Date post: | 28-Jul-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | idea-northeastern-university |
View: | 214 times |
Download: | 0 times |
1
2016 Impact ReportIDEA: Northeastern University’s Venture Accelerator
2
IDEA works with people who are passionate about
solving problems, building great products, and
developing businesses that impact the world around
them.
3
Letter from the Team
Cumulative Impact
Year in Review
Measuring Venture Learning
Partners and Supporters
Thank You
040618264246
4
IDEA began when a handful of Northeastern students came together to help
their peers start companies on campus. Over the past six years, the program
has grown and evolved under student leadership to support a rapidly growing
community of early-stage ventures. Today, IDEA provides Northeastern
entrepreneurs the valuable support, resources, and educational experience of
developing a business from concept to launch.
Each year IDEA grows and improves to better serve the Northeastern
community, and 2015 has been no different. As a team, we are committed
to ensuring that IDEA is built to last by focusing our attention on creating
resources, developing content, and establishing programming that will benefit
the IDEA community for years to come. This has been a big year for us, and we
are excited to share our accomplishments with you.
We are constantly in awe of the energy, support and tenacity of the IDEA
community.
Thank you. You are extraordinary.
Sincerely,
Annika Morgan, Altschuler-Meyer CEO
Letter from the Team
5
IDEA has worked with nearly 850 concepts to date. The metrics we have
collected from our entrepreneurs show the power of the program to not only
launch successful companies, but also provide life-changing educational
experiences in entrepreneurship. As you read about IDEA and the impact we
are making, here are a few things to remember about the way we work;
Student-led Our team of 20 undergraduate students is responsible for the strategy and
operations of the program. We find this increases the program’s educational
impact by giving students hands-on learning experiences and makes us more
approachable to early-stage entrepreneurs.
Interdisciplinary collaboration It’s no surprise that the best companies are built by teams with a wide variety
of skill sets and experiences. IDEA works across colleges and is available to
Northeastern students, faculty, and alumni who want to solve big problems and
build great products.
Open and flexible The only criteria to join IDEA is that one member of the founding team must be
affiliated with Northeastern. There is no strict application process or mandatory
timelines at any point in the program. We operate year-round and accept new
entrepreneurs every two weeks. Everything we do is designed to match the
varying work pace and needs of our entrepreneurs.
Failure is part of the process At IDEA, we emphasize that concept failure does not equal personal failure.
The failures our entrepreneurs have now are valuable learning experiences
that will contribute to their future successes in starting companies or being
exceptional employees.
6
Cumulative Impact
7
8
IDEA ventures have gone on to:
6 years in operation
850+ total venture
concepts
1802016
602012
1002013
1302014
1452015
Ventures & Funding
42 ventures launched
Active Ventures
322011
9
$800K2013
$5M2014
$13M2015
1802016
$47MRaised in external funding
42 ventures launched
10
Failure is part of the process. At IDEA, we encourage entrepreneurs to learn from every experience and apply it to their next concept.
How many venture concepts have you worked on before your current concept?
42%
28%
30%One Concept
Two Concepts
Three or more concepts
It’s Okay to Start Again
11
Not to be cliche, but you fall down to learn how to pick yourself back up. Everything that made your first concept a failure is all a learning experience to make your second one better.
Julian Jung, Founder and CEO of Tablelist
You're only a failure once you stop.Iteration is a process for how
any great business is built.
“
”
12
IDEA provides funding to ventures to support early-stage development and growth. Applications for funding are reviewed and awarded by student committees.
IDEA Prototype FundYou’ll never know if something works unless you try it. The IDEA Prototype Fund awards up to $1,000 for anyone at Northeastern to build and test an idea.
Funding Impact
$58,350in prototype funding 67
funded prototypes
13
2/3are still in business
IDEA Gap FundA small amount of funding can have a big impact on an early-stage venture. The IDEA Gap Fund awards ventures $10,000 non-equity grants six times a year to fill a business gap.
$874kgap funds awarded
75ventures funded
14
Experiential Impact
“I absolutely love working here. Being part of a team that understands the value of the Northeastern co-op education program has been infinitely valuable in terms of company culture.”
Vivian Ma, Co-op at Mavrck
When ventures launch from IDEA, they continue to benefit from the Northeastern community. Co-op is just one of the ways to stay connected.
former IDEA ventures used Northeastern’s
subsidized co-op program
15
“The reciprocal value of co-op is best exemplified as launched ventures return to Northeastern and hire co-op students. Co-op is an incredible asset to this community!”
Esther Chewning, Associate Cooperative Education Faculty, Entrepreneurship & Management
“I absolutely love working here. Being part of a team that understands the value of the Northeastern co-op education program has been infinitely valuable in terms of company culture.”
Vivian Ma, Co-op at Mavrck
32 Co-op students hired at IDEA ventures
former IDEA ventures used Northeastern’s
subsidized co-op program
students have co-oped for their own venture
1st student venture hiring student co-ops
this semester
16
Team Impact
Where do team members work after IDEA?
