BATTEN INSTITUTE for Entrepreneurship and Innovation A N N U A L
R E P O R T
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E D U C AT I O N RESEARCH VENTURE ECOSYSTEM
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YEARS
15 YEARS. ACHIEVEMENT & MOMENTUM.
I N 2 0 1 5 – 1 6 W E P R O U D L Y C E L E B R A T E D the University of Virginia
Darden School of Business Batten Institute’s 15th anniversary — 15 years of powering and promoting entrepreneurship and innovation at the University and beyond. From our earliest days when very few students ventured into startups and even fewer faculty embraced entrepreneurship as a scholarly discipline, we now operate in a thriving and vibrant ecosystem that attracts entrepreneurial and innovative talent from all over the world. And this year, as an indication of how much times have changed, we have begun to receive encouraging validation for our work and our mission: Financial Times: Darden ranked the No. 3 MBA program for entrepreneurship in the world National Venture Capital Association: Charlottesville ranked the No. 1 fastest-growing region for venture-capital investment in the country Entrepreneur: Charlottesville ranked the No. 4 city in the U.S. for entrepreneurs This evidence suggests that our impact is real and our momentum is strong. To help illustrate how we got here, the following pages present the stories, highlights, and details of what we accomplished this year and how we’re poised for the year ahead. We are, of course, never content to rest on our laurels, and there is much more to be done. We may be 15 years into this journey, but I am pleased to say we’re just getting started.
Sean D. Carr
(MBA ’03; Ph.D. ’13) Executive Director Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
SEAN D. CARR
Assistant Professor of Business Darden School of Business
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CONTENTS
OUR MISSION
By the Numbers Events Team Batten Advisory Council
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Education
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Profile: John Greenfield IDEA Course
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Research
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Batten Fellow: Rahul Basole Global Innovators’ Roundtable
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Venture
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i.Lab Feature Incubator Venture Profile: DreamWakers
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Ecosystem
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Profile: C-e2 Feature: UVA E-Cup Profile: Philippe Sommer
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Activity Summary
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Financial Statements
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The Batten Institute serves as a catalyst for developing entrepreneurial leaders and for advancing knowledge about the transformative power of entrepreneurship and innovation. To fulfill this mission, we pursue three high-impact objectives that serve the Darden School of Business, the University of Virginia, and our broader entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem: INSPIRED EDUCATION Cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders through rigorous academic and experiential programs.
TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH Generate thought leadership in entrepreneurship and innovation through research projects of consequence to business and society.
ENERGIZED COMMUNITY Foster a diverse and collaborative community of scholars, students, alumni and practitioners engaged in the study and pursuit of entrepreneurship and innovation.
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HISTORY
F R A N K B AT T E N S R . (19 2 7– 2 0 0 9 )
The Batten Institute was created in 2000 through the visionary support of Frank Batten Sr. (Col ’50), former chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications and co-founder of the Weather Channel, along with his children, Frank Batten Jr. (MBA ’84) and Dorothy Neal Batten (MBA ’90). Originally named the Batten Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Institute was charged with a mandate to challenge and enable Darden to be a preeminent educator and thought leader of entrepreneurship and innovation. Today, the Batten Institute supports programs and publications in Education and Experiential Learning,Research and Intellectual Capital, and the W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab at the University of Virginia, focused on the growth of our entrepreneurial ecosystem. All of the activities and initiatives supported by these complementary units bring together scholars, students, alumni, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Together they foster a diverse and energetic community that supports our mission to improve society by developing entrepreneurial leaders and by discovering new ideas about entrepreneurship and innovation.
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BY THE NUMBERS 27 27 MBA COURSES
in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
#1 CHARLOTTESVILLE is ranked the fastest growing venture capital city in the U.S. by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers
15 15 PUBLICATIONS
44 44 MENTORS
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#3
RANKED #3 MBA program in the world for entrepreneurship by Financial Times
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15 C O R P O R AT E ROUND TA BL E MEMBERS
$ 11 0 K
in entrepreneurial competition prizes
$15 0 , 0 0 0 in Research Grants
$1 MIL L ION
toward full-tuition MBA scholarships
$ 1.3 M I L L I O N sponsored faculty
19 19 INTERNSHIPS
24 24 NEW VENTURES IN THE i.LAB
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EVENTS 2015-16 S E P T 2 0 15 UVA Entrepreneurship Kickoff Tomtoberfest
M O N T H LY Charlottesville Entrepreneurs + Espresso
JUNE-AUG
2 0 16
Batten Venture Internship Program i.Lab Incubator Summer Accelerator Program
M A Y 2 0 16 Darden and Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Conference
A P R I L 2 0 16 Global Innovators’ Roundtable in Washington DC UVA E-Cup Launch! Competition Tom Tom Founders Festival
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S E P T- O C T 2 0 15 UVA Entrepreneurship Cup Workshops
O C T 2 0 15 CBIC Tech Tour Techtober Roundtable with the Governor of Virginia Pitch Night at 1776, Washington DC Global Innovators’ Roundtable in San Francisco
N O V 2 0 15 Product Innovation and Technology Management Mini Conference at Wharton Batten Institute 15th Anniversary Celebration UVA E-Cup Concept Competition
J A N 2 0 16 Darden Entrepreneurship Conference
F E B 2 0 16 Darden Venture Capital Competitions UVA E-Cup Discovery Competition IDEA Event: Raymond Lambert (MBA ’87)
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TEAM Administration
Sean D. Carr Executive Director and Assistant Professor B.A., Northwestern University; M.S., Columbia University; MBA, University of Virginia Darden School of Business; Ph.D., University of Virginia
Gayle Noble Office Manager
Debbie White Associate Director of Operations B.A., University of Virginia; M.A.,George Washington University
Education and Experiential Learning
Strategic Initiatives and Outreach
MJ Dougherty Toms Director, Education and Experiential Learning B.A., Williams College; MBA, Yale University
Joyce Smaragdis Director, Strategic Initiatives and Outreach B.A., University of Virginia; M.A., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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Madelyn Taylor Special Events and Projects Manager B.S., James Madison University
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Derry Wade Associate Director A.B., Smith College; M.A., University of Virginia
W.L. Lyons Brown III Innovation Lab at UVA (i.Lab)
David Touve Director, i.Lab at UVA B.A., Northwestern University; MBA, Australian Graduate School of Management; Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Jason Brewster Incubator Program Director B.A., Austin College; M.S., Stanford University
Sandra McCutcheon i.Lab Program Manager B.A., University of Maryland University College, Europe; M.A., University of Texas, San Antonio
Research and Intellectual Capital
Erika Herz Director, Research and Intellectual Capital B.A., Wellesley College; MBA, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
Malgorzata “Gosia� Glinska Associate Director B.A., University of Gdansk, Poland; M.A., Boston University; M.F.A., University of Virginia
Andrew King Associate Director B.A., The University of the South; M.S., Oxford Brookes University
Asif Mehedi Senior Research Associate B.B.A., University of Dhaka; MBA, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
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MEMBERS
BATTEN ADVISORY COUNCIL
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T H E B AT T E N I N S T I T U T E A DV I S O R Y C O U N C I L ,
which supports Darden’s efforts to advance knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation, was redeveloped in 2015–16. Shannon Smith (MBA ’90), CEO, Abundant Power Group LLC, and Jonathan Ebinger (MBA ’93), general partner, BlueRun Ventures, serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the advisory council. “The Batten Institute Advisory Council provides us with incredibly valuable advice and support as we seek to advance Darden as a globally renowned thought leader and preeminent educator of entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Scott Beardsley, dean of the Darden School. “I am thrilled to have this outstanding group of advisors on the council.”
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Shannon G. Smith (MBA ’90), Chair
Jonathan R. Ebinger (MBA ’93), Vice Chair
CEO, Abundant Power Group LLC
General Partner, BlueRun Ventures
Gregory B. Fairchild (MBA ’92)
Frank E.Genovese (MBA ’74)
Archie L. Holmes Jr.
