Paterno in Happier Days

College football fans always wondered when Joe Paterno’s football career would begin to slow down. The answer came this week with a sudden, whiplash-inducing crash. From USA Today:

A little more than a week after legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno got his record-setting 409th win, the view of his storied, 46-year career suddenly is undergoing a stark revision — tarnished by a child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State involving a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.

Paterno initially announced his decision to retire at the end of the year, but that was not soon enough for the school’s board of trustees, who announced late yesterday that college football’s winningest coach was fired, along with Penn State President Graham Spanier.

The following morning brought news of nightime riots, as thousands of Penn State students took to the streets to protest the firing. “Joe Paterno broke no law,” said one rioter. (Curiously, the students decided to smash street lamps and turn over a television news van in order to make the righteous case that no laws were broken.)

Of course, a savvy marketer or university communications officer would be the first the point out that compliance with the law is not the gold standard for protection of your brand reputation. Kevin Burke of The Daily Gamecock explains why:

[Paterno] fulfilled his legal obligation of notifying someone of the allegations involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky… Paterno, a man of noble stature, seemingly accepted the Penn State athletic director’s decision to simply ban the offender from bringing kids to the facility.

Common sense says this was not enough. The fact that Paterno or anyone else with knowledge of the situation neglected to think that true authorities — the police — needed to be involved is baffling.

This is case in point where the law falls short of our obligations to society.

Paterno isn’t the only “good and noble person” who has come up short when it is time to do the right thing, whether in a football program, a corporate boardroom or a congressional meeting room.

Not Just a Matter of Ethics

Paul Danos, the dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, has called to task those in business and other institutions who fail mightily in their societal responsibilities, while never risking a brush with the law. In speaking of bank regulators and CEOs who allowed terrible risks to flourish in our banking and investment institutions, Danos says:

The parties had the power to avert disaster, but they likely lacked the knowledge their positions required, or even a thorough appreciation of the duties they had assumed. Most important, they seemed to lack the courage to speak up when necessary.

Danos points out that educators must go far beyond what is considered traditional ethics, to “delve into the ambiguity and complexity of ethical dilemmas and into the murky personal motivations that often accompany them.”

He suggests students must fully understand the duties and responsibilities attached to leadership, and appreciate the courage it takes for a leader to admit ignorance. Or make a tough decision that might even hurt a colleague or damage your program’s reputation.

A Matter of Perception

Ethics is an urgently pursued topic these days in college curriculums, from business schools to engineering, science and liberal arts. One reason, students are cheating like crazy. Secondly, they don’t seem to stop once they get named CEO, Senator or Head Coach.

Robert Prentice is the chair of the Business, Government and Society Department at McCombs School of Business, and has just launched an ethics in action video curriculum for college and high school teachers.

He points to recent studies that suggest most people innately believe they are more skilled, ethical and generous than their colleagues. Ethical dilemmas often emerge when a person’s self-image is inflated to a point that he or she feels entitled to cut corners.

“Under certain circumstances, we give ourselves license to play a little faster and looser than we normally would,” Prentice said. “And we don’t realize how much the last decision we made can affect the next decisions we make.”

The brain can also shift perspectives of right and wrong, Prentice said, because it has a vested interest in self preservation. Because the mind deflects self-doubt in favor of a more optimistic outlook, people have a natural tendency to be overconfident.

“We know we haven’t been perfect, but we still want to tell a positive story to ourselves about ourselves,” Prentice said.

Perhaps that positive story is what many Paterno fans would like to focus on right now, but reality has a way of kicking its way through the door at the most inconvenient times. As educators try desperately to teach ethical decision making to a rising generation of leaders, Penn State steps forward with a case history that might stimulate class discussion for many years.

More on Paterno’s Inferno: Five Attitudes That Can Drag Your Reputation to Hell.

Citing results that surprised the researchers, a new study claims that Twitter conversations about a company or product have a direct relationship with the firm’s stock price. If online chatter goes up so does the market valuation.

While previous research had demonstrated a positive relationship between Twitter conversations and sales, this was the first time a strong connection to stock price was shown.

From Texas Enterprise at The University of Texas at Austin:

“It surprised the daylights out of me,” McAlister says of her latest analysis of chatter’s effect. “I had thought it might have something to with sales. I thought sales might have an impact on brand equity. And there might be a remote impact on firm value.”

But the relationship was stronger and faster moving than that. “It’s immediate,” she says. “The chatter changes and the stock price changes.” This sort of information is of interest to investors, and some hedge funds have already begun using online chatter to guide investment strategy.

If you’re looking for ammunition to convince your executive team to take social media seriously, these experts just handed you a sky rocket.

Read the full story at Say What? Research Reveals Impact of Web Talk by Mark Henricks, writing for Texas Enterprise.

Aaron Strout of WCG

Social media is great for Coke, but what about JSR Micro? One has billions of thirsty customers worldwide, the other makes customized chemicals for a small cadre of high performance chip manufacturers. How much online socializing do you need when you can shake the hand of every one of your key customers during a two-day trade show?

Statistics gathered by Social Media B2B show that B2B firms have been slower to adopt social media and online marketing, with 36% of executives saying they had low interest in social media, and 46% believing social media is irrelevant to their company. “Nobody talks business on Facebook,” they say.

