austin technology incubator

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austin technology incubator
New Strategies for the 21st Century
Incubator Presented by Erin Defosse Former
Director Austin Technology Incubator
REV XXXX
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TEXAS
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Texas a US Economic Powerhouse

• Texas recently named 1 state to do business in
  the US
• Emerging Technology Fund to drive high tech
  startups
• Texas is the 1 exporting state with 129 billion
  in exports
• Texas is the 8th largest economy in the world
• Texas is the 2 state in high tech
• High tech sector employs over half a million
  workers
• Generates near 1/3 of all export revenue
• Texas has 32 lower tax burden than the US
  national average
• No state income tax

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Austin Silicon Hills
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Austin is one of the Major Technology Hubs in
North America

• Austin is the 1 wired city in the US
  (Forrester Research - 2005)
• Austin is the 3 wireless city in the US (Intel -
  2005)
• Silicon Hills home to many headquarters and
  design centers of excellence for all major global
  semiconductor companies
• AMD, Applied Materials, Arm, Cirrus Logic,
  Freescale, IBM, Intel, Marvel, QUALCOMM,
  Samsung, SigmaTel, Silicon Labs, Texas
  Instruments, etc.
• Home to a multitude of major software and
  hardware companies
• Dell Computer, IBM/Tivoli, Apple, Cisco,
  Vignette, BMC, Nokia, Oracle, Sun, Trilogy,
  National Instruments, Motive, Motorola, etc.
• Home to The University of Texas at Austin one
  of the largest universities in the United States

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Austin Technology Incubator

• Founded in 1989 as a program of the IC2 Institute
  at The University of Texas at Austin
• Non-Profit Business Model
• 2800 square meter facility
• 20 Companies

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ATIs Results to Date

• gt160 graduate companies
• gt750 million in investment capital raised
• 4 Initial Public Offerings on NASDAQ
• 25 acquisitions
• 35 independent, profitable companies
• gt1.5 billion in annual revenues
• gt10,000 jobs created by ATI companies

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Austins Evolution Since 1989
1989
2009

• University and State Government Town
• Few technology based startups
• Few venture capital sources
• Immature support ecosystem
• No developed technology clusters
• Regionally focused economy

• Diversified economy with large tech presence
• Technology startups are commonplace
• At times received gt50 of all venture capital
  invested in Texas
• Well developed support ecosystem
• Several developed technology clusters
• Increasingly globally focused economy

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Austin is now the incubator!

• The 21st century incubator model must reflect
  this new reality!

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From Incubator to Accelerator and Beyond
Value to todays entrepreneur
Market Making
Sector Specific Acceleration (clean energy,
wireless)
Incubator Start-up infrastructure support
Time
1989
Example services offered to entrepreneurs
Office space Professional services
facilitation General capital networks Business
advice
High-touch coaching mentoring Virtual
Board Target capital matchmaking University
resources
Access to chokepoint technologies, key customers
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Sector Specific Acceleration the New Model for
ATI

• Sector focused accelerators led by industry
  experts
• High touch coaching and mentoring
• Establish corporate partnerships with global
  reach
• Factor global customer strategy into business plan

ATI
Clean Tech
Life Sciences
Wireless
IT
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Sector Specific Coaching and Mentoring

• Structured, not informal
• Focused on business strategy, not tactical
  fundamentals
• Industry experienced incubator staff
• Advisory Board of industry experts
• Board level accountability with companies

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Structured Coaching and Mentoring Process
Up to 3 years
Vet Internally
Quarterly Reviews
Screen
Set Milestones
Review
Admit into ATI
Graduate or Leave ATI
Vet Externally
Industry Sector Focused Advisory Board
ATI representative on Company Board
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The Sector FocusedAdvisory Board

• Current or retired executives with significant
  experience in the sector
• Business leaders, venture capitalists,
  technologists
• No compensation from incubator
• Screen applicants and review company performance
• Appoint representative to the Companys Board

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Market Making, the Next Phase of Value from ATI
Access to test facilities, key early adopter
customer
Looking for new clean technologies to further
its mandate to offer green choices to customers
Entrepreneurs Significant need for test
resources, customer pull
Novel, targeted technologies/solutions
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Conclusion the Incubator must Evolve to Provide
more Value

• Incubators in innovation centers like Austin must
  redefine their value proposition if they are to
  stay relevant in the marketplace
• Develop industry sectors practices
• Implement high touch coaching and mentoring
• Engage in market making activities to accelerate
  the success of startups

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Contact Information

• Erin Defosse
• erin_at_defosse.org
• 1 [phone]

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austin technology incubator