Research is often defined as turning money into knowledge whereas innovation is considered the process of turning knowledge back into money. For academic institutions and companies that invest in research, this NORCAT Hot Topics event will focus on the exciting and challenging process of looking at research through a “prospective commercialization” lens. Does this research have a commercial application? How do I assess the market opportunity? What is the end goal? So many challenging yet important questions!

1. Creating Your Future:
Bose Corporation - An Entrepreneurial Saga
NORCAT
2013
© MIT Venture Mentoring Service 2013

2. Reason for Having a Company
To use technology and creativity to
develop products and/or services that
provide real and demonstrable benefits
to people.
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3. Founding Principles
Hire Good People
Give Them Freedom to Grow
Play for the Long Run
Always Strive for Excellence
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9. Operating Corollaries
Remain Privately Held
Grow Continuously
Finance the Company Internally
Through Profits
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10. Strategy
Products that have great performance and
benefits for their price
Products that are uniquely suited to their
application (lifestyle, wave, NR headsets, etc.)
Strong protection of intellectual property
rights through the use of patents and
trademarks
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12. Questions for You to Think About
 What’s the purpose of your venture?
 What do you want from your venture?
 What are your founding principles?
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13. Fostering Innovation:
Bridging Academia and Industry at MIT
NORCAT
2013
© MIT Venture Mentoring Service 2013

14. MIT Entrepreneurial Activities
Student
Academic
Commercialization
Alumni
External
9/5/12

15. MIT VMS History
• Founded in 2000 by Alec Dingee and
Dave Staelin
• Initially funded by founders
• Model validated in first year
• Steady growth and improvement
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16. Premise
What do you do when you have an idea and are
passionate about pursuing it?
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17. Model
• Learning to be an entrepreneur is like learning
a profession
• Learn principles in class – doesn’t make an
entrepreneur
• Practice in competitions – doesn’t make an
entrepreneur
• Analogous to learning to play a full contact
sport – learn by doing
• VMS provides the coaches
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18. Approach
• Build a process to develop entrepreneurs
• Utilize experienced volunteer mentors – they
have been there
• Set strict guidelines for mentors – unbiased
advice
• Coach – give guidance, not direction
• Mentor in teams
• Learn by doing – entrepreneur does the work
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19. Organization
• Reports to the Provost - Chief Educational
Officer of MIT
• Governed by Board of MIT Leaders - Deans
and Vice Presidents
• Small Paid Staff - Administrators and Mentors
- 24/7 Service
• Many Volunteer Mentors to Lead and
Contribute
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20. Requirements to Participate
•
•
•
•
Be a member of the MIT community
Have an idea
Be passionate about commercializing the idea
Be committed to spending the time and effort
to build a successful venture
• Idea must not violate the laws of physics or
the laws or ethics of the USA
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21. The Ventures
• 310 ventures currently engaged in program
– 203 active ventures
– 24 low activity
– 83 graduates
• Various stages of funding
• Every field imaginable
7/1/13
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22. Criteria for Mentor Selection
•
•
•
•
•
•
Has Relevant Experience
Motivated to Volunteer
Has the Time to Participate
Not Motivated for Personal Gain
Personality Appropriate to Advise
Role Model for Mentees
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23. The Mentors
• 181 Mentors
- 169 Active
- 12 on call Specialists
- 45% with an MIT background
• Most with startup experience
• Broad range of:
– backgrounds
– technical and industry expertise
– business expertise
7/1/13
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24. MIT VMS Metrics
• Founded in 2000
• History: > 2500 entrepreneurs/>1400 ventures
served
• Scale: ~200 ventures currently working towards
launch
• Impact: > $1.3 billion raised by ventures
• Results: 172 ventures launched
• Success: 26 ventures/ > $1 billion in liquidity
events
• Sustainability: Mentor base growing by referrals
~170 active mentors
• Value: Entrepreneurs keep enrolling ~20/month
7/1/13
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25. Outreach
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26. MIT VMS Outreach
Assistance for Prospective Venture Mentoring Programs
Now Available from VMS. Types of assistance ranges from:
•
•
•
•
Workshops at MIT
Workshops at client’s site
Immersion of client’s team at MIT
A VMS team participating temporarily in
client’s mentoring program
• Consulting to client on specific issues
• Significantly reducing client’s start-up time
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27. Programs Based on the MIT VMS Model
Barcelona
Activa
(Spain)
Grupo Guayácan
(Puerto Rico)
British Columbia
Innovation Council
(Canada)
Chicago Innovation Mentors (CIM)
Kindle
Mentoring
Program
Broad Institute
(Cambridge)
Council for
Entrepreneurial.
Development
(North Carolina)
7/16/13
Entrepreneurial
Mentoring
Program
(North Carolina)
École polytechnique
fédérale de Lausanne
(Switzerland)
Florida
International
University
Harvard Innovation Lab
(Cambridge)
The Hub of Human
Innovation (Texas)
Consortium of 6 Universities
(St. Louis, Missouri)
Inkef Capital (Netherlands)
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28. Programs Based on the MIT VMS Model
Jumpstart (Ohio)
NYC Economic
Development Consortium
MaRS Discovery Toronto (Canada)
(Western Massachusetts)
University of Wisconsin
Universidad Anáhuac (Mexico)
MIT Club of Northern California
University of Wisconsin Madison
Columbia
University of Manitoba (Canada)
HSE Mentoring Program
(Boston)
7/16/13
Launch
Pad
YEI Mentoring Program
(Newhaven, CT)
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29. THANK YOU!
Sherwin Greenblatt
vms@mit.edu
web.mit.edu/vms
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