Aaron Strout, interactive group director at WCG, begs to differ. ”It is actually easier to have one-to-one relationships with B2B customers, where you might know by name the 100 buyers who matter the most to your company,” he asserts.

In his view, social media need not be a high-numbers game, but can effectively be used to enable relevant interaction between a customer and the people within the organization who have value to offer to that customer.

Business is Personal

“If you’re a smart marketer, you should know each of your customers and prospects by name, follow them on Twitter (if they are there), connect on LinkedIn, and work hard to deliver value to them on a weekly basis,” Strout affirms. “The bottom line, think relationship first, tools second.”

As to Facebook, Strout points out that no one questions the wisdom of getting to know a customer more personally through a golf game or a few drinks after work. So why not share your personal side through social media, using the same level of discretion you exercise in other social settings?

JSR Micro Marketing Director Missy Bindseil reports this is exactly how the B2B manufacturer is currently using social media.

“We’ve spent years nurturing close relationships with a handful of key contacts, and as those relationships have developed into friendships there is casual interaction via social media between our representatives and our customers,” she explains.

While JSR Micro is yet to establish an “official” social media presence, it is common practice at many other firms to have employees with personal/professional Twitter accounts, speaking as individuals on behalf of the organization (@RichardatDell, for example).

New Customers, New Conversations

Bindseil reports they are looking closer at company sponsored social media as JSR Micro enters new markets where their brand is less known.

“We see an opportunity to develop an online presence, both to keep current with influencers and thought leaders, and to begin contributing to the discussion,” she said.

Such information sharing must be done wisely, of course. “Slideshare can be a great way to see what your competition is pitching to your customers,” a B2B marketer recently boasted. (I’ll leave it up to you to decide how Machiavellian to be with that technique.)

Learning and Sharing

Even if you’re convinced social media isn’t the right tool for your company, don’t forget to consider your customer’s customers. Mike Langford, senior social media strategist at Socialware, suggests B2B marketers lend a hand to help their customers do a better job with online and social media marketing.

“Give your customers high quality content to be shared, because they likely suck at social media,” he says with a smile.

Another “customer” for your social media editorial content may be specialized bloggers and online journalists covering your industry. They are equally interested in engaging with your prospects, and are often more than willing to re-post, like and retweet insights from your organization and employees.

While social media does not replace direct customer service, Chris Brogan points out in 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business that it can bring great minds together, and give marketers of any sort daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it).

The Texas MBA Alumni Reunion recently hosted a social media marketing panel at McCombs School of Business, featuring:

• Natanya Anderson, Senior Social Media Program Manager at Whole Foods
• Mike Langford, Senior Social Business Strategist at Socialware
• Robert Quigley, Journalism Professor at The University of Texas at Austin
• Aaron Strout, Head of Location Based Marketing at WCG

Some of the comments featured in this article were drawn from that discussion.

Would you avoid doing business with a company that doesn’t carefully protect its computer system from hackers? It probably depends.

If you’re buying a cheeseburger you likely don’t care about the back office’s security measures–but consider a hospital that has your social security number, credit card information and private medical records on file. If you discovered that hospital is a regular victim of computer hackers, you might reconsider your options for care, or at least raise a fuss with administrators.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin are conducting an experiment to see if the threat of reputation damage will encourage organizations to tighten up their computer security. Their laboratory tool is SpamRankings.net, a website that publicizes the world’s biggest spam havens.

Spam = Compromised Security Procedures

Poor computer security is at the heart of both spam and data theft. Spammers use what are called botnets to send spam using computers hijacked without the knowledge of their legitimate owners. Computer systems infected with botnets are likely targets for other malfeasance, including theft of data, which puts consumers at risk.

“Outbound spam is a proxy for poor organizational security,” explains Dr. Andrew Whinston, the e-commerce sage at The University of Texas at Austin, “because outbound spam indicates botnets, botnets indicate vulnerabilities, and vulnerabilities indicate susceptibility to other malware, including phishing, DDoS, and identify theft.”

Whinston and his research team wondered what would happen if they published lists of the top spam havens. Will public embarrassment cause brands to weed out botnets and tighten security?

The first step was figuring out how to identify the worst offenders using information drawn from (and I quote) “custom blocklist volume data by Composite Blocking List (CBL) using correlations of groups of IP addresses (Autonomous Systems) to organizations by Internet security research firm Team Cymru.” Got that?

Next Step, Public Humiliation

The result is a ranking of organizations based on the amount of spam that flows through their computer system.

“Obviously, landing at the top of the list is no honor,” says Whinston’s colleague John S. Quarterman. “Organizations will want to restore their reputation and take measures to protect their customers as well. Those that rank well will want to brag about it.”

I’ll watch for companies to jump on the “we have excellent placement on the Composite Blocking List” brand wagon, but I have my doubts.  I suspect this will have more impact on those with reputations to save.

One can imagine Boston Medical Center isn’t pleased to be the top healthcare spammer for June 2011, and the previous spam haven champ, Cedars-Sinai seems to have cleaned up its act. So perhaps the experiment is working.

Meanwhile, the research team is expanding the site with new industry categories, and they’re eager to hear from organizations that land on the offender list. “We’re all ears,” claims Whinston.

Winners TNG Pharmaceuticals with Venture Labs Director Rob Adams

Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (formerly Moot Corp) began on May4 with a lead-in by innovation guru Bob Metcalfe. He related an encounter during his first week at The University of Texas at Austin with Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell.

