Changing the World One Venture at a Time: Engagement, Commitment, Passion

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Changing the World One Venture at a Time
Engagement, Commitment, Passion Transformation

• Michael Morris, Ph.D.
• Professor and N. Malone Mitchell Chair
• Dept. of Entrepreneurship
• Oklahoma State University
• Pillar Session, USASBE National Conference
• January 9, 2009, Anaheim, CA

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• Outreach is not independent of the academic
  mission---it is central to that mission

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Overview Eight Principles in Outreach

• E-programs should be rooted in the
  entrepreneurial communitythe goal of 200
• Do things in entrepreneurial waysbe the model
• We must facilitate the interface experiential
  learning
• Outreach should be connected to the classroom
• Serve entire campus --- and tap entire campus
• Focus on targeted programs to support priority
  niches that fit your context
• Create and brand products
• Its about emergence and adaptation momentum and
  leveraging public and private relationships

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It Starts with Entrepreneurial Passion

• We are academic entrepreneurs
• Our ultimate role is to foster entrepreneurial
  practice through our research, teaching and
  service
• We are innovators who take calculated risks and
  behave in a proactive manner---capitalizing on
  opportunity in our environments
• Universities are inherently anti-entrepreneurial
  places

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Structure Has an Impact What is Your Program
Model?

• structural autonomy or tie-in with academic dept.
• within b-school or outside
• budgetary independence (generating spending
  funds)
• involvement of tenure track faculty
• responsibility for curriculum
• involvement of students
• responsibility for academic research
• engagement on campus versus off
• involvement in venture start ups

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hi autonomy
lo autonomy
hi budget independence
lo budget independence
hi tenured faculty
lo tenured faculty
lo curriculum responsibility
hi curriculum responsibility
hi student involvement
lo student involvement
hi academic research
lo academic research
hi - venture start ups
lo- venture start-ups
off campus focus
on campus focus
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E Program Models

• The External Program
• The Extra Curricular Program (campus activities)
• The Niche Program (e.g., technology
  commercialization, women, social E, arts E, rural
  initiatives)
• The Research-centered Program
• The Academic/Teaching Program
• The Comprehensive Program
• Hybrids

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The Model Employed Leads to Different

• Skill requirements and staffing
• Resource and funding sources
• Resource allocations
• Stakeholders
• Challenges and Obstacles
• Success Measures
• Benchmark programs, aspiration reference points
  and goals
• and different roles for and relative emphasis on
  outreach

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Our Co-dependent Structure at SU and OSU

The E Program
Department of Entrepreneurship Curriculum
management, teaching, advising, research,
academic oversight
Center for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial
engagement on the campus, in the community,
regionally, nationally, internationally
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Transcending the Models Four Interacting
Cornerstones
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• Competencies student entrepreneurial
  capabilities we must develop
• Experiential Learning students (and faculty)
  learn by doing
• Outreach engaging entrepreneurs---rooting the
  program in the entrepreneurial community

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The Primary Entrepreneurial Competencies

• Recognizing Opportunity
• Assessing Opportunity
• Mastering Your Creativity
• Leveraging Resources
• Guerrilla Skills
• Mitigating and Managing Risk
• Planning When Nothing Exists
• Innovation---Developing Ideas that Work
• Building and Managing Social Networks
• The Ability to Maintain Focus Yet Adapt
• Implementation of Something Novel or New

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Outreach The Need to Engage

• South Side Innovation Center
• Syracuse Microcredit Fund
• Entrepreneurship Empowerment in South Africa
  (EESA)
• Disabled Veterans Bootcamp (EBV)
• Syracuse Entrepreneurs Bootcamp (6 weeks)
• Syracuse Panasci Business Plan Competition
• Entrepreneurial Mentors Program
• Syracuse Technology Commercialization Initiative
• Dilemmas and Debates (bi-weekly public forum)
• Enterprise Creation Competition, a national
  competition
• Velocity
• Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship
  (WISE)
• Womens Business Accelerator
• The Experiential Classroom (for faculty)
• Daniello Entrepreneurial Internships
• Insight CNY
• Commercial Test Kitchen

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Experiential Learning A Portfolio Approach