Ned Hooper (MBA ’94)
Vice Provost for Educational Innovation & Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Virginia
Founder and Managing Partner, Centerview Capital
Ian W. Ratcliffe (MBA ’94)
Harry T. Rein (MBA ’73)
Partner, Sands Capital Management
Retired General Partner, Foundation Medical Partners
President, The E. Thayer Bigelow Rothbury Corporation Associate Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business
Martin J. Curran | Our Leadership | Corning
Scott C. Beardsley Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business
W.L. Lyons Brown III (MBA ’87)
James S. Cheng (MBA ’87)
Alexander Cowan Managing Director, Synapse Partners
Martin J. Curran (MBA ’84) Executive Vice President and Innovation Officer, Corning Inc.
Wayne L. Delker Former Chief Innovation Officer, The Clorox Company
Founder and CEO, Altamar Brands LLC
Former Secretary of Commerce, Commonwealth of Virginia
Peter M. Grant II (MBA ’86)
John E. Greenfield (MBA ’16)
T.R. Harrington Jr. (MBA ’04)
Adam R. Healey (MBA ’05)
Partner, Anchormarck LLC
Business Operations, PsiKick
Founder, Darwin Marketing
Co-Founder and CEO, Borrowed & Blue
Arnon Katz (MBA ’09)
Douglas R. Lebda (EMBA ’14)
Michael J. Lenox
Jeanne M. Liedtka
Senior Director, Walmart eCommerce
Founder and CEO, Lending Tree
Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration; Senior Associate Dean and Chief Strategy Officer, Darden School of Business
United Technologies Corporation Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business
Jerry Nemorin (MBA ’08)
Jerry Peng (MBA ’03)
Founder and CEO, Lend Street Financial Inc.
Chairman and CEO, Tranlin Inc.
Sarah F. Rumbaugh (MBA ’15)
Saras D. Sarasvathy
Michael P. Straightiff
Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business
Managing Director, UVA Licensing & Ventures Group
John W. Glynn Jr. Founder and Managing Director, Glynn Capital Management
Founder and CEO, RelishMBA
https://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/company-profile/our-leadership/martin-j--curran.html[10/4/2016 2:49:23 PM]
Edward D. Hess Professor of Business Administration and Batten Executivein-Residence, Darden School of Business
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EDUCATION
“The bias at Darden is toward action, and I think that’s critically important in technology companies and even more so in technology startups.”
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PROFILE
J O H N G R E E N F I E L D ( M B A ’ 16 )
A F T E R S E V E R A L Y E A R S of quantitative consulting work, John Greenfield (MBA ’16) was ready to pursue a different path — and he chose Darden to get there. “As a consultant, you don’t own decisionmaking in the same way as someone inside the client’s company,” he said. “In my career, I was looking for opportunities where I would be challenged to make difficult decisions in ambiguous situations, and to live with the consequences of those decisions.” Specifically, he wanted to learn how to succeed in small, high-growth companies building revolutionary new technology. And he felt that Darden was uniquely positioned to help him develop the mindset—and skill set—he needed. The case method approach “brings discipline to situations where everything is possible,” Greenfield said. “The bias at Darden is toward action, and I think that’s critically important in technology companies and even more so in technology startups. While at Darden, Greenfield was elected president of the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital (EVC) Club, which works closely with the Batten Institute. Through one of their initiatives, the Batten Venture Internship Program, he received funding support for a summer internship at PsiKick, a Santa Clara, California, and Charlottesville, Virginia, based technology startup that builds batteryless sensor systems for the industrial market. He continued working with
PsiKick throughout his Second Year, and joined the company full-time in a business development and operations role after graduating in May. During his time at Darden, he also co-founded a company with two neurosurgeons (one an MD/MBA classmate) called Janus.io to improve the care of patients with movement disorders through modern technology. In the spring of 2016, the three founders brought on David Maruna (GEMBA ’16) as CEO and earned the company a spot in the i.Lab Incubator. They are now raising their first round of outside capital to pilot the technology with the UVA Health System. Greenfield remains involved with the Batten Institute, both through Janus.io and the i.Lab, and as a member of the Batten Advisory Council, where he is continuing the work of the EVC Club to help students engage with the entrepreneurial and venture capital communities in Charlottesville and beyond. He expects to stay involved in the creation and growth of new technology ventures long-term, perhaps including moving onto the funding side. He is confident Darden has given him the preparation he needed to succeed and thrive, in spite of not knowing what challenges future roles will bring. “Darden was a truly wonderful choice,” he said. “I’m grateful every day for the lessons I learned from the exceptional faculty, the driven and dedicated students and the broader community of alumni who have welcomed me into the Darden family with open arms.”
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EDUC AT ION
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
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MBAs Confront Ambiguity to Drive Systematic Innovation BY LAURA LONGHINE
IN THE SPRING OF 2016, Darden First Year students participated in a new required course, “Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurs in Action,” or IDEA, in which they learned how to create value for real-world corporations and organizations while tackling thorny innovation challenges.
“This is about a possibility-based conversation,” says Professor Lalin Anik, the moderator of the Land O’Lakes panel. “Let’s be creative, collaborative and kind.” It’s the final day of Darden’s IDEA course, and after seven weeks of learning about and working through an innovation framework — where students researched a real-world challenge, set design criteria, generated concepts, and then tested and refined those concepts — they are finally ready to present their ideas to the corporate and nonprofit sponsors. Rob Duggan says that like most of his fellow First Year MBA students he had no experience with concepts such as design thinking before starting the course. “I really had no idea how exactly to storyboard something that isn’t physical,” he recalls. Duggan’s group is the first to present their solutions to the Land O’Lakes challenge: how to increase understanding of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). They’ve come up with a concept they call “the sustainability score” — a numerical score or a set of icons that would rate products based on water, energy and pesticide use. “It helps change the conversation from ‘we swear
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these (GMOs) are good,’ to ‘Here are the benefits,’” Duggan explains. In working through the IDEA framework, his team identified and tested one of their concept’s core assumptions — consumers actually care about reducing water, energy and pesticide usage. To test it, the team offered Darden students the choice of two identical-looking apples, one with a non-GMO label, the other with a GMO label that also stated that it had been produced with less water and energy and fewer pesticides. “Our hypothesis was that Darden students would shift
Our hope is that the students have learned a process by which to develop creative solutions to messy, open-ended problems.
toward the GMO apple because of these benefits,” Duggan says. And in fact, 77% of the interviewees chose the GMO apple. After the presentation, panelist Cameron Wallace (MBA ’08), the director of corporate strategy and business development for Land O’Lakes, praised their framing of the issue. “The thing I like the best is the apple test. You didn’t stop at the idea,” he said. Later, Duggan reflected that the design thinking concept of prototyping is one he’ll carry with him in the future. “Instead of thinking of prototypes as perfect models for a product line, we used prototypes as rough tests of assumptions” he said. These are the kinds of takeaways the creators of the IDEA course are hoping will stick with all their students as they complete their Darden educations and move on to the larger business world. “Our hope is that the students have learned a process by which to develop creative solutions to messy, openended problems,” said Professor Mike Lenox, who led the course's faculty team. Reflecting on the environment Darden students will be confronting when they graduate, Professor Marc Lipson noted that the business world has changed. “Having an innovative focus and the ability to grapple with uncertainty and move forward with an ill-defined problem is what businesses do now,” he said. “The skills IDEA teaches are at the center of what leaders need to be able to do today.” > http://bit.ly/DardenIDEA B AT T E N I N S T I T U T E A N N UA L R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
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RESEARCH
“I believe, worldwide, we might be the only ones applying some of these really novel tools.”
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FELLOW PROFILE
R AHUL BASOLE
R A H U L B A S O L E , professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech, researches the application of novel computational tools to complex business issues. For his Batten Fellowship project, Basole teamed up with Darden Professor Raul Chao to apply those tools to innovation and entrepreneurship systems. The result is “Visualizing the Startup Genome”—a project using data analytics and visualization to map the traits of successful startups. Basole and Chao started with the idea that, just as human beings are defined by the genetic information in their DNA, startups might be defined by a set of unique characteristics or “traits.” Rather than rely on interviews and traditional primary research to find those traits, the two decided to mine and analyze “secondary data” (unstructured data from sources like press releases, business descriptions and sociallycurated databases) for insights into what startups do. Basole then created interactive visualizations to help decision makers explore and make sense of the information. Over the course of Basole’s fellowship year, the pair have presented their work at conferences and submitted it for peer review at several journals. Along the way, they have built the infrastructure for a new science of computational approaches in innovation and entrepreneurship.
