Jordan McMahon

by Jordan McMahon

Gangplank Tucson Re-Opens Downtown

May 24, 2013 in Community, creativity, culture, Desert Angels, Gangplank Tucson by Jordan McMahon

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Gangplank Tucson, a collaborative work-space built around sharing ideas and helping others, re-opened on Wednesday night at a new location downtown at 100 N. Stone Ave.

Gangplank is a place in which entrepreneurs can engage with others in the community, seeking “ to help drive economic and community development, entrepreneurship and civic engagement,” according to Gangplank Tucson’s website.

When asked about the move to downtown, Aaron Eden, director of Gangplank Tucson said “it was to be closer to the city.

Eden said that Gangplank Tucson wants to “foster innovation by connecting people.”

Dominic Lin, host of Startup Tucson’s Startup Drinks, said of Gangplank, “It’s huge…it’s priceless for the community. Lin continued, “Nothing beats a face to face meeting, so much synergy can come out of the impromptu meeting of minds.”

The director of Gangplank Tucson said that users “pay with karma instead of cash.” Eden further explained this philosophy by saying, “it all boils down to people healing each other and learning from each other.”



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Jorge Gonzalez-Garcia

by Jorge Gonzalez-Garcia

Advancing Cyber Security: Dr. Salim Hariri, Director, UA’s Cloud and Autonomic Computing Center

May 23, 2013 in Commercialization, Profiles, U of A by Jorge Gonzalez-Garcia

Startup Photo Salim Hariri UA SM

Dr. Salim Hariri, UA’s Cloud and Autonomic Computing Center

Tucson, Ariz. – Startup Tucson News – When Dr. Salim Hariri, Director of the UA’s Cloud and Autonomic Computing Center, was a young boy growing up in Tartous, Syria, he built a tiny radio with one transistor. “I always dreamed of being an electrical engineer,” Hariri recalls. “Even as a little kid I was playing with circuits. And, I dreamed of working abroad and doing exciting things. What exactly I didn’t know, but that was always my dream.”

Nowadays, Dr. Hariri, a well-respected cyber security expert and a professor in the UA’s College of Engineering, dreams of computer systems that manage and protect themselves from cyber attacks. And slowly but surely, he and his team are turning that dream into reality. This spring day he sits with family and colleagues in a large banquet room at the university, a long way from his Syrian homeland. Dr. Hariri, a fit and trim 59 years old, looks around the room and smiles. He is clearly enjoying the recognition from his peers as one of a select few researchers being honored for innovative work this day.



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Avatar of Dr. Patrick Marcus

by Dr. Patrick Marcus

Flinn Foundation Launches Biotech Entrepreneurship Grant Program, $25k ea

May 20, 2013 in Bioindustry, Entrepreneurship by Dr. Patrick Marcus

Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, commissioned by the Flinn Foundation in 2002, has guided the state’s growth in the bioscience sector for more than a decade. One of the four main strategies of the Roadmap is to create a critical mass of bioscience firms in Arizona.

The Flinn Foundation believes that fostering entrepreneurship is essential in helping early-stage firms develop into successful and sustainable businesses.  That’s why the Foundation is proud to introduce the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program in an effort to help early-stage firms develop into thriving businesses.

To be eligible for the program, the entity must be a bioscience firm engaged in the commercialization of bioscience research and biotechnology and/or the sale of products in the areas of medical devices, drugs/pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, or agricultural feedstock and chemicals.  For more eligibility requirements and program details, see the “Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program Brochure” below.



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Gangplank Tucson

by Gangplank Tucson

Gangplank Tucson Grand Re-Opening

May 17, 2013 in Community, Gangplank Tucson, News by Gangplank Tucson

gangplankopen Gangplank Tucson Grand Re Opening



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Avatar of Dr. Patrick Marcus

by Dr. Patrick Marcus

Bioaccel $100k Health Care Challenge

May 16, 2013 in Bioaccel, Bioindustry, Commercialization, Entrepreneurship, incubators, innovation, investing by Dr. Patrick Marcus

An Innovative Approach to Solving Unmet Needs

Background:

What sparks innovation? There is an old but relative adage that states – Necessity is the Mother of Invention. There are many people who are gifted at creating new, innovative products; what usually prevents them from lucrative market success is a lack of accurate consumer needs. In the health care industry, those who can identify the needs (“necessity”) are usually health care professionals, sometimes the patients themselves. Hard to find are those few health care professionals who know how to identify the needs, develop product concepts and also develop a viable business plan. With major changes facing us in the health care industry, a drive for wellness coupled with opportunities for innovation create solutions as well as drive positive economic impact.



