Paying it Forward

A few months ago, I blogged about how the spirit of generosity that started RTP is alive and well in the region’s business community and overall ethos. Late Tuesday, we got yet another example of what makes the Research Triangle region a special place.

Ryan Allis and Aaron Houghton, co-founders of iContact (which they started while still students at UNC-CH) announced donations to CED, the Southeast’s largest entrepreneurial support organization, totaling $270,000.

Ryan and Aaron recently sold iContact to Vocus, a publicly-traded provider of cloud-based marketing and PR software.

The two have been engaged with CED since they were students: they volunteered at CED events as undergrads and in later years, served as members of the CED Board of Directors. The donation was a way of making good on a stock pledge after they started the company in 2003.

(As the CED press release on the donation notes, the stock pledge program was “established in 1998 to encourage entrepreneurs to support the organization by identifying contributions that would be made at some point in the future at the time of a successful exit. Pledges are made by individuals who have benefited from CED’s programs and services, many of which are provided free or at reduced cost to early-stage entrepreneurs.”)

CED on The State of the Entrepreneurial Economy of North Carolina

1,800 companies started.

40,560 jobs created.

$7.7 billion in capital invested.

This is the impact that entrepreneurs have had on the state of North Carolina in the past 20 years.

The “Starting Something: The State of the Entrepreneurial Economy of North Carolina, 1992-2011” report was presented last week at CED‘s Annual Meeting held at RTP Headquarters.  The data for the report was collected by, Maryann Feldman and Nichola Lowe, who are both professors at UNC-Chapel Hill, First Flight Venture Center, an RTP-based incubator, and CED.

Another important finding of the study is that the jobs created by these start-ups have stayed in North Carolina, which is key to the economic growth of the state.  Furthermore, while a majority of the VC funds that have invested in these start-ups are based in the Southeast, there have been investments made from international funds, as well as those based in Boston, NYC and California.

CED took on this initiative both to show the importance of entrepreneurs in our overall economy, but more importantly as a reminder of the various players and ingredients our region’s economy depends on to remain competitive.

At RTP, a central theme of our mission is to serve as an economic driver for the State of North Carolina and the Triangle Region.  It’s interesting to see the role the larger, more established companies in our region play — both as the sources of innovation and new companies and also as end-users or acquirers of some of the new ideas. We are proud to see these great innovators in the Triangle creating a thriving entrepreneurial community that is catching the attention of the nation.  This is what RTP is all about, folks.

For the presentation from CED’s annual meeting, click here.

For the press release, click here.

Good Vibrations – Innovation@rtp

Dr. Lane Miller, VP Global R&D, LORD Corp was the speaker at December 14th's Innovation@rtp event.

What do HAL DHRUV active vibration control systems, rubber to substrate adhesives, jet engine isolation systems, low-odor adhesives, UK-60 rod ends, highly resilient elastomers, and V-22 elastomeric bearings have in common? Well, besides being things for which I have no understanding, they’re all innovative solutions developed by pioneering employees at LORD Corporation.

Headquartered in Cary, LORD Corporation is the leader in the development and implementation of computer controlled systems for managing dynamic loads and motions for vehicles and aircraft. Now, LORD linear and rotary controllable damping technology is implemented on cars, trucks, marine craft, spacecraft, and civil structures worldwide.

On December 14^th, the Innovation@rtp speaker series was delighted to host Dr. Lane Miller, VP Global R&D for LORD Corp with a presentation entitled, “Active Control Solutions for Vibration and Motion (with a Soliloquy on Innovation).” While Dr. Miller gave us some fascinating insight into what his company does (including sharing some fun videos of Humvees on a test track), probably the most important aspect of the presentation was his take on the lessons they’ve learned and some best practices for accelerating innovation.

Dr. Miller's humorous example of someone being inventive, but not very innovative.

One of Dr. Miller’s key messages was to remind us that there is a difference between invention and innovation.  Invention is a clever or unique idea, while innovation deals more with converting technology into stakeholder value.   And often, it takes both of these things to produce results.

And while it’s just common sense to have the right people for the job, Dr. Miller went on to explain what that means in terms of innovation and his company.  He suggested looking for impatient technologists.  As odd as it sounds, it makes sense, because as he pointed out, combining a patient company with an impatient technologist produces results.  LORD Corp also looks for people that are more likely to adapt quickly to changes, more apt to champion someone else’s ideas, and can be introspective regarding their own weaknesses.  Finally, these problem solvers need to understand the business plan, and further, be willing to challenge that plan. Read more »

RTI Employees Park and Plug In

Those of you who consider yourselves fans of electric vehicles know that they’ve had a big year. Previously on this blog, we’ve covered Raleigh’s commitment to promote the technology, as well as Nissan’s rollout of their new all-electric model. Well for the next chapter, we turn to one of our own Research Triangle Park companies, RTI International.