BY LAURA LONGHINE
“I believe, worldwide, we might be the only ones applying some of these really novel tools,” Basole said. “Data mining, machine learning and visualization have traditionally not really been used in innovation and entrepreneurship. And so the collaboration was really a wonderful way for us to test out new things.” Though Batten Fellowships typically last only a year, both Basole and Chao say their current research project is just the beginning. “The goal is to lay more groundwork for building much bigger things,” Chao said. They’ve been building a joint research group, with faculty and post-docs from both universities who will meet this fall for a knowledge exchange at Batten. And Chao says a long-term goal is to create a continuing, funded research area at Batten. “I think what makes this unique and exciting is it’s setting up real infrastructure,” Chao said. “We’re putting together a group of people and a topic that go beyond what one researcher is doing,” added Erika Herz, the Batten Institute’s director of research. “Our Batten Fellows Program enables us to bring together faculty members with diverse and complementary research interests, each of whom is advancing understanding of the drivers of successful entrepreneurship and innovation.”
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G L O B A L IN N O VAT O R S ’ R O U N D TA B L E
DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE: How Top Companies Find New Opportunities to Innovate
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BY GOSIA GLINSKA
T H E R E A R E M A N Y WAY S TO T H I N K about the recent explosion of digital technologies and data. Not surprisingly, the ubiquity of personal information that can be easily and cheaply collected from online and offline transactions, social media and sensors embedded in a growing array of physical objects such as TVs and smartphones can trigger suspicion, anxiety and fear. Organizations that sweep up, store and analyze that information are often unsure how to use it. The leaders of some of the world’s top firms who gathered for the spring 2016 Innovators’ Roundtable approach the vast quantities of unstructured data — often called “big data” — as an opportunity to create value for their customers and, in the process, unlock new ways to grow their businesses. The roundtable, hosted by the Batten Institute in Washington, D.C., brought together senior leaders from 3M, Abundant Power, Capital One, Celgene, Corning, Danaher, Eastman Chemical, IBM, Recast Energy, Siemens and Smithfield. Led by Darden Professors Rajkumar Venkatesan, Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Ed Hess, the executives explored the use of data and analytics to make faster decisions, lower costs, predict and better meet customer needs, and create innovative products, services and business models. They also discussed the challenges their organizations and industries face as they become increasingly data-driven. Several best practices emerged from the daylong discussion.
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Business leaders must learn how to convert the torrent of data flowing from every part of the global economy into actionable insights.
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE It’s easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the unprecedented volume of never-before-examined data and be dazzled by this “new, shiny thing,” as one executive put it. “Too often, big data becomes the goal.” Big data is touted as a way to boost innovation. However, before business leaders start capitalizing on the insights gleaned from the torrents of data they collect and analyze — and before they innovate — they should have a clear understanding of the “why.” As one executive noted, “all efforts should connect to the purpose of your company. Why do you innovate? Toward what end are you using data? Does it really serve your purpose?”
RETHINK YOUR BUSINESS MODEL Digitization of data enables companies to innovate not only their products and services but also their business models. For example, firms that used to make money selling and servicing industrial equipment can now rethink their customer value proposition. In addition to selling reliable jet engines, gas turbines and medical equipment, they can offer customers all kinds of efficiencies and performance improvements by combining data generated by that equipment with advanced analytics.
CR E AT E A N E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L C U LT U R E Innovation requires the right culture. While startups, by their very nature, are innovative, the large, established corporations that are good at strategy execution are notoriously bad at out-of-the-box thinking. They are also less agile than startups. Companies trying to leverage data and analytics to drive innovation should be able to quickly respond to data-driven insights. Siemens holds hackathons, where even the most junior employees win innovation awards. Respect for innovative ideas, however crazy they may seem, permeates its culture. Capital One took steps to build an agile, entrepreneurial culture by creating small, five- to eight-member squads that operate like mini startups. And IBM has an internal crowdfunding mechanism iFundIT to pitch and fund new ideas. To compete in a data-driven economy, business leaders must become savvier about where data fits into their businesses. They must learn how to convert the torrent of data flowing from every part of the global economy into actionable insights. And last but not least, they must build a culture that encourages and rewards the use of data to drive innovations aligned with the company purpose.
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VENTURE
“As we add more users, we will reach a critical mass where entrepreneurs will have a robust network through which to seek help tackling audacious goals.�
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NE W V IR T UA L I.L A B TA P S G L O B A L N E T W O R K O F U VA I N N O VAT O R S BY K ATIE MCNALLY
T H R O U G H I T S S U M M E R accelerator program and its many resources for growing startups, the the W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab at UVA Incubator located at Darden has helped cement Charlottesville’s status as a growing hub of entrepreneurship. But UVA’s community of innovators extends far beyond Central Virginia, and now, the i.Lab does, too. The “Virtual i.Lab” launched in May 2016, allowing the current incubator class to connect with UVA mentors and resources all around the world. The interactive digital platform is the brainchild of the new i.Lab Incubator director, Jason Brewster. “I launched similar platforms for National Geographic magazine and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy at my previous startup, Nimbus,” he said. The platform has its own direct chat feature, discussion forums, a video archive of mentor and participant presentations, and a newsfeed from the i.Lab. Users can search mentor profiles and enter a forum to crowd-source advice on common startup challenges.
The heart of the i.Lab will remain in Charlottesville, while the Virtual i.Lab will help expand the network of UVA entrepreneurs and create a space where they can connect with each other. Brewster hopes to expand the network by inviting entrepreneurial alumni from other areas of the UVA community to join. “As we add more users, we will reach a critical mass where entrepreneurs will have a robust network through which to seek help tackling audacious goals,” he said. “The UVA network of alumni is one of the best in the world, and with systems like this one, we can remove barriers of time and place to increase overall engagement.”
> ilab.virginia.edu
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VENTURE
“MOTHERS OF INVENTION” CONNECT INFLUENCERS WITH CLASSROOMS
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BY K ATIE MCNALLY
OV E R A QU I E T P I Z Z A D I N N E R back in 2013, Monica Gray Logothetis (Col ’08, MPP ’09) and Annie Medaglia (MBA ’15) hatched an idea that is changing the way teachers can incorporate real-world experience into their classrooms. Both graduates of the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, Gray Logothetis and Medaglia are the co-founders of DreamWakers, a nonprofit organization that uses free videoconference technology to bring exceptional career speakers into public schools across America. The women had jobs in Washington, D.C., at the time and were frustrated with the lack of volunteer opportunities — especially opportunities in schools — that were possible for working professionals. “Public service was just a way of life at UVA,” Gray Logothetis said. “When we got into the working world, we longed for that same meaningful connection to our community.” They found few, if any, options for similar volunteer experience while working 9-to-5 days. Looking at their smartphones, they realized that the solution was right in their hands. They could use free technology like Skype and Google Hangout to help volunteer speakers step into the classroom without ever having to leave their desks. Soon after their pizza-night revelation, Medaglia returned to UVA to earn her MBA from the Darden School
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of Business. While there, she discovered the University’s i.Lab Incubator for entrepreneurs. She and Gray Logothetis were accepted to the program in the summer of 2014 and quickly began using the i.Lab to cultivate their fledgling nonprofit. They created an online platform from scratch where teachers could request the kind of speakers they wanted for their classroom and volunteers could apply for “flashchats,” their term for 40-minute, videoconference discussions with students. To date, DreamWakers has connected volunteer speakers with students in more than 50 communities nationwide. The founders recently received a $50,000 Toyota Driving Solutions grant to grow their efforts. In conjunction with the grant, they were also named Toyota’s 2016 “Mothers of Invention” at the Women in the World Washington, D.C., Salon. As they register for flashchats, teachers often will request speakers who have similar backgrounds to their class in terms of their hometown, race or socio-economic status so that students can see what they have the potential to become. Past speakers have included Carlos Pascual, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and Ukraine; broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien; and David Simas, deputy senior adviser to President Obama. Moving forward, Medaglia and Gray Logothetis, who
Public service was just a way of life at UVA.
