Grace Lanni Talks about Avinde

Grace Lanni Talks about Avinde

Where are you from originally?

Syracuse, NY


What university did you go to?

Syracuse University (biomedical/electrical engineering)


What brought you to Austin?

1999 - First S/W StartUp - VP Professional Services & Sales.


What is your group’s mission?

AVINDĒ’s Mission: Educate diverse women who have skills to launch and lead scalable businesses in multiple markets from idea to validation to funding readiness locally, nationally, and internationally; be the go-to voice for scalable women’s businesses.


What need does it fulfill?

AVINDĒ empowers women who know they want to launch their first startup, and aren’t plugged into the Austin entrepreneurial scene. These women are subject matter experts, and are often looking to exit corporate and want to design a $MM business. AVINDĒ is a place where they can learn from multiple seasoned entrepreneurs, share the ride with 25 other new entrepreneurs, and get answers on everything involved operationally to launch their first startup. We also provide relevant women’s considerations regarding self-promotion, IP-protection, fundraising, negotiation, etc.


What exactly does it bring to startups?

In one word, empowerment. Our women founders are supported, challenged, and guided. Many women go from idea to validation to business model design to pitching investors throughout the 15 week program. Others have launched and have revenue, but can’t get their business to the $1M/yr mark. It is wonderful to watch these women entrepreneurs achieve their goals.


What type of startup would benefit from your group?

It’s really for women who want to design, validate, and launch a scalable business. The diversity in product/market and in experience allows us to focus on specific issues in the 1-1 mentoring sessions.


What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the initiative?

This is the first non-profit I’ve launched. There is a lot to learn about the mechanics of the business.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Be part of a diverse, supportive mentor community.


What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?

Capital Factory & TechRanch Events as partner communities: AVINDE works with entrepreneurs from the time they decide - I want to be a CEO of a $MM company. Our ideation and tech transfer support allows those entrepreneurs who don’t yet have their idea to flourish. Once the idea is validated, Capital Factory & TechRanch might be a great next step for our entrepreneurs. Online local Resource - Bijoy Goswami’s - stay connected to other startup communities.
http://www.mindmeister.com/24358308/austin-entrepreneurship-scene

Jan Triplett talks about the First Look Forums and the Business Success Center

Where are you from originally?
Corpus Christi, Texas

What university did you go to?
DU (Masters) UT (Ph.D.)

What brought you to Austin?
Get my doctorate at UT

What is the idea behind your startup?
To make it possible for businesses of any kind to find a mentor to help them ramp up through the First Looks Forum mentoring program.

What need does it fulfill?
It gets and keeps business owners on course.
What exactly does your product do?
Business Success Center ramps up new businesses and scales up existing businesses. Our focus is on sales, marketing, and financial management vision, strategy, and implementation of structure.

Who is it for?
Business owners of independently owned and operated businesses.

What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?
There are a lot of details in managing the First Looks Forum program. It brings in new mentees from new industries each month with new problems. They need to be prepared for meetings with potential mentors and followup sessions with us on what else they should consider. It also requires a lot of coordination with existing mentors plus adding and preparing new mentors to constantly improve the program.

What is the next step for you and your startup?
Find additional ways to strengthen the program and the working arrangement with Texas Entrepreneur Networks, our strategic ally for First Looks.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
To bring in experts to help before you need them. The other advice is to make sure that there is one person examining that advice. That expert guide needs to make sure the ideas work together and not just create more work. The danger is wasting time sorting through all the ideas for ramping and scaling a business that don’t work together holistically.

What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
I have found the Austin Business Journal and its Ask the Experts section extremely useful. I am one of the ABJ experts but I learn a lot reading what the others say on a variety of business questions.  They are always short and to the point.

Samantha Snabes of re:3D Talks about Her Startup

Samantha Snabes of re:3D Talks about Her Startup

Where are you from originally?

Detroit Michigan

What university did you go to?

The University of Michigan

What brought you to Austin?

In 2006 I brought my former start-up to Austin due to the favorable economic climate. After selling the company in 2009, I went to work supporting NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2012 I returned to Austin as a Social Entrepreneur in Residence for NASA HQ. After reconnecting with the start-up and social enterprises community in Austin, re:3D chose to Headquarter in Austin TX where three of our co-founders reside.