“Michael attended UT but did not graduate before founding his company, and I asked him, ‘Did you enter into any student business competitions while you were here,’ and he replied, ‘No, but I wish I had.’ So…that is confusing data.”

Metcalfe addressed the irony of having an organized university competition based on something as seemingly unbounded as the entrepreneurial process.

“I’m convinced you can teach students how to start a company,” he concluded. “The innovation environment at the university includes research professors, graduating students, scaling entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, strategic partners and early adopters. I would actually like to see more professors launching startups, and perhaps I’ll work on that.”

Bursting the membrane

The 40+ teams assembled at the competition represented universities around the world, most of which have programs dedicated to fostering student entrepreneurship, innovation and technology commercialization.

Still, there are barriers that can make university entrepreneurship a process of fits and starts.

Isaac Barchas, director of the Austin Technology Incubator at UT, knows first-hand the practical difficulties of launching startups from within an academic environment. “Universities contain much of the resources necessary to incubate businesses,” he explained. “But the membrane between the community and the university is often not porous enough to allow collaboration.”

Richard Miller, Chief Commercialization Officer at UT Austin

Better capturing the potential of on-campus inventions is one way to pierce that membrane. Richard Miller, who last year was named the chief commercialization officer at the university, told the assembled students and faculty advisors that 2011 was going to be “our biggest year ever, with $26.7 million a year in revenue from licensing and royalty.”

That progress is coming despite his office’s goal of reducing the number of patents for which the university applies. Miller said they are trying to identify real winners, and then is putting the resources behind them. He revealed that his office had recently formed a company to develop and market Graphea, a Graphene technology designed for high strength and high conductivity applications. Miller is the acting CEO.

All about visibility and networking

The student teams gathering at the Venture Labs Investment Competition have earned their place by winning previous business competitions or by receiving special invitations based on the viability of their business plan.

“This competition is the biggest,” explained Brad Cahoon who represented the Kalood company from Brigham Young University. “It has more notoriety, everyone knows that if you got into this competition you’ve got some legitimacy.”

Gaining exposure to potential investors and corporate partners is purpose one. Morten Stensli, in Austin to pitch The MOSE, an oil-spill cleanup tool, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said that the competition lends much needed visibility as they seek investment partners.

“The American market is huge, and we’d really like to sell some of our product here, so if it is Norwegian money or American money, it’s all the same,” he said with a grin.

No longer a class project

There is no doubt that the business ventures being pitched at this competition are not “moot,” but are legitimate enterprises, many of which are already in operation in test markets. Rene J.R. Fernandes, faculty advisor of the Janus team from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and Fundacao Getulio in Brazil, said of his team, “These guys are really going for the business, and they are here to build their network, improve their business plan and push the business forward.”

TNG Pharmaceuticals from the University of Louisville walked away with the grand prize on Saturday evening, but the mood was upbeat across the crowd of participants, despite the adrenaline rush of the previous days. This was but one pause along a long pathway of business development for these entrepreneurs, most of whom are working not for a company, but for a dream.

Virachai Chusakulporn, director of marketing and sales for XZell Laboratory from Thammasat University in Thailand, expressed his team’s determination to bring their life-saving dengue fever test kit to market.

“We really believe in ourselves, and we’ve definitely gained something from this competition. Our team has been together for two years, we know how each other think, and we’re determined to get this product in the market within two years, saving the lives of thousands of people.”

For a taste of the focused determination and human drama found among these determined young entrepreneurs, read From Hooters to Homelessness to Startup by Ben Dyer on TechDrawl.

Listen carefully to investment pitches and you’ll learn a few things about what investors want to hear from new venture teams. An ideal way to be a fly on the wall is to attend the Venture Labs Investment Competition (formerly Moot Corp) which completed global rounds last week at The University of Texas at Austin.

Last year I wrote about What Questions Will an Investor Ask You? Lessons from Texas Moot Corp. Here are six tips judges had for the venture teams this year:

1. Keep Your Numbers Straight

Even sophisticated investors have to digest the financials flashing on the screen, so be very precise about your ask. David Altounian of Motion Computing told one team, “I had a hard time understanding what you are asking for, you said $6 million at one point, but then it looked like $8 million later. I also need to understand the profit potential, the gross margins, give me a clear picture.”

2. Slow Down Your Pitch

The clock is running, but don’t let that force you into speed dump mode. You’ve practiced your pitch a zillion times, but it is all new to your audience. Lucas Braun of OnRamp recommended that teams “Slow down, force pauses in your presentation and allow investors to catch up with the technical presentation.” After one pitch, entrepreneur Ed Charrier complained, “It is still unclear to me how the product works.”

3. Allow Your Audience to See, Hear and Experience

Pitch teams were reminded that people learn in different ways. Gary Forni of the Central Texas Angel Network advised one team to not overwhelm their audience with “a lot of verbiage before the investor understands the product and its implications. Some people learn by hearing, and others by seeing.” A technology team that brought a sample of their product was advised to pass it around at the beginning of their presentation, so judges could understand the characteristics of the product right away.

