UMass Amherst Innovation and Entrepreneurship Day
October 24, 2009

Thank you to all who attended and participated. If you have any feedback on the event, please email Isenberg Program Manager Heather Demers at demers@ecs.umass.edu.

 

Here are links to the presentations:

 

The Economic Crisis: What Does it Mean for Entrepreneurs?
Eric Janszen, Angel investor, financial analyst, and iTulip.com founder

Eric Janszen '04 is a financial analyst with more than two decades’ experience in the technology industry as an executive and venture capitalist. In 1998 he founded a financial analysis company, www.itulip.com, which has had an amazingly accurate record of predictions. He wrote an acclaimed cover story for Harper’s about economic bubbles and is now a regular contributor to the magazine’s Web site.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
IP –Shannon Vittengl, Wolf Greenfield

Shannon Vittengl is an associate with the intellectual property law group Wolf Greenfield in Boston, Massachusetts where she focuses her practice on patent prosecution in the areas of mechanical devices, medical products, and athletic equipment.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
Team building – Scott Perry, Consultant

Scott Perry '82 has over 25 years of new product development experience in multiple start ups as well as large established companies. He has managed large and small teams -- growing new teams and executing “turn-arounds” for others. Most recently, he was Vice President of Engineering at Rivulet Communications Inc.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
Marketing – Karen Utgoff, Karen Lauter Utgoff Consulting

Karen Utgoff is a market-oriented business strategist. In 1991 she established her consulting practice, Karen Lauter Utgoff Consulting, to help entrepreneurs, executives, scientists, and engineers successfully address their business and marketing challenges. Her experience spans diverse environments including corporate strategic marketing, mainstream small businesses, technology startups, business incubation, and non-profit research organizations.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
Bootstrap financing – Steven Luby, Vistagy

Steven (Steve) Luby '84, '86MS is the founder, president and chief executive officer of VISTAGY in Waltham, Massachusetts. In this position, Mr. Luby is responsible for driving VISTAGY’s product vision and global business strategy. VISTAGY develops software that turns popular commercial 3D CAD systems into specialized engineering environments that help engineers at design-driven companies create better products faster, easier and more cost effectively. The company works with manufacturers chiefly in the aerospace, automotive and marine industries.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
Venture financing – Barton Stuck, Signal Lake

Barton (Bart) Stuck is the Managing Director of Signal Lake, an early stage Venture Capital Fund. He focuses on investments involving fundamental innovation in green energy, telecom, IT, and software. Signal Lake is located in Boston MA & Westport CT. Prior to Signal Lake, Bart served as the Managing Director of Business Strategies LLC, a consultancy involved with 450+ client engagements and over $60B+ in capital placements.

Panel: Essential Ingredients of a High-Impact Business
Corporate venturing – Deirdre Zammit, Saint-Gobain External Venturing

Deirdre Zammit is with the External Venturing organization of Saint-Gobain Corporation. External Venturing focuses of identifying and facilitating relationships between start-up companies and the many businesses of Saint-Gobain including activity in glass products, construction products, construction materials distribution, polymer components, ceramic components, abrasives, and crystals. Representative relationships include joint development activity, license agreements, manufacturing relationships, distribution arrangements, and equity investment.

Overview of the SBIR STTR Programs
Robert Kispert, Director of Federal Programs at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative

Robert Kispert is the Director of Federal Programs at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). MTC is a quasi-public state organization focused on economic development for the technology intensive sectors of the Massachusetts economy. Mr. Kispert brings a broad background in technology development and commercialization to assist MTC's clients in identifying and developing Federal R&D funding opportunities. Mr. Kispert manages MTC's outreach activities which provide program information, workshops, and networking opportunities to Massachusetts' "innovation cluster." He conducts regular analyses of federal policies which affect the research community, particularly with respect to federal support for research and development.

Legal and Accounting Issues Related to SBIR STTR
Gerald O’Connor, Morse Barnes-Brown & Pendleton

Gerald (Jerry) O’Connor '86 is a member with the firm Morse, Barnes-Brown Pendleton, PC in Waltham, Massachusetts. He advises early stage energy technology companies and software companies in all aspects of their formation and growth, including negotiating and carrying out financing transactions, strategic alliances and joint venture agreements. Prior to joining MBBP, Jerry was a partner at the law firm of Foley Hoag.

Resources & Next Steps Related to SBIR STTR
Jim Capistran, Director of the Center for UMass-Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP)

James (Jim) Capistran is Director of The Center for UMass-Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP) where he helps industrial scientists connect to leading research being conducted by UMass Amherst faculty members, their students and post-doctoral research fellows, as well as to the network of other industrial and government scientists who are members of the Center. Prior to his tenure with CUMIRP, his career spanned a number of technical and leadership positions in the polymer industry, including Monsanto Chemical Company and Metokote Corporation.