Dr. Kenneth A. Pickar

1
The Entrepreneurial Fellows Program-An
experiment in Education

• Dr. Kenneth A. Pickar
• Stanley Johnson Professor
• Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• California Institute of Technology
• October 21, 2001
• X4185, pickar_at_caltech.edu
• www.its.caltech.edu/kpickar

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The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Environment
• Caltech- a small institution in Pasadena known
  for educating students in Science and Math
• Art Center- a small institution in Pasadena known
  for educating students in Design

3
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Many Caltech and Art Center students are
  interested in Entrepreneurship
• Started their own company
• Joined somebody else's
• Caltech and Art Center have considerable resource
  to assist these students
• Some Courses and Clubs
• Technology Transfer Office
• Industrial Relations Center
• Extensive networks in and outside region
• Tradition of Entrepreneurship

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Candidate Solutions
Just do it Entrepreneurship cannot be taught
it has to be learned by making mistakes in the
real world Partially true but. . . Get an
MBA Two years plus 2-3 years previous business
experience Join a large company and attend
training programs Companies do not necessarily
offer entrepreneurial programs Self study Huge
library available but- where to begin? More than
book learning is required
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The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program
Then, whats the problem?
There exists a gap- a big gap- between a
students business knowledge and what is required
to start a company There is a cultural impedance
mismatch between the academic culture of Caltech
and Art Center and the business culture of the
outside world
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The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• To address this, we created the EFP last year
• a boot camp for intense education in business
• Characteristics
• 9 month
• Post-Grad
• Team Based
• Mentors
• Fellows receive stipend, business expenses
• No degree or certificate awarded

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The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Experimental curriculum
• Orchestrated practitioner/ instructors
• Learn/Do
• Integrated Caltech Courses
• Charettes
• Tech Coast Angel Meetings
• Team building
• Fellows act as TAs in Entrepreneurial Class

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The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program
Curriculum Learn/Do modules

• Strategy and Leadership
• Team Building
• Communication and Presentation Skills
• Marketing
• Intellectual Property and Business Law
• Finance and Accounting
• Capital Acquisition
• Human Resources
• Product Design and Management of Technology

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Funding
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• 600 K National Science Foundation
• 80K Various Donors Including
• NCIIA
• Mohr Davidow
• Intel
• Motorola
• Microsoft
• ITC
• In-kind contribution from numerous volunteers
• Caltech contributions

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Organization and Process
CALTECH TECHNOLOGY
Investment
TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY
FORM FORM TEAM
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PATH
CALTECH/ART CENTER STUDENTS
Write Proposal
BUSINESS PLAN
SELECTION PROCESS
HOLD
BUSINESS INSIGHT
9 MOS. FELLOWSHIP
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Teams chosen through a competition
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• .

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Where are we now?
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• The first group of Fellows will be ending at the
  end of March
• Celebration and Introspection
• We are in the selection process for the second
  group of Fellows
• Looking for business viability
• We are planning some changes for this next group

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What have we accomplished?
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Educational Mission Fulfilled
• Large network of Instructors vetted
• Major cultural issues resolved
• Model for second year

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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Affordability
• Should you pay entrepreneurs?

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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Organizational
• Too many (part-time cooks)

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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Big cultural issues need lots of time for
  resolution- what a surprise!
• Art Center/Caltech approaches differ
• Students are well. . . Students

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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Affordability issue
• Remedy Pay less, reduce from 9 months to 6
  months
• (Dis) Organizational issue
• Remedy One Leader in charge
• Cultural Issues
• Remedy Increased sensitivity

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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program
Student Application Process
Initial impact- widespread confusion Whats a
prototype business plan? Whats a business
plan? Whats a business? Expectations Delivery
Capacity Remedy coaching and iteration
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Lessons Learned
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Expect breakage
• Teams
• Business approaches
• Increase structure- particularly expectations

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Acknowledgementsa case study in reverse leverage
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• The Fellows
• Caltech
• Boris Axelrod, Eagle Jones, Fred Romberg,,
  Yasufumi Shiraishi, Serge Sverdlov, Robert
  Sneddon
• Art Center
• Matthew Carroll, Joey Jones, Dan Schenck

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Acknowledgements
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Sponsors NSF, NCIIA, Mellon Ventures, Motorola
  Corporation, Intel, Microsoft, Convergent
  Ventures, ITU Ventures, Sienna Ventures, Mohr
  Davidow Ventures, California Technology Ventures,
  Gemstar

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Acknowledgements
The Caltech/ Art Center Entrepreneurial Fellows
Program

• Steering Committee David Baltimore, Richard
  Koshalek, Richard Murray, David Goodstein,
  Michael Dobry, John Ledyard, Ron Jernigan, Larry
  Gilbert, Abe Zerem, Puneet Newaskar, Rohit
  Shukla, Eric Dysart, Jonah Schnel, Larry Gilbert,
  Phil Weilerstein,
• Working Committee Richard Murray, Michael
  Dobry, Tony Luna, Steve Diskin, Andy Davidson,
  Dan Frydman, Dean Schonfeld, Simon Niedenthal,
  Kit Baron
• Visiting Lecturers Tony Luna, Kimberley Heart,
  David Zuckerman, Rich Wolf, Dan Frydman, Andy
  Davidson, Steve Diskin, Chris Halliwell, Patty
  Burke, Tim Bailey, Bob Michelet, Ken Deemer, Bill
  Davidow, Jim Brown, Dave Anderson, Brenda Laurel,
  William Deverell, John Glanville, Sara Hammes,
  Bill Jenkins, Mark DeFond, Bill Thomson
• Mentors Jim Brown, Andy Davidson, Steve Diskin,
  Geoff Wardle
• Administrators David Zuckerman, Peter
  Mendenhall, Renee Rottner, Elliott Andrews,
  Marionne Epalle, Kathryn Shaw, Grant Stafford,
  Amit Kenjale, Jin Park, Scott Payne
• Video documentary La Mer Walker