4. Make it Clear Your Intellectural Property (IP) is Iron-Clad

Investors are likely worried by the possibility that your rights to the technology or approach are not exclusive. Kevin Koym of Tech Ranch Austin challenged one team, “Why couldn’t a big company just walk in and take over the IP on this?” Time and again, judges made it clear to the pitch teams that IP risk is a huge consideration for investors. If you’ve got the technology locked up, say so, and say it early.

5. Don’t Assume the Market Needs Your Product

“Don’t take for granted the clear market need,” warned Braun. “You say there is a need, but you must describe why. Focus on your sustainable competitive advantage. Talk about substitutes and alternative approaches.” Pitch teams have obviously convinced themselves there is a compelling need for their product, but investors have to be convinced with clear evidence, not just bold talk.

6. Network Like Crazy

The final learning point was evident throughout the four days of Venture Week, as the teams took every opportunity to meet fellow entrepreneurs and investors, with rarely a break. Rene J.R. Fernandes, faculty advisor of the team from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and Fundacao Getulio in Brazil, summed it up, ”For these guys to come to a competition like this, it is a tremendous opportunity for them to increase their network, get feedback from the judges and to improve their business plan and keep on track to launch the business.”

Winner TNG Pharmaceuticals was one of over 40+ university teams gathered to pitch new product ventures to a team of judges during what is considered the “Super Bowl of Investment Challenges.” TechCrunch Announcement Here.

Budding entrepreneurs at Texas Venture Week were told by the founder of ATailoredSuit.com that having a business plan is fine, “as long as you don’t spend more than an hour on it.”

[Editor note: Tony followed up with a note that says, "I actually meant one day...24 hours is about all I can stomach for planning."]

Tony Centeno is a former Marine, so you would expect him to move directly to his objective without unnecessary embellishment. Addressing a group of entrepreneurs and investors in Austin, he outlined his approach to business startup, lessons learned as he moved from Marine to MBA and finally, internet retailer.

The keyword of the day was action.

“Stop thinking about things with that 20-pound brain of yours,” he said. “Instead, you need to use your hands, your arms, your legs. Seriously, just take action. Sometimes we are just scared to succeed.”

Centeno markets custom-made men’s suits exclusively online. A strange occupation, it would seem, for a man who grew up with virtually no fashion experience. “Growing up, shorts and a Cowboys t-shirt was all I needed.”

Getting fashion savvy wasn’t the only obstacle he faced. Tailors were initially adamant that his concept of selling a bespoke (individually tailored) suit without a personal visit for measurements, was impossible.

“People get stopped by the search for perfect.” he said. “Your product doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be good enough. If I can get a 95% fit it will be better than any suit most men have ever worn.”

Watching every dollar spent.

Centeno is not enchanted with the idea of being an innovator. He characterizes himself as a “fast follower” who waits for competitors to waste money searching for a market approach. Minding his money is a bit of an obsession for the self-funding entrepreneur, who claims that the only outside investment funding he has raised was $50 from his brother-in-law.

“If you are bootstrapping your own company, you eat what you kill,” he told the gathering. “If I don’t make a sale, nothing happens.”

One observer noted that Centeno’s approach seemed somewhat at odds with the rest of the week’s activities, including the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition, in which student entrepreneurs vie for angel and VC investment dollars in pursuit of their business expansion dreams.

Nonetheless, he likely felt at home with this Type-A crowd of budding entrepreneurs regardless of their funding strategy, as his Marine-charging-up-hill message seemed to exemplify the approach of most of the competition’s participants. Just take action.

“The world is full of ‘No,’” he told the students. “Nobody is going to give you permission to be successful.”

Asked by a member of the audience to explain why the breast pocket of his sport jacket was on his right side rather than the traditional left, he smiled and replied, “Because I can.”

Austin American-Statesman on Global Venture Labs Investment Competition

While there are plenty of gee-whiz technology products and miraculous medical devices among the 40+ business ideas being pitched this week in the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition at The University of Texas at Austin, you’ll also find a few quirky consumer products with a touch of Ron Popeil panache.

This week teams of students from universities around the world converge on Austin Texas for what was once called Moot Corp, the original university investment competition. It is now branded the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition, but the basic gig is the same; student teams compete by pitching their new business ideas to panels of flinty mannered investor judges.

• Austin American-Statesman
• Austin Business Journal

You’ll see the patent-pending bone reconstruction solution (Osteocene) from the team at Rice University, and MEMStim, the neurostimulation technology from the University of Michigan. That’s slick science for sure, but if your tastes run more blue-collar, how about the Rod Rescuer being pitched by the team from Loyola Marymount?

Billed as a durable and light-weight fishing rod attachment, the Rod Rescuer releases a buoyant gas-filled balloon that returns your fishing rod to the surface if it become submerged in the water. Allen Scott, who graduates with an MBA in finance this May, came up with the Rod Rescuer after a failed fishing trip with his buddies ended up with his fishing rod sinking to the bottom of the lake. (Scott makes no mention of how many Budweisers were involved in the incident.)

The Rod Rescuer isn’t the only Popeil-like invention being pitched to investors at the Global VLIC.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology is sending their team to tout the MOSE, which is described as a handheld device for mechanical cleaning of oil spills on hard surfaces. There are rotating brushes, a vacuum and compressed air involved, so you’ll agree this would fit well on a TV infomercial. “But wait, there’s more…”

Titin Tech, from Georgia Tech, hawks a patented hyper-gravity training shirt with integrated hydro-gel inserts. As best as I can figure, that translates to “really heavy athletic tees with implants.”