Other16%
Entrepreneur
Startup
8%
40%IDEA provides a valuable educational experience for the coaches and student management team members running the program.
17Where do team members work after IDEA?
of IDEA team members strongly agree they
had a valuable learning experience
Fortune 500
93%
36%
“IDEA allowed me and my peers to develop on personal and professional levels quicker than one can imagine. It remains the largest educational impact on my life. Running IDEA allowed us to explore our passions at a young age.”
Matt Saitta, Management Team
and Coach 2011-2015
of former team members are in leadership roles at their current company
40%
18
Year in Review
19
This year we focused on continuing to build a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem to support our ventures and establish processes to ensure IDEA is built to last.
20
Program ActivityIDEA’s stage-gate process accelerates the development of ventures by providing relevant educational and business resources as they advance through each stage.
ReadyCustomer Validation
SetBusiness Model
72Ventures
37Ventures
137Concepts
joined
GoTraction/Scale
Launch$200k+ in funding
37Ventures
9Ventures
22
2015-16 Venture Demographics
Venture Industry
Consumer Software
Physical Products
Enterprise Software
Other
Food
Health Care / Life Sciences
Social Enterprise
32%
20%
15%
14%
8%
5%
5%
“Regardless of your background, the IDEA program has key steps that any entrepreneur needs to know.”
Jamall Oluokun, Revue.me
Undergraduate Students
Alumni
Graduate Students
Faculty
47%
36%
15%
2%
Ventures by Northeastern Relationship
23
D’Amore-McKim School of Business
39%
College of Computer and Information Science
6%
College of Engineering
18%
College of Arts, Media and Design
7%
College of Science3%
Bouvé College of Health Sciences
1%
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
6%
College of Professional Studies
3%
Not Northeastern17%
Education of Founding Team
24
Program Activity
On a scale of 1-10, would you recommend IDEA to another Northeastern entrepreneur?
75%Net Promoter Score
Neutral (7-8)21%
Detractor (1-6)2%
Promoter (9-10)77%
25
26
Measuring Learning
We asked our ventures to assess their personal learning as a result of their involvement with IDEA.
Since starting in IDEA, venture founders have improved in the following areas
Cus
tom
er V
alid
atio
n
Mar
ket
Ana
lysi
s
83%
67%
Pitc
hing
Inve
stor
Rea
din
ess
73%
45%
Go
To M
arke
t
Bus
ines
s M
odel
ing
62%61%
Ready Stage Set Stage Go Stage
100% of ventures agree participating in IDEA has been a valuable learning experience
27
IDEA provides the perfect next step for our lean innovation classes, which take students from opportunity assessment through prototype. Often, promising student’s projects end after the class, but IDEA is the perfect funnel to keep students engaged, and in some cases develop into nascent businesses.
This creates a complete ecosystem directly tying the classroom to entrepreneurship. Additionally, many of our graduate students in our various programs gain and give valuable coaching insight to venture teams. This provides them with exposure to entrepreneurship, and many end up entering their projects into IDEA.
Tucker J. Marion Ph.D. Associate Professor Entrepreneurship and Innovation
“
“
28
Customer Insight
Business Model
Measuring Learning
Level of understanding
Venture learning in the IDEA process is the subject of a post-doctoral research project. Judges are evaluating a venture’s knowledge of business planning as they prepare to pass through each stage-gate. This insight allows us to improve entrepreneurship education programming at Northeastern. Starting from the middle with the lightest color representing when a venture begins in IDEA, the chart shows the span of venture knowledge as they move through the stages.
29
Customer Insight
Solution Design
Beginning
Ready Stage
Set Stage
Level of understanding
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Go Stage
Venture Stage
30
“IDEA has been one of the most influential resources for us in scaling New Grounds Food to where it is today and truly speaks to Northeastern’s focus on experiential learning. We’ve learned so much more than what we could have in a conventional classroom setting by actually building our venture through the stage-gate process at IDEA.”
Johnny Fayad, Co-founder of New Grounds Foods
Alumna Founder
Student Founder
31
“Building Conversation got its start from IDEA with all the basics of planning a startup: validating markets, patents, and incorporating, which helped us get accepted into MassChallenge. Likewise, at every later stage, IDEA mentors and networking have been there to push us and increase our chances of success.”
Terrence Masson, Founder of Building Conversation
Faculty Founder
Alumna Founder
32
Events
“At NEXPO you see all of these other students who are pursuing their ideas as passionately as you are and it motivates you to keep doing what you're doing. Having conversations with these entrepreneurs broadens your outlook on your work and helps ideas grow.”
Abbey Titcomb, Co-Founder of Knightly
Celebrating what’s next in Northeastern innovation
36presenting ventures
513attendees
NEXPO
33
“Founders dinners are a reminder that many of us are going through the same things and can benefit a lot from helping each other out.”
