The not-so-young and the restless

Perhaps, the bright-eyed, geeky, 20-something entrepreneur living in his parents’ basement is not the norm. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates notwithstanding, we may have misjudged the tech entrepreneur altogether, Harvard Law School Fellow and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa says. In an April 30 Business Week article, “How to Foster Tech Entrepreneurship,” Wadhwa reveals a recent survey showing that tech entrepreneurs are middle-aged college graduates from an assortment of universities and regions.

Wadhwa’s study, which was originally intended to explore entrepreneurship among immigrants, began with a survey of 652 U.S.-born CEOs and heads of product development from 502 engineering and technology companies established between 1995 and 2005. The average company surveyed had 42 employees and $5.7 million in annual sales. The surprising survey results showed:

• The average and median age of tech start-up founders was far older than expected: 39. In fact, twice as many tech entrepreneurs were older than 50 than were younger than 25.
• Most entrepreneurs were degree holders: 92 percent held bachelor's degrees, 31 percent held master's degrees and 10 percent were PhDs.
• Depending on type of degree, the average entrepreneur surveyed founded his company 13 to 21 years after graduation.
• While Ivy League graduates were more likely to start companies than any other group, only 8 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed were from Ivy League schools and nearly every major U.S. university had tech entrepreneurs among its alumni.

In addition to bringing into question our stereotypes about the average tech entrepreneur, the survey data suggests that fostering entrepreneurship means providing assistance for a previously overlooked source of new business ideas. Rather than catering only to young MBA and engineering hotshots, economic development groups should focus much of their effort on meeting the needs of middle-aged businesspeople with the necessary experience to start a successful company. Often, concerns among this group center on other financial obligations, like paying for family health insurance or saving for children’s college tuition.

Wadhwa adds that when looking for entrepreneurs, we should focus on the workplace, not the campus. Providing today’s students with necessary skills to start a business is still important, but training should be available for middle-aged employees who want to become versed in entrepreneurship. In economic development, as well as entertainment, it is important to know one’s audience.

Read Wadhwa’s full article.

A fresh start

Commercializing university technology has become a big business. Ever since the 1980 Bayh Dole Act gave universities ownership of patents from technology developed in their labs, interested parties ranging from parents to government policy makers have called on universities to use their new found strength to transfer technology to industry and provide a tidy return on investment.

Yet the challenge of convincing risk-averse corporations to pay for patents that may not become products has led to the now common university start-up, a company created with the aim of commercializing one or more university patents.

Few professors have the time, experience, or knowledge to drive a business by themselves. Some leave their ivy-covered campuses for the business world, like Akron Polymer Systems' Frank Harris who has lessened his course load to pursue greater success for his start-up. But often the graduate students step up to drive the business. As the job market continues to tighten and life in a lab or cube seems less inviting, this option is looking better and better for students with advanced degrees.

An exemplary venture is LaunchTown entrepreneurship competition winner and University of Akron start-up PureBalance Polymeric Solutions, which seeks to commercialize biodegradable polymer capsules that time-release drugs. Co-owner and interim CEO Parth Shah, a UA doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering, leads the company.

According to an Akron Beacon Journal article, Shah filed a provisional patent through the university and enlisted the help of fellow biomedical engineering graduate student Anand Parikh and MBA students Tim Johnson and Shana Horonetz. The team's cross-disciplinary structure supplements its technology know-how with expertise in finance, marketing and business.

The company received $5,000 in cash and $10,000 in professional services through the Northeast Ohio LaunchTown competition, a showcase of winners from individual business plan competitions at six universities: UA, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Baldwin Wallace College, John Carroll University and Ashland University.

PureBalance's future plans are still uncertain and more work is necessary to create a functioning commercial venture from its technology. The company has proven that cross-disciplinary teams of students can drive successful ventures on paper. The next step is to find a way for universities to provide financial and business development support for these companies as they execute their well-laid plans.