• Mini-cases and full cases
• Role plays (VCs, family firms, etc.)
• Consulting projects
• Marketing inventions
• Creativity field experiences (e.g., the Lowes
  experience)
• Simulations
• Entrepreneurial audits
• Entrepreneurs in the classroom
• Interviews of Es
• Internships
• Mentorships and job shadowing
• Business models
• Business plans
• Student incubators
• Tech commercialization teams
• Social entrepreneurship projects in the community

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Connecting Experiential Learning and Outreach to
Course Content

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• EEE 100 Discovering the Entrepreneur Within
• EEE 370 Introduction to Entrepreneurship
• EEE 375 Entrepreneurial and Family Business
  Mgt.
• EEE 378 Imagination
• EEE 382 Entrepreneurial Marketing
• EEE 400 Minority and Womens Entrepreneurship
• EEE 420 Corporate Entrepreneurship
• EEE 439 Entrepreneurship and Digital Commerce
• EEE 442 Emerging Enterprise Law
• EEE 451 Finance for Emerging Enterprises
• EEE 443 Emerging Enterprise Consulting
• EEE 444 The Entrepreneurs Dilemmas and
  Debates
• EEE 457 Strategic Entrepreneurial Mgt.
  (capstone)
• EEE 458 Business Plan Laboratory
• EEE 470/670 Entrepreneurial Internship
• EEE 490/690 S.E.E. in South Africa
• MAR 425 New Product Management

• EEE 610 Opportunity Recognition and Ideation
• EEE 620 Foundations of Entrepreneurship
• EEE 625 Venture Capital
• EEE 678 Entrepreneurial Marketing
• EEE 643 Consulting to Entrepreneurial
  Enterprises
• EEE 644 Dilemmas and Debates
• EEE 610 E-ship in Engineering Science
• MAR 752 Introduction to Innovation Management
• MAR 757 Managing Product Development
• MAR 761 Marketing Strategies for Innovation
• MBC 647 Global Entrepreneurial Management
• (MBA capstone)
• Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship--Four doctoral Seminars

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Underlying Beliefs

• Entrepreneurship as empowerment
• of students, of the university, of the
  community
• Every student an entrepreneur
• Total student immersion
• Students as value creators they are capable of
  amazing things ---it depends on how they see
  themselves and how you see them

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A Note on Funding

• A leveraging philosophy---opportunity driven not
  resource constrained
• -foundation grants
• -government programs
• -sponsorships
• -fees for services
• -alumni donations---selling products
• -bootstrapping and guerrilla tactics

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Bringing it All Together The SSECP

• Total population of our targeted project area
  40, 916
• Median household income 9,167 - 25,045
• Unemployment rate 43.58
• Families under the poverty line 2,111

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SSECP Project Objectives

• Lead the revitalization of an economically
  distressed area adjacent to the university by
  strengthening existing businesses, creating new
  ventures and igniting entrepreneurial spirit
• 100 sustainable ventures in five years
• Provide hands-on, real-life entrepreneurial
  learning opportunities for students

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Traditional Development Model

• Primary focus economic development
• Get firms to re-locate
• Provide tax incentives
• Weakness lack of focus on entrepreneurship and
  entrepreneurial development
• Examples Porters ICIC, Harlem

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Entrepreneurial Model

• A self-sustaining model that goes beyond business
• development or economic development to inspiring
  and developing an entrepreneurial spirit
• Primary focus indigenous entrepreneurship
• Creates an infrastructure which connects the
  entrepreneur with the required resources and
  training
• Builds a community which is collaborative,
  supportive, empowering
• Deploys university resources to the community
  development
• Model is replicable in similar communities

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Global Roots of Our Approach

• Developed over the past 10 years, rooted in our
  program in South Africa
• University-based program benefited entrepreneurs
  in impoverished black townships outside Cape Town