What is the idea behind your startup?

re:3D was founded in January 2013 by a team of six dynamic entrepreneurs with diverse professional backgrounds, yet united by one singular vision: to transform the tangible world through 3D printing. Our founders have more than 50 years of combined experience in engineering, manufacturing, tool and die, research and entrepreneurship.  For detailed descriptions of our team member backgrounds, please visit our website at www.re3d.org.

Based in Austin, TX, re:3D is committed to trailblazing new frontiers in 3D printing. Our flagship technology, the Gigabot, is a high-performance, robust, affordable 3D printer with a build volume of 8 cubic feet -- 30 times the build volume of a standard consumer device. re:3D is also at the forefront of material science, developing novel printer feedstocks including recycled plastics and enriched composites. With a global online marketplace and a localized presence in Latin America, re:3D is reaching untapped emerging markets worldwide.

What need does it fulfill?

While 3D printing has the potential to democratize manufacturing, the technology continues to reside among highly trained engineers and hobbyists in the U.S. and Western Europe. re:3D seeks to expand the frontiers of 3D printing through global outreach, hardware innovation, and social mission:   

Mass customization meets the human scale.  

The vast majority of home 3D printers have a build volume of less than 1 cubic ft, which limits the ability to create at human scale. Gigabot enables printing in the 8 cubic ft range.  Imagine household, industrial, and educational applications. For example, communities are already envisioning 3D-printed furniture, tools, decorative artwork, storage containers, and other functional objects.  Architectural firms can now create in-house rapid prototyping at a larger, high-quality scale.  Conversely, small production companies can now affordably complete in-house set design.  Imagine a micro-entrepreneur in Latin America creating composting toilets and rainwater catchment systems for local sanitation and water conservation projects.  Think big, print big. 

Alternative feedstocks: challenging existing paradigms for material sourcing. 

The materials we use to create products defines the lifecycle of our economies.  3D printing opens new avenues for sourcing and producing objects that will reposition fabrication in a post industrial world.  Recognizing this, re:3D is developing an extruder technology to transform recycled materials into plastic filament.  "3D re:purposing" will not only drive down input costs, but create new markets for recycled materials, thereby reducing landfill waste and resource depletion.

Social innovation with global reach.  

Modern society is facing complex, dynamic challenges that require solutions capable of spanning local needs with global demands. re:3D's vision is to harness the rapid growth potential of 3D printing technology to create employment opportunities and new end users in Latin America and other emerging markets.  By leveraging relationships with local educational institutions, governments, non-profit organizations, and corporations, re:3D builds communities around customized 3D printing solutions. 

What exactly does your product do?

3D printing is a massive market opportunity. It's democratizing manufacturing and allowing rapid customization of tangible objects.  Thanks to the current desktop 3D printer market, we’re getting better and better at creating iphone cases, puzzle toys and bobble heads and handheld objects... but what about tools, furniture, and architectural models --- functional objects at the human scale that truly meet human needs??

At re:3D, we're tackling the two biggest obstacles constraining 3D printing: scale and cost.

Our flagship technology, the Gigabot, is an affordable, industrial 3D printer with a build volume of 8 cubic feet -- 30x the scale of other printers on the market.  Imagine, with this technology you can now run your own rapid prototyping system, at a sliver of the cost of traditional injection molding systems.  Now, we are working hard to develop a device convert plastic trash into filament, reducing the cost barrier to 3D printing and opening high growth markets worldwide.

Who is it for?

re:3D’s innovative solutions address global needs across multiple industries, including education; waste reduction & repurposing; water management; sanitation; agriculture; and impact investing, just to name a few. By physically meeting contributors in related open source outlets, we are facilitating community between makers and end users. The beginnings have been very quick to come - we started the company less than six months ago - but we are committed to pushing the frontiers of 3D printing throughout the life of our company. Success begets success, and it's important for us to be distributed in multiple industries because of the close interaction between all social entrepreneurial endeavors.

What was the most challenging aspect of starting up a business?

Any engineering endeavor is a balancing act between the opposing forces of physics: form vs. function; precision vs. speed; feature vs. necessity. Matthew Fiedler, Chief Hacker of re:3D, optimized Gigabot for performance and size at a highly affordable price point for serious hobbyists and small businesses alike.

A second obstacle has been maintaining effective lines of communication within a distributed team.  The re:3D founders are currently spread across four distinct geographies: Austin, TX; Santiago, Chile; Houston, TX; and Syracuse, NY.  We’ve overcome the distance by rigorously maintaining biweekly video chat tag-ups, and prioritizing face-to-face meetings whenever possible.  We also leverage multiple communication channels including Google Hangouts, Skype chat, and e-mail.

