Our preparation for Idea to Product (I2P) began in January 2011. Up to that point our team, comprised entirely of biomedical engineers, had focused primarily on the core engineering aspects that governed our senior design project—to design and construct a therapeutic powered rotation therapy bed (we call it Stroma; Greek for “mattress”). Life was rife with flow charts, concept scoring matrices, and weekly progress reports. Yet we had no methods for manufacturing our product, no estimation of a meaningful market, and no concept of its point of sale. We fell flat on our first pitch, and it was only after receiving copious amounts of feedback from David Winkin and Nik Rokop of the Knapp Center, and from Dr. Jennifer Kang-Mieler and Dr. Derek Kamper of the Armour College of Engineering that we were able to see the light. By March 2^nd, our convoluted contraption was reshaped into a novel idea with a foundation in business and innovation.  We presented Stroma at St. Louis University to a panel of entrepreneurial aficionados and received key feedback on where to sell, who to target, and how to achieve it. The I2P experience was vital in providing this direction for our product, and from it we were able to realize the upshot of combining engineering with business and entrepreneurship. We even recruited a subject matter expert from BJC Healthcare, whose valued input continues to guide the product’s development.

The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at Chicago-Kent College of Law represents entrepreneurs in transactional matters common to early-stage and small companies, including but not limited to choice of entity and entity formation, contract review and drafting, corporate governance issues, review of leases, legal research projects as appropriate, and basic trademark searches and filing. The clinic’s rates are below-market for transactional legal services, and project-based flat fees whenever possible. For more information, please contact Heather Harper, Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervising Attorney, at hharper@kentlaw.edu.

EFactor Event – Angel Investing Summary

When Neil Gupta and Muhammed Fazeel, now at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, met in their first year in college, little did they know that this friendship would bloom into a partnership in a company. Having participated in competitions relating to entrepreneurship together throughout their college life, they were used to throwing around random ideas, and figuring out what clicks. This synergy came in especially handy when they started to think about ways to improve the classroom learning experience. The result was Tabule, a complete package that could possibly revolutionize the way that classes are taught across universities.

The origin of Tabule was with the two of them just talking about how they could use existing technologies to improve how students participate during lectures, and finding that a large group of people agreed that the traditional lecture model needed to be changed. The way that Tabule works is that it allows students to log in and actually see their discussions in real-time. In the same screen, on the left, they can take notes during class. To the right, students are able to pose questions and look at questions asked by others in class, so that if people have similar questions, they can all be attended to at the same time.

Once this idea was born, IIT gave them free iPads to experiment with, and the Knapp Entrepreneurship Center gave them access to their office, so that they could focus on building the product. Once the Idea Shop was completed, they were given one of the rooms in the building as their office. One of the driving ideas behind Tabule is that a lot of schools are now giving their students iPads, but most schools have not been able to find effective ways to incorporate it into the classroom, and use iPads even more effectively as a tool to better educate students. With Tabule, students can take notes, while looking at questions that other students had, while at the same time having access to old quizzes and notes as well. While it was developed mainly to be used in the classroom, it can also be used at home to go through notes or quizzes. Like other online systems, Tabule is web-based, but it is better in that it is faster, and it allows people to vote on the answers, like the iClicker.

Currently, they are carrying out trials in various classrooms around IIT and even expanding outside IIT. By bringing together two very common things in college classrooms in America, the need to participate and technology, Tabule may well be the answer to a lot of the problems students face, and hopefully, we will soon be seeing it in every classroom across the country.

Last semester, when Stephanie Salem and Noah Spitler entered the Idea to Profit competition, little did they know their Clue-Me-In Impairment App was going to place in the top four! The Clue-Me-In Impairment App is an integrated Smartphone application featuring a series of three tests to assess the user’s cognitive skills and reaction time by detecting key impairments of one who is intoxicated, to prevent them from driving while intoxicated.

We at the Knapp Center managed to catch up with Stephanie Salem, very busy with graduation preparations, and found out all the inside details of the competition, and how it felt to balance it with school, and ultimately, coming out 4^th out of numerous talented participants.