DreamWakers co-founders (Left to Right): Monica Gray Logothetis (Col ’08, MPP ’09) and Annie Medaglia (MBA ’15)
serves as CEO, are laying the groundwork for hosting sponsored flashchats connecting employees of major companies and small businesses alike with classrooms to share their work. “We want to highlight the incredible depth and breadth of opportunities available within a company — from recruiting and HR to marketing and communications to IT and the C-suite,” Gray Logothetis said. “We’ve found that students are often unaware of the variety of jobs that are out there and available to them.” Gray Logothetis summed up their ultimate goals best when explaining that the name DreamWakers is based on the Aristotle quote, “Hope is a waking dream.” “It succinctly encapsulates what we want to do, which is inspire students and awaken their future potential and dreams,” Gray Logothetis said.
ECOSYSTEM
The Batten Institute encourages a vast network of energetic, entrepreneurial leaders. We do so by hosting programs, events and other forums that stimulate collaboration and engage broader communities around entrepreneurship and innovation.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE ENTREPRENEURS + ESPRESSO
Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Ecosytem
S I N C E T H E F I R S T S E S S I O N of the new Charlottesville Entrepreneurs + Espresso (C-e2) in September 2015, between 60-100 entrepreneurs, faculty, staff and students gather each month to hear advice from an experienced entrepreneur and a pitch from a new venture. Attendees meet in the i.Lab at UVA for a “caffeine fueled gathering� and networking opportunity that strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem by bringing together practitioners and academics alike.
> www.ce2.squarespace.com
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ECOSYSTEM
David Touve, Director, The Galant Center for Entrepreneurship, McIntire School of Commerce (former).
UVA ENTREPRENEURSHIP CUP I N T H E 2015 –16 AC A D E M I C Y E A R the UVA Entrepreneurship Cup (E-Cup) program was redesigned to combine and enhance the offerings of several previous competitions. The new program includes three stages: Concept, Discovery and Launch! Each stage has a separate competition with varying judging criteria. The Batten Institute, on behalf of the Darden School, joins with representatives from many schools at the University to administer the program.
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1 S TAGE I: CONCEP T PURPOSE : to seed ideas from all parts of the university
at every stage of development.
FIVE TRACKS : Health Care Services &
Technologies, Social Entrepreneurship, Consumer/Business-to-Business, Science/ Engineering, UVA Wise The top five projects in each of the five tracks were awarded $1,000 each, for a total of $25,000 in awards.
2 S TAGE II: DISCOV ERY PURPOSE : to promote the principles of effectuation and reward students who demonstrate that they have taken steps to “de-risk” their idea, perhaps the most crucial step in the startup process. The top five projects in the Discovery Competition will be awarded $5,000 each, for a total of $25,000 in total awards.
3 S TAGE III: L AUNCH! PURPOSE : to showcase and provide seed capital to the most compelling student ventures. Upwards of $50,000 in total prize and in-kind resources are shared among the top three ventures.
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ECOSYSTEM
ECOSYSTEM BUILDER: PHILIPPE SOMMER
W BY LAURA LONGHINE
W H E N P H I L I P P E S O M M E R came to Darden in 2005 as head of entrepreneurship education, the i.Lab did not yet exist. Sommer, a New York native, was a businessman and entrepreneur, not an academic. Friends figured he’d get fed up with the lack of “end game” and leave after a year. Instead, he stayed for a decade. When tasked with leading entrepreneurship education at Darden, Sommer believed that developing university-wide programs would be critical to his mission. He revamped the Darden Concept Competition, which was open to all of the university community but largely a Darden event. Sommer recruited faculty across Grounds to host concept competitions at their own schools and the winners from each competed in the UVA Entrepreneurship Cup, which has since evolved to touch all schools of the University and the UVA College at Wise.
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One of the most important initiatives Sommer led was creating a physical home for entrepreneurship education at UVA. “It became clear that our peer schools were creating buildings dedicated to entrepreneurship. We argued that we needed to do that too,” he said. Professor Michael Lenox and a group of alumni led by W.L. Lyons Brown, III (MBA ’87) raised the funds, and Sommer and Batten’s Director of Operations, Debbie White, led the renovation of existing space to create the i.Lab, now a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation at UVA. With the new space, Sommer also hoped to expand the incubator. “A lot of our students would get involved in a startup, launch it while they were here, then graduate and leave,” he said. “The question was, how could we get them to stay in Charlottesville and help build the ecosystem?” To increase students’ connection to the community and create a broader network, Sommer expanded the incubator to include local entrepreneurs. “Having people from the community in the incubator also changed the conversation in the i.Lab—it made it much more realistic and serious,” he said. Sommer, who retired from Darden in 2015, continues to encourage entrepreneurship in the greater Charlottesville community through several avenues. “I think there’s a huge opportunity to make Charlottesville a very attractive place for people to come and start their businesses,” he said.
A lot of our students would get involved in a startup, launch it while they were here, then graduate and leave. The question was, how could we get them to stay in Charlottesville and help build the Charlottesville ecosystem?�
ACTIVITY SUMMARY: 2015-16
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Scholarships Each year the Batten Institute provides more than $1 million to support scholarships for MBA students who have an entrepreneurial or innovative orientation. In 2015-16, nine full scholarships were awarded to members of the Class of 2017. Here are a few examples of Darden’s entrepreneurial talent:
Emily Liu Hometown: Spokane, WA “I want to create highimpact ventures and opportunities that empower communities and individuals with self-determination.”
Andrew Nelson Hometown: Monroe, CT “My goal is to build upon engineering and entrepreneurial experiences to lead the development and sustainable commercialization of products that help to improve people’s lives.”
Kyle Perez Hometown: Upper Saddle River, NJ “In the long term, I hope to utilize my general management skill set to lead and grow a startup organization —either my own or one in which I am invested.”
Duke Schaeffer Hometown: Washington, D.C. “I want to empower novice inventors to create business models that commercialize and develop their intellectual property into on-theshelf products.”
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$1M Philip van der Made Hometown: Rotterdam, The Netherlands “I still see tremendous opportunities for new tech products in the world of education. I would like to be at the crossroads of education and tech in my career.”
Nikhil Vijaywargiya Hometown: Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India “I wish to optimize delivery of affordable and quality health care and overcome challenges in the health care domain in different parts of the world.”
Xiang (Eric) Yu Hometown: Luzhou, Szichuan, China “I aim to deliver high-quality and low-cost solutions to people.”
TO SUPPORT SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MBA STUDENTS
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Courses
Online Offerings
2015-16 Course Offerings
Alex Cowan
“Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship in Action” GBUS 7500 “Entrepreneurial Thinking” GBUS 7609 “Creative Capitalism” GBUS 7610 “Effectual Entrepreneurship” GBUS 7618 “Digital Marketing” GBUS 8033 “Acquisition of Closely-Held Enterprises” GBUS 8106 “Prototyping & Product Development I” GBUS 8130 “Starting New Ventures” GBUS 8210 “Growing the Smaller Enterprise” GBUS 8230 “Venture Capital” GBUS 8290 “Leadership and Cultures of Trust & Innovation” GBUS 8439 “Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity” GBUS 8453 “Innovation and Design Experience” GBUS 8459 “Entrepreneurs Taking Action” GBUS 8469 “Creativity & Design Thinking” GBUS 8484 “Prototyping & Product Development II” GBUS 8495 GBUS 8510 “Global Business Experience: ‘Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability in Sweden’” “Managing Innovation and Product Development” GBUS 8612 “Software Design” GBUS 8632 “Software Development” GBUS 8633 “Darden Venturing Project” GBUS 8700 “Tech Marketing” GBUS 8999
“Running Valuable Design Sprints” “Running Experiments with Agile” “Managing an Agile Team” “Getting Started: Agile Meets Design Thinking” “Agile Specialization” Total: 60,793 students
Yael Gruska-Cockayne “Fundamentals of Project Planning and Placement” Total: 129,304 students
Edward Hess “Grow to Greatness: Part I” “Grow to Greatness: Part II” Total: 426,931 students
Michael Lenox “Foundations of Business Strategy” Total: 458,471 students
Michael Lenox and Jared Harris
Impact Business Leaders (March 2016) For the second consecutive year, Impact Business Leaders partnered with the Batten Institute, Darden’s Institute for Business in Society and UVA’s Frank Batten School for Leadership & Public Policy to offer a training course for executives interested in social impact investing.
