Alliance Forum Provides Business Feedback

Alliance Forum Provides Business Feedback

BY LIA UNRA
Rice News Staff

Rice researchers and alumni unfolded five new technology-related business ideas to an auditorium filled with engineers, scientists and businesspeople Jan. 22, and then received immediate feedback, questions and advice on building each business.

New business ideas ranging from a networked educational system to potential commercial applications of nanoscale materials helped kick off the first public event of the new Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Called an Innovation Concept Forum, the Jan. 22 