Q: What is your major? Have you always been interested in things related to entrepreneurship etc? Or was it just to try out something new that you entered?

A: I am a Finance major and took Introduction to Entrepreneurship my sophomore year. We were required to enter the Idea Challenge, but through this class, I became fascinated with entrepreneurship. I used to always think of entrepreneurship as just owning your own company, but it is much more than that: it is about solving problems, making things better, learning how to innovate, etc!

Q: What were the challenges you faced during the contest?

A:  The biggest challenge we actually faced was not having enough time to prepare our    presentation. Last year, we had two ideas that made it to the competition but we didn’t find out we got in until a week or two before the actual competition. We didn’t have time to do research and work on them because of midterms, but we ended up pulling it off and did well with our presentations! This year we didn’t have too many challenges, other than going up against great competition!

Q: What were the rules of the competition, and what were you asked to do?

A: At Idea to Product, you must answer eight simple questions during a ten minute presentation and it’s pretty easy to submit an idea! These are the questions:

1. What is your product or service?
2. What is the technology that underlies your product/service?
3. How is your underlying technology unique?
4. Is your product or service innovative? How?
5. How would you define the best initial set of customers? (Who will buy it?)
6. What marketplace need does your product or service address better than any other option? (Why will they buy it?)
7. Describe how you create value for your customers.
8. What is the market and its size?
9. How do you anticipate developing IP protection/strategy for your technology

Q:  How did this balance out with school-work?

A: Once you make it to the competition, there is a lot of research that needs to go into the presentation. The presentation requires more in depth analysis and explanations than the eight questions from the original submission. It definitely takes some time, especially in the middle of midterms, but it is worth it and a great experience!

Q: What was the single most memorable moment from the contest for you?

A: My single most memorable moment was making it to finals and placing in the top 4! I (also) love presenting, so that in itself was very memorable.

Q: Did you find the tasks you had to complete very challenging, or were they simple?

A: There is a lot of research and planning that you need to do for the presentation, but with some basic knowledge of a feasibility study/opportunity assessment, it isn’t too hard! There are also many faculty members from IIT who want you to succeed and will give you feedback. It’s nice to  have experienced entrepreneurs who are so willing to be involved and want you to do well!

Q:  Did you pick your team, or were teams assigned?

A: You are able to pick your teams. Noah and I worked extremely well last year-he is an engineer and I am a business major. We decided to enter the competition again this year because of our past success.

Q: What were the things you learnt from your experiences? Has this opened you up to new opportunities, and ways of thinking?

A: You definitely learn a lot from the competition. The judges are experienced entrepreneurs and ask a lot of great questions. They also give really good feedback and advice on how to move your idea forward. And it’s pretty cool to hear the other students’ ideas as well.

Q: With all those talented competitors, it must have been nerve racking for you and Noah! Were   you nervous during the events, or was the atmosphere more fun than competitive?

A: I was a little nervous during the competition, but again, I really like presenting. Many students who don’t normally present seemed to be nervous, but overall the competition is pretty laid back. The judges are very nice and make the atmosphere comfortable.

Q: What would be your advice to other students who might want to follow in your footsteps?

A: I would recommend this competition to any student who has an idea for a product or service! It is a really rewarding experience. And even if you don’t have an idea yet, get a group of students together and start thinking of one!

Q: Overall, what would you say about your experience?

A: It was an awesome experience both years I attended and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity!

So there you’ve heard it (or read it, rather), straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak! The I2P Challenge is a great move towards encouraging entrepreneurship among the youth of today. This competition truly gives students a look into the world of entrepreneurs, with great advice from an experienced panel of judges, as well as a chance to learn from the ideas of others. This competition is a great chance for anybody who has the next great idea, or even just wants to have a taste of the business world.