Matt Handy, Co-Founder of SQD
Founders Dinners Bringing the IDEA community together
52ventures
9dinners
Pitch-A-Thon IDEA’s most investment-ready ventures in series of fast-paced 5-minute pitches
11 venturespitched
163investors,mentors & supporters
34
Our Coaches
34coaches
office hour sessions
The IDEA coaching team is made up of young alumni, undergraduate, and graduate students who love startups. They work one-on-one with ventures to guide them through the stage-gate process and connect them with resources.
3,288 total coaching hours
35
"The best part of being a coach is witnessing the transformation of a venture. Entrepreneurs walk in the door with an idea and leave with a business plan, funding support, and an entire community of people rooting for them to succeed. "
Jake Moody, IDEA Coach
36
Our Entrepreneurs in Residence
“The number of ideas being pursued through IDEA is amazing. Young entrepreneurs come from essentially every college at Northeastern, from food ventures to ventures conducting drug discovery. The breadth of ideas being developed says so much about Northeastern and the environment the university has created to encourage and support entrepreneurship.”
Bob Lentz, Entrepreneur in Residence
37
“The number of ideas being pursued through IDEA is amazing. Young entrepreneurs come from essentially every college at Northeastern, from food ventures to ventures conducting drug discovery. The breadth of ideas being developed says so much about Northeastern and the environment the university has created to encourage and support entrepreneurship.”
Bob Lentz, Entrepreneur in Residence
“Bob has been crucial to Jobble’s early stage development. He pushed us to meet our milestones and has made valuable connections for us. Even after we launched from IDEA, we still come back to meet with Bob and the rest of the IDEA team.”
Zack Smith, Founder of Jobble
2 entrepreneurs in residence
267 whiteboardingsessions
New HireHealth Science EIR
Kevin Scanlon
38
Our Mentors
“Our mentors have such a depth of knowledge in our field. They don’t just give us broad guidance, they are able to provide industry-specific predictions that we can trust. We have been able to focus our energy based on that specialized knowledge.”
Chris Canal, Co-founder of Wizio
62 ventures with mentors
182 mentorship meetings
hours spent with ventures
per month
39
Thank You to Our Mentorship Partners
VentureMentoringNetwork
40
Northeastern’s Ecosystem: Mosaic
Mosiac is Northeastern University’s network of student-led organizations that support entrepreneurship and venture creation.
CO-L ABIPFor innovators at Northeastern University
41
Ian McLarney, COO Scout
IDEA ventures have challenged us to develop and strengthen our design capabilities while improving our workflows. From the perspective of our team members,
ventures have acted as the highest quality of experiential learning opportunitiesby enabling our team to develop their technical and leadership skills.
“
”
42
Service Providers
43
working with IDEA was a no-brainer.
Libby Botsford, Version 2.0 Communications
IDEA is on a mission to support the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, and because Version 2.0 loves to partner with innovative companies and brands,
It's been a pleasure providing in-kind PR resources and support to the unique and creative entrepreneurs from both IDEA and the ventures that have stemmed from the organization.
“
“
44
Supporters
Advisory Board
Roy Liu - Chair of the BoardDeb BoedickerJim BourdonKen ColemanRich CorleyHugh CourtneyRobin DevereuxTom DurkinAaron GowellMax KayeNicholas LentoAlan MateoDan McCarthyKrish NangegaddaNick NaraghiSteve PichenyDennis ShaughnessyChris Wolfel
Faculty and StaffNortheastern University Center for
Entrepreneurship Education
Dan GregoryDan McCarthyMarc MeyerEsther ChewningGreg Dalle-MolleKatie DempseyLauren DibbleKatelyn HusereauBob LentzCaitlin RileyKevin ScanlonKathryn Wells
45
46
Thank you
47
Alex AlloccaMiranda BegginOmkar BhatKevin CasasLucas Ferreira da RochaChris DenaroNeel DesaiTanner ElvidgeDrew HartmanConnie HeGabi HomonoffBailey KaneMaia KayeRebecca KlingLauren MaloneyElsa Mayer
Seth McIntyreAnnika MorganKatie MulliganEmily O’BrienJohn O’ConnorAlli PierpontDan PrawdzikLindsey SampsonSarah SienkiewiczEvan SutherlandSarah UrbonasJordan VallininoNina WaskiewiczEbryonna WigginsTed Wolf
The enthusiasm and support of the IDEA community continues to inspire and amaze us year after year. Thank you to all of our entrepreneurs, coaches, mentors, and advisors– it’s an honor to work alongside you.
Keep changing the world!
Sincerely,The 2015-2016 IDEA Management Team
Portrait Photography by Catherine PatchellIcon Illustration by Gabi HomonoffDesigned by Emily O’Brien
48
Venture AcceleratorNortheastern University ’s
northeastern.edu/idea@IDEANEU