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Implementing the Model The First Four Years
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Desire to engage disadvantaged community via
service learning Background research on South
Side Background research on urban economic
development Formulation of overall program
model Formulation of intervention
model Determination of an overarching stretch
goal
Conceptual Foundations
Small community meetings with opinion
leaders Creation of SSECP Board Community
mapping Business database construction Conveyance
of stretch goal in public forums Winning first
community development grant
Initial Community Connections
Early Value Creation
Initial MBA consulting projects Involvement of
entrepreneurs in existing university
programs Computer installation and training
program Launch of business co-marketing
initiative Formation of South Side Entrepreneurs
Association (SSEA) Winning major grant from
foundation
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Creation of the South Side Innovation Center
(SSIC) with resident ventures and virtual
clients Expansion of consulting program to
undergraduate teams Launch of dedicated training
programs Establishment of minority vendor
program Launch of South Side speaker
series Agreement for support from major private
donor First university financial
commitment Hewlett Packard Grant for equipment
and ongoing training
Establishing a Physical Presence
Infrastructure Build- Out
Creation of the Microcredit Program with support
from City Independence of the South Side
Entrepreneurs Association Addition of the WISE
Womens Business Center (SBA funded) Formalization
of tof the incubator intervention
model Formalization wo year training
curriculum South Side funding from 2 additional
foundations and major Kauffman Foundation
university-wide entrepreneurship grant
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Launch of the Commercial Test Kitchen
(COMTEK) Expansion of the South Side Innovation
Center physical space Creation of the Womens
Accelerator Program and Mentor Protégé
Program Marketing partnership with Clear Channel
to promote South Side ventures at no
cost Establishment of Youth Entrepreneurs of
Syracuse Addition of Community Entrepreneurial
Assistance Program with grant from State of
New York Launch of StartUp New York program for
disabled entrepreneurs Initial exploration of
expanding South Side footprint
Leveraged Growth and Diversity
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Report Card

• 77 consulting teams have serviced 50 different
  south side firms, with another 35 one-on-one
  consulting engagements involving students
• Number of individuals receiving counseling 502
• Number assisted with business plans 75
• 24 tenants in the SSIC, with 23 virtual members
  , and 1 graduate
• 30 quarterly interventions have been held with
  SSIC clients we are now moving to monthly
  interventions.)
• 26 meetings of the South Side Entrepreneurs
  Association
• 46 entrepreneurship training programs with 1700
  attendees
• 19 loans totaling about 105K have been made
  through the microcredit program
• The YEA (youth entrepreneurship) program has held
  35 meetings and 2 large showcase events
• The SSEA has recognized 25 entrepreneurs of the
  month.  

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Report Card

• 48 new businesses started
• Total South Side businesses we have moved to
  sustainability 78
• Jobs created 110
• Revenues generated by these firms over 5
  million
• 1.8 million secured for Southside Project
• Searchable database created (gt 200 Southside
  businesses)
• Southside Entrepreneurs Association membership
  92 entrepreneurs
• Engagement of 650 students and 55 faculty members
  from Management, Law, Information Studies,
  Fashion Design, Hospitality, Retail, and
  Architecture
• SSIC expanded to from 13,000 to 16,000 sq. ft.
• Test kitchen project launched with 25 food
  concepts in development

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Views from the Stakeholders

• Yeah, it actually it kind of made me
  realizebefore this, you learn things in school
  and you learn a bunch of different stuff but you
  dont necessarily apply it per sebut you dont
  apply it you really dont know how much you
  really knowit gave me confidence
• -SU student
• it has a huge impact on the professional growth
  of everyone involved. There is nothing like
  figuring out how tough it is to actually make
  something happenIt is very different from
  writing a paper. Putting in this many hours,
  looking at things when they dont work, re-doing
  things when they go wrong, trying to work as a
  team with your own peers who let you down
  sometimes
• -SU faculty member (non-business)

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Views from the Stakeholders

• The face of Syracuse universityto really place
  a stamp right on the South Side to me has really
  been huge, and its not just a figurative
  statementtheyve actually invested hugely in
  this place, and you can feel the change
• -Southside entrepreneur
• I live on a street where new houses are coming
  up, but the general contractors are African
  American. What does that say to me? Oh boy!...I
  have a lot of pride in seeing what people are
  doing. And I know that some of the contractors
  work out of the (SSIC) centerit gives me a lot
  of pride to see that.
• -Southside resident

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Documenting the Experience Principles of
Replication

• Focus
• Start small/think big/co-evolve
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• Enable rather than control
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• Use conflict and chaos to advantage
• Move quickly before resources are in place
• Leveraging as a philosophy
• Use publicity adroitly
• Get closer than arms length
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• Ensure academic discipline and rigor
• Emphasize accountability

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• Be the change you wish to see in the world
• -M. Gandhi