CHAT report: Entrepreneurship & Collaboration Panel

Below are my notes from one of the panel discussions at the CHAT festival today. The panelists all had lots of good advice to share, as you'll see. However, I was disapointed with their response to my question at the end. The panelists all agreed that being a student allowed you more freedom to take entreprenueral risks, but I suggested that the path to creating value out of the humanities disciplines is not as obvious as with science or technology-centered areas. How, I wondered, do we encourage humanities students in entrepreneural endeavors? The panelists all suggested that storytelling was the most marketable skill to be found in the humanities. While I agree, coming to that realization is the easy part. After that, you have to start developing structures that are specific to the humanities to leverage storytelling as an entrepreneural tool. Just because a history major can tell a story doesn't mean they know how to make that story profitable. I would argue that the best mechanism for proving the value of student work in the humanities would be through service learning, but that's a different post...

Read on for my notes.

Mike

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Panel: Entrepreneurship & Collaboration, 1-2:30, Hill Hall, UNC-CH

Moderator: Julia Sprunt Grumbles (G)

Steven Aldrich (A)
Aldrich is president and CEO of Posit Science which makes brain fitness software, coupled with general wellness effort. 40hr training program costs $400. Well-researched software but still needs longitudinal studies. UNC Chancellor Thorp has issued the call: find the big problems and develop solutions for them. In any entrepreneurial effort, you need a committed team, access to startup capital. Must have a good argument from the founding team, and ongoing conversations through the process. Go outside the company - work with UNC, researchers. You cannot be an internally focused company. Big programs will require a dedicated team. Quotes Margaret Mead: a small group to change the world. Be ready to tackle problems.

Kip Frey (F)
CEO of Zenph Sound Innovations. Takes old audio performances and tries to understand the nuance of the artistic expression and treat it on the level of data. Frozen performances are re-recorded with modern technologies. Want to produce educational software that allows you to understand improvisational jazz. Collaborations with old recordings, e.g Joshua Bell and Rachmaninoff performance.

Eric Peterson (P)
Eric is president and CEO of Vicious Cycle Software.
Profitable since 2000, same year of founding? Game software business is cyclical, in flux. Job loss recently. Went from PC products to PS2, Nintendo game cube, Xbox. Rat race to keep up with technology, hard to keep up with the norm. Convenient when everything is using the same hardware vs. hacked up PC mods. Currently 60 employees. Game industry is all about networking, still extremely closed. Nickelodeon didnt want vicious cycle on the cover of a Dora the Explorer game, so started another company! Eventually sold that 7 year old company. Offices in Durham-Morrisville area. Corporate culture - comfortable and fun work environment., but we work them pretty hard. Engines being used for serious games. License technology to colleges and schools to teach students to use, maybe enter field or related field later. 60,000 sq feet facility could hold 90 employees. Job titles at Vicious Cycle: Artists, Programmers, Game Designers, Scripters, Sound Designers, Producers and Managers. Engine Programmers work on Vicious Engine technology. 10 months to ship a product from idea conception. Self publishing is still possible with games.

A: intellectual property is the nugget you hold onto. Failure as a CEO will teach you a lot of lessons. Whats unique in what youve created, and what skill set do you need to realize your vision.

P: Risks are easier to take when youre in school. Take chances early and often.
A: Different calculus if youre an established researcher.
F: No one should like risk, but you have to figure out how to manage it. Can professors step off the tenure track?
A: Make new mistakes, not good to not know what you dont know. You will change course many times.

G: Collaboration: what advice would you give to your chancellor about how to make your university more entrepreneurial.
A: Father is a professor at UNC. Set up expectation among faculty and staff to do cross-disciplinary areas. Steps to develop culture: What problems do we want to solve? Here are my expectations and structures to help you. Find ways to evaluate failure.
F: Time is the one element thats missing at a university. Set up undergrad class to engage in entrepreneurship.
P: Throw in competition. Create a solar car.

<missed some of the discussion>

Audience questions: Do you think that the corporate culture allows for innovative culture? Academic culture seems to have an edge over that.
F: Limitations in academia: limits your tenure track activities, go past your grant dates. Partnerships with music community.

Question: how do you feel about fear of failure?
P: If you cant find a job, make one up.
F: entertained by what is risky.
A: Models are not always so clear.

Question: ... (my question, described above.)
F: Storytelling is an asset in the Humanities, dealing with teams. Relating to different sets of circumstances. (But where are the structures to encourage that?)
A: Project-based course work. Mind Set by Dwack (sp?): get them comfortable with failure is a key element of success.

Question: {something about making money}
F: The really good entrepreneurs dont spend a lot of time thinking about how to make a ton of money, they were committed to the product or services. If its just about making money, you wont make it all the way through.
P: {I agree}. Third-person games were a new opportunity for us. We all want to make a product that were passionate about.
A: Channels and price points are different for the non-wealthy markets: bottom of the pyramid argument. Change in where things are happening.

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