Can DFW Supplant Silicon Valley? Can MITEF Lead the Way?

There is one key reason that Silicone Valley is the epicenter of launching innovative companies, thus creating massive numbers of jobs and creating massive amount of wealth.

The simple reason is that there is in place already very single non-core support component and/or service needed to launch a new company which offers a sustainable competitive advantage over existing providers in that industry.

Thus, all that an entrepreneur needs is a vision of the elegant and optimum solution to an under-served market, for which there would be pent-up demand for a superior product/service to those that they need or have to put up with currently.

They have IP law firms, accounting firms, contract manufacturing, angels and VCs, companies with in place global distribution infrastructure, uber-scalable entrepreneur office/warehouse facilities ( the term for this escapes me at the moment ), PR professionals, uber-scalable staffing companies which handle all the employee benefit and administrative minutia which can drag a new company owner under with its mind-boggling detail, and a lot of interaction facilitating infrastructure.

This could easily be replicated in the DFW Region, and thus we could surpass Silicone Valley as the epicenter of innovation, given the self-destruction mode of the California government, which has public policy leading to the extinction of its business sector and the enormous costs of operating there.

California’s trajectory from a ) paying its firemen annual retirements of over $200,000, b ) its Prop 13 which causes Warren Buffett to pay more in ad valorum taxes on his orange shag carpeted home in Omaha, NE than on his ocean-front cottage in La Jolla, CA, c ) draconian cuts in its higher education and public secondary and elementary schools budgets, d ) the enormous home costs that a newly hired creative class human capital asset would have to pay on top of his/her mid six figure student loans, e) the unbelievably unshakable ( almost ) pit bulls at the California Franchise Tax Board, who seek to tax the air one breathes,

f ) the California Coastal Commission which can defer start of construction on a production facility until the next decade with its red tape unsurpassed by any bureaucracy on earth and absolute authority, g) the massive challenge of air travel scheduling to most parts of the country from having few east-bound commercial flights departing after 6pm, h) the legal framework which allows propositions with insane consequences to business easily becoming law of the land,and finally i) the horrific condition of the air and gridlocked traffic as well as the availability of water on the tipping point of collapse.

Other that, it is a pretty nice place.

Given the enormous complexity and costs an entrepreneur faces at getting her/his company off the ground in California, as well as the constraints on cash and time for a start-up with meteoric growth, many would choose the DFW Region as far more business friendly and a better place to grow one’s business.

I would suggest that the MIT Enterprise Forum might provide the leadership to build a coalition along with the established North Texas Commission to move the epicenter of innovation to the Central Time Zone where we have unmatched airline connections to the nation and to the world and very few weather shutdowns.

Dormand Long

July 11, 2010 · Tags:

Bootstrapping 2010

Program

When: Thursday, Feb 25, 2010. 5.30-8.30pm

Where: Infomart #2019, 1950 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas 75207

Speakers and Topics

Here are the tentative program details.

5.30-5.45 Networking and Dinner
5.45-6.00 Introduction to MIT EF DFW by Brad Taylor,
6.00-6.20 Alexander Muse – Why this is a great time for startups in DFW
6.20-6.40 Ryan Roberts – Thestartuplawyer.com – Startup legal matters
6.40-7.00 Mike D. Merrill – 10 Ways To Promote Your Company For Free Using Social Media
7.00-7.15 Break
7.15-7.45 Entrepreneur Roundtable – DFW entrepreneurs in the trenches: Andres Fabris (CEO, Traxo) and Jeff Maynard (CEO, Biometric Signature-ID)
7.45-8.05 Gabriella Draney - Tech WildCatters – Microseed Fund in DFW
8.05-8.25 Nick Lawrence – Alternate Sources of Funding for Technology Entrepreneurs

Event Presentations

Alexander Muse – American Idol – Bootstrapping

American Idol – Bootstrapping

View more presentations from Alexander Muse.

10 Ways To Promote Your Company For Free Using Social Media – Mike D Merrill.

The Age of the Brandividual

View more presentations from Mike D. Merrill.

Alternate Sources of Funding for Technology Entrepreneurs - Nick Lawrence.

Alternate Funding Sources

View more presentations from mitefdfw.

February 12, 2010 · Tags:

DFW Entrepreneur Alexander Muse Featured in Dallas Morning News

Here’s a recently published story from Dallas Morning News about DFW entrepreneur Alexander Muse (known for the ShopSavvy app). Alexander was one of speakers at the MIT EF DFW Bootstrapping event in 2009. Alex hosts happy hours on first Mondays of the month at Infomart.