Siam Organic, a company launched at the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, is marketing Jasberry, a new variety of rice that combines “the taste of world-famous Thai jasmine rice and the antioxidant benefits of berry fruits!” According to their website, “It got colorful appeal to the eyes,” and you know how consumers love that.

The coolest of the batch is the VisiRay from the team at the University of Oregon. This wonderous gadget is a 3D camera that can see in and through walls! Imagine the impact on Geraldo Rivera’s career if the VisiRay had been available back in 1986. The company founders see VisiRay as primarily a pest-control solution, which somehow makes it all the more Ronco-esque.

You may ask, do any of these products actually make it to market? The answer is yes, as evidenced by this Progress Report on Previous Competitors, reflecting past competition winners that are funded and in operation. Take note of past runner-up Klymit, from Brigham Young University, which markets outdoor wear filled with Argon gas. Founder Nate Alder does his best to channel Ron Popeil in this instructional video.

Curious to see what other new product wonders are on display this week at the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition? Drop by if you’re in Austin…the whole Texas Venture Labs Expo is free and open to the public.

2011 TEAM DESCRIPTIONS

Allen’s Sporting Goods
Loyola Marymount University
The Rod Rescuer is a durable and light-weight fishing rod attachment that prevents the sinking of fishing rods. When submerged, the Rod Rescuer releases a buoyant gas-filled balloon that returns the rod to the surface.  Bright colors and a blinking light identify the location of the resurfaced rod.

ALPHAJUMP
Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fur Untemehmensfurung
ALPHAJUMP – Business Network for Committed Students / ALPHAJUMP is the business network for students and enterprises, which interconnects special requirements of university and working life. Committed students present their expertise with business character and create the entrance into their future career. Enterprises convince through a target-group-specific employer branding and use an efficient social media recruiting.

Avant-Garde Technologies, Inc.
Fayetteville State University
Avant-Garde Technologies is promoting “green” technologies. The company’s first product is a patented and reusable zero-gravity growth media allowing consumers to grow annual plants more conveniently. Initially being marketed as a R&D tool for commercial and academic researchers, applications also exist in retail, greenhouse, and space exploration markets.

BlackLocus
Carnegie Mellon University
BlackLocus is a SaaS platform that enables SMB online retailers to price their products smarter and faster; 60 times faster!

CaIR Technologies
University of Manitoba
CaIR Technologies is an early stage medical device company.  We are developing the only point of care cholesterol testing device that does not require advance fasting.  Using patented algorithms and infrared technology, we are able to accurately assess cardiovascular disease risk in less than 5 minutes .

Cavelli LLC
University of New Mexico
Creating music is empowering.  The difficulty is, there are few convenient ways to learn and practice.  Instead of having to work with a tutor’s schedule, Cavelli offers users an online, social, learning and creation environment.  Cavelli is a serious website for the casual musician.

CHAR Technologies
University of Waterloo
CHAR Technologies has developed Activated Biochar, a solution for hydrogen sulfide removal for the high growth biogas and landfill gas markets, which is easy to operate, with no chemical additions or waste products produced.  Activated Biochar is created from the low value solid biosolids remaining after the anaerobic digestion process.

ClearBrook Imaging
The University of Texas at Austin
ClearBrook Imaging is a specialty, development-stage, medical device company whose primary focus is developing its intravascular photoacoustic cardiac catheterization imaging technology, which addresses the shortcomings of existing modalities in the cardiac catheterization industry.

cycleWood Solutions
University of Arkansas
cycleWood Solutions, LLC offers a sustainable and profitable alternative to conventional single-use plastic bags.  Our product, the XyloBag, is comprised of a biodegradable lignin-based plastic and biodegrades in 150 days.  We are targeting the $4 billion U.S. plastic bag market.

Enabler
Centro Global de Innovacion y Emprendimiento A.C.
Enabler is a Computer Control Ecosystem for People with Physical Limitations. It integrates a 3D MEMS based mouse, a virtual keyboard with predictive text and an accessible website that helps disabled people to be integrated into community through work and education.

GalvaPlus Company
Thammasat University
Even with current preventative coating methods, the replacement and correction of steel corrosion in civil construction costs billions of dollars each year in the US alone.  GalvaPlus offers an innovative nickel based alloy galvanization, improving steel corrosion by 4 times, at a lower cost, saving an average customer millions in annual maintenance.

Janus
Federal University of Minas Gerais and Fundaco Getulio Vargas
Janus S.A. is a technology and nanoengineering company, which develops magnetic nanostructured products for different applications, especially for water and oil separation processes in oil companies. Janus is headed by a team that combines technical and management knowledge, capable to develop innovative technologies and position these technologies in the market.

Kalood
Brigham Young University
Kalood is an online platform that connects merchants and consumers. Consumers use the platform to rate deals and be notified when deals they’re interested in are available. Merchants use the platform to measure demand for their store, and to target and send custom deal notifications to consumers who have rated their deals highly.

LearnBop
Carnegie Mellon University
LearnBop.com allows instructors to create a curriculum online that adapts to what students do not understand, simulating the guidance provided in a one-on-one learning session. LearnBop aims to empower instructors by providing a customized learning experience to each student.  With LearnBop, instructors teach the student not the class.

