Dingman Center Annual Report 2020

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DINGMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

educate empower equip ANNUAL REPORT 2019–20

Remarks from the Managing Director, Holly DeArmond DURING THE FALL 2019 semester it was business as usual at the Dingman Center. We

Contents 2 Remarks from the Managing Director 3 Terps Take Action 4 Pitch Dingman Competition 6 Terp Startup 8 Launching Terp Startup Fellows 10 Educating Student Entrepreneurs 12 Student Venture Showcase 13 Being Black in Entrepreneurship 14 Fostering Sustainable Ventures 15 Global Impact 16 Robert G. Hisaoka Speaker Series 18 Bootstrapped 19 Dingman Center Angels 20 Board of Advisors 22 Our Empowering Network 23 Staff, Faculty & Community

came to Van Munching Hall every day ready to engage our students and connect with our community. As always, we filled our calendar with large events to convene our stakeholders. And then came March.

On March 10, the Dingman team headed to work excited to host the annual Pitch Dingman Competition for more than 500 guests. By noon the signature event of our year had been postponed due to COVID-19. Like everyone reading this report, we had been disrupted.

We teach our students that successful entrepreneurs are agile, adaptable, resilient, and creative. They know “that’s how it’s always been done” is not an acceptable response in order to thrive. As a Center, we practiced what we preached: we entered an uncertain virtual work environment, quickly evaluated our portfolio and pivoted many of our programs and events to the virtual space. This report highlights some of those pivots and shows how we delivered on our programming by being entrepreneurial about teaching entrepreneurship.

Beyond COVID-19, we experienced the weight and sadness of racial injustices that swept across our nation. Many of the statistics about race inequities in the venture ecosystem are not new to our team. At Dingman, we have been committed to supporting entrepreneurs of all kinds for many years. We have already made and will continue to make our mark on improving gender diversity through our Ladies First Initiative, but we can’t stop there. We know we have more work to do to empower and equip underserved communities and specifically persons of color.

Now in my second year leading the Center, and with so many disruptions and challenges, I knew it was time to re-think our mission and strategy. We have revised our mission to create an inclusive environment where we educate, empower and equip students with the business skills needed to be an entrepreneur and the resources necessary to make their business ideas a reality. We have also developed a scorecard to measure outcomes based on the following pillars: Turning Ideas into Action; Supporting Entrepreneurs of all Kinds; Providing Resources to our Startup Community; and a Commitment to Center Excellence and Sustainability.

I know the next academic year will surely bring another set of twists and turns. But whether it is on campus or online I know our team is prepared to support our Terp entrepreneurs as they fearlessly pursue their business ideas. Thank you to our students, faculty, advisors, alumni, donors, board members, investors and colleagues who helped make this year a success. But now more than any other year, thank you to the Dingman Center team who proved day in and day out that your entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.

Onward and upward.

Holly DeArmond, MBA ‘17 | Managing Director

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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Terps Take Action During COVID-19 TERPS, LIKE THEIR NAMESAKE, are an

extraordinarily resilient bunch. When COVID-19 struck, University of Maryland students, alumni, faculty and staff embraced the challenge of quarantine and hustled to support their local communities.

Route One Apparel founder Ali von Paris ’12 saw a spike in her business when her company’s Marylandthemed facemasks became Governor Hogan’s go-to PPE during the crisis.

The company also donated thousands of masks to local hospitals.

Hungry Harvest founder and CEO Evan Lutz ’14 personally took to the streets to donate hundreds of their produce boxes to food banks and hospitals in Baltimore.

Ladies First Founder Saba Tshibaka ’20 was featured on NBC4 for her launch of FacemaskDC, a website map and directory to connect people seeking facemasks with small businesses making them.

Maryland Smith professor Anil K. Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, offered his world-renowned thought leadership for a webinar series featuring his insights into COVID-19’s impact on business and the global economy.

We released a special COVID survival guide episode of Bootstrapped: A Dingman Center Podcast, featuring essential advice from Maryland Smith clinical professor Oliver Schlake, an entrepreneur with 40 years of professional and academic experience.

Listen: go.umd.edu/Bootstrapped

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Pitch Dingman Competition

AFTER COVID-19 left us no choice but to cancel

our Pitch Dingman Competition Finals event on March 10, we were challenged with transitioning the competition to the virtual space and bringing the energy of a live pitch competition to the audience at home. On April 22, over 600 people from around the country signed on to Zoom to watch student entrepreneur pitches, hear Q&A from judges and participate in an interactive half-time show. The result was one of our most memorable competitions yet.

Pitch Dingman finalists and judges.

Semifinalists AlgenAir LLC | Dan Fucich, PhD ’20, Kelsey Abernathy, PhD ’20 (UMB)

BraceLint, LLC | Daniel Raithel ’20 Door Robotics, Inc. | Joshua Ermias ’20, Vincent Jaugan ’21

Pitch Dingman Finals on Zoom.

G Styles | Goodness Ihekweme ’21 Hydraze | Charles Grody ’20, Jack Sturtevant ’20, Tuvia Rappaport ’20 ModBars, LLC | Jeff Su ’21, Wyatt Talcott ’21 Pendulum Analytics, Inc. | William Sherman, MBA ’19/MS ’20

Rendered Inc. | Saba Tshibaka ’20

Thank you to David and Robyn

Quattrone, Parsons Ventures, Inc. and SECU for providing seed funding for the competition.