As an organization saturated by cutting-edge technology, it makes sense that RTI would have a strong interest in electric vehicles (EV’s) – both at the employee and corporate levels. Recent in-house surveys have indicated a substantial number of RTI employees interested in buying an EV in the next 2 years. For the company as a whole, RTI has acquired Neighborhood Electric Vehicles for trips around campus. And in studying their ecological footprint, they are targeting reductions in the 17% of RTI’s total emissions caused by commuting. Read more »

High school students + Triangle CEOs = Startup High 2012

by Scott Kelly, RTP Guest Blogger from Startup High

Imagine a summer camp where CEOs and entrepreneurial leaders teach high schoolers how to build and grow companies.  What if each day the students had the chance to visit a different company and interact personally with business leaders?   

Startup High 2012 is making that happen.  

At some point during our life all of us will get out of the shower and say, “I know how I can make millions!”   If the idea gets off the ground it usually fails when it goes to market.  However, a recent methodology called Lean Startup (see Eric Ries’s book The Lean Startup) teaches a scientific approach to test ideas for market fit and can help increase the chance of success when launching a new venture.  

Lean Startup will be part of the curriculum Startup High and help students understand how to test those crazy startup ideas.  Also, instead of each business leader delivering a one way lecture to students, Startup High will utilize a question based approach.  Before each company visit, students will craft appropriate questions for leader to better understand how the company grew. 

Know a parent of a high schooler?  Send them to startuphigh.com, or the Nov 1 Lunch Info Session at First Flight, or one of the other info sessions.

The Art of Forensic Video

The magic green line.  We’ve all seen it in action on any number of crime investigation shows: Investigators stare intently at a monitor examining some video evidence.  An astute detective spots something and says, “Wait.  Enhance that.”  A technician makes a few quick keystrokes, and the magic green lines goes to work, across the image. Incoherent image details sharpen as the line passes over them, and bam! The case is solved… or at least one step closer to being solved.

The Art of Forensic Video at Innovation in RTP on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Do you have a magic green line to enhance this photo?

Unfortunately (and I think most of us know this despite how much we want to believe), true video forensic investigation doesn’t work quite that magically or effectively.  With the wide range of video recording devices of varying quality and resolution, there’s not a simple way to pass a green (or any other color) line over them to produce the effect that we so often see on television.

Despite this, effective and efficient video forensic investigation is quickly becoming an essential tool for law enforcement organizations. As video surveillance becomes more and more pervasive in our lives, with CCTV, cell phone video, traffic cameras, web cameras, etc., the amount of available video data that can help piece together aspects of a crime continues to grow.  Being able to process that video and make it usable in a timely manner is essential to helping investigators solve crimes. Read more »

A Round of Applause for the Research Triangle

It’s no secret that the Research Triangle region is a great place to live and do business. Folks in RTP and the surrounding area know that first-hand. But when it comes to spreading the word, we’re also fortunate to be frequently recognized by some major publications.

We try to keep track of these accolades, as you’ll see in the scrolling news crawl at the top of this post. Here are details on some of the recent “great reviews” the region has been getting:

Perhaps the most exciting honor to share is Raleigh’s #1 ranking as America’s Best City by Bloomberg Businessweek (September 2011). Read more »

Funds with Benefits: Joystick Labs at Innovation in RTP

What does it take to be a video game developer?  According to John Austin, Managing Director of Joystick Labs, you need to be stubborn and flexible.  But more about that in a bit. 

Joystick Labs, housed in the American Underground in Durham, is a seed-stage accelerator that launches the next generation video game entrepreneurs through a unique mix of early-stage seed funding, mentorship, education, services, and networking. Founded in July, 2010 and based on the model of accelerators such as Y Combinator (in Mountain View, CA) and Techstars (based in New York City, Boston, Boulder, and Seattle), Joystick Labs has now funded six companies.  With a year under their belt, they continue to focus exclusively on identifying and launching the next generation of digitally distributed video game companies. Read more »

Start something… and here’s who can help.

Startup Lifecycle (thanks YallaStartup for the image!)

See the image to the left? If you’ve drawn this on a paper napkin, and then scratched your head at the checklist…

Chances are: you need this list.

Over the last few days, there have been multiple meetups, CED Cafes and TiE Carolina events that have offered opportunities for entrepreneurs like you to connect with the Research Triangle region’s rich resources of support organizations to help make that light bulb idea of yours a reality.

A huge thanks to CED for starting this list, and the many more who pinged me with others. As they say, I only know what I know. SO. If you want to be included on the list, leave a comment with your organization’s name, description, and contact information and any special packages you have to support our entrepreneurs.

And now… the list:

Read more »

The Expanding Digital Influence

TrueParallel’s president, Mark Rosenberg, started with saying, “Thanks.”  It certainly struck a chord with me, and as I listened to his presentation at Innovation in RTP last Wednesday (August 10^th), I realized it was just another example of how Mark doesn’t always follow convention when it comes to doing business.

Mark sat down with us before his presentation to talk about what TrueParallel does and about his presentation at Innovation in RTP:

During his talk, Mark focused on discussing various market shifts and the new center of digital strategies.  According to Mark, even with an aggressive digital initiative, it’s important to be aware of the impact that users have on the web process and how that must be incorporated into an overall strategy.  He reminded us that the customer’s voice is loud and clear from anywhere on Earth these days and that feedback and information exchange is instantaneous.  Because of this, it’s likely that change must also happen almost immediately. Read more »