Medtric Biotech
Purdue University
Medtric was founded in 2010 on a vision to deliver clinically robust and economically sensible wound care solutions. Medtric is pioneering a unique method of destroying bacteria for the prevention and treatment of infected wounds. This technology represents a new class of antimicrobials that combat infection and promote wound healing.

MEMStim
University of Michigan
MEMStim designs and produces neurostimulation leads capable of providing directed and specific nerve fiber electrical stimulation.  Our patented technology enables medical device companies to eliminate costly manual assembly processes while creating the next generation of neurological therapies.  MEMStim is a fabless design house utilizing integrated circuit manufacturing techniques.

Northbright Diagnostics
University of Manitoba
Northbright Diagnostics specializes in the development of innovative diagnostics for oral health research and dentists with cost reducing, objective, and more accurate tools used in caries research, and early caries detection devices for patients.

O2 Insights
Ohio State University
O2 Insights is commercializing a revolutionary oxygen diagnostic that meets a critical need in the growing 6.5M patient chronic wound market. The system has received strong buy-in from thought leaders in wound care. The technology will be brought to market for $4M (plus overhead) over the next three years.

Osteocene
Rice University
Osteocene is offering patent-pending, new bone reconstruction solution (Osteoplex) consisting of novel bone cement (Osteoply) and drug-releasing microspheres (NanoBX). Our product offers unmatched performance in following aspects: infection control, mechanical durability, tissue biocompatibility, and ease of use (for surgeons). Osteocene will target $334M segment of bone reconstruction market.

Purisorb  

Dalhousie University
One in four patients who undergo surgery involving general anesthesia suffer permanent brain damage that is partially caused by toxins, produced by a currently used anesthesia device.  Purisorb Inc. has invented a revolutionary new device that replaces the existing technology, completely eliminates toxin production, is safe, and saves hospitals money.

Relivit
Swinburne University of Technology
Relivit will establish and operate factories that will convert dirty waste into clean energy. / The ‘factories’ will be advanced recycling facilities, diverting niche waste streams from landfill, utilizing a proven treatment system under license to recover valuable resources (such as plastics and metals) and generate renewable energy.

RetinScan
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
RetinScan provides an automatic identification of retinopathy with non-invasive diagnosis technology to reduce the risk of sight loss caused by diabetes.  The cost-saving technology helps healthcare providers effectively manage diabetic patient care across the globe.  The scalable innovation will revolutionize the healthcare system for all markets in the world.

Reveal Design Automation
University of Michigan
Reveal Design Automation designs and sells an automated software solution for performing comprehensive formal verification of digital logic designs to key customers in the IC design industry. Reveal’s technology, based off University of Michigan research, scales to handle more complex designs with less time and with fewer people than existing verification solutions.

Siam Organic Company Limited
Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration
Siam Organic is the exclusive provider of Jasberry™, a new variety of rice that combines the delicious taste of the famous Thai Jasmine rice and the powerful nutritional and antioxidant benefits exceeding those of blueberry, with IP protection under New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and strong social benefit to farmers.

SiSgraft
Universidad de los Andes
Current vascular grafts for replacing damaged blood vessels require replacement after 1-5 years. SiSgraft is a breakthrough technology that restores the quality of life since it not only replaces, but REGENERATES blood vessels, thus eliminating further risks and costs due to graft failure, such as reoperations and life-risking cardiovascular events.

Sonas, LLC 

University of Oregon
Sonas, LLC will commercialize and deploy Rho, a container screening technology that identifies liquid in a sealed container. There are currently no other technologies with this capability. We will target the air cargo industry, providing increased efficiency and cost savings to our customers while capitalizing on federal regulations.

Stathletes
University of Western Ontario
Stathletes’ is a sport statistics company whose core product is a proprietary database containing thousands of data points on every analyzed game.  The database is both populated and accessed using custom-built software.  These systems assist customers with decision making as it relates to drafting, acquiring, trading and signing athletes.

Student Competitions AB
Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship
Student Competitions AB manage a global talent pool for whom we market and organize academic- and skills based competitions. We create value for companies by improving their recruitment- and innovation processes by organizing engaging internal and external contests, where both employees and students are involved in solving problems.

TegereTec
E. M.  Lyon
Based on a patented technology, TegereTec conceives and markets cutting-edge impact dispersion solutions. Initially aimed at leading manufacturers of protective helmets and equipment TegereTec’s solutions will be integrated into existing products thus enhancing the image of TegereTec’s clients while creating maximum value for the end-users who will be safeguarded knowing that their purchases have TegereTec innovation inside.

The MOSE
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The MOSE is a handheld device for mechanical cleaning of oil spills on hard surfaces. The concept consists of a rotating brush system connected to a compressed air/vacuum-system, where absorbent is used to facilitate the collection of spills. Mechanical dispersion, incorporation and removal of absorbent makes the process efficient in all aspects; resource consumption, performance and HSE (health, security and environment).

TheraCord
Johns Hopkins University
TheraCord is a medical device venture out of Johns Hopkins University developing a disruptive technology to optimize the collection of cord blood stem cells for use in regenerative therapies that could treat over 300 million people worldwide.