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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Savvy Tech | Thomas Savransky ’20, Jonathan Schneider ’20

SweetsbyCaroline | Caroline Ta ’21

PITCH DINGMAN JUDGES

Finalists & Winners Hydraze | Charles Grody, Jack Sturtevant, Tuvia Rappaport | The David & Robyn Quattrone Grand Prize ($15,000) An improved automatic toilet flushing mechanism that saves water.

AlgenAir | Dan Fucich, Kelsey Abernathy | Second Place Prize provided by Parsons Ventures Inc. ($7,500) An algae-powered air purifier that cleans air and produces oxygen.

Door Robotics | Joshua Ermias, Vincent Jaugan | Third Place ($3,500) An affordable drone with an integrated virtual reality camera system.

BraceLint | Daniel Raithel | PPE Award ($1,000) A flat, single-use and patent pending lint roller for on-the-go needs.

SweetsbyCaroline | Caroline Ta | PPE Award ($1,000) A catering business specializing in custom french macarons for events.

Our runners up received a PPE Award of $1,000 for “Pandemic Perseverance in Entrepreneurship.”

SEMIFINALS Jeff Grinspoon ’90, MBA ’95 Managing Director & Partner, VWG Wealth Management Le Marie Thompson ’01 Founder, Nettadonna Dan Connors ’82 General Counsel, Capella Space Keith Sullivan ’82 Senior Advisor, InTandem Capital Partners Cee Smith Founder, Cee Smith Media Group FINALS David Quattrone, MBA '05 Co-founder & CTO, Cvent Matt Fishlinger '07 Founder & COO, Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC Aurelia Flores Managing Member, Athena Digital Media Group Tom Parsons '93, MBA '10 President, Parsons Ventures, Inc Angela Singleton Director, TEDCO Builder Fund Becky Smith EVP, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, SECU

Past Winner Curu Raises $3 Million Round After winning Pitch Dingman Competition in 2017, fintech startup Curu participated in a series of accelerators and completed a $3 million seed round in May 2020.

C uru founders Abb Kapoor and David Potter at the 2017 Pitch Dingman Competition

“ From Dingman Fridays to Terp Startup and eventually participating in Pitch Dingman, the Dingman Center was fundamental in helping us build our entrepreneurial foundations. We are forever grateful.”—ABB KAPOOR DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

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Taking Terp Startup Virtual VENTURES IN THIS YEAR’S COHORT experienced the Dingman Center’s first ever entirely virtual Terp Startup. Since the accelerator was launched with six teams in 2015, it has doubled in size through the generous support of Matt Fishlinger ’07 and other donors. This summer, the Dingman Center supported 12 teams with a $5,000 stipend, virtual coworking space, expert-led workshops and dedicated coaches over an eight week period, culminating in an online demo day.

The virtual format enabled staff to connect more closely with each team and build vital skills for entrepreneurs to thrive in an ever changing world.

2020 Cohort Blimp Logistics

Morning Light, LLC

Camilo Melnyk ’21 Blimp Logistics provides a fast and robust drone delivery network for any business.

Harrison Burke ’20 Morning Light fosters competitive Esports teams to make the jump to fulltime professional sponsorships.

Crys&Co Beauty

O•pal•es•cent Nails

Crystal Pinckney ’22 Crys&Co Beauty provides easy access to beauty products and services for students on campus.

Doyinsola Oladimeji-Stevens ’20 O•pal•es•cent Nails creates affordable yet glamorous press-on nail looks.

OcuClips Door Robotics, Inc. Joshua Ermias ’20, Vincent Jaugan ’21 Door Robotics has developed a drone featuring an integrated, 360 virtual reality camera system.

ModBars, LLC Jeff Su ’21, Wyatt Talcott ’21 ModBars, LLC produces delicious, customizable granola bars to accommodate unique dietary needs.

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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Mohil Gupta ’18, MS ’19 OcuClips is a universal clip-on cushioned attachment for glasses to alleviate discomfort when wearing headphones.

Sow Co. Jacques Marais ’20 Sow Co. gives users an automated kit for growing a pound of microgreens per week in their home.

The Sustainable Socialite Sarah Lader ’20 The Sustainable Socialite provides affordable, curated vintage-style fashion to support sustainable fashion.

“ The workshops allowed us to grow all other aspects of our business while we were out of operations. Additionally, the guest speakers were fantastic, and we’ve made so many connections with both mentors and the cohorts that we’ll cherish and keep into the future. We don’t know what we would have done with ourselves this summer without this program. ” —MODBARS TEAM

A Message from Lottie Byram, MPH, Venture Programs Manager

SweetsbyCaroline, LLC Caroline Ta ’21 SweetsbyCaroline creates bite-sized, gluten-free macarons that can be customized for parties and events.

I have the sweetest job. Not only do I get to hear students from all walks of life share their entrepreneurial ideas to solve all the world’s problems, but I get to add my own ideas on how best to nurture their ambitions. One example was the launch of Founders Forum, a monthly gathering for alumni and current founders from our highest-tier programs to network, collaborate and share resources. It is a joy to join the Dingman Center Team this year in designing and implementing venture programs.

Vitalize Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, Veeraj Shah ’21 Vitalize is a mobile app for physicians with activities to alleviate stress and reduce burnout.