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Avatar of Justin Williams

by Justin Williams

PitchDay at AZCI Hosts 23 Startups from Across Arizona

May 10, 2013 in AZCI, PitchDay, Startups by Justin Williams

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On Thursday PitchDay at AZCI attracted the largest number of companies and attendees in its history.  At the 4th annual event hosted by the Arizona Center of Innovation (AZCI), 23 companies gave 5 minute pitches to over 100 attendees.  Companies came from incubator organizations from across Arizona including ASU SkySong, Aztera, CEI Gateway, Gangplank Tucson, NACET, UA’s McGuire Entrepreneurship Program, and Tallwave.

AZCI’s Director Joann MacMaster said that PitchDay “gives companies the opportunity to present to potential investors, mentors and partners.  It’s great for the companies and entrepreneurs.”

Unlike other venture pitch events, PitchDay is not a competition but instead follows a showcase that allows teams to get feedback from members of the audience.  “We see great benefits for AzCI companies to participate in PitchDay, this is an excellent opportunity for them to showcase their new ventures and meet with potential partners and investors.” said Corey Smith, AzCI Entrepreneur in Residence.



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Jordan McMahon

by Jordan McMahon

Howdy Wins 2013 McGuire New Venture Competition

May 3, 2013 in 2013, Entrepreneurship, McGuire Center, U of A by Jordan McMahon

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Howdy takes first place at McGuire New Venture Competition

On Friday, April 26, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship held the McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase, in which students who are part of the McGuire Entrepreneurship program present their ventures before judges.

Patricia Sias, Program Director of the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program was proud of the success of the teams and event this year.  ”One of the things that really impressed me was the variety of the types of ventures we had.  We had everything you can possibly imagine.  In fact, the finalists represent quite a gamut of different types of products.”  ”The other thing that I’m really proud of is the really consistent quality all across,” said the McGuire program director.



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Avatar of Desert Angels

by Desert Angels

UA Spin-Off to Test Cancer-Preventing Drug Combination

April 30, 2013 in Desert Angels, Funded Companies, Press by Desert Angels

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has helped launch a phase-III clinical trial to test the efficacy of a combination drug that has shown promise of preventing colon cancer. CPP was founded in 2008 to apply decades’ worth of systematic, basic research led by University of Arizona professor emeritus Eugene Gerner and former UA researcher Frank Meyskens to improve clinical practice.

“Our long-term vision is to change the status quo from treating and managing cancer to intervening before cancer manifests and prevent it altogether,” said Jeffrey Jacob, founding CEO of Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals. “The idea is just like in the approach to heart disease: Instead of waiting for heart attack or stroke to happen, we give patients cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure-lowering medicine to prevent those events from happening in the first place.”

In addition to colorectal cancer, the same treatment approach has shown promise in preventing prostate, skin and possibly other cancers as well. Colorectal cancer affects about 1 million people in the U.S., Jacob said.

Read more: UA Spin-Off to Test Cancer-Preventing Drug Combination

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Elliot Ledley

by Elliot Ledley

Twelve teams present at StartupTucson’s 24 Hour Hackathon

April 29, 2013 in Gangplank Tucson, Hackathon, Tucson Tech, Xerocraft by Elliot Ledley

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The Startup Tucson Hackathon was full of interesting ideas, real world solutions, and funny projects.  Each group worked hard over the 24 hours to build a device or app that fit the theme “Interacting with the Real World”.  Each project used at lest one sensor so their idea had to interact with the world around them.  The event culminated with project demos accompanied by a video demonstration.  The winners were determined by a crowd favorite vote as well as a panel of expert judges who picked the overall winner based on four factors:

  • How many people will be impressed
  • How cool is this on a scale from not to a lot
  • How much did the team accomplish
  • Interpretation of the Theme “Interacting with the Real World”

And the winner(s) were…



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Avatar of Aaron Eden

by Aaron Eden

I Know How to Run Experiments, Now What? (part 1)

April 26, 2013 in business, Enterprise, experimentation, intrapreneur, learn, rapid, workshop by Aaron Eden

The Lean Startup principle of rapid experimentation is spreading through enterprises like wildfire!  At Intuit, we have at least 1,200 employees that have incredible experimentation capabilities.  These folks are not only creating effective experiments, but extremely creative ones as well.  One big problem is that many of these experiments are only occurring inside our two and five-day workshops.

As I follow up with teams long after the sessions, about 30% of the time I find that participants have not been able to identify where they can apply these new rapid experimentation skills in their daily work. I will eventually end up creating a module to help my students identify opportunities, but in the mean time, I thought I should create a quick series of posts to give you some specific situations to look for.

Here are three situations to be on the lookout for:



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