What is the next step for you and your startup?

Our current efforts are focused on delivering high quality products to our Kicksterter backers and showcasing product improvements at the Detroit MakerFaire and New York Makerfaire. In the upcoming months, we’ll also be expanding research in recycled plastics and growing the company and brand through stepwise incremental development.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?

Don’t be afraid to break the rules. In a world where new crowdfunding, communication tools, accelerators, and open source resources are launched daily, anything is possible and norms for business are evolving.  As a result not only manufacturing, but entrepreneurship is being democratized and individuals and teams are empowered to define the standards for how start-up form and succeed. 

What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?

SXSW.  re:3D launched the Gigabot Kickstarter campaign at the SXSW Interactive conference in the Company’s backyard of Austin, TX.  Showcased at Startup Chile’s trade show booth, re:3D ran a live demo of Gigabot printing in action for hundreds of SXSW participants. The demo generated significant buzz and media attention, which catapulted our Kickstarter campaign. In just 24 hours, Gigabot had met its Kickstarter goal, only to double it the following day.  Gigabot’s Kickstarter campaign ran through May 9, 2013 raising over $250,000.

Sara Seely Talks about Equistar

Sara Seely Talks about Equistar

Where are you from originally?

I grew up in Irving, Tx

What university did you go to?

Texas Tech University

What brought you to Austin?

My husband and I lived in Houston while he attended law school.  When he graduated, we knew we wanted to leave Houston before we were “stuck” in jobs there.  We had friends in Austin and loved the city, and we had family close by in New Braunsfels.  So we sold our home in Houston and moved here with no jobs.  We made it work, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.

What is your group’s mission?

To provide real value to our clients through personalized financial advice and investment management to busy professionals and their families.

What need does it fulfill?

My partner Jenny Fleming and I have worked with a lot of entrepreneurs and people in transition.  Our clients are busy in their professional and family life, and they need advice they can trust to manage their personal financial life so that they can meet their long-term goals as a family. 

As a women-owned firm, we are especially well suited to work with females and couples who share decision-making.  

What exactly does it bring to startups?

In my experience, entrepreneurs do an excellent job of executing and getting the advice they need for their business.  However, so often I see their personal finances and planning fall through the cracks.  That is where we come in to play the role of personal CFO.  We offer proactive advice and make sure plans are implemented, not just discussed.  When a liquidity event occurs, we are there to help our clients work through the transaction from their family standpoint.

What type of startup would benefit from your group?

The most benefit comes to startups that are close to some type of liquidity event.  Prior to a transaction, good personal risk management and tax planning are very important.  We also provide charitable and estate planning, and ultimately investment management once a sale has gone through.  

Best regards,

Hall T. 

Angelhack Coming to Austin June, 2013

AngelHack organizes hackathon competitions for web developers and entrepreneurs, called AngelHacks, where they can learn developer tools, meet new friends, and receive funding and mentorship for their startup ideas. In 2013, AngelHack will organize 100 hackathons, bringing together 10,000+ developers in 50+ cities.  They now have extended their hackathons into a full blown accelerator.  Winners from each city are put through the AngelHack Accelerator Program, where they receive mentorship for 12 weeks before heading out to Silicon Valley for pitch practice and then to raise investment and potentially join incubators.  Their stated goal is "to be the largest funnel of seed-stage technical talent into incubators and investors around the world."

Damon Clinkscales is organizing the Austin event and Sam Decker is hosting it  at Mass Relevance scheduled for June 1 -2, 2013.   You can sign up here and with the discount code 'txenet', you can get 50% off of your ticket.


Damon said "we want to give developing teams in Austin a venue to showcase their talents...to get more exposure. I hope hackers, hustlers, and designers out there who have ideas of things they want to build will join us at Mass Relevance for the weekend."

You can learn more about Angelhack at this link.  I hope to see you there. 

Best regards,
Hall T. 

Dell Social Innovation Challenge 2013 -- Solving the World's Most Pressing Problems

For those who don't know the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, it identifies  promising young social innovators who dedicate themselves to solving the world's most pressing problems with transformative ideas. 

The challenge was launched in 2007 by the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2008 Dell became the title sponsor, lending its name and resources. Dell announced a $5 million gift to expand our efforts worldwide at the close of the 2011 challenge to engage more than 60,000 students a year.

Anyone can join our growing online social innovation community and support students on their projects. Only currently enrolled university and college students can create project entries and compete in our annual grand prize competition.