 

What would you think of a granola bar that you could enjoy while knowing that it is helping someone take his or her first steps in recovering from starvation? We all give money to funds for the poor and helpless, but one often tends to wonder: Whom, exactly, is this money going to? Thus was the question posed by Mitchell Blosky, founder of The Love Crunch Company. Of course, back then, there was no Love Crunch Company. It was just Mitch and this idea just starting to take shape in his mind. An idea that is now feeding hundreds of America’s starving people.

And how did he do this, you ask? Well, it’s a simple concept, really. Each Love Crunch bar is a circular granola bar. Except, what you get isn’t really a circle! It’s a semi-circle. Because, every time you buy a Love Crunch bar, the other half goes to one of America’s most starving people. And not just that, you can actually track the person whom it’s going to through the Love Crunch website (www.lovecrunch.org)! When asked about what his inspiration was for starting Love Crunch, Mitch said with a little smile “I kept seeing people working to help the poor, but I never understood where the money was going, and I thought this was a more literal way of feeding those in need”, through the Google chat window during our remote interview.

Starting in our very own city, Chicago, this former Architecture student from IIT has fed the homeless in Las Vegas, East St. Louis, and Washington DC. And in just a year and a half! After winning the Idea Challenge 2010, Mitch then put his idea into practice. The Love Crunch Company was started in December 2009 and was incorporated in March of 2010. He also opened up a non-profit called The Love Crunch World Hunger Relief Organization to work with local food shelters in all of Love Crunch’s cities. The Love Crunch Company manufactures and distributes the bars, and when they sell one, they give  the other half to the Love Crunch World Hunger Relief Organization to give to the poor.

With 26 vitamins and minerals, a number higher than any other brand on the market, each Love Crunch bar doesn’t just fill a stomach, it actually starts to reverse the effects of malnutrition and hunger. It is based on all organic products, selected by 40 of the leading brands in the market. And it’s all American – the ingredients come from the South West and the Mid West, and everything is packaged in Indiana, using all completely recyclable products, making this “the most socially responsible product on the market”. In case you need even more incentive to buy your first Love Crunch bar, our own Nik Rokop from the Knapp Center tells me he bought a box and they are absolutely delicious!

One can hope to find Love Crunch at convenience stores and most coffee shops in the near future, but right now, they can be found at “Overflow Coffee Bar” and “Off the Tracks Grill”. One can also order them online at the website mentioned earlier. Love Crunch is always open to people wanting to volunteer by helping in delivering Love Crunch bars, and in any other way that they want to help.

As for the future, Mitch hopes to someday spread the love with Love Crunch across the world, and document the stories of the people that Love Crunch has helped. When asked about how they decide where they should go next, Mitch said with some thought, “We do a lot of research on who needs our help the most. It is easy to see on the news, and hear from other people, like New Orleans after Katrina. We haven’t been able to feed a whole city, but we’ll get there. My ultimate aim (like the website says), is feeding the worlds 1 billion starving people, 1 Love Crunch bar at a time”.

So there, you’ve heard it all. Seem too good to be true? Well try one, and tell me how you liked it!

 

By Dave Pollard

For the last eight years, I was working at a desk in an architectural office, and it was not until the last couple of years that I was no longer the youngest person at the firm. At that point I realized I was becoming an “old” person, and I felt as if I lost my cool, computer-culture edge. So when I returned to IIT for an M.S. Arch degree last fall, I was dedicated to learning about the new information age that I had been missing at my desk. I figured I would beef up my LinkedIn profile, start a Twitter account, try to build a website, and try to figure out what all of the hoopla was about. I also decided to start a blog on WordPress, even though that seemed so Web 1.0.

My blog, titled, “Take Back the Building : Architecture Controlled by Architects”, was created for several reasons. First, it was a place to archive my thoughts and findings as I ventured into my thesis study. Second, I had never used WordPress, and I was fascinated to learn about this powerful, free, and open-source tool. Lastly, I thought it would be nice for friends, family, and colleagues to see what I was working on, so I didn’t have to explain my study to them every time I saw them. I could just say, “Read the blog.”