> www.darden.virginia.edu/batten-institute/community/programs/ impact-business-leaders/
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“Advanced Business Strategy” “Strategic Planning and Execution” “Business Growth Strategy” Total: 48,055 students
Jeanne Liedtka “Design Thinking for Innovation” Total: 178,632 students
Workshops UVA Entrepreneurship Cup Workshops “Getting Started, and Finding the Problem” Doug Muir (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) 16 September 2015 “Team Formation + Customer Discovery” Liz Pyle (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) 23 September 2015 “De-risking the Venture” Saras Sarasvathy, (Darden School of Business) 29 September 2015 and 26 October 2015
“Solutions, and Protecting Your Idea” Rob Masri and Cam Vermette (UVA Entrepreneurial Law Clinic) Josh Jeanson (UVA Licensing and Ventures Group) 30 September 2015 “Market Analysis” David Touve (McIntire School of Commerce) 7 October 2015 “Telling & Selling Your Story” Bala Mulloth (Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy) Doug Muir (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) 14 October 2015
Internships The Batten Institute subsidizes summer internships for Darden students interested in working with a startup or a venture capital firm through the Batten Venture Internship Program. In 2015-16, 19 students were supported through this program at the following ventures:
3i 6Degrees LLC Cassimir Club Cavion City Capital Ventures Freycinet Capital Management GREAL Inversiones HealthTap LLJ Capital Locate Your Care Nucleus Growth PlusTick STAQ Tranlin VinConnect
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STUDENTS WERE SUPPORTED THROUGH THIS PROGRAM
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Entrepreneurship Conference: “Insights + Inspirations” Keynoting the Darden School's Entrepreneurship Conference on 29 January, 2016. J. Byrne Murphy (MBA ’86), the CEO of Kitebrook Partners and chairman of Digiplex, encouraged unwavering perseverance in pursuit of an entrepreneurial vision, telling the would-be and current business owners that a successful entrepreneur must “never, never, ever give up.” The conference was organized by Darden’s student-run Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club and the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and sponsored in part by the venture-focused law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Would-be entrepreneurs received all manner of advice and inspiration from the programming at the conference, with panels devoted to everything from forming a startup entity to raising funds.
Student Clubs The Batten Institute partners with a number of student-led organizations that seek to foster entrepreneurship and innovation.
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Media Coverage Darden’s entrepreneurship programs, faculty, students and Institute-supported affiliates have appeared in national and international media outlets, which include CNBC, Reuters, Seeking Alpha, MarketWatch and several hundred others.
Highlights from 2015-16 Financial Times “New FT ranking: US business schools excel at MBA start-up spirit: Stanford, Olin and Darden top league table of best courses for entrepreneurship” National Venture Capital Association “Measuring the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of number of companies receiving venture capital funding since 2010, the Charlottesville, VA [Metropolitan Statistical Area] MSA has experienced the greatest growth of its ecosystem at 55.2 percent.” Entrepreneur “The 15 Best U.S. Cities for Entrepreneurs to Live and Launch” Ranked #4 in the U.S.: “Once home to former presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, Charlottesville is well known for being rich in history and culture. Charlottesville also offers below average unemployment and is one of the fastest growing areas for startup investment.”
Forbes Darden professor Jeanne Liedtka: “Is Design Thinking the New TQM? … Sounds dramatic—but I’d like to push the argument for Design Thinking even further and ask: could design thinking be the TQM of the 21st century? In other words, could it drive a transformational shift in what innovation in organizations looks like, much the same way that TQM did for quality?” Harvard Business Review “How to Work Confidently with Numbers People” Featuring Darden alumni Zach Mayo and Sarah Rumbaugh, founders of i.Lab incubator company RelishMBA. “Zach Mayo is not particularly numbersminded. In college, he majored in philosophy. Before business school, he spent two years in the Peace Corps. But today as co-founder of RelishMBA, the online platform that streamlines the MBA employment process for both companies and students, Zach is steeped in numbers and data.”
The Economic Times “Startup policy: Let govt teach, leave investment to entrepreneurs, says Saras D. Sarasvathy, professor, Darden School of Business”
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Global Innovators’ Roundtables Each year the Batten Institute convenes senior innovation executives from leading firms for a discussion about best practices in innovation. The Roundtables offer high-impact engagement opportunities for Darden faculty with premier corporate partners. “Leveraging Difference to Drive Innovation.” The Box - San Francisco, California, October 2015 The Roundtable brought together senior leaders from Simply Hired, BlueRun Ventures, Centerview Capital, Clorox Company and Eastman Chemical. Professor Martin N. Davidson facilitated a discussion on how business leaders can optimally leverage their employees’ different cognitive styles, backgrounds and perspectives for success. He also explored how to sustain an environment in which diverse voices are heard to fuel innovation and drive results. “Scaling Innovation Through Technology and Data.” U.S. Institute of Peace – Washington DC, April 2016 Led by Darden professors Rajkumar Venkatesan, Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Edward D. Hess, senior leaders from 3M, Abundant Power, Capital One, Celgene, Corning, Danaher, Eastman Chemical, IBM, Recast Energy, Siemens and Smithfield discussed how their organizations leverage “big data” to create value for their customers and, in the process, unlock new ways to grow their businesses. They examined how data and analytics can help them make faster decisions, lower costs, predict and better meet customer needs, and create innovative products, services and business models.
Network Participants: 3M Abundant Power Accenture Alcoa Amgen AT&T Bank of America BlueRun Ventures Capital One Celgene Centerview Capital Corning Clorox Danaher Disney
DuPont Eastman Chemical IBM Johnson & Johnson Kollmorgen Mead Westvaco Northrop Grumman Novartis Recast Energy Salesforce.com Siemens Simply Hired Smithfield Foods
Virtual Communities Society for Effectual Action
The Society for Effectual Action, spearheaded by Darden Professor Saras Sarasvathy, is dedicated to the groundbreaking form of entrepreneurial thinking known as effectuation. Effectuation fundamentally reframes how entrepreneurship is researched and taught around the world, and how its principles are taught and applied in Darden’s entrepreneurial courses and programs.
> effectuation.org
Design@Darden
Design@Darden is an online community that advances knowledge and facilitates a vibrant exchange of ideas among people innovating the future of design and design thinking. By sharing inspirations, thoughts, tools and challenges, Design@Darden hopes to contribute to and enrich the global conversation around design thinking. The platform features videos, syllabi and webinars, and highlights books and articles as well as serving as a resource for students enrolled in Darden’s MOOCs and Executive Education programs on design thinking. During the 2015-16 academic year there were approximately 3,600 registered members on Design@Darden.