Unconventional describes Alexander Muse.

He thinks big and – for the most part – it has paid off.

He helped start a half-dozen technology companies in Dallas – with creative names such as MotorSport Ranch and Big in Japan – since the late 1990s. He sold three of them for tens of millions of dollars; he still runs the others.

LayerOne, a telecommunications infrastructure company he started in 1999, went bankrupt. Muse raised $4 million in venture capital to buy back the assets and relaunch the company. He sold it to Switch & Data for $22 million on Sept. 12, 2001.

“I was supposed to sign the deal on Sept. 11. That was so scary. I had a newborn baby, a big new house and a Porsche. I thought, ‘If this doesn’t happen, I could lose it all,’ ” said Muse, 38. “We ended up making a lot of money, but we lost a lot of money for a lot of people. That was a turning point for me.”

Early on, Muse named himself CEO of all his ventures. But he learned his attention span was limited to about two years.

“I’m more effective being part of a leadership team than the leader,” he said.

Now he finds partners to incubate ideas at Architel, an IT outsourcing company he started in 2001. If successful, they’re spun off with a CEO who has an equity stake in the company.

Muse focuses on Architel and ShopSavvy, a cellphone application that lets users scan a product’s bar code to compare prices online and at local stores. Revenue reached $11.5 million at Architel and $1 million at ShopSavvy in 2009. Both turn a profit.

With a foosball table and a giant Incredible Hulk at his Dallas Infomart office, Muse created a fun place to work as well as a nurturing environment for budding entrepreneurs. He shares spare office space, invests in promising ideas and holds monthly happy hours where he foots the bar tab.

In 2005, Muse launched the Texas Startup Blog and co-founded SpringStage in 2008 as an online network to promote local entrepreneurship.

An avid blogger, Muse writes about his adventures, attracting at least 175,000 online followers. Soon, he plans to start a blog called the Startup Muse.

Next? Muse wants to develop apps that integrate social networks with services.

February 8, 2010 · Tags:

TechWildCatters Microseed Fund Launched in Dallas Fort Worth

DFW is rocking with startup activity in 2010. With upcoming educational programs for entrepreneurs by MIT Enterprise Forum, Startup Weekend 2010 scheduled in April and launch of TechWildCatters, a microseed fund, there is enough activity and support for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

Congratulations to Gabriella Draney for her tireless efforts to bring the first microseed fund to DFW. Read more about it at techwildcatters.com , get to know the mentors and apply to TechWildcatters here.

2010 is going to be a big year for startups in the Big D!

Here are the details, taken from a post at Ryan Roberts’ blog.

TechWildcatters is a mentorship-driven microseed fund and startup accelerator that just launched in Dallas, Texas.
TechWildcatters is now accepting applications for their first 12-week accelerator “bootcamp” and 20 startup teams will have the opportunity to pitch on March 11, 2010.

The first program begins April 5, 2010. The selected startups will get up to $25,000 in seed funding, intensive top-notch mentorship, and the opportunity to pitch to angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate dev teams at their biannual “Demo Day”. Their first Demo Day is scheduled for June 30, 2010.

Here’s the type of startups TechWildcatters is looking for:
-Applications: B2B Web/Enterprise 2.0, BI/data/analytics, gaming/simulation, etc.
-Technology: Web, SaaS, open source, data integration, middleware, etc.
-Customers: SMB through Fortune 500 (no consumer apps)
-Location: Come from anywhere, willing to locate to Dallas for the program
-Founders: Well-rounded founder teams >1 person, demonstrated understanding of entrepreneurship, relevant technical and business knowledge
-Capital: Needing seed capital to support living expenses while bootstrapping, can make efficient use of limited capital, would generally be planning on self/angel/customer financing as a next step coming out of the program

January 20, 2010 · Tags: B2B, microseed fund, TechWildcatters

2009 Year Review for MIT EF DFW

Here’s a quick summary of what our team achieved in calendar year 2009.

MIT Enterprise Forum DFW – 2009 Overview

January 19, 2010 · Tags: #mitdfw, dfw, MIT enterprise forum dfw

Videos from Startup Weekend Dallas

Here are a few videos from the first day of Dallas Startup Weekend event. For the startup interviews, check this post at the Dallas Startup Weekend website.

Gabriella Draney of Tech Wildcatters at Startup Weekend.

Alexander Muse, host and sponsor of Startup Weekend Dallas.

