| Entrepreneurial Services
IW’s Entrepreneurial Services group helps to accelerate the development of the region’s most promising early-stage technology companies. With a team of seasoned industry and business professionals who are former CEOs, entrepreneurs and investors, we go hands-on with these companies to help them identify their most pressing business needs, position them for growth and maximize their prospects for commercial success.
With our team's history of working with literally thousands of technology startups and entrepreneurs, IW has identified common areas in which early-stage companies often need expertise:
- Developing the overall business strategy
- Turning a new technology into a commercial product
- Launching that product into the marketplace, and
- Devising effective funding strategies for raising growth capital.
Our in-house Executive in Residences and extensive Advisor’s Network work in tandem to help companies specifically with:
- Business strategy and business plan development
- Market assessment including a competitive assessment
- Marketing strategy and execution
- Product development
- Intellectual property development and protection
- Regulatory advices
- Governance issues
- Funding strategies
Emerging CEO Institute
IW has collaborated with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, the Technology Collaborative and the Idea Foundry to create the Emerging CEO Institute. This institute is a formal program where small-company CEOs participate in formal educational and networking events leading up to graduation. This program is modeled after the highly successful Leadership Pittsburgh program and has received positive reviews to date.
Kick-Start Partnerships
In response to a need identified by the Battelle study in January 2005, IW is currently working with the Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone and the Allegheny Conference to create a new program to link the region’s technology startups with potential beta customers among the region’s largest corporations. By using the Allegheny Conference’s network of industry contacts, this program provides linkages between new technology start-ups and mainstay businesses. When valued matches are identified, innovation is promoted and start-ups find crucial local partners to assist in their development and success.
Business Plan Competitions
IW has been a significant supporter, both financially and through IW staff members as coaches, for the two primary business plan competitions in the region – namely the Enterprize Business Plan Competition for regional entrepreneurs and the McGinnis Venture Competition at Carnegie Mellon University. IW will continue to partner closely with these important entrepreneurial programs.
SBIR Workshops
To enable regional companies to develop more competitive applications for federal SBIR and STTR grants, IW is participating in the development and implementation of SBIR workshops. Federal dollars account for 12% of the seed capital for IW portfolio companies. IW would like to improve this percentage and the overall success rate of government fund applicants in the region and is working in conjunction with other statewide and regional partners, such as:
- statewide Innovation Partnership,
- the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse,
- Catalyst Connection and
- the Small Business Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
Regional Partnerships
In addition to the business and technical assistance mentioned in this site, IW collaborates with other regional technology/economic development organizations including:
- the Pittsburgh Technology Council,
- Technology Collaborative,
- Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse,
- Idea Foundry,
- Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone,
- Catalyst Connection,
- the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson Center for Product Innovation,
- Don Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon and
- Duquesne University’s Industrial Growth Works.
Through this new partnership, IW will leverage core programs and competencies of these organizations to better meet the needs of the region’s companies. Examples include:
- utilizing the human resource and recruiting services provided by the Pittsburgh Technology Council for IW companies, jointly conducting SBIR workshops with Catalyst Connection,
- utilizing domain expertise of the Technology Collaborative and Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse for investment reviews,
- and creating a entrepreneurial fellowship program for Carnegie Mellon’s Don Jones Center students to help fledgling start-ups with critical marketing issues.
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