I installed some open-source WordPress plugins to see how many people were viewing the site, what browser they were using, how many times my site showed up in searches, and some other statistics. I also used some plugins to sync my posts with LinkedIn and Facebook. The statistics were far from overwhelming. Unfortunately, I had not yet become the Perez Hilton of architecture. I did soon learn, however, that it was not the quantity of page views that was important, but instead the quality of each page viewer.

In February, I wrote a short post on a presentation that I saw from architect and author, Sarah Susanka. A few days later, her publicist found the post and contacted me to thank me for my thoughts. Shortly thereafter, Sarah herself posted a kind comment on my blog. We continued an ongoing conversation which has now resulted in an employment opportunity, working with her and a local developer. Similarly, in April I wrote a positive, but somewhat critical post about an AEC industry internet startup, Cadreas.com. I have since been contacted by the founder and executive team asking me to join them by assisting in the development of their web portal.

Although LinkedIn has been a valuable tool for expanding my professional network, it has been my blog that has led to more concrete career and entrepreneurial opportunities. LinkedIn allows you to introduce your credentials and the people you know, and personal meetings can give insights into your personality. But it is something like a blog that tells the whole story. Your posts tell the story of your true interests, passions, and thoughts; otherwise you would not take the time to write it.

Core Insight story by John Jonelis
Inspired and edited by Terry Flanagan

 

I am sitting with the audience at the Funding Feeding Frenzy in Chicago—a big event for start- up companies like mine that need investors to make things happen. I wipe sweaty palms against my suit pants—my turn to present—my turn to make a fool of myself is coming up fast. I’ve watched two speakers go down in flames. One drew a unanimous KEEP FISHING and the other got hammered with the dreaded GO FUND YOURSELF. I’m not kidding. The judges hold up cards like the Olympics before the digital age. Only 20% of the companies here today will get a fully fundable rating and move on to due diligence with a potential investor. The panel seems stacked with the most acerbic characters—jaded venture capitalists all, and so far they have not been kind. The last guy came off like Walter Mitty. Will they cut me up with unexpected questions like they did to him? What foul humor will they display when my turn finally rolls around? I remind myself they’re professionals giving their best but I picture those same judges checking their watches while my hopes, my dreams, my life savings, and four years of work sink to the bottom like a ship at sea.

This same process is happening simultaneously on three stages—the Guppy Bowl, the Piranha Pond and the top level— the Kraken Cave. I find myself here purely based on the amount of money I need to raise, not on my business acumen. Not on my good looks—that’s for sure. There’s a lot of open space in this arena. A lot of people milling around between stages making noise—probably making deals. I’m purposely sitting apart from my team, trying to calm my nerves. There’s nothing more my team can do. It’s up to me now.

My consultant—I call him The Coach, just for fun—helped me build a plan and we’ve started to execute it. The reason we’re here today is to raise extra capital to accelerate the implementation of the plan. I see a window of opportunity and I know it won’t stay open forever. I think back on all the work I put into it. Numbers I thought I’d never come up with. Every question answered. So now I’m ready, right? Maybe over-prepared? Yeah, I tell myself, but right now I need to get my mind off that well-rehearsed pitch and focus outside myself or I’ll explode. I remind myself what the coach said: “Funding is just a milestone, not sink or swim. We have a plan for either situation. Don’t worry about the judges—they’ll treat you fair.” I try to keep that in front of my mind as I watch the third presentation along with the audience.

The guy up front drones on in a monotone. He’s reading his own slides, his back to me. Even I feel insulted by that—why doesn’t he just mail them in? The audience is getting noisy and it’s hard to hear. Hope they don’t do that to me. What is it that he says his business does? I don’t seem to catch it—am I just stupid or what? How does he deploy his product? How does he make money for the investor? He’s spending all his time harping on why the whole world needs him in some desperate way but after all that I still don’t get it and by this time I don’t care.

I think he has it backwards. It’s as if without dollars he’s got no plan. I feel a real strong sense of—what is it? Arrogance. Yeah, arrogance. Will this guy listen to advice? Can he build a winning team? Will he let go of the company at the right time? I don’t think so. The panel seems restless. Now he’s running out of time and flashing through the numbers. PowerPoint slides. Rows and columns. Lots of them. No time to read it all.