Wanderlust Wardrobe Lucy Bedewi ’20 Wanderlust Wardrobe is a personal style consultant with a pricing model accessible to the average woman.

S taff and Terp Startup alumni at Founders Forum

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Launching the Terp Startup Fellows THIS FALL , we decided to test a

hypothesis: If exceptional student founders in our Terp Startup accelerator continued to receive resources for the following academic year, would they achieve necessary milestones toward commercialization?

Thanks to a generous donation from Bill Boyle ’81, chairman of the Center’s board of advisors, the Center reached a positive conclusion with a successful pilot of the Terp Startup Fellows program.

The founders of Terp Startups memley and ENLY each received an additional $20,000 in non-dilutive funding, coaching and co-working space to work on their businesses for 10 hours a week in the Dingman Center.

“ Terp Startup Fellows was instrumental in taking our business to the next level.

Having an office on campus and having access to nondilutive funding made it possible for us to grow our business even in this difficult environment. Thanks to the grant and support from the Dingman Center, we recently launched our first product, Enly SmartCharts, and we're getting ready to roll out our Does It Fit API.” —TOM SAVRANKSY

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Enly Enly (umbrella company “Savvy Tech”) is a fashion tech startup led by a Maryland Smith finance student Thomas Savransky '20 (CEO), and finance and information-systems double major Jonathan Schneider '20 (COO). Fashion customers using their app, Enly, submit a selfie and measurements to render a 3D avatar that can virtually try on clothes and determine fit. The founders hope that Enly will reduce clothing returns and encourage sustainability in fashion.

MILESTONES Attended New York Fashion Week to enhance brand awareness and network with industry connections. orged connections with F retailers and investors to help refine their business model.

Completed development of their app and redesigned their website.

Founders Tom Savransky ’20 and Jonathan Schneider ’20

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Tom Savransky pitching at Pitch Dingman Competition Semifinals

memley memley (formerly NuroSTREAM), co-founded by computer science student Steven Jettoo (CEO) and alumna Sage Newman (COO), is an education-technology startup with an app that accelerates a student’s academic growth through research-backed memory enhancement techniques. The learning platform reduces the amount of instructional time spent on skill and drill assessments of core knowledge.

F ounders Steven Jettoo ’20 and Sage Newman ’15

S teven Jettoo leading a workshop on the Mind Palace memory retention technique at Startup Shell

MILESTONES Launched a paid pilot with Jersey City Global Charter Schools to utilize memley as part of their everyday classroom environment.

Completely overhauled the platform’s backend to enable scaling Expanded the team to 15 members, including interns who help run instructional onboarding workshops.

Initiated the process of filing for a patent of their software.

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Educating Student Entrepreneurs THE DINGMAN CENTER has several course offerings and extracurricular events to educate, empower and equip students with the business skills needed to be an entrepreneur.

Fall Events spark: Where Fearless Ideas Start As part of Maryland Smith professor Oliver Schlake’s Entrepreneurial Thinking course, 120 students assembled on a Saturday for the fourth annual spark, an idea brainstorming event hosted by the Dingman Center in partnership with student-run incubator Startup Shell.

Ladies First Fall Dinner As part of the Dingman Center’s Ladies First Initiative to get more women involved in entrepreneurship at Maryland, we hosted our fourth annual Ladies First Fall Dinner. Guest speaker Julia Brown ’13, founder of MindX, spoke about her experiences with Imposter Syndrome, a feeling of inadequacy that disproportionately affects women and minorities in business.

“ Find other women who will support you and help you realize that you are talented.” —JULIA BROWN

S ara Herald and Julia Brown

S tudents played an interactive card game to spark business ideas and concluded the day with a “back of the napkin” business pitch.

Professor Oliver Schlake working with students.

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s park judges Choice Winner: Spectrum, a clothing company with looks designed for nonbinary and transgender people.

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Spring Courses Ladies First Founders - Cohort 3 Sara Herald, MBA ’11, the Dingman Center’s Director of Venture Development, teaches Ladies First Founders, a spring semester course designed to equip female and non-binary founders with the necessary business and soft skills to succeed in entrepreneurship.

New Venture Practicum Sixteen student ventures participated in the Dingman Center’s spring semester New Venture Practicum course taught by Professor Oliver Schlake. Students learn the fundamentals of launching a startup while working towards releasing a minimum viable product. Many of these ventures go on to participate in Terp Startup.

New American Apparel

The Sustainable Socialite

Sarah Agarat ’21

Sarah Lader ’21

Envision Sport

Crys&Co Beauty

Ijeoma Asonye ’23

Crystal Pinckney ’22

Wanderlust Wardrobe

LUMXN

Lucy Bedewi ’20

Monica Pizzo ’20

Blimp Logistics | Camilo Melnyk ’21 Crys&Co Beauty | Crystal Pinckney ’22 The DMV Come Up | Sadia Alao ’20 Cheeky | Madeline Levin ’22 G Styles | Goodness Ihekweme ’21 Hangry | Shehan Weeraman ’21 Live the Game | Elizabeth Childs ’21 Meo Cat Cafe | Michal Angelo Dickson ’20 ModBars, LLC | Jeff Su ’20, Wyatt Talcott ’21 Omega 3 Granola | Edwin Djampa ’22, Josh Quiat ’22