TiFiber 

University of Arkansas
TiFiberTM has an exclusive license to prepare Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) into nano-fibers for use in filtration systems, aerospace, thermoplastics, textiles, and medical applications.  The patent pending process delivers a product which can be molded into any shape, withstands temperatures of 2700degrees F, and is self-cleaning.

Titin Tech
Georgia Tech
Titin’s mission is to provide the absolute best in athletic training apparel. Titin’s weighted clothing is a patented hyper-gravity training shirt with integrated hydro-gel inserts. We strive to position ourselves at the top of the market in terms of comfort, performance, usability, and results.

TNG Pharmaceuticals
University of Louisville
TNG Pharmaceuticals has developed a revolutionary vaccine that will alleviate the negative impact of the horn fly, considered the most health depleting and economically damaging pest of cattle.  FlyVax is targeted to reduce the number of horn flies per cow, leading to increased farmer efficiency, production, and lower pesticide use.

V-Chain Solutions Inc.
Kennesaw State University
V-Chain Solutions improves business response by enabling companies to detect, analyze and solve problems deep in their supply chain sooner and respond with prompt, precise, accurate solutions. We offer user centric decision support products that enable users to respond faster to changing conditions in the marketing place.

VisiRay
University of Oregon
VisiRay Inc. will introduce a revolutionary camera – the VisiRay – that can see in and through walls and surfaces and produces a clear 3D image of what is hidden inside. The VisiRay will increase the performance of inspection-focused companies by enabling professionals to non-invasively reveal what is hidden from the eye.

Vocal Media
The University of Texas at Austin
Vocal Media is a low-end disruption to traditional advertising media that targets hard-to-reach, ethnic immigrant populations living in America.  When callers place an international call, a sponsored audio clip with appealing content is played in the target audience’s first language before the call connects.

XZell Laboratory
Thammasat University
DenkiTector, offers the only early stage “severe” dengue fever diagnostic tool, providing a means for early treatment, saving lives where more than 100 million people are affected annually.

Donald Richards (name changed) knew he was in trouble when the topic of brand reinvigoration was raised by a consultant hired by his CEO.

“I was all in favor of a renewed focus on marketing and brand,” the former chief marketing officer recalls, “But it was clear as we discussed the proposal that everyone was thinking of this as purely a communications and advertising initiative. At that point I realized my efforts to position myself as an organizational change agent had fallen short.”

It’s a failure that seems to infect the CMO suite, with chief marketing officers suffering an average tenure of less than two years, according to a much-discussed study by Spencer Stuart in 2004. Marketing executives have an image problem, and it begins with the very definition of the title.

What is meant by “marketing?”

“There are three basic types of marketing people in an organization, and where the CMO fits in depends a lot on the viewpoint of the CEO,” says business researcher Vijay Mahajan [right] who has studied the CMO phenomenon extensively.

“You’ve got marketing, sales and communications, they are not all the same, obviously. How the CMO is positioned within the organization has a tremendous impact on his or her power to influence major decisions in the firm.”

Pete Hayes, Principal and CMO at Chief Outsiders, agrees. “We see CMOs get stuck in a pure communications role versus one that is at the heart of the business. If you are just talking about products that are developed, it is only a shiny veneer, and the rest of the organization won’t value that.”

Mahajan defines CMO power as the ability to influence allocation of resources and other major strategic decisions within the top management team. “It isn’t just about leadership style or personal strength,” he says. “I’ve seen smart, dynamic executives falter in the CMO position when the job itself isn’t structured for power.”

Four sources of CMO power

In his most recent study, Mahajan and co-author Pravin Nath identify four critical factors impacting CMO power, regardless of the personal strengths of the executive.

1. Industry instability. When business is a roller coaster ride, top management teams better appreciate the market and consumer perspectives of the CMO. “Vision needs to be articulated,” says Hayes. “What’s going on in the business, what are your sales organizations like, how are you going to market, what is the gap in your expertise? A smart CMO can play in the middle of all that.”
2. Firm innovation. John Ellett, CEO of nFusion and a former senior marketing executive at Dell Computer, has interviewed nearly 50 CMOs across the country. “The key to success, in many cases, is being able to position yourself as an agent of transformation,” he says. “We’re talking about business, brand or executional transformation, and if the CMO can align with the rest of the C-suite on the kind of change expected, that’s a fundamental ingredient for success.”
3. Other marketing experience in the C-suite. It’s hard to feel the love when others on the executive team think they could do it better. “In a top management team it is rare to have other marketing people on the team,” says Mahajan. “But you often have sales managers or product development people who do have marketing perspectives. So they think, why should we listen to you?”
4. CMO responsibility for sales. Marketing has generally been granted long-term accountability rather than responsibility for quarterly results. “If the CMO also has responsibility for sales, he is both short- and long-term,” says Mahajan. “So he’s not going to invent an opportunity that his team is not willing to chase.” He found that chief marketing officers with bottom-line sales responsibility wielded more power than pure marketing or communications executives.

Who is to blame if things turn sour?

Ellett believes some CMOs are complicit in their own demise. “The CMO arrives with great fanfare, ‘I’m going to help turn around the business,’ and they undertake this great, inspiring brand campaign,” he says. “But a year later the business hasn’t fundamentally changed, and they look ineffective.”

Marketing executives who recognize the need for both brand and business transformation, often find they don’t have the power to affect the business issues without peer support. “Those first hundred days they need to focus on building relationships, enrolling and engaging the leaders who do control business resources,” Ellett stresses.