> www.designatdarden.org
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Sponsored Faculty Each year the Batten Institute sponsors Darden faculty whose teaching and scholarship predominantly address topics in entrepreneurship and innovation. In 2015-16, Battensponsored faculty at Darden included:
Raul O. Chao Associate Professor of Business Administration Areas of expertise: innovation, new product development, R&D portfolio management, organization design and incentives, complex adaptive systems
Edward D. Hess Professor of Business Administration and Batten Executive-in-Residence Areas of expertise: organic growth and innovation strategies, systems and processes, learning cultures, high performance organizations, values-based leadership
Michael Lenox Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration, Senior Associate Dean and Chief Strategy Officer Areas of expertise: business strategy, innovation & entrepreneurship, corporate venture capital, corporate environmental sustainability
Saras D. Sarasvathy Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration Areas of expertise: entrepreneurship, cognitive science, behavioral economics
Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat Assistant Professor of Business Administration Areas of expertise: innovation, new product development, incentives and organization design
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Fellows The prestigious Batten Fellows program brings prominent thought leaders to engage and collaborate on significant topics in entrepreneurship and innovation. Since 2001, more than 70 individuals have been named Batten Fellows. > www.darden.virginia.edu/batten-institute/research/fellows/
2015-16 Fellow: Rahul Basole Associate Professor, Georgia Tech Project: “Visualizing the Startup Genome: Mapping Traits of Successful Startups”
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INDIVIDUALS H AV E BEEN NAMED BAT T EN FELLOWS
2015-16 Research Grant Recipients Each year the Batten Institute solicits proposals from any UVA faculty member pursuing rigorous and relevant research in entrepreneurship and innovation. The following scholarly projects were awarded support in 2015-16: Yael Grushka-Cockayne Darden School of Business
“Measuring Venture Capital Networks” Natasha Foutz McIntire School of Commerce
Edward D. Hess Darden School of Business
“Learning: The Power of Humility” Jeanne Liedtka Darden School of Business
“Idea Markets for New Products: Influence of Participants Network on Idea Sourcing and Idea Evaluation” and “Impact of Self-disclosure on the Effectiveness of Consumer Reviews of Innovations”
“Continuing Design Thinking”
Michael Gorman School of Engineering and Applied Science
“Social and Political Spillovers of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from India”
“The Narrative of Innovation”
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Pedro Matos Darden School of Business
“Financial Globalization and Corporate Innovation” Sonal Pandya Department of Politics
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Phillip E. Pfeifer Darden School of Business
“When to Hire the First Employee? Behavioral Evidence and Insights” Saras Sarasvathy Darden School of Business
“Further Research: Effectuation”
Rajkumar Venkatesan Darden School of Business
“New Product Launch Decisions in Emerging Markets”
UVA and Regional Ecosystem The Batten Institute integrates Darden into the broader innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem at UVA and beyond. In addition to a number of University-wide activities, the Institute partners with the Tom Tom Founders Festival to highlight innovation in Central Virginia.
GALANT for
CENTER
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Tom Tom Founders Festival Darden, through the Batten Institute and the i.Lab at UVA, has been a key supporter of the festival since 2013. As part of the School’s ongoing commitment to cultivate a worldclass entrepreneurial ecosystem in Charlottesville, Darden expanded its support in 2016. Founders Summit The Batten Institute sponsored the Founders Summit to help bring together an inspiring group of successful entrepreneurs to share their stories. The i.Lab hosted the panel discussion, "Building the Ecosystem: Startups, Capital and Community Ethos," moderated by Darden Professor and Chief Strategy Officer Michael Lenox. Panelists included Brendan Richardson, co-founder of PsiKick; Deb McMahon, co-founder of Scitent; and Noah Pittard, special counsel at Cooley.
Crowdfunded Pitch Night The i.Lab co-hosted the Crowdfunded Pitch Night, one of the festival’s most popular events. Ten local entrepreneurs were given three minutes each to pitch their projects to the crowd. The winner, Seniors Connect, earned the coveted final spot in the 2016 i.Lab Incubator class.
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i.Lab Incubator The i.Lab is home to the only formal business incubation program at the University of Virginia. In 2016 the Incubator supported 24 ventures. The program continues to grow, offering workshops, speakers, pitch nights and other activities that enrich the University’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Nearly 40 percent of ventures incubated at Darden remain viable 10 years on, and several have achieved national and international recognition.
1787fp, founded by Jean
Aquillous Tutoring,
Borno (Darden Class of 2017), offers cutting-edge mobile and web technologies for financial planning, financial management, investment management, and insurance services.
founded by Kane Thomas (SEAS ’19) and Alex Williams (SEAS ’19), is an online marketplace platform that connects college students who have scored in the top percentiles of the SAT/ACT with high school students in need of affordable one-on-one tutoring.
1Degree, founded by Sam Boochever (Darden Class of 2017) and Maximillian Huc (Darden Class of 2017), is an app that provides users the opportunity to video chat live, directly, faceto-face with their favorite influencers, anytime and anywhere—all with a philanthropic twist.
AgroSpheres, founded by Payam Pourtaheri (SEAS ’16), Ameer Shakeel (SEAS ’17), and Shaun Moshasha, is a novel product that degrades pesticides and makes the process of harvesting safer and more lucrative for wine producers.
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Dovetail Digital Films, founded by Matt Rohdie, Stephen Brannan, and Carrie Hodgkins, is a crowd-sourced film production company that makes intimate professional films for weddings and other important life events.
Helme, founded by Brent Caterwell, founded by Dani Bchara (MBA ’16) and Neil Ferrini (MBA ’16), provides high quality lunch options to people at work and rewards them for choosing to eat healthy.
Critical Flow, founded by Eric Lohan and Nate Nickerson, develops cost effective water reuse technologies that enable buildings, campuses and communities to reuse more water than they import.
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Baumgartner (SEAS ’16) and Koleman Nix (Col ’16), is a budgeting application for K-12 private schools’ financial decision makers.
Holmes-McCall Biotechnologies (HMB), founded by Madison McCall (SEAS ’16), develops solutions for individuals with developmental disorders, learning disabilities and mental illnesses by addressing four pillars of development: social/ behavioral interaction, health/physical activity, education and emotional regulation.
Imbibe Solutions, founded by Gastronomical Chemist Audrey M. Reid, is a quality control laboratory for regional breweries, wineries, and distilleries.
Janus.io, founded by John Greenfield (MBA ’16), Isaac Pomeraniac (MBA ’16), and Alex Ksendzovsky (Col ’17), is a data collection and visualization platform focused on radically improving the care of movement disorder patients by creating actionable insights for both patients and physicians. Kombucha Biomaterials, founded by Shaun Moshasha (GSAS ’14), provides an environmentally friendly alternative to tree-based paper using the waste byproduct of Kombucha fermentation.
Local Nanny Network, founded by Lisa Skillman, provides premier on-site childcare for weddings and events.
Melisseus (non-profit) and Melissae (for profit), founded by W.L. Lyons Brown III (MBA ’87) and Peter Gavin (MBA ’13), aims to make a positive impact on the plight of the honeybee by educating consumers, converting sterile land to healthy bee forage, place and manage hives, and sell honey as an education vehicle in the cause.
MyPallay, founded by Cristina Velez (Darden Class of 2017), is the sourcing destination that connects brands and designers in the apparel, home décor, and furniture industries to authentic artisan textiles.
ReinventEd Lab, founded by Keaton Wadzinski (Curry ‘17), is a nonprofit uniting a community of people dedicated to solving problems in education and building the future of school.
Respit Solutions,
Seam, founded by high
Totem, founded by P.J.
founded by Seth Hooper (Darden Class of 2017) and a team of U.S. Army veterans, provides a revolutionary approach to managing humanitarian crises and displaced persons.
school students Rheisen Dennis and Tyler Cosgrove, is a mobile application that utilizes the advantages of retail shopping to build an online socially inspired clothing marketplace.
Harris (Law ’18) and Kyle Matthews (Col ’18), is a social philanthropy app that provides users, charities and businesses with an interactive way to raise money and awareness for the causes they care about most.
Rhoback Activewear,
Seniors Connect, founded by high school students Leela Ghaemmaghami and Clara Duffy, connects seniors to the people they care about through technology education.
founded by Kristina Zambelli (Darden Class of 2017) and Matt Loftus (MBA ’16), is a stylish, high-end brand of activewear for men.
Scanoptix, founded by UVA faculty member Arjun Dirghangi, MD, is an optical system and software platform that beams images from the instruments doctors use to care for patients, transmitting them into the patient record, and to other healthcare team members — whether on the other side of the clinic, or half a world away.
Venductivity, founded by Benjamin Chen (MBA ’09), provides convenient vending solutions to keep people productive so they can focus on the important things in life.
The Mind Body Project, founded by Erin Henshaw (Col ’07), Brittany Dunn, and Alyssa Farrelly, offers stress reduction programs that simplify and streamline brain science and exercise, creating programs for both the mind and the body.
