
Steve Olechowski Startup Founder Alumni / Local CEO, Red Foundry
Bill Pescatello Venture Capital Local Venture Partner, Lightbank
Bob Plaschke CEO Alumni President and CEO, Sonim Technologies, Inc.
Vivek Ragavan Startup CEO Alumni President and CEO, Actelis Networks
Mary Lou Song Ebay employee #3 Trustee Co-founder Tokoni
Rob Shurtleff Venture Capital Chair Connection Managing Director, Divergent Ventures
Ben Slivka Startup CEO Trustee Trustee, Wissner-Slivka Foundation
Steve Subar Startup CEO Local President and CEO, OK-Labs
Hon Wong Startup CEO Alumni CEO, Symphoniq
Dave Zwyer Venture Capital Alumni / Local Venture Partner, OCA Ventures
Current AB Members and Expertise

11. • Decide Curricular goals for Engagement
– Critique, Mentoring, Special Topic Expertise
• Engage University/Community to Find Best Fit
Connections
• Meet with connections to refine plan
• Design connection points within curriculum
• Communicate regularly with Alums
– Students and Faculty
• Give them time to interact with each other when
you bring together
Alum/Industry Engagement Playbook

12. • Students need structure to engage effectively
– Graded assignments, provide a play book
• Make it easy for AB members to interact with
Students
– LaunchPad central too high a bar for most
– Structured Feedback (e.g. Status Reports) Better
• Students love Industry presenters, but it’s work to
structure to fit curricular goals
– Moderated Panels Best
• Some Alums overachieve
– Engage them more deeply
Lessons Learned

13. Great for Students and Alums!

14. Contact us to learn more
Todd Warren (todd@toddwinc.com)
Michael Marasco (mmarasco@northwestern.edu)
http://nuvention.northwestern.edu
Blog: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startupviews/
This presentation will also be posted on slideshare

15. Appendix

16. NUvention Web ‘13
•Value Prop
•Target
Customer
•Basic
Scenario
Problem
ID
•Persona
•Target
Market
•Storyboards
•Landing
Page
Segment
Definition
•Detailed
Value Prop
•Initial
Product
•Customer
Trial
MVP
•Revenue
Model
•Potential
Channels
•Product
Refinement
Initial
Pitch
Scenario Slice MVP

17. NUvention Web ’13 - Spring
• Re-visit Canvas
• Re-Engage
Customers
• Dev Iterations
Persist or
Pivot?
• Get, Keep, Grow
• Engage Early
Customers
• Advanced Agile
Acquire &
Build
• Launch
• Customer
Purchase/Trial
• Cohort Analysis
First
Customer
Ship
• Business Model
Proof
• Refined Product
• Customer
Feedback
Final Pitch
Product and Customer Development
Build
MeasureLearn
Build
MeasureLearn
Build
MeasureLearn

18. Alums

19. 2012 Teams
Sartorial continued over the summer
in the NU Incubator, but was absorbed by
Led by AB member and LightBank EIR-
Josh Hernandez
Alums involved:
• Nik Roth-first startup coop student
• Derek Morris-turned down Microsoft offer
• Matt Gilk-turned down Microsoft offer

20. 3/12 Business Pitch Session Structure
• AB Lunch/Ground Rules (noon)
• 10 Minute Presentation per team
• 10 Minute Q&A
• Short reception and team meetings with AB coaches
after class
• Pitches will run until at least 4:30
• 6:00 Dinner of AB and Faculty Team

21. 3/12/13 Business Pitch Evaluation Form
Team: _____________________
Reviewer Name: _____________________
(1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)
Problem/Need team is pursuing was clearly explained and understood.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
The team has a good understanding of their target users and customers who
would buy/use their solution.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
Convincing business case (market size, industry, competitive analysis, value
prop, unfair advantage, etc.) was made for the opportunity.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
Demo addresses the problem/need/ adequately.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
Challenges/Risks of proposed solution were addressed.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
The overall pitch was compelling and left you wanting to learn more.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Comments:
Should the team pivot? YES NO (Circle one)
Words of advice you would like to provide the team as they move forward?