“The savvy CMO must be clear about expectations, selling the changes that need to be made, and clarifying how he or she needs to be involved in strategic business decisions.”

The case for a strong CMO

Mahajan is adamant that a powerful CMO makes for good business. “You must have a CMO on the top management team, because that is your consumer advocate, the one looking at the long-term health of the company,” he says. Give the CMO power over strategic decisions, he argues, including a direct tie to revenue generation.

“The critical ongoing role of the CMO is to get actionable insight; customer insight, competitive insight, to help formulate the entire strategy of the company,” Ellett concludes. “If marketing isn’t doing it, nobody is.”

Vijay Mahajan is the John P. Harbin Centennial Chair in Business at McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. Among his many other accomplishments, he is the author of the popular and influential Africa Rising. 

Understanding the Heart of the Consumer

Globalizing Your Brand in Africa

This article featured in MarketingProfs.

Chances are you are only vaguely aware of the so-called smart grid. Brewster McCracken  [right] executive director of the Pecan Street Project hopes someday you’ll consider it as integral to your consumption of electricity as the Internet is to your consumption of knowledge.

Whether that happens depends a lot upon how consumers are enticed to embrace the concept, which promises to give them more control over how and when they use electric power, and how much it costs them.

The term smart grid is relatively new, but the basic technologies have been around for decades. At the core of the system is a smart meter, a more technologically robust version of that electric meter with the revolving wheel that resides behind a bush on the side of your house.

With a smart meter at the center, proponents of the smart grid envision an environment in which a consumer could track energy use within a home or business with the same ease and whiz-bang cleverness as the latest iPhone app. Gee, the kids left the plasma screen on in the game room, and it’s sucking energy like crazy!

Proponents believe the smart grid will encourage consumers to use less energy, and by modifying their habits buyers can take advantage of dynamic pricing, the option of paying less or more for their electricity, depending upon when it is used.  On hot summer afternoons rates go up to run that A/C, at night they drop while you charge your electric vehicle.

Sounds promising, so what’s the problem?

The smart grid has plenty of supporters, and pilot projects have been implemented all over the country, one of the largest of which is in Austin, Texas, where McCracken’s energy management initiative resides. But consumers have been slow to embrace the smart grid, and at a recent conference at The University of Texas at Austin, researchers and energy executives pondered why.

Many argue in favor of the smart grid for environmental reasons, but dramatic calls to reduce carbon footprints have increased more angst about the environment than action.

 “At times we’ve been tempted to scare consumers into the right behavior,” says Elke Weber [right] a Columbia University researcher who studies how consumers make environmental decisions. “The problem is everyone has a finite pool of worry, and when we increase worry about one hazard it decreases worry about another.”

She points out that consumers tend to focus on a single corrective action to every dilemma. We recycle our milk bottles and Coke cans, and figure we’ve done our part for the environment.

Giving consumers a reason to care

McCracken also believes energy producers won’t succeed by promoting the smart grid from a utility-centric view. “We talk about improved billing or outage detection, and that simply doesn’t mean much to consumers,” he says. “We have to show we are solving real problems in consumer’s lives.”

He argues that isn’t just a pricing sell. “Price isn’t the salvation without other benefits. I pay more for my cell phone than five years ago, because I want a data plan that allows me to check my e-mails anytime I want. We have to leverage the new smart grid possibilities in ways that get consumers excited.”

Amanda Carrico, a social psychologist with the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy & Environment, agrees that price is over-emphasized by many energy policy makers. “We know from research that energy use in nearly identical homes can vary by as much as 300 percent,” she says. “There are obviously complicated behavioral factors that influence consumer behavior other than price.”

Carrico points out that the actual energy savings derived from programmable thermostats is negligible, in part because consumers don’t take the time to use them correctly. She emphasizes that smart grid technologies must be convenient and the advantages readily apparent.

“The single most effective thing you can do is give the consumer feedback on how they are doing,” she says, referencing utilities that have given feedback on monthly bills such as “You used 14% more energy than your neighbors.”

Can utilities learn to act like Apple?

Part of the problem is a utility mindset that doesn’t mix easily with the idea of offering consumer flexibility and creative options.

“We see utilities do things like shut off electricity during peak A/C time in the summer,” McCracken frets. “I call that the secret plan to kill the smart grid. It’s a command and control mentality.”

He supports open industry standards that would allow marketers to offer smart grid products directly to electricity consumers, much as apps are developed and sold to iPhone users.

That means convincing the average Joe that a new way of buying and using electricity is worth the pain of change. For Ahmad Faruqui, principal with the Brattle Group and a leading expert on the smart grid, consumer acceptance of the smart grid and dynamic pricing is already well on its way.

“Customers will tell you in a focus group they don’t want dynamic pricing,” he says. “But when you ask people after a pilot project, most of them say they like it. The idea that people will not respond positively to the smart grid is a myth that must be debunked.”

Weber concurs. “The good news is preferences are malleable. It is possible to change the status quo, and in nine months people will like the change…but they don’t like change at first.”

Information gleaned from Smart Grid Dynamics: Business Models & Consumer Acceptance, at the University of Texas at Austin Interdisciplinary Energy Conference on April 7-8, 2011.