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i.Lab Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) The i.Lab has an advisory council comprising faculty from 11 schools at UVA and UVA Innovation. The FAC provides counsel for all the programs and activities that could leverage the i.Lab for the benefit of the University’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2015-16 the i.Lab FAC included:
Jeana Ripple
Michael Lenox
Andrew Vollmer
Karen Rose
School of Architecture, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Darden School of Business, Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration
School of Law, Professor and Director, John W. Glynn, Jr. Law & Business Program
School of Nursing, Associate Professor of Nursing
Leonard Schoppa
Bernie Carlson
David Touve
College of Arts and Sciences, Associate Dean for Social Sciences
School of Engineering and Applied Science, Professor and Chair of Engineering & Society
McIntire School of Commerce, Lecturer, General Faculty, Entrepreneurship
Christine Mahoney Frank Batten School of Public Policy, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Politics
John Lazo School of Medicine, Associate Dean for Basic Research
Michael Straightiff UVA Licensing & Ventures Group, Director
Donna Klepper School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Director of Regional Outreach
NOTE: In the spring of 2016 the Office of the Provost for the University of Virginia established the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council. This new entity, which comprises the membership of the original i.Lab Faculty Advisory Council, facilitates multi-school and cross-disciplinary engagement in entrepreneurship for the entire University ecosystem. > entrepreneurship.virginia.edu
i.Lab Mentorship Program The i.Lab Mentorship Program connects volunteers, including entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and investors, with startups. Mentors' commitments vary from answering expert questions to meeting with ventures weekly over our 10-week summer accelerator. Mentors play an integral role in strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem both on and beyond Grounds. > www.ilabatuva.org/mentors
Damon DeVito (MBA ’94)
Evan Edwards (SEAS ’02, ’04)
Rick Kulow
“I mentor because helping startups grow rapidly while solving problems and building cool things that make the world better is highly energizing.”
“I mentor to help entrepreneurs not only recognize risks and embrace learning through failures by redefining success, but also to ensure personal growth as an individual amid challenging decisions.”
“I believe entrepreneurship and effectuation are tremendously empowering life skills; mentoring at the i.Lab enables me to help people in the Charlottesville community realize their dreams.”
Kristina Loftus (Class of 2017) and Matthew Loftus (MBA ’16) “Damon has provided incredible insight on high-end retail, our potential distribution channels and best practices for our business plan. He has connected us with buyers, investors and industry experts who have all helped us push Rhoback forward….To say the least, we are lucky to have him as a mentor through the i.Lab.” (Rhoback)
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Arjun Dirghangi, M.D., MHS “Evan has been a remarkable mentor to me and a tremendous catalyst for my initial foray into health entrepreneurship. As a practicing ophthalmologist with a powerful idea, but little background on where to begin in a highly regulated space, I needed a lot of help. I can't speak highly enough of Evan's mentorship through the experience of taking a vision, forming a team to make it happen, and then staying on task to make that vision a reality.” (Scanoptix)
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Payam Pourtaheri (SEAS ’16), Ameer Shakeel (SEAS ’17), and Shaun Moshasha (Col ’13, McIntire ’14) “Rick has been an instrumental mentor who has fostered not only the growth of AgroSpheres but has also helped [us] mature as entrepreneurs. He has truly provided an impartial and altruistic mentorship to AgroSpheres and to the young entrepreneurs dedicating their foreseeable future to this endeavor.” (AgroSpheres)
Publications and Honors The Batten Institute is dedicated to supporting the advancement of knowledge about entrepreneurship and innovation. Each year the fruits of this commitment appear in the form of new scholarly materials as well as a range of scholarly recognition. A few examples of the accomplishments of our affiliated faculty and fellows during 2015-16 include: Books 63 Innovation Nuggets (for aspiring innovators), Barbee, George, Innovation Etc. LLC., 2015 Strategy Beyond Markets Series: Advances in Strategic Management, de Figueriredo, John M., Michael Lenox, Felix Oberholtzer-Gee and Richard G. Vanden Bergh (editors), Emerald Publishing, 2016. Chapters “Financial Innovation and the Consequences of Complexity: Insights From Major US Banking Crises.” Bruner, R., Carr, S. and Mehedi, A. in Complexity and Crisis in the Financial System: Critical Perspectives on the Evolution of American and British Banking, Matthew Hollow, Folarin Akinbami and Ranald Michie (Eds.), London: Edward Elgar, 13-35. Cases HealthCare.gov, Grushka-Cockayne, Yael and Brian Ward (2015).
Opening Casino Jack, Grushka-Cockayne, Yael, Casey Lichtendahl, Andrew Green, and Temple Fennell (2015). Lumi Juice: Concept to Store, Grushka-Cockayne, Yael and Hillary Lewis (2015). Recognition Michael Lenox was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneurship professor by Hot Topics Tech Entrepreneurship. Yael Grushka-Cockayne received the Wells Fargo Award for Excellence in Course Material for her MOOC, “Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management.” Articles
“Through the Mud or in The Boardroom: A Broad Spectrum Approach for Examining Activist Types and Their Strategies in Targeting Firms for Social Change.” Lenox, M., Eesley, C. and Decelles, K.. Strategic Management Journal.
“Setting the Stage: Thoughts from the Field.” Cowan, A. Experiential Entrepreneurship Exercises Journal. “How Excessive Stage Time Reduction in NPD Negatively Effects Market Value.” Bendoly, E. and Chao, R., Production and Operations Management. “Prediction and Control-Based Strategies in Entrepreneurship: The Role of Information” (2016), Kuechle, G, Boulu-Reshef, B., and Carr, S. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Special Issue: Theories of Entrepreneurship, 10(1), pp. 43-64. “Ensembles of Overfit and Overconfident Forecasts.” Grushka-Cockayne, Y., Jose, V.R.R. and Lichtendahl, C. Management Science. “Reducing Risk and Improving Incentives in Funding Entrepreneurs” (2016), Bodily, S. Decision Analysis, 13 (2), 101-116. “Academic Entrepreneurship: The Case of Competitive Dynamics” (2016), Chen, M. Quarterly Journal of Management (in Chinese).
Distributed to scholars, practitioners and deans of accredited business schools worldwide, Batten Briefings is a white paper series communicating the latest findings from Institute-sponsored research for a broad audience.
Forbes Partnership
Journal of Business Venturing
The Batten Institute continues its partnership with Forbes on behalf of the University of Virginia.
“Hot Pursuit of Innovation: Leveraging Learning, Diversity and Collaboration” (July 2015), Glinska, M.
Academic Year: 26,282 views From Inception (April 2012): 239,138
The Batten Institute supports the Journal of Business Venturing, the premier scholarly journal devoted to entrepreneurship and innovation. JBV is ranked by the Social Science Citation Index as one of the world’s most influential management journals. From 1995 to 2009, Darden Professor S. Venkataraman served as JBV’s editorin-chief; the current managing editor is Darden researcher Sarasa Subramony.
Batten Briefings
“Data’s Big Promise: How Top Firms Find New Ways to Innovate” (June 2016), Glinska, M.
> www.forbes.com/sites/darden
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Competitions With over $110,000 in prizes awarded annually, Darden provides MBA students multiple opportunities to pitch their business ideas to investors, peers, faculty, alumni, business leaders and the broaders UVA entreprenerial ecosystem.