Personal Shoppers Association | Sûr Cupcakes

Lawlike

Tamara Bethea ’23

Hannah Shraim ’20

G Styles

SweetsbyCaroline

Goodness Ihekweme ’21

Caroline Ta ’21

Alona Hapey ’20 Ngozo | Leah Barnes ’21, Reva Lancaster ’21 REF Rater | Tyler Moultrie ’22 Skiffel | Tochukwu Ibe-Ekeocha ’22 Sow Co. | Jacques Marais ’20 The Sustainable Socialite | Sarah Lader ’20

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Student Venture Showcase EVERY SEMESTER , the Dingman Center collaborates with entrepreneurship classes at Maryland Smith to host Terp Marketplace, a venue for student entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products on campus. In the spring, the Dingman Center launched a virtual alternative, Dingman TV, a channel devoted to commercials produced by student entrepreneurs.

SPOTLIGHT: ModBars, LLC ModBars, LLC and their customizable granola bars had a big year. In the fall, founders Jeff Su ’20 and Wyatt Talcott ’21 competed in the Pitch Dingman Competition Semifinals. They ramped up sales during New Venture Practicum in the spring, and capped off their semester with a Jason ’96 & Jamie Cohen Entrepreneurship Fund Award of $1,000 and acceptance into our Terp Startup accelerator.

SPOTLIGHT:

odBars founders Jeff Su and Wyatt Talcott at M the Pitch Dingman Competition Semifinals.

SweetsbyCaroline

When founder Caroline Ta ’21 first walked into the Dingman Center, her french macaron and cake catering business was already achieving significant monthly sales. After making it to Pitch Dingman Competition Finals, she enrolled in Ladies First Founders to get an entrepreneurial skillset to match her self-taught baking prowess. Now in Terp Startup, Caroline is focusing on a vision for scaling her catering business.

S weetsbyCaroline founder Caroline Ta.

See more University of Maryland student founders on our YouTube channel at go.umd.edu/dingmantv

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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Being Black in Entrepreneurship IN HONOR OF Black History Month, the Dingman

Center partnered with the Maryland Smith Office of Undergraduate Programs, Office of Diversity Initiatives and the Student Success Leadership Council to host the Being Black in Entrepreneurship: Fireside Chat, a soldout panel event that highlighted black Terp founders and provided insight and inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs of color.

“ Since 2018, I have had the honor of serving as chair of the faculty and staff committee for diversity and inclusion at Maryland Smith. Our group meets monthly to address inequities and bias within the Smith community and encourage celebration of our differences. One outcome of this work has been launching a new event featuring successful black Terp entrepreneurs.

In the wake of continuing violence against African-Americans, these efforts are more important than ever.

The Dingman Center is committed to doing more to spotlight black-owned businesses, help them raise capital, and support our students of color as they seek to launch and grow their own ventures.”

— SARA HERALD, MBA ’11, DIRECTOR OF VENTURE DEVELOPMENT AT THE DINGMAN CENTER

Panelists Michael A. Echols ’87, CEO of Max Cybersecurity, LLC. | Moderator Echols launched Max Cybersecurity LLC after serving seven years at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He is currently on the Health and Human Services CISA Cyber Awareness Task Force.

Brittany McCoy, Founder and Designer of the Brittany Christina Collection As a student at Maryland, McCoy launched her first brand, Dynasty By Brittany, and started the now annual Fashion Week on campus. Brittany has been featured in several fashion events including D.C. Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week.

Chad Hall, Founder and CEO of Remodelmate Hall is the Founder and CEO of Remodelmate, a startup that can completely renovate your bathroom for $12K in 3 weeks. Remodelmate just finished a successful seed round of $525,000.

Jasmine Snead ’17, MBA/MPP ’21, Co-Founder and CFO of Aurora Tights As a figure skater of color unable to find tights in her skin tone, Snead launched her own athletic apparel brand, Aurora Tights. Snead participated in Terp Startup and Ladies First Founders, won the grand prize of $15,000 at the 2019 Pitch Dingman Competition, and has been featured in DC Inno’s 25 under 25.

Kendall McKoy ’16, Founder of BRUNCH GODS A year after graduating from Maryland, McKoy founded BRUNCH GODS, a brunch-themed catering, pop-up and delivery service that prides itself on superior customer service.

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Fostering Sustainable Ventures Fall 2019 | Hult@UMD In our second year of hosting a local edition of the global Hult Prize social entrepreneurship case competition, the Center partnered with the Center for Social Value Creation as well as faculty affiliate David Kirsch and Assistant Director of Business, Society and the Economy Scholars Program Claudia Donnelly to make the competition experience part of their curriculum. The Hult Prize challenged teams this year “to build bold businesses that (1) have a positive net impact on the environment with every sale completed, dollar earned, and decision made and (2) reach no fewer than a million consumers within a decade”. Center staff hosted workshops for participating classes and brought in speakers from the Hult Prize itself.

The program culminated with students presenting their social venture ideas to a panel of judges.

HULT@UMD JUDGES Jitin Miki Ahuja ’97, MBA/MS ’02, Founder of SpaceJet Media Bill Boyle ’81, Founder of FiberGate, angel investor and chair of the Dingman Center board of advisors Julia Hofmeister, former Director of Membership and Product at Mercaris Monique Maley, President and Founder of Articulate Persuasion Andy Shallal, MBA ’19, Founder and CEO at Busboys & Poets

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A mong the students who participated in Hult@UMD, many were from David Kirsch’s Social Innovation Fellows course and the Business, Society and the Economy Scholars program led by Mark Wellman and Claudia Donnelly.

H ydraze founders with Robert Orr, Dean of UMD’s School of Public Policy

Hult@UMD Winner - Hydraze After winning Hult@UMD, Hydraze and their improved automatic toilet flushing mechanism won the grand prize at Pitch Dingman Competition and competed in the regional Hult Prize competition in Toronto. Out of 80 teams, Hydraze was one of six selected for the regional finals, but did not advance to the global round. Validated by these experiences, the team is energized to continue the venture post-graduation.

Spring 2020 | Sustainable from the Start Webinar Originally planned as an in-person panel event, the Dingman Center partnered with Maryland Smith’s Center for Social Value Creation, Bethesda Green and the MidAtlantic B-Corps community to produce a webinar called Sustainable from the Start: How to Build Sustainability into Your Startup from the Ground Up.

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

T he panel was moderated by Maryland Smith clinical professor Roxanne Lefkoff and included speakers Drew Bewick ’88 of Tree House Ventures, LLC, Sophia Maroon of Dress It Up Dressing, Joe Marhamati of Ipsun Solar

Global Impact IN SEPTEMBER , Sara Herald was invited to speak at the International

Social Innovation Research Conference hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. The abstract she presented, “Making Entrepreneurs: Does Engagement with Innovation & Entrepreneurship Increase Confidence and Self-efficacy Among College Students?”, is a research collaboration between the Dingman Center and Associate Professor David Kirsch.

The idea for the topic stems from a desire to determine if the university’s expansion of courses and programs in innovation and entrepreneurship has led to an increase in entrepreneurial attitudes among UMD students.

Using data from an entry and exit survey conducted by the University’s Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment in 2016 and 2019, the researchers proposed the logic model below:

INFERENCE/ LOGIC MODEL

Used Resources

Didn't Use Resources

Aware of Resources

Pro-entrepreneurship

No interest or no need

Not Aware of Resources

Treatment Group

Control

S ara Herald after presenting the research at the conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

INITIAL FINDINGS No change in perceptions of innovation and entrepreneurship Increase in confidence in design thinking ability Male confidence > Female confidence Sara and David remain interested in the topic of effectiveness of entrepreneurship education, particularly among different demographics, and are involved in other efforts to determine how we might close the gender gap in entrepreneurial attitudes and outcomes.

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Robert G. Hisaoka Speaker Series IN 2017 , the Dingman Center received a generous gift from distinguished alumnus Robert G. Hisaoka ’79 to launch the Robert G. Hisaoka Speaker Series, a platform for the University of Maryland to host renowned business leaders and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. Enthusiasm for the speaker series has grown each year, allowing the Center to expand its reach and connect with more student entrepreneurs across campus.

3-YEAR STATS

October 2019: Seth Goldman Over 250 attendees filled a packed auditorium to see Seth Goldman, co-founder & Tea-EO Emeritus of Honest Tea and executive chairman of Beyond Meat. Goldman discussed his role in the future of food, and advised student founders to consider their own mental health as an essential component in the success of their business.

“ The single biggest resource an entrepreneur has is his or her own personal energy. You have to lead a team, you have to inspire people, you have to have them be energized. If I’m drained or sick, if I’m not enthusiastic, I can’t spread that.”

Watch the full talk at go.umd.edu/hisaokaseries

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1,012

attendees

8

16

events

speakers

February 2020: Founders Panel

Robert Hisaoka transitioned early in his career from public accounting to coowning and running some of the largest car dealerships in the country. Currently, he is the President of Luxury Imports of Bowling Green and BMW of Bowling Green, and a partner in various import dealerships. After selling some top-ranked dealerships in 2006, Hisaoka focused on investing in private companies with innovative disruptive technology and giving back through philanthropy. He is an active angel and venture investor sitting on the boards of a multitude of companies.

This year’s founders panel featured all student and alumni entrepreneurs, including former Pitch Dingman Competition winner Jasmine Snead ’17, MPP/MBA ’21 of Aurora Tights; technology entrepreneur Zeki Mokhtarzada ’00, co-founder of Webs, Inc., Truebill and currently CTO at Tenovos; and Rob McGovern ’83, founder and former CEO of CareerBuilder.com and founder and CEO of PreciseTarget.

While each founder’s path to entrepreneurship was unique, they shared a common ground in their foundational experience at Maryland.

“ Speaking your intentions is so important, and so is accountability. If you put your idea out there, then you can create a support system to encourage you.”

—JASMINE SNEAD

Notable Past Speakers T ed Leonsis, Founder, Chairman, Majority Owner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and Robert G. Hisaoka speaking at the inaugural Hisaoka Speaker Series event in fall 2017.

In fall 2018, Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC, joined us and spoke about the importance of building networks and stressed that relationships are the real key to success.

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Bootstrapped NOW IN ITS SEVENTH SEASON , enthusiasm for Bootstrapped: A Dingman Center Podcast is stronger than ever. Hosted by Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17, Dingman Center managing director, and Joe Bailey, Maryland Smith associate research professor and executive director of the QUEST Honors Program, the series has become one of our favorite ways to shine a spotlight on some of the incredible founders and funders in our network.

Take a listen: Episode 61 | Lessons from a Serially Successful Entrepreneur Special Guest:Harry Geller ’81, Investor/ Serial Entrepreneur/Startup Mentor

“ The easy part is dreaming this up but the hard part is getting out in the field to determine who will actually buy it.”

Episode 60 | The Y Combinator Effect: From Dorm Room Hustle to Thriving Business Special guest: Aaron Epstein ’03, Founder & CEO, Creative Market and Partner at Y Combinator

“ Encourage people to be problemfocused not solution-focused.”

Bootstrapped Live at WeWork in D.C. The Dingman Center partnered with the Clark School of Engineering to host a live Bootstrapped recording session featuring David Quattrone, MBA ’05, co-founder and CTO of Cvent and Dingman Center board member, and Anuja Sonalker, PhD ’06, founder and CEO of Steer Tech.

Episode 63 | FORTË Fights COVID by Bringing the Gym to You Special guest: Lauren Foundos ’06, Founder & CEO, FORTË

“ The whole team is overwhelmed, but we have to capitalize on this opportunity.”

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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Tune in and discover more episodes at go.umd.edu/Bootstrapped Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts #DingmanBootstrapped

Dingman Center Angels SINCE ITS INCEPTION in 2009-10, the Dingman Center Angels network has invested more than $16 million in over 115 transactions, with some impressive exits to date. This year, members invested in nine new companies and deployed approximately $1 million in capital across various new and follow-on investments.

The angel network has become one of our strongest tools to engage our alumni community and connect students to the startup ecosystem.

2019-2020 Investments

Notable Investmenst from 2010-2020 Social Tables In 2018, Social Tables was acquired by event technology company Cvent for over $100 million.

Cybrary In 2019, alumni-owned company Cybrary opened an office in the College Park Discovery District and completed a $15 million series B round.

DivvyCloud In 2020, cloud security company DivvyCloud was acquired by Rapid7 in Boston for $145 million.

“I look forward to our monthly investor meetings. It’s not only about seeing and investing in great companies, it’s about seeing and spending time with great friends. I always learn something new from the other Angels’ questions or insights.” —KATHRYN STEWART, INVESTOR

D uring quarantine, the Dingman Center Angels conducted a virtual investor meeting and later invested in fitness startup FORTË, founded by varsity field hockey alumna Lauren Foundos ’06.

A n investor education session held at the Discovery District's Diamondback Garage.

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Board of Advisors MUCH OF THE Dingman Center’s strength of vision can be attributed to the innovators on our Advisory board. Members are strong leaders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and faithful advocates of our programs. Their commitment of time, talent and treasure is what drives us forward.

Bill Boyle '81, Board

Charles G. Carr '85 |

Harry Geller '81 | Serial

Chair | FIBERGATE, INC. Bill founded FiberGate, Inc., a Washington D.C. metro area provider of dark fiber services.

He ran the company for 17 years and successfully exited in the fall of 2012.

Currently, Bill invests and works with startup companies through the Dingman Center Angels.

RSM Chuck is a Partner at RSM, the leading U.S. provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market. He primarily serves technology and life science clients, as well as numerous restaurant/hospitality clients.

Chuck has assisted many companies with their IPO process.

Entrepreneur Harry is an entrepreneur whose career has spanned a broad range of successful startup companies. Geller has launched, owned and managed fourteen multi-million dollar businesses, primarily focused on the fields of logistics, food services and real estate.

Maurice Boissiere ’89 |

Stephen B. Ferber '90

DataTribe Maurice is the Chief Customer Officer of DataTribe, a cyber foundry that invests and co-builds cybersecurity ventures.

He has more than 20 years of product leadership experience at early-stage ventures and is an Adjunct Professor at UMD.

| Golden Gate BPO Solutions, LLC Stephen is CEO & Managing Partner of Golden Gate BPO Solutions, LLC, which he founded in 2006 in conjunction with Paxys, Inc. and Advanced Contact Solutions, one of the largest outsourced providers of contact center and BPO solutions in Southeast Asia.

Jeff Grinspoon '90, MBA '95 | VWG Wealth

Paul Capriolo '06 | Zentail Paul founded Social Growth Technologies, a social gaming advertising startup he grew for seven years before securing its acquisition by Kiswe Mobile in 2016. Currently, Paul is the Director of Growth at Zentail, an e-commerce technology company based in Columbia, MD.

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Matthew Fishlinger '07 | Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC In 2014, Matthew formed Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC with his father, William Fishlinger, former CEO and Chairman of The Wright Insurance Group. Gramercy provides financial, operational and legal resources for both domestic and foreign property and casualty insurance entities.

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Management Jeff is Managing Director, Partner at VWG where he works with business owners and executives formulating business succession plans, managing liquidity events and executing wealth transfer strategies.

Gloria Jacobovitz, Ph.D. | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Gloria is an entrepreneur, angel investor and technology manager. She has over 20 years of experience in research, technology based startups and entrepreneurship, as well as Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

David Quattrone, MBA '05 | Cvent David is Co-founder and CTO at Cvent, for which he designed and supervised the development of Cvent's original beta product as well as all of Cvent's subsequent product releases, upgrades and redesigns.

Pam Rothenberg | Womble Bond Dickinson At Womble, Pam founded and leads the firm’s Impact Economy team.

Providing both cutting edge strategic consulting and a fullbreadth of legal services, Pam’s team helps companies and entrepreneurs “grow their competitive advantage, with Impact.”

Michael Schwab | D&H Distributing Company Michael began his D&H career in 1989 as an outside sales rep. in the Philadelphia area. Over the years, he has overseen D&H's staff of product managers, growing the department from two to more than 50 representatives. Michael became copresident in 2008.

Kathryn Stewart | Cranbrook Capital Kathryn is Founder and Managing Director of Cranbrook Capital, which provides seed and early stage capital to emerging tech-focused companies. The firm has invested

in Apio Systems, CircleUp, Canvas, Homesnap, GoTenna, Passive Capital Management and SalesWarp.

Polly Vail | Turnstyle Partners Polly is a consultant who develops strategies and implementation plans for clients on branding and business development. Her past clients include the International Lyme Disease Society and GeniusRocket, where she served as business development director and president.

New Members 2019-20

biotech entrepreneurs and serves on the board of three companies.

Ralph P. Sita, Jr., CPA ’84 | Cybrary Ralph is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cybrary, a crowdsourced Cyber Security and IT career development and training platform. Prior to starting Cybrary, he founded a CPA firm that operated for over 22 years.

Newly Elected 2020-21

Max Weiner ’96 | Max Weiner

Ish Dugal ’05 | Golden Arc Capital Ish is the Founder and Managing Partner at GoldenArc Capital, a Silicon Valley based private investment firm. Ish has 14 years of venture capital and private equity investment experience and has invested in 15+ high growth ventures with 3 IPOs and multiple M&A exits from his portfolio.

Deborah Hemingway, Ph.D. ’18 | Dingman

Jewelers, Budge Technology Inc. Max is an Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor and Gemologist who works mainly in second-hand jewelry markets buying and selling Diamonds, Watches, Coins and precious metals.

Harry Alford, III ’07 | humble ventures Harry is the Co-Founder of humble ventures, a DC-based venture development firm that drives innovation forward in partnership with startups, investors, and established organizations.

Jennifer Hsin ’98 | CNF Investments

Center Angels Deborah received a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Maryland before launching a biotech company, Leon Scientific. She is an active angel with the Dingman Center Angels and advises local biotech startups, mentors

LLC Jennifer is a Director and CFO at CNF Investments LLC, where she is responsible for sourcing and managing portfolio companies with a focus on SaaS and tech-enabled businesses.

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

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Our Empowering Network WHETHER IT’S TIME , talent or treasure, the Dingman Center network gives back in immeasurable ways.

Much of this support goes to seeding student-run startups. This year we distributed over $155,000 in nondilutive seed funding to student entrepreneurs participating in our programs. Thank you to our donors and corporate sponsors for your generous support.

Ish and Priya Dugal Impact Fellowship

Kathryn Stewart Fellowship

Ish ’05 and Priya Dugal ’05 donate a stipend for an undergraduate student to spend a summer interning at an early-stage social enterprise.

Dingman Center Angel and board member Kathryn Stewart donates a stipend for undergraduate students who want to intern at an early-stage startup.

CORPORATE PARTNERS Gold | $10,000–$24,999

Casey Harris ’21 Jason Malkofsky-Berger ’21 Major: Marketing and Operations Management; Business Analytics Intern at Hydrus.ai, a San Francisco based analytics software company focused on automating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data reporting and integrity. The company was founded

by George Lee ’17, a Terp Startup alumnus and former finalist of Pitch Dingman Competition.

Major: Computer Science with a minor in Anthropology Intern at SpotlightAI, a one-stop shop to identify, redact and share sensitive data securely.

Silver | $5,000–$9,999

Josh Quiat ’22 Major: Finance Intern at Airgility which provides the best-in-class hybrid VTOL unmanned aerial systems to make a big social impact.

Honor Roll of Donors Mr. Kurt R. Aarsand and Mrs. Jeanne Aarsand Mr. Maurice Boissiere, Jr. ’89 Mr. William J. Boyle ’81 Mr. Alexander F. Castelli Mr. Jason I. Cohen ’96 Mr. Christopher E. Dax Mr. Ishdeep S. Dugal ’05 and Mrs. Priya A. Dugal ’05 Stephen B. Ferber ’90, Esq. and Mrs. Melissa Ferber ’89 Mrs. Elana R. Fine ’97 Fishlinger Family Foundation Mr. Matthew J. Fishlinger ’07 and Mrs. Meaghan Fishlinger Mr. William J. Fishlinger ’71

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Jon M. Forster ’86, Esq. and Mrs. Andrea S. Forster Mr. Harry L. Geller ’81 Mr. Jeffrey S. Grinspoon ’90, MBA ’95 Ms. Sara E. Herald, MBA ’11 Mr. Robert G. Hisaoka ’79 Ms. Tricia D. Homer Mr. Kenneth R. Jones ’97 and Mrs. Min Hyung Jones Mrs. Claire D. Knight ’53 Dr. Rudolph P. Lamone Mr. Jacob Muss ’17 Mrs. Ellen P. Myerberg, MBA ’76 and Dr. Nathan James Myerberg Parsons Ventures, Inc. Mr. Thomas B. Parsons ’93, MBA ’10

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Mr. David Quattrone, MBA ’05 and Mrs. Robyn Quattrone Ms. Brianna A. Queen ’19 Mr. Daniel C. Schwab Mr. Michael J. Schwab and Mrs. Debbie L. Schwab Ralph P. Sita, Jr. ’84, C.P.A. Mrs. Kathryn K. Stewart Mr. Keith B. Sullivan ’82 and Ms. Allison Fette Sullivan Mr. Benjamin D. Taragin ’19 Mr. Charles J. Thomas ’72 and Mrs. Karen U. Thomas Ms. Mary Blair Vail Mr. David K. Wagstaff ’90 Mrs. Constance K. Weaver ’75 and Mr. David H. Weaver

Bronze | Up to $4,999

Staff, Faculty & Community The Center's activities helped lead the University of Maryland to a #7 ranking in The Princeton Review's annual survey of Top Schools for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Education.

Publishing Team Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17 Megan McPherson Graphic Designer Jennifer Paul ’93 Icons courtesy of the Noun Project: COVER: Idea by Icon Master; Mortar Board

by Stephen Borengasser; Lightning

by Trevor Dsouza; Toolbox by Arthur Schmitt, CA PAGE 2: Speech Bubble by Alex Podolsky PAGE 3: covid by OCHA Visual, US PAGE 4: Award by Yo! Baba PAGE 7: Video Conference by Nawicon PAGE 8: Mannequin by Deemak Daksina, ID; Connection by faisalovers, ID; App by Adrien Coquet PAGE 9: Launch by Adrien Coquet; School

by Jony; Scale by Alone; People by Anastasia Latysheva; Patent by LAFS PAGE 11: Mortar Board by Stephen Borengasser PAGE 12: TV by Adrien Coquet from the Noun Project PAGE 15: Globe by Lagot Design; balance

by Ranah Pixel Studio PAGE 16: Microphone by Maxim Kulikov; Audience by Gregor Cresnar; Calendar by Kirby Wu; Microphone by Markus PAGE 19: Money Grow by Royyan Wijaya PAGE 20: People by Anastasia Latysheva

Images: PAGE 3: @GovLarryHogan via Twitter PAGE 8-9: background art: smaria2015/ Adobe Stock

Dingman Center Professional Staff Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17, Managing Director Brent Goldfarb, Academic Director Sara Herald, MBA ’11, Director of Venture Development Stan Smith, Venture Investment Manager Lottie Byram, MPH, Venture Programs Manager Megan McPherson, Events and Marketing Manager Rudolph P. Lamone, Founding Director

Faculty Affiliates Bob Baum, Professor Emeritus Protiti Dastidar, Associate Department Chair and Clinical Professor Waverly Ding, Associate Professor Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, Associate Professor Oliver Schlake, Clinical Professor Andrew Sherman, Adjunct Professor Evan Starr, Assistant Professor Mark Wellman, Clinical Professor Joe Bailey, Research Associate Professor

Legal Advisors Dan Connors ’82 Jon Forster ’86 Scott Kimpel Steve Patterson Stephen Plotnick ’96 Minh-Quan Pham, Ph.D. ’99 Corinne M. Pouliquen ’89 David Taylor ’90 Chris Yook

Venture Mentors Harry Alford, III ’07 Don Baker Drew Bewick ’88 Maurice Boissiere ’89 Paul Capriolo ’06 Jon Chapman, MBA ’07 McKeever (Mac) Conwell, II Theresa Daytner ’89 Ish Dugal ’05 Brittany Eleazer Aurelia Flores Harry Geller ’81 LaKisha Greenwade, MBA ’11 Jolene Gurevich Tricia Homer Jennifer Hsin ’98

Hilina Kebede Neal Kursban ’00 Mark Lawrence ’02 Bob London ‘83 George Lee ‘18 Monique Maley Martin Mayorga Zeki Mokhtarzada ’00 Brianna Queen ’19 Pramod Raheja ’91 Zach Rubin ’12 Patty Simonton Cee Smith Jasmine Snead ’17, MBA/MPP ’21 Ben Tchoubineh ’93 Polly Vail Francie Wasser Max Weiner ’96 Michelle Wyatt, MBA ’02 Natty Zola

Terp Startup Coaches Harry Alford, III Drew Bewick Maurice Boissiere McKeever (Mac) Conwell, II Philip Eliot Tricia Homer Jennifer Hsin Zeki Mokhtarzada David Quattrone, MBA ’05 Kathryn Stewart Polly Vail Valerio Zanini

Pitch Dingman Competition Coaches Maurice Boissiere Cullen Gilchrist Jennifer Hsin Phil Masiello, MBA ’92 Polly Vail Adam VanWagner ’11, MPS ’15

Student Workers Barathi Aravindan ’22 Jasmine Crisostomo ’21 Hannah Shraim ’20 Simratpal Singh, MBA ’20 Jasmine Snead ’17, MBA/MPP ’21 Matthew Talley ’21

DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

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Robert H. Smith School of Business Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship 2518 Van Munching Hall College Park, MD 20742 Dingman@rhsmith.umd.edu www.rhsmith.umd.edu/Dingman FACEBOOK: /dingmancenter TWITTER: @UMD_Dingman LINKEDIN: Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship WORDPRESS: dingmanblog.com INSTAGRAM: @dingmancenter