November 21, 2009 · Tags: #swdallas, dallas

Dallas Startup Weekend Off to Exciting Start

Posted by Babar Bhatti

First ever startup weekend in Dallas kicked off yesterday evening. Over 50 energetic and enthusiastic folks got together at Infomart over pizza and drinks, eager to pitch their ideas and to network. I think this is a great time for Dallas Fort Worth to build on the momentum that some of the successful local entrepreneurs have provided. I enjoyed spending time with Marc, Gabriella, Steve, Ryan, Eddy, Alex and meeting Blake, Seth, John P, Jake, Jordan and many others who were there.

There was a presentation by John P of Woopra, followed by 90 seconds pitches for ideas. The 25 or so ideas got interesting comments and responses by the crowd. Overall it was fun and interesting. Voting for the top ideas began around 9pm with each participant getting 2 dollar bills to stuff in the envelope of their favorite idea.

As you can see here, the brainstorming has already started. Let’s see how thing progress over the weekend!

November 21, 2009 · Tags: #mitdfw, #swdallas, startup weekend dallas

SBIR Workshop: Funding Your Innovations with Government Money

On Saturday, October 24, 2009, the DFW MIT Enterprise Forum and the DFW MIT Club presented a Workshop to help individuals and firms learn how to win SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) contracts and grants.

The Workshop was co-sponsored by TECH Fort Worth, who provided the venue and some great assistance. Our thanks to them!

Here are the slides that were presented at the Workshop.

Nick Lawrence, who has personally written and won nearly a score of SBIR awards, presented the Workshop. He started with an overview of the SBIR program, what firms are eligible, the credentials needed to be Principal Investigator, and how to strategize and plan your SBIR effort.

The Workshop then focused on the proposal. We examined in detail how it should be structured and what each section should contain. We emphasized clear, simple communications in the technical portion of the proposal, concise language, and not wasting the reviewers’ time. The cost proposal should be as elaborate as necessary, but definitely as simple as possible.

Next, we turned to the “registration” process. Doing business with the Federal Government requires you to have obtained certain numbers and codes, such as a Taxpayer Identification Number, a DUNS code, a CAGE code, and both SIC and NAICS codes. You need to have online accounts with Central Contractor Registration, with ORCA (online reps and certs), with WAWF (Wide Area Work Flow, used for invoices and payments), and potentially several others. It is not hard to get all of this done, but it needs to be done in a certain order or you will encounter delays. And it needs to be done well ahead of the time when you submit your proposal.

Finally, we covered the substantial benefits for your firm to win an SBIR award. These benefits go beyond the financial support such an award provides. Under certain broad circumstances related to your SBIR project, your firm becomes entitled to “sole source” treatment by Federal Agencies. You retain principal “data rights” (data sets and software) and patent rights for work you do under such a sole source contract. These contracts can be for your products, production, services, R&D, or any combination.

The SBIR Workshop was very well received by the participants. The Workshop filled up and sold out early. We already have several people signed up for a repeat of the Workshop in the near future. Subscribe to our newsletter to be kept informed, or check back often with the front page of this website.

October 27, 2009 · Tags: contracts, grants, proposals, SBIR

Interview With the Founder of the X Prize, Dr. Peter Diamandis

In this inspiring video Peter Zak of MIT Enterprise Forum interviews the founder of the X Prize, Dr. Peter Diamandis. Let us know what you think about this.

October 25, 2009 · Tags:

Winning Strategies: Talk by Dr. Schmalensee, Former Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management

Authors globe series brings another exciting talk: Winning Strategies: Secrets behind dynamic companies like Google, Amazon & eBay, by Dr. RICHARD SCHMALENSEE, former Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management. This is based on Dr. Schmalensee’s book Catalyst Code. Here’s what Bill Gates said about Catalyst Code: Catalyst Code is an important book for anyone interested in understanding how breakthrough businesses can be built in today’s economy.

The virtual event is on Monday, October 26th 12-1pm US EDT. Register here.

Learn in this interactive MasterClass how to:

Implement six strategic steps to become a dynamic catalyst company
Generate value by creating relationships among your different groups of customers
Create profitable and flexible business models by assembling audiences, cutting costs and connecting other companies

About the author:

Richard Schmalensee is the Howard W. Johnson Professor of Economics and Management at MIT and the Director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. He served as the Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1998 through 2007.

He, along with colleague David Evans, developed a new area in the field of economics and business strategy that explores the design of business models that unleash the hidden value associated by getting multiple customer groups together on the same platform. He shares his findings in the Harvard Business School book with David called “Catalyst Code: The Strategies Behind the World’s Most Dynamic Companies”. He is a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy and a Director of the global Venture Capital firm IDG. He has served as a consultant to both corporations and government agencies.

October 9, 2009 · Tags: