Innovation Breakfast » Innovation

December Innovation Breakfasts

bobbie — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:31:38 +0000

As we all know, December is a tough month for events — lots going on! (Check out our Innovation Potluck and this month’s Mass Innovation Nights event.) So, not that we can stop you from swinging by Cafe on the Common and hanging with the other Java-heads but we’ll be at the Social Good 2.0 and the Minute to Win it events.

We’re retooling Innovation Breakfast for 2012 — so far suggestions range from:

Move it around
Don’t move it around
Bi-weekly
Daily
Go back to monthly speaker
Turn this into a calendar for breakfast events everywhere

What do you think? Ideas?

No one here but us chickens

bobbie — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:41:53 +0000

I always say that if no one else shows up for Innovation Breakfast, I’ll at least be able to get some work done. Hasn’t happened yet.

Meanwhile, on most blogs, when you see no blogging, you know that nothing’s happening, so you “move along.” The opposite is true of Innovation Breakfast. When you see no blog post, it means the joint was hopping and I didn’t get to write anything. Sometimes we have a dozen people dropping in, sometimes people come in groups of 1 or 2.

You’ll notice the time of this blog post is after Breakfast hours. We had another good conversation this morning, with someone we’ve been wanting to meet. We learned new stuff and shared ideas and everyone went forth with their day secure in the knowledge that they gained something from the interaction.

Last week, at Innovation Breakfast, we had an excellent discussion on the pros and cons of the Lean Startup concept. One issue I am very aware of is the balancing act companies must deal with — rapid iteration and testing on your customer base versus giving the customer a positive experience. I have seen many companies using Lean Startup concepts alienate a whole class of customers with poor user experiences.

This week I learned about a great program at Rutgers, an accelerated social media MBA, from CutlerDave. I can’t help it — but his name and the “first name last name” architecture of the Twitter ID make me envision him as an odd mashup of Jeff Cutler and SchneiderMike (two social media gurus I know and enjoy.) Since I have been toying with the idea of a social media house party in Vermont (at Red Clover Inn and Restaurant in Vermont), I was very interested in hearing about this program. Social Media House Party fits in really nicely with the Innovation Dinner concept we’ve been discussing at Carlton PR & Marketing, as a way to help more startups and entrepreneurs get the marketing help they need to succeed.

This past week we had the first Innovation Dinner and we assembled ten entrepreneurs to give their input on a project designed to help everyone — not a stealth project just nothing to talk about…yet. We want to do more of these. Ideas? Concepts? We seem to be able to get entrepreneurs together. If you had 10 or 12 entrepreneurs in a room, what would you want to ask them, show them, find out about them? Let us know.

The Best Networking In Boston

bobbie — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 23:54:02 +0000

Every week, the Innovation Nights newsletter comes out with our 3-5 picks for the top events (not always the biggest) of the coming week or events coming up that you may need to register for in advance. This listing is one of our contributions to the area’s innovation economy. Two of the most common questions we get are “Where do you get event information?” and “What are the best networking events in Boston?” While we often get emails directly from event organizers, here’s how you can find out what’s happening in the Boston market on your own.

Start off by checking out these website calendars and event aggregators:

Visit these organizations and check out their events for topics, speakers and panels that interest you:

Make it your practice to regularly visit the websites of the vertical industry organizations and groups you belong to and look at the newsletters they issue. Figure out whom in your circle regularly tweets or blogs about upcoming events. Haunt the LinkedIn groups and review the events posted there.

Where else do you go for event information? Care to share?

Innovation Potluck

bobbie — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:37:22 +0000

Even though we had a nice little convivial group at Innovation Breakfast this morning, I think we spent more time talking about the previous evening’s Innovation Potluck, held at the Venture Cafe in Cambridge’s Kendall Square.

Our latest Innovation event was designed as a purely social event for entrepreneurs and innovators who work in small groups or out of their homes often feel the lack of a large group of co-workers at the holidays when seemingly everyone else is out celebrating the season. Sometimes your brain needs a little fun so you can come up with your next innovative idea. It was also a “thank you” to the terrific community who have been so generous with their time and energy, helping out each other.

And, admittedly, a little crazy fun…

Thank-yous! First to Carrie and the whole Venture Cafe team! Thanks for welcoming us into your space, and not asking too many questions about what we had planned. Big thanks to McCarter & English who bought BBQ (Blue Ribbon BBQ no less) for everyone. HUGE thanks to my sidekick for the night, Corey Turner. (Corey, without you, it would have been a tough night!) Thanks to MemoryOnHand for their help (and some cool prizes!) To Sidi and ParellelCity for helping to connect everyone. To Reed who supplied awesome Ginger Cookies (labeled NO NUTS, safe for Bobbie, who is deathly allergic to nuts). To all the folks who brought goodies to share. To BookBlunder and friends who help drag everything down to the car, and Greg who helped drag it upstairs and showed us how to operate the service elevator. To Arlington Bait who supplied the entertainment. (Yeah, you read that right…bait shop — the entertainment.) If you missed it, enjoy! (A shout-out here to my friends at Tyler Place Family Resort who regularly hold “more professional” minnow races. For you winter sports sorts, also check out their year-round Vermont inn and restaurant, Red Clover.)