Time’s up. The panel asks their questions. The old guy: “How can you say you project 160% ROI? You’d have to be paid for your raw materials.” The speaker confers with a partner. “We’ll have to check our numbers. For now let’s say 80%.” Is this guy serious? What kind of response is that?

The next panelist: “Can you go back to sales?” The projectionist pans through a bunch of slides and finally finds the one. “How do you quantify that volume projection for year two? It seems optimistic.”

More questions. They’re making hamburger out of him. Maybe that’s how they get their jollies—no, that thought is unworthy of me. I stop listening and practice deep breathing. When the process is through, one-by-one each judge holds up a GO FUND YOURSELF card, each with a sharp criticism. Wow, this guy just got tanked. What will they do to me?

I’m up. Please don’t let me be another Mitty.

First my product. I open with a story: “You’re a kid about to watch your favorite TV show when Mom asks if you finished your homework.” Can they hear the tremor in my voice? I see them all nodding so I signal for the first slide and inwardly cringe. It’s a lined page of paper covered with arithmetic problems in pencil—way too many to read. I made it myself to drive home a point but it’s a calculated risk. I notice the audience leaning forward in their seats, not saying a word. I force myself to face the judges. They’re staring at that slide, mouths open. They get it— they really get it. Originally I wanted to talk about technical details but The Coach

convinced me to go for an emotional connection and say it from my heart so I came up with this bare-bones visual. I tell another story. I describe my product the way I was taught—so everybody understands. I check my watch—5 minutes. Half way there. Time to show the numbers.

My slides are simple and direct. No cute cartoons but no rows or columns either. They make their point with just a glance. I force myself to look each panelist in the eye and tell myself to talk more slowly. It’s dead quiet and I sneak a glance at the audience. They seem fully engaged. Hey, I’m no public speaker but it’s coming together now. Maybe the preparation is paying off. I move through the projections—capital plan, operations plan, revenue plan. A credible customer coming on board. Risk assessments, industry trends, competitor analysis, management team, how the investor will make money. All quick. All bold. Time’s up and I just squeeze-in the last slide. Now they can draw my blood.

The panelists look at each other and reverse their previous order. The young guy asks why I need two million dollars. I’m ready for that one. The next wants to know how much field- testing went on and I’m ready for that too. They’re starting to focus on the product so I assume they accepted my numbers. Then the last guy clobbers me. He wants a lot more financial detail—as if that were possible in five minutes time.

I freeze. My lips are moving but nothing comes out.

The Coach slips me four copies of supporting details, neatly bound. That’s right—I did the whole thing before I wrote my pitch. That’s why I’m in business. That’s why I’ll still be in business whatever happens here. I walk to the judges table and hand each a document. “I know there isn’t time to go into every detail,” I say, “So here it is in black and white.” The moderator calls time and the judge that asked the question actually thanks me. He’s not trying to shoot me down—he’s genuinely interested. Just a regular guy doing his job—not some kind of monster. I let out a deep sigh of relief, thank the panel and wait for their verdict.

It happens fast. Four cards go up simultaneously—FUNDABLE, FUNDABLE, FUNDABLE, FUNDABLE. Wow! I’m so excited, I can’t concentrate on the comments but the tone is positive and I know The Coach is taking notes.

We break for lunch. Two judges and a woman I never met stick close to me. She says, “You hit it out of the park.” These people are asking when I can meet with them. It reminds me of the story Ron Santo told about the time his insulin got out of whack at a Cubs game. The pitcher released and Santo saw three balls coming at him. But he’d seen that before. He swung at the one in the middle and hit a grand-slam home run.

 

 

We all hear stories about people getting jobs even though they’re not necessarily the best of the best. We tend to resent those people who just seem to find it so easy to get whatever job they wanted, when others who were possibly more qualified, or downright needed the job more, don’t. Gone are the days when doing well in school and college was practically a passport to employment-land. This is the age where no matter how good you are, there is always going to be someone out there who has more to offer. So if everyone always has someone who has more to offer than them, how DO people get jobs? The answer to this question is something that Management gurus cry out as often as they can in their books and articles: Networking. And this refers to serious business networking, not just winning in a popularity contest (though that may come in handy in some cases).

One way to network is to actually go to academic or even other functions around college. Getting to know your professors is another great way to build a network, because who is it that recommends you in applications for scholarships as well as in your resume? It’s that Calculus professor from freshman year with whom you discussed your interest in indefinite integrals. Every time there is a chance to attend an event where professors or people from the industry may come, try your best to show up, because every single person you know now may become a future source of employment.

The advent of computers and the internet has changed the networking scenario completely. There is such a range of ways to stay in touch with people, and keep getting exposed to more and more people and opportunities every single day, due to the variety of networking sites on the internet. Ever since Facebook came into existence, for example, it has kept millions of people hooked, college students, high school students, and executives alike. Some would say that if it’s not on Facebook, then it doesn’t exist. Facebook is the ultimate tool used by most people to stay in touch with loved ones, and old friends.

But that’s not all that Facebook can do for you! Facebook has this really useful app called BranchOut, which is mainly like a Facebook for business networking. It was started by Rick Marini and his team of innovative managers in San Francisco. Signing up is super easy because your education/employment details will be pulled in from Facebook (since the BranchOut account will be linked to your Facebook account) and if you already have a LinkedIn profile (about which we will talk in a bit) you can just import all your resume details. Once you’re in, you will access to all your friends’ contacts if they’re part of BranchOut too. Also, you can do searches for jobs, and possible even get an internship or even a job! Every single contact that you add on your BranchOut list brings with him or her, a big group of people, including their present or previous employers, or possible job opportunities. BranchOut gives a whole new meaning to the saying (shown proudly right across their homepage) “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. While most of us do well at the “what you know” part, (let’s not be modest – this is IIT), a lot more of us fall short at the “who you know” part. Networking is something that should be taken very seriously, and social networking is the simplest way of doing this.

Another networking site that I mentioned before is LinkedIn. Unlike BranchOut, which hasn’t gained a  name yet, LinkedIn is a strange case because while most college students have heard of it, very few are actually active members. LinkedIn is a networking site meant largely for business networking purposes, where job seekers put up their profiles and resumes, and companies present available jobs. It’s a more sober version of BranchOut, and has the more serious job seekers for members. Creating a LinkedIn profile is quite easy too, though it would require some time to finish filling in all the details, if you want a comprehensive profile. The system by which LinkedIn works is similar to BranchOut in the sense that your friends pull in even more contacts. Once again, you can do searches for jobs, or employers can find you based on your profile.

While you’re at it, “Built in Chicago” would be another website to check out. This site has articles to help with management, and aims to connect and promote the digital community in Chicago. This would include a lot of professions, like software development, product management, media buying, analytics, and usability. The online community includes big companies as well as small startups in its vast range of member companies.  Join the IIT Group at http://www.builtinchicago.org/group/IIT!

In conclusion, I’d like to add that networking is not just about collecting business cards, and having lots of people on your contacts list on Facebook or LinkedIn. It is about how dynamically and proactively you keep in touch and keep the relationship alive. While Facebook and LinkedIn make this process easier, some amount of personal networking is also required, so that you can stand out from the crowd. Another useful tip would be to be careful to not come across as someone who is networking with an immediate agenda. When you network without seeking to get something out of it immediately, and try to help people instead of seek help to begin with, you create better equity, and this pays off in the long run. It’s a tough world out there, especially now, with the recession that the economy appears to be just recovering from. Networking is an essential tool to make sure you have that edge over others in the labor market. It can be really easy with just a little bit of care in keeping track of all the people you know, but it can also be the thing that gets in your way every time, if you don’t use it! You remember those people mentioned before? The ones who seem to always get the job (to your irritation) just because they always know someone on the inside? Well, if you can’t beat them, then just join them!