University of Virginia Entrepreneurship Cup Competitions (Concept, Discovery, Launch!) Concept Competition (Award Winners Received $1,000 each)
Consumer/ Business-to-Business Track Award Recipients:
Health Care Services & Technology Track Award Recipients:
airsurve Garrett Allen, McIntire School of Commerce
LiveStat Health Ben Doan, McIntire School of Commerce; Daniel Lagalante, Kate Donovan and Tasy Novopachennaia, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Austin Petrie, College of Arts and Sciences
E-Predict Nicholas Duvall, Brad Alvarez, and Sedi Asem, School of Law
MedCompare Hitoshi Koshiya, Korey Dwayne Marshall, Emily Schutzenhofer and Samuel Maxwell Kessel, School of Medicine Janus.io John Greenfield, Darden School of Business CrimeSoft Tania Awalegaonkar and Courtney Camera Lawson, School of Engineering and Applied Science CPR Buddy Razvan Untaroiu, School of Engineering and Applied Science Social Entrepreneurship Track Award Recipients: Akiba Parks Daniel and Kevin Boyer – The Frank Batten School FoodAssist Mario Sukkar, School of Engineering, and Alan Wei, College of Arts and Sciences KidsCode Joseph Weate, School of Engineering, Charles Harding and Leandi Venter, Curry School of Education Project Trace
Helme Brent Baumgartner and Koleman Nix, School of Engineering and Applied Science Market Intellex Alexander Spiegel and Miles Shah, College of Arts and Sciences; Ceyer Wakilpoor, School of Engineering and Applied Science Wild Bucket Juan Jose Palacio Duque, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Kris Cody, College of Arts and Sciences Science/Engineering Track Award Recipients: Aberrant Spacial Timothy Klawa, Elijah Roberts, David Networks Nagy, Jane Ma, Daniel Hare, and Christopher Schram, School of Engineering and Applied Science AgroSpheres Payam Pourtaheri and Ameer Hamza Shakeel, School of Engineering and Applied Science Bluejaw: John Costello, College of Arts and Maximizing Sciences Bluetooth Networking
Gaeun Kim, Frank Batten School
SIBeXchange Allie Donini and Trevor Turner, Frank Batten School
cloudRAID Ruben Aghayan, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Jim Finnerty, Darden School of Business and Matt Shandy, School of Law RotaLibra Kimberly Lytle, School of Engineering and Applied Science
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UVA Wise Track Award Recipients: ier 1 Winners ($1000): T Midas Gloves, Daniel Bettendorf Smart Collar, McKenna Blevins Tier 2 Winners ($500): Health IT, Joseph LaCava Class App, Paul Kentes, Tara Greear, McKenna Blevins, Chris Floor Learning With Hope, Victoria Pedigo
Discovery Competition (Award Winners Received $5,000 each) airsurve Garrett Allen, McIntire School of Commerce FoodAssist Mario Sukkar, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Alan Wei, College of Arts and Sciences Helme Brent Baumgartner, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Koleman Nix, College of Arts and Sciences Jobocracy Andy Page, College of Arts and Sciences; Brian Mitchell, College of Arts and Science MicroHub Porter Nenon, College of Arts and Sciences; Adam Jones, College of Arts and Sciences; Kaija Flood, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; William Henagan, College of Arts and Sciences
First Place ($20,000) AgroSpheres LLC
2
Second Place ($15,000) AsyncTalent
3
Third Place ($10,000) Notable Music LLC
Winner: Helme $250 and $10,000 worth of legal services from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati Honorable Mention: Janus.io Founded by John Greenfield (MBA ’16) $250 Palooza $250
Strategic Competition Initiative The Batten Institute provides funding to sponsor student teams participating in strategic competitions in the areas of global leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, sustainability, ethics and diversity. In 2015-16, Darden students participated in the following events: Venture Capital Investment Competition (Boston, MA) Darden’s Team Placed 2nd in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Finals EDENS Retail Competition: Regionals (Bethesda, MD) Darden’s Team from venture RHOBACK placed 1st: $500 prize EDENS Retail Competition: National Finals (Washington, D.C.) Darden’s Team from venture RHOBACK placed 1st: $10,000 prize Fantasy Sports Trade Association Winter Conference Elevator Pitch Competition (Dallas, TX)
Launch! Competition
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Venture and Prototype Fair at the 2015-16 Entrepreneurship Conference
Audience Choice ($2,500) AgroSpheres LLC
MINT Impact Investing Competition (Philadelphia, PA) MADV Venture Forum (Philadelphia, PA) App Idea Awards (New York, NY) Darden’s Team Named Finalists
VCIC Boston Team – L to R: Jim Finnerty, Olivia Bumb, Ryan Frisbie, Matthew Breen, Samuel Boochever
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Financial Statements Income to support entrepreneurship and innovation through the Batten Institute is provided primarily by an endowment established by Frank Batten Sr. and the Batten family. As of June 2015, the market value of the endowment had reached approximately $130.1 million. The annual budget from the proceeds of this endowment for the 2016 fiscal year was about $5.5 million. Expenses
Administration
Administration Outreach
$666,034 $667,140 $681,253 105,864 129,573 117,256
Subtotal
$771,898 $796,713 $798,509
W. L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab
$295,480
Education & Experiential Learning
E&E Staff $558,599 $560,951 $360,534 Alumni Engagement 55,543 52,649 57,712 BVIP Interns 179,418 92,000 121,500 Competitions 27,275 38,217 47,329 Course Support 58,965 20,888 119,604 Batten Scholarships 912,674 1,077,068 1,376,975 Subtotal
Research & Intellectual Capital
Total Operating Expenses
4,424,632
4,933,082 5,382,262
Beginning Balance
0 $4,424,632 FY 14
5,947
0
$4,939,029 $5,382,262 FY 15
FY 16
$2,352,619 $2,642,042 $2,613,455
Endowment Interest $3,576,777 $3,772,535 $4,229,954 Craddock Fund 19,054 14,000 0 Entrepreneurial Studies Fund Interest 8,486 12,648 12,008 Roundtable / Summit 25,000 45,000 0 eConference Fees 4,750 1,400 0 i.Lab Expansion Project 64,409 0 20,000 Scholarships 1,015,579 1,064,859 1,170,786
Operating Expenses Craddock Fund Entrepreneurial Studies Fund Roundtable / Summit i.Lab Expansion Project Scholarships Total Expenses Ending Balance
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$2,083,654
2,093,180 2,055,282
Total Income
Does not include $51,637 spent on Nesta Kauffman Entrepreneurial Expertise grant in FY 15. Does not include $20,424 spent on Nesta Kauffman Entrepreneurial Expertise grant in FY 16. Personnel included in i.Lab for the first time in FY 16, including search firm fee for i.Lab Director.
$1,841,773
$444,817
1,564,780
Expenses
$201,416
FY 16
Subtotal
Total Expenses
Income
$1,792,474
FY 15
Researchers $413,916 $416,212 $439,302 Faculty Research Grants 115,429 75,324 108,520 Batten Fellows 23,187 6,143 17,891 PhD Students 206 104,926 113,527 Faculty Salary Support 966,827 1,447,573 1,220,997 Conferences 45,215 43,002 155,045
i.Lab Expansion Project
Cash Flow
FY 14
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$4,714,055
$4,910,442
$5,432,748
(3,467,381) (3,820,255) (3,970,309) (19,054) (14,000) 0 (8,486) (12,648) (12,008) (17,037) (9,111) (13,469) 0 (5,947) (9,502) (912,674) (1,077,068) (1,376,975) $(4,424,632) $2,642,042
$(4,939,029)
$(5,382,262)
$2,613,455 $2,663,941
FY 2015-16 Operating Expenses 13%
22%
ADMINISTRATION
FACULTY SALARIES
2%
3%
CONFERENCES
7%
ra tio
E&E STAFF
1%
BATTEN INSTITUTE
se Re
$5,382,262
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
FY 2015–16
8%
W.L. LYONS BROWN III i.LAB
n&
1% 2%
Admi nis t
Educati o
arch & Intellec tu
2%
PHD STUDENTS
l ta pi
n
al Ca
OUTREACH
Ex
BATTEN FELLOWS
2%
p
er
lL tia ien
FACULTY GRANTS
BVIP INTERNS
1% 2%
earning
8%
COMPETITIONS
RESEARCHERS
COURSE SUPPORT
26%
SCHOLARSHIPS
FY 2015–16 Administration
Administration Outreach
$681,253 $117,256
Education & Experiential Learning
Research & Intellectual Capital
E&E Staff $360,534 Alumni Engagement $57,712 W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab $444,817 BVIP Interns $121,500 Competitions $47,329 Course Support $119,604 Scholarships $1,376,975
Researchers $439,302 Faculty Grants $108,520 Batten Fellows $17,891 Conferences $155,045 PhD Students $113,527 Faculty Salaries $1,220,997
Total Operating Expenses
$5,382,262 B AT T E N I N S T I T U T E A N N UA L R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
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Mailing Address Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Darden School of Business University of Virginia P. O. Box 6550 Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550 Courier Address Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Darden School of Business University of Virginia 100 Darden Boulevard Charlottesville, VA 22903 Phone +1.434.924.1335 E-Mail batten@darden.virginia.edu Newsletter To receive our quarterly newsletter, please send an email request to eplusi@virginia.edu Web www.batteninstitute.org www.ilabatuva.org Twitter @BattenInstitute @DardenEship @DesignatDarden @iLabatUVA
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B AT T E N I N S T I T U T E A N N UA L R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Darden School of Business University of Virginia P. O. Box 6550 Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550