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Mass High Tech All-Stars and Education

bobbie — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:24:07 +0000

Every year local tech business newspaper, Mass High Tech, runs an award program called the MHT All-Stars, recognizing the movers and shakers who make a difference in the local tech economy. The celebration culminates with a party to recognize the winners and give them a chance to say a few words. “No panels, no presentations, just a party,” stated MHT publisher Doug Banks.

“Few” is the operative word here as the winners are charged (for charity) $1 a character for any characters over 140 characters, the length of a tweet. Last year I was uncharacteristically saddened (I like a good short speech) at most of the honorees’ strict adherence to the limits. THIS was the time to go over, in spades. I’m happy to report that 2011 saw a more verbose group, even nonprofit leader MITX’s Kiki Mills went over the limit (she claimed fellow honoree Shawn Broderick was fronting her still-not-too-lengthy speech.) Tim Healy, CEO of EnerNOC Inc., should get a refund since he used his extra characters to talk about hiring between 50 and 100 new positions in the next few months.

Among the movers and shakers are usually a Distinguished Achievement Award Honoree (or, in the case of this year, two.) These honorees had no limits on their speeches. Founder of Analog Devices and Stata Venture Partners Ray Stata and Bernard Gordon, founder of Analogic and NeuroLogica each took a moment to recognize their wives in sweet and charming fashion, and then move on to a more serious topic — educating the next generation of engineers and leaders.

Needless to say, the two gentleman had obviously talked before they spoke, and in well-coordinated, back-to-back speeches, they laid it on the line in no uncertain terms. Today’s schooling is not adequately preparing the next generation to take up where Gordon and Stata have not yet left off. “Today’s engineering students do not come out of school capable of handling complex projects.” “…concerned about the ability to replicate the success of the past.” “We need to encourage our best and brightest to study engineering and science.” (Apologies to both gentlemen if these quotes aren’t perfect, note-taking on an iPhone is challenging.)

Meanwhile, the party goes on around them. Did anyone else notice the challenge being given? A few perhaps.

Instead of worrying about whether there is free beer and a band at the next meetup or whether we throw enough parties, perhaps we should be spending our time encouraging students to spend more time at their studies, or listening to and learning from guys like Stata and Gordon.

Breakfast Discussion: Funding Flexibility

bobbie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:19:01 +0000

Every week we have some fascinating conversations at Innovation Breakfast. We do introductions, and get to know you and your company but the far-ranging discussions on the industry are among the most compelling reasons to come out to Waltham for coffee on Friday mornings. In keeping with the “Funding Friday” theme (#ff$), we asked for people’s thoughts around getting funded. One experienced entrepreneur told the story of his funding adventures, calling funding a black art, what works once, might not work again.

There are various “happy endings” in funding from the entrepreneurs’ point of view. Funds to go forward building a company. The sale of a company or the product or the IP. The incorporation of technology or the product into another company or another product. Sometimes the intended or expected outcome gets kicked to the curb and something else happens. Looking for funding? Maybe it will end up in a sale. Looking for a sale? Maybe you will end up with partners. People looking for funding need to keep their options open.

The Last Innovation Breakfast…And the First

bobbie — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:51:51 +0000

You always try to go out with a bang…and, boy, did we ever. Bill Warner’s talk on “Startups from the Heart” was fantastic! (Videos are below the break.) And well received by our largest crowd so far. (Yes, we opened up “ticket sales” quite a bit beyond the usual small group.) And, if you were there, you heard us say that Innovation Breakfast is ending. But, wait, what’s that on the horizon?

Starting in June, we’re kicking off a new model Innovation Breakfast. We’re going to partially adopt the #OpenCoffee model and move Innovation Breakfast to Waltham’s Cafe on the Common (677 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Moody.) Over this weekend, we’ll be switching out the Innovation Breakfast website to support this new model. More soon! (Oh, yeah, and suggestions welcomed, nay, encouraged!) And, if you aren’t already a Cambridge “OpenCoffee at Andala” regular, check it out on Meetup.com for the scoop.

More soon!

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Bill Warner: Building Startups from the Heart

bobbie — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:52:20 +0000

Our May 21, 2010 Innovation Breakfast will feature TechStars mentor and serial entrepreneur, Bill Warner. Bill will be discussing how to “Build Your Startup From the Heart.”

Much of the advice that entrepreneurs get regards how to “follow their head.” How to make logical decisions about their business. This month’s Innovation Breakfast talk will look at tools for the other part of the startup equation: how to follow your heart. Bill Warner will discuss his theories about where the energy comes from within founders, and how to use that energy to make a startup most successful.

RSVP now: this will be a popular event! (Also, interested in funding your venture? Check-out this great event too!)

In addition, in keeping with our continuing innovation theme, attendees also have the opportunity to purchase half-price copies of the book, “Drawing On Brilliance”. Discover a treasure trove of patent lithographs – discarded by the U.S. Patent Office, then rescued from destruction by Randy Rabin. Randy and Jackie Bassett uncover the secrets to innovation success behind the Wright Bros., Heddy Lamar, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, W.H. Carrier and hundreds of others.

William (Bill) J. Warner is the founder of Avid Technology, Inc. and Wildfire Communications, Inc., FutureBoston, Inc, and Warner Research, LLC. Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) makes video, audio and film editing systems that make, manage and move media. Mr. Warner won an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1993 for the development of the Avid Media Composer. In 1999, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Avid with the Oscar® for its success in transforming the editing process in filmmaking. Mr. Warner accepted the award and was shown on the worldwide telecast.

Wildfire developed an innovative electronic secretary that used speech recognition to manage one’s phone calls and messages. Wildfire was sold to Orange, PLC in 2000.

Since 2000, Warner has shared his time between work with non-profits, and a focus on helping entrepreneurs.

In 2002, Warner started a shared-space center for entrepreneurs called the Collaboration Space at Warner Research. This center is now called the Brickyard Collaboration Space and provides low-cost space to early stage entrepreneurs. Many successful companies have started here and moved on to get additional capital for growth.

In addition, Mr. Warner has acted as an angel investor for eight startups, and for three non-profits. The startups are in such diverse areas as 3D animation, email-based blogging, event networking, ad insertion for online videos, visual environments for nightclubs, shared calendars, and compensation design and management. The non-profits are involved with historic/current mapping of Boston for planning purposes; a film school, and an open-source mechanical design approach for new vehicles for people with disabilities.

Mr. Warner is also working on book about entrepreneurship called “Intention and Invention.” It explores how to optimize the connection between what drives an entrepreneur, and how they go about making inventions that spring from that drive.

Mr. Warner has been a long-time trustee of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and has taught classes for entrepreneurs through that organization. In 2008, Warner created and co-chaired the MassTLC Innovation 2008 unConference.

Mr. Warner attended MIT and received a BSEE degree in 1980. Mr. Warner grew up in Millburn, NJ, and is an avid cyclist and photographer.

December Breakfast Discussion

bobbie — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:32:29 +0000

When we asked Branko Gerovac to share some of his research into the data behind the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, we knew what we were getting into. Discussions with Branko and a look at Empirical Reality, his innovation blog that takes a hard look at the numbers can sometimes come off as depressing to Massachusetts innovation cheerleaders, and he freely admits it. But to move ahead, we need to understand where we’ve been.

Gerovac looks at data from places like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Standard & Poors and mixes it with information culled from a wide variety of studies. Recent blog posts included information from the Wall Street Journal, the Moneytree Report and the Kaufman Foundation.

At our recent Innovation Breakfast, Gerovac looked at Massachusetts tech sector employment (breaking it down by county — yes, Middesex county looks a lot like Santa Clara), where tech founders went to school and the average age of founding a tech company. (45 percent of technology companies were formed by people in the 35-44 year old range.) The “depressing” graphs showed serious declines in tech employment, “ouch” comparisons between Massachusetts and California, and Seattle, and other tech hot spots like Michigan(???) in areas like our ability to keep grads here.

But an interesting thing happens when we have knowledge. The room wasn’t depressed. Immediately talk turned to what we can and need to do.

1) We need anchor companies, old and new, to keep grads here the requisite average 16 years before they will found their own company.

2) We need to focus more on building companies to grow, versus building companies to sell.

3) We need to deal with the non-compete issue.

4) We need to foster a culture of collaboration versus competition. Instead of the zero sum game, we need to grow the pie big enough for everyone to have a piece.

5) We need to make sure that tech is getting its fair share of the funding money. (Bio-pharma and alternative energy are great but the time to liquidity is far greater as are the start-up costs.) Tech is where the best bang for our buck is.

What can you do? What do you think?

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The Future of MA High Tech

bobbie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:12:11 +0000

The Future of MA High Tech Conference (download video here or check out the #MATechHub tweet stream), or MA Tech Hub for short, was held December 7th at the offices of Communispace in Watertown. (For those of you who have never been there, their conference space/lunchroom is decorated like Fenway park, complete with Green Monster in the back).

Communispace CEO Diane Hessan kicked off the festivities by noting that her company has hired 40 new employees this year, showing that the tech industry has been quicker to recover from the economic downturn than other sectors.
She was followed by Donna Cupelo, New England Regional President of Verizon, who echoed Diane’s assessment, and noted that tech growth can fuel growth overall, or as she put it, “Innovation has an agnostic impact.” (An interesting turn of phrase; I would have said “a rising tide lifts all boats”, but that’s just me).

Jack Wilson, President of UMass, discussed the Government/Business/Academe collaboration that brought about this conference, while taking the opportunity to show off his new Droid.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick delivered the keynote address, noting that the staff at Communispace had provided him with a new avatar for his Twitter account (not Denzel Washington, as he had hoped, but ex-SNL cast member Tim Meadows). His speech focused on the importance of the tech industry in Massachusetts, noting that it is made up of 10,000 firms employing 178,000 people, and makes up 18% of the state’s GDP.

During a brief Q & A after the speech, one of the audience noted that Apple marks its products with a “Designed in California” label, and suggested that Massachusetts firms do likewise. The Governor agreed, citing Harmonix’s “Rock Band” as an example, but noting that New Englanders tend to be more reticent about such things, saying “We don’t like to brag” (Red Sox and Pats fans, fee free to disagree with the Guv). When another questioner asked Patrick to sum up his view of the MA tech industry in one word, he responded, “I’ll give you three: We invent things.”

Professor Michael Goodman from UMass Dartmouth followed Patrick with his summary of the report prepared by the UMass Donahue Institute Economic & Policy Research (you can download your own copy here ). Some highlights of the study:

The IT industry is second only to healthcare in the number of jobs provided, far above financial services and post-secondary education.

Those surveyed in the report ranked California and Massachusetts first and second, respectively, as representing the regions of the world presenting the best opportunities for innovation and growth, with India, China, and Israel rounding out the top five.

Of those who preferred Massachusetts as a location for IT business, respondents cited access to cultural amenities, access to world-class research partners, presence of world-class business networks and colleagues, presence of strong school systems, availability of skilled workers, and ease of commute (!) as factors.

One of the biggest challenges facing MA tech firms vs. California is that access to venture capital and funding is perceived to be a major obstacle in Massachusetts. A number of focus group participants believe that venture funding on the East Coast is much more “risk averse” and the Commonwealth’s history as a leader in enterprise software and other more traditional products makes funding riskier new endeavors even more difficult.

Following Professor Goodman’s presentation, there was a roundtable discussion with Gregory Bialecki of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Colin Angle from iRobot, Dave Balter of BzzAgent, John Halamka from Beth Israel and Harvard Medical School, Rich Miner from Google, and Jeff Nick from EMC.

The discussion began by noting some of the major changes in everyday life in the past 10 years due to IT (in 1999, there were no smart phones, YouTube, or social media). Boston’s legacy as a center for higher education was cited as both a benefit and a drawback; Balter said that marketing degree programs have not kept up to date with advances in IT, and he prefers that employee candidates show their skills in “connectivity, not creativity,” and “if he hires one more person who can’t convert PowerPoint to a PDF, he’ll kill himself.”

Angle said that the state needs to create more incentives for the students who come to Boston to study to stay here after they finish their education. Miner’s recommendation was more “anchor companies”, like Wang and DEC of years past, to attract entrepreneurs. During the Q & A, after the roundtable, Boston Globe reporter Scott Kirsner stirred the pot by raising the issue of non-competes; would eliminating them spur innovation in the state?

Jeff Nick’s response was that there are good and bad non-competes, and cited numerous companies started by ex-EMC employees, though when pressed by Kirsner, he declined (or refused?) to name any, and bristled at the suggestion that these companies were started by “disgruntled” former employees. Miner countered by saying “Any non-compete is a bad non-compete,” though this is a moot point for Google, as non-competes are not enforceable in California.

One suggestion from Balter: rebranding the term “IT”, as he feels it is outdated (Innovation Technology? Business Technology?)

A final thought: driving home from the event, a radio commercial from Foxwoods Resort & Casino asked musicians to submit their entries to a contest to remake John Pizzarelli’s ubiquitous “The Wonder Of It All” jingle. Could MA tech firms do something similar, jointly sponsoring a local songwriter to come up with a “MA Tech Inside” jingle for all the Roombas, Bose headphones, and Boston Scientific stents?

Some other posts, stories, etc.:

Xconomy

Scott Kirsner

Nat Hefferman, Mass Innovation Nights MIN-ion