The Dell Social Innovation Challenge annual competition is open to any university student in the world–-it doesn’t matter what school you attend or what you’re studying.  And you don’t need a venture plan to enter.  Everything from early-stage ideas to mature projects that are up and running can compete to win. 

Finalists will be flown to Austin, Texas to pitch live to a panel of judges for cash awards.  The criteria for selecting the winners are 

Clarity of the innovation

Demonstration of high probability of success

Potential impact from winning the competition.

The dates are

• May 11 – 16, 2013: Finalist Week in Austin, Texas
  May 13, 2013: Finalist Pitches in Austin, Texas
  May 14, 2013: Verb Awards in Austin, Texas

You can RSVP here to see the awards.

Hall T. 

The Next Stage of Angel Investing: Revenue-based Funding

Early stage angel funding involves a high level of risk but also holds the promise of substantial reward.  Investors in early stage companies help grow those companies and can make a great return.  How you structure the investment will make a big difference in the return you see.  Most setup investments as equity structures in which the investor takes an ownership position in the company. The investor receives a payback when the company reaches an exit by being bought out. 

Ten years ago, start ups could reach exits within five to seven years.  The average time to an exit today is just under twelve years.  That’s a long time to wait for a payback.  The mantra for angel investors is that you want three to five times your money in three to five years.  One way to achieve that goal is to shift the deal structure from equity to revenue sharing.  Instead of taking an equity position, the investor takes a percent of revenue till a predefined return is achieved.  This is often in the 3X to 5X range although I've seen returns go higher based on the risk in the deal.

This structure requires the company to have established some revenue already.  Typically, the company has to have generated at least $100K of revenue to be considered although there are investors who are interested in a greater risk/reward factor and will consider earlier stage deals.   The company needs a gross margin of at least 40 to 50% to be able to payback out of revenues.  The typical payback rate is 3 to 5% of revenues on a monthly or quarterly basis.  Most companies participating in this type of funding start paying back after six to twelve months.

The key to making revenue based funding work is in the terms sheet and the process.  It’s not obvious how to select deals, structure the terms, and follow up the investment.  One must consider the tax implications to the investor and the entrepreneur.  

The Texas Entrepreneur Network helps early and mid-stage companies raise funding.  Whether you are an entrepreneur or an investor you may want to consider the revenue-based funding model. 

Best regards,

Hall T. 

Dan Sharp Talks about the UT Office of Technology Commercialization

Dan Sharp Talks about the UT Office of Technology Commercialization



Where are you from originally?

I grew up in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.


What university did you go to?

I received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law and B.S. in Electrical
Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.


What brought you to Austin?

I came to UT in 1992 to study electrical engineering and have pretty much stayed here.


What is your group’s mission?

The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) is the engine charged with ensuring an
efficient transfer of the university’s knowledge and discoveries into the marketplace for society’s
use and benefit. We protect, market and license the the university’s inventions and software.  We also
educate the university’s faculty on patent protection and commercialization processes as well as promote collaboration with industry,  investors and those within the tech commercialization ecosystem.


What need does it fulfill?

OTC serves many functions, but for purposes of this article, I think it is helpful to think
of OTC as the conduit from the lab to the private sector. We vet technology disclosures,
assume the risk of patenting the technology, locate partners, and in many instances, locate
funding sources for the underlying research to continue development.


What exactly does the OTC bring to startups?

Generally, the OTC will work with startups intended to develop UT intellectual property. This
typically is different from a startup that creates an app or a web portal. We are able to link a
startup company with technology that is being developed in a university lab, which is quite an
asset for a cash-starved startup.


What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the initiative?

There is a tendency to want to do too much and to lose focus on the core functions of the
OTC. It is vitally important that the OTC remains cognizant of the functions that it performs
well. We must focus on those functions and continue to develop those capabilities. There are
functions that we will never be able to perform particularly well and we need to make sure that
we outsource those functions to entities/people who can perform them well.


What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurship is awfully exciting. But it is also hard work and it is not a get rich quick scenario. The
advice I would give is embrace the difficulties and challenges since entrepreneurship is more art than
science. There is no way to truly learn how to start companies without doing it and struggling along the
way. Trite as it may sound, starting a company is a very hard way to make a living.


What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?

The people of Austin. The community in general is quite supportive. I think that is one of Austin’s
strengths.

Kyle Cox talks about the Austin Technology Incubator

Kyle Cox talks about the Austin Technology Incubator

Where are you from originally?

Atlanta, GA. Moved to Austin in 2006, left in 2008 and came back in 2009.

What university did you go to?

BSEE, Georgia Tech

MBA, Emory University

What brought you to Austin?

St. Jude Medical relocated the US Sales Division HQ here in Jan 2006 from Los Angeles

What is your group’s mission?

ATI has a dual mission of helping early-stage technology companies interested in Austin as a base with focus in the areas of BioSciences, Clean Energy, and IT/Wireless Enterprise Enabling Technologies along with providing a commercialization opportunity for UT-Austin students and faculty thru concepts and programs of applied entrepreneurship. 

What need does it fulfill?

ATI is a resource for entrepreneurs in the IT / Wireless, Clean Tech and Bio Tech industries or spaces at the University of Texas, the Central Texas region or for those who choose to move to Austin from other cities, states or countries.  We get our member companies connected to capital, talent, mentoring and professional services to make sure that their technology startup company has the best chance for long term success.

What exactly does it bring to startups?

As mentioned above, we get our member companies funded (ATI has an 85% success rate getting our member companies funded over the past 5 years).  We assist them in building their teams and finding talent, connections and introductions to potential customers, partners, professional services, mentors, talent and money.   We also assist them in the continuous discussion of strategy and direction of these companies.

What type of startup would benefit from your group?

Early-stage technology companies focused in the BioSciences, Clean Energy, and IT/Wireless Enterprise Enabling Technologies. ATI’s “sweet spot” for bringing a startup company on board as a member is one that is not too early or too late.  That means the founder(s) have spent some of their own money to get their idea into a prototype stage and are at the point of needing seed funding and mentoring to take their idea, product and company to that “next” stage.

What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the initiative?

ATI had been in business and a part of The University of Texas @ Austin for 24 years so we are not a start up and I was not around when this initiative was started.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?

Find experienced, smart individuals and talk to them about your idea and your plan for execution

What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful andwhy?

Bijoy Goswami and his leadership with the ATXEntScene,  Bootstrap, and the ATXEquation.groups

Mitch Jacobson Talks about the Austin Technology Incubator

Mitch Jacobson Talks about the Austin Technology Incubator

Where are you from originally?  

Originally from Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Clearwater, FL

What university did you go to?  

 I have a business degree from University of Florida.

What brought you to Austin?  

I moved to Austin in 1989 to work for Dell and run one of the three sales organizations at Dell called Dell Direct.  I was with Dell for a total of 8 years.

What is your group’s mission? 

 The Austin Technology Incubator’s mission is to harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance, and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition into successful, high growth technology businesses. 

What need does it fulfill?

ATI is a resource for entrepreneurs in the IT / Wireless, Clean Tech and Bio Tech industries or spaces in the Central Texas region or for those who choose to move to Austin from other cities, states or countries.  We get our member companies connected to capital, talent, mentoring and professional services to make sure that their technology startup company has the best chance for long term success.

What exactly does it bring to startups?

As mentioned above, we get our member companies funded (ATI has an 85% success rate getting our member companies funded over the past 5 years).  We assist them in building their teams and finding talent, connections and introductions to potential customers, partners, professional services, mentors, talent and money.   We also assist them in the continuous discussion of strategy and direction of these companies.

What type of startup would benefit from your group?

ATI’s “sweet spot” for bringing a startup company on board as a member is one that is not too early or too late.  That means the founder(s) have spent some of their own money to get their idea into a prototype stage and are at the point of needing seed funding and mentoring to take their idea, product and company to that “next” stage.

What was the most challenging aspect of starting up the initiative?

ATI had been in business and a part of The University of Texas @ Austin for 24 years so we are not a start up and I was not around when this initiative was started. 

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?

My advice for entrepreneurs is that once you have an idea for a product that solves a problem, make sure that you do a tremendous amount of research into the space that you are entering, and understanding the present competition that exists.  There is always competition no matter how good the ideal and technology may be.  Be persistent but not stubborn.  Be willing to change and pivot for the good of the long term success of the company.

What Austin-based resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?

The Austin Technology Incubator is just one resource in Austin and Central Texas for entrepreneurs.   Entrepreneurs in Austin are lucky in that many resources exist and we are partners with many other professional services companies, The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, The City of Austin, Austin Energy, The CleanTX Foundation, Symbiosis and The Rice Alliance, The Austin Technology Council, The Central Texas Angel Network, and many, many more.