News and information on entrepreneurship research and activities at UW-Madison

Points of Intersection at UW-Madison

Anne Miner, Professor in Management and Human Resources and Executive Director of INSITE, discussed emerging models for research and innovation around the subject of the Wisconsin Idea and social entrepreneurship on Friday, October 3, 2008. She joined other faculty, industry leaders and the managing director of the university' technology transfer office for the conversation, part of the special 125th Anniversary Scientific Symposium & Rennebohm Lecture Series in the School of Pharmacy. Other contributors included: Jeanan Yasiri Executive Director of the Center for Nonprofits; Betty Chewning, Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences; Edmund Elder, Director of the Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station; and Carl Gulbrandsen, Managing Director of WARF.

Posted on October 9, 2008 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

World food challenge: Role of technology in food production

On the day before World Food Day, a group of agricultural leaders will gather to discuss how technology can be harnessed to meet the world's need for food, fiber and fuel while reducing their industry's carbon footprint.

The UW-Madison Renk Agribusiness Institute will host a symposium entitled "World Food Challenge: Role of Technology in Food Production" on October 15th from 10:30-11:15 a.m. in the Ebling Symposium Hall of Microbial Sciences Building, 1550 Linden Dr.

Continue reading "World food challenge: Role of technology in food production" »

Posted on September 29, 2008 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Religious beliefs and public attitudes to nanotechnology in Europe and the U.S.

INSITE guest researcher Dietram Scheufele, a Professor of Life Sciences Communication at UW-Madison, will give a free talk on religous climates and attitudes toward emerging scientific innovations on Tuesday, October 21 at 3:30 PM in Grainger Hall Room 1180.

The paper he'll discuss examines the link between religious climates and attitudes toward nanotechnology in the U.S. and a number of European countries, using national survey data. The researchers' results show that respondents in the U.S. were significantly less likely to agree that nanotechnology is morally acceptable than respondents in many European countries. These moral views. in turn, correlated directly with aggregate levels of religiosity in each country, even after controlling for national research productivity and PISA science performance scores. The researchers also found the link between religiosity and attitudes to be stable across different indicators of support for nanotechnology.

Continue reading "Religious beliefs and public attitudes to nanotechnology in Europe and the U.S." »

Posted on September 29, 2008 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gray versus green

INSITE Director John Surdyk recently spoke at the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development on building and maintaining infrastructure. In a panel with the MIchael Pagano, Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois - Chicago, Surdyk identified many of the elements of green infrastructure projects for dozens of newly elected MIdwestern and Canadian legislators. The panel explored the types of public benefits provided by different technologies and the complementary and potentially positive interactions between "gray" and "green" infrastructure when deployed with strategic intent at a regional level. The confluence of demographic pressures, aging roadways and sewerage systems, and energy needs are driving the adoption of green public works projects and sustainable real estate developments in places from Kansas City to Toronto. The challenges intriduced by these pressures also present opportunities worth billions of dollars for social entrepreneurs and creative nonprofit, government and business leaders who can deliver social AND economic value.

Posted on August 14, 2008 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

UW-Madison launches a new high-tech facility on Madison's east side

In an effort to attract more of the high-technology business started by university faculty and students, the University Research Park announced the opening of a new 6,000 square foot facility on East Washington Avenue in Madison. The Urban Research Center will offer more flexible lease terms and office configurations for companies that need less space or who want a more "edgy" feel. The companies of Burrill Competition alumni Joe Saari and Jon Hardin are mentioned. Also mentioned is the beta site for the INSITE Census of university startups cataloging companies with links to the university through the either technology or people involved.

Posted on August 6, 2008 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wisconsin students invited to Europe for WEB2

Six students from top-ranked Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands participated in the 2nd annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Bootcamp in July. With support from Dutch Agro Food Network for Entrepreneurship, faculty at Wageningen will produce a bootcamp during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November focusing on European innovation systems, patenting regulations and related matters for entrepreneurial scientists wanting to commercialize new technologies in the biotech and agricultural arenas. Up to six UW students may attend "WEB2." Please email INSITE Director John Surdyk for more information.

Posted on July 30, 2008 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Theory meets practice in second annual entrepreneurship bootcamp

From new fuel alternatives to embryonic stem cells, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is an international leader in scientific research. This week (July 20-25), the Wisconsin School of Business will direct the second annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (WEB) for graduate students in chemistry, biology, law, and engineering, among others. The program is an intensive, hands-on week of learning focused on technology entrepreneurship, meant to help 57 students explore how business start-ups can create both economic and social value.

Continue reading "Theory meets practice in second annual entrepreneurship bootcamp" »

Posted on July 20, 2008 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WomenEntrepreneur.com taps Miner for insights into improvisation

The study of how individuals and organizations create new knowledge and act when they bump up against unexpected events has become an important issue in management education. At UW-Madison, MIT and other leading business schools, faculty are incorporating material on improvisation in the curriculum. In a recent post on WomenEntrepreneur, Anne Miner, Executive Director of INSITE, provides some examples of companies improvising successfully and a checklist to help others be more effective when doing things on the fly. Among her recommendations:

• Improvise in your areas of expertise
• Be creative
• Make do with what you have at hand
• Pay close attention to information you get from a variety of sources
• Ensure you have a focal point

Miner cautions that improvisation isn't a substitute for rigorous, thoughtful planning, but it can make the difference between shutting up shop or getting by for some firms.

Posted on July 17, 2008 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Research conference builds upon success from prior year

INSITE's annual Technology Entrepreneurship & Institutions Conference concluded Tuesday, June 10 at the Pyle Center. Cutting-edge academic work presented at the event addressed two key questions:

1) How do specific webs of laws, rules, and norms influence technology entrepreneurship?
2) How do efforts to promote technology entrepreneurship themselves influence long-term changes in the institutional settings in which it occurs?

The conference was organized by Anne Miner and Brad Barham from UW--Madison. Other key contributors included INSITE faculty and WAGE collaborators: Jon Eckhardt, Jermey Foltz, Sanjay Jain, Phil Kim, Gaunming Shi, Masako Ueda, and Jonathan Zeitlin.

Conference Advisors included:

Paul Hirsch (Northwestern)
Daniel Kleinman (UW-Madison)
Wes Sine (Cornell)
Gordon Smith (BYU)
Marie Thursby (Georgia Tech)
Lynne Zucker (UCLA)

Leading researchers from around the world in a variety of disciplines participated. Attendees came from key scholarly areas, including: Law, Finance, Sociology, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Entrepreneurship, Political Sciences and more. Additional participants included leading stem cell scientists, area industry executives, the managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and a state senator instrumental in passing an early-stage investment law.

This event was made possible with the generous support of the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy at UW-Madison and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Posted on June 17, 2008 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rescheduled WARF Gilson Talk: The Capital Food Chain for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur, engineer, and angel investor, Bill Payne has invested in more than 30 early-stage companies and serves on the boards of more than a dozen. He will speak on how to structure the very early stages of financing for a new company and how these actions will impact future financing rounds.

Event details:
Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Fluno Center, 601 University Avenue

The event will be held in the main lobby and conference room of the Fluno Center. The event will begin with the speaker's presentation at 5:00 p.m., followed by a networking cocktail reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

To rsvp, please contact Devon Cournoyer.

NOTE: This event was previously scheduled for June 12th, but WARF has moved the date to avoid conflicting with the Wisconsin Technology Council's Entrepreneur Conference.

Posted on May 20, 2008 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Applications for the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Boot Camp due May 31, 2008

Are you a graduate student in science or engineering at UW-Madison?

If you want to know more about tools and concepts for starting a new firm, how to measure and assess products and markets for ideas, or want to think about entrepreneurship as a life path, check out the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Bootcamp!

Program activities will include face-to-face sessions with:
• John Morgridge - Former Chairman/CEO, CISCO Systems. UW alum. WEB sponsor.
• G. Steven Burrill - Founder Burrill & Co. UW alum. Burrill Business Plan sponsor.
• Top UW faculty from across campus
• Campus and community experts in start-ups, intellectual property, and funding

DETAILS AT A GLANCE

WHEN: July 20 - July 25 (Sunday afternoon through Friday)
Full time, full commitment immersion program with evening assignments and events.

WHERE: UW- Madison campus. Classrooms in Grainger Hall.

ELIGIBILITY: Physical, life science or engineering graduate students or post docs preferred. Must be enrolled at
UW-Madison. Competitive admissions with limited seats.

COST: No cost to participants due to generous donations from program sponsors.

Continue reading "Applications for the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Boot Camp due May 31, 2008" »

Posted on May 13, 2008 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Winner of the 100 Hour Challenge announced

Fifteen student teams competed in this year's 100 Hour Challenge. The $300 top prize went Ace Kvit, an undergraduate, for creating a UFO themed coffee table out of scrap materials from the University's SWAP shop. You may see the winners in different categories such as "Most Social Value Generated " or "People's Choice" online at the Wiscontreprenur site.

Posted on April 30, 2008 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WARF Gilson Talk: Successful Exit Strategies

On Monday, April 28, Stan Rose, PhD and President and CEO of Roche NimbleGen will discuss exit strategies for companies as part of the WARF Gilson Discovery Evening Seminars.

A true Wisconsin success story, NimbleGen was built on technology developed by UW-Madison researchers Frederick Blattner, Michael Sussman, Franco Cerrina and Roland Green. The company produces high-density DNA microarrays, a tool used to understand the genetic causes of disease and its genetic predisposition factors, and to conduct comparative genomic analysis and identify potential drug targets. In June 2007, NimbleGen was purchased by Roche for more than $272 million dollars. Dr. Rose, who joined the company as CEO in 2003, will discuss what was entailed in preparing the company to be an attractive acquisition target for Roche, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies.

The event will be held in the main lobby and conference room of the Fluno Center, 601 University Avenue, in Madison. Each event will begin with the speaker's presentation at 5:00 p.m., followed by a networking cocktail reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

To rsvp, please contact Devon Cournoyer.

Posted on April 24, 2008 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Technological Domains and New Product Development Processes

INSITE guest Laura Cardinal, Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship from Tulane University, will discuss her recent research on new product development in different environments. Her talk will be on Friday, April 25, 2008 in Grainger Hall, room 2294 at 10:00 AM. Her areas of expertise are managing innovation and R&D capabilities and understanding the evolution and adaptation of control systems.

Professor Cardinal is the Director of the William B. and Evelyn Burkenroad Institute and Associate and Exxon Professor of Strategy at the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Cardinal is a National Science Foundation grant recipient and has published in Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Journal of Accounting and Economics. She serves on the editorial boards of the Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science.

Continue reading "Technological Domains and New Product Development Processes" »

Posted on April 24, 2008 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Canceled: Policy and Practice Talk with David Audretsch

The INSITE Policy and Practice seminar with David Audretsch scheduled for Tuesday April 8 is canceled due to illness.

Posted on April 7, 2008 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Knowledge Filter and Economic Growth: The Role of Scientist Entrepreneurship

INSITE Policy Seminar guest David Audretsch, the Chair of Economic Development and Director of the Institute for Development Strategies at Indiana University, will will give a free talk on Tuesday, April 8 at 4 PM in Grainger 1175.

He will discuss the prevalence and determinants of the commercialization of research by university scientists and its implications. In his work, Audretsch assesses the role of scientist entrepreneurship by examining research funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute. His findings suggest that the prevalence of commercialization depends highly upon the mode of commercialization used.

Continue reading "The Knowledge Filter and Economic Growth: The Role of Scientist Entrepreneurship " »

Posted on April 2, 2008 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Faculty Entrepreneurship

A WARF Gilson Series event.

Companies are often born when research endeavors meet a market
need. Seventeen years ago, UW-Madison scientists Rock Mackie
and Paul Reckwerdt identified a need for improved image guidance
in radiation treatment for cancer. Today, as a result of their High-Art
slice therapy system, TomoTherapy has multiple issued and pending
patents, as well as exclusive licenses on more than 100 issued and
pending patents worldwide. The company completed its initial public
offering in May 2007, the largest in Wisconsin history. Headquartered
in Madison, TomoTherapy has European operations in Belgium
and more than 150 installations in 16 countries around the world.
Dr. Mackie will speak on the importance and challenges of faculty
entrepreneurship, drawing from his extensive research and business
experiences.

Continue reading "Faculty Entrepreneurship" »

Posted on March 26, 2008 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Burrill Competition plans due on Friday, March 28

Student submissions for the 2008 Burrill Business Plan Competition are due on Friday, March 28 in Grainger Hall 5274C by 4:00 PM. Required entry forms and other helpful materials may be found on the competition website.

Counting the days until the contest happens on Friday, April 18? Download the new Burrill Countdown Widget and be ready! Students will compete for $22,000 in prize money awarded by a panel of outside judges with serious business acumen and imagination.

People may watch the student presentations live on the competition website on April 18 from the comfort of their favorite, wired coffee shop or any place with an Internet connection. Or better yet? Come to Grainger Hall that day to see the presentations live!

Questions? Please contact Competition Director John Surdyk by email.

Posted on March 25, 2008 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finding the Right Balance: Decisions under Uncertainty and Venture Capital Syndicate Size

Zur Shapira, a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management from New York University, will give a free talk on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in Grainger Hall, Room 1175.

Shapira will discuss his current work on decision-making under uncertain conditions and with regard to the size of venture capital syndicates. His research focuses on managerial risk taking, organizational decision-making, and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Continue reading "Finding the Right Balance: Decisions under Uncertainty and Venture Capital Syndicate Size" »

Posted on March 25, 2008 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Push and Pull of Technological Resources: When do Scientist Entrepreneurs Start New Ventures?

Alva Taylor, an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Dartmouth, will talk on Tuesday, March 4 at 4 PM in Grainger 1175.

Paper abstract

Drawing on the idea that capabilities are context-specific to the competitive environment this paper argues that entrepreneurial scientists and business entrepreneurs will react differently to venturing opportunities afforded by technological change. It also suggests that the value of capabilities of venture founders will differ based on the technological change faced at venture entry. We show that prior to a dramatic technological shift, talented entrepreneurial scientists are more likely to enter; after a shift, the flow of scientists reverses, as they are then less likely to enter. Ventures founded after a technological shift are worth more. Our results hold even after controlling for the changes in the types of capabilities that are favored by investors. The findings provide support for linking the origin of capabilities with the competitive environment, and for viewing capabilities as an input in addition to a determinant of organizational outcomes.

This talk is free and open to the public.

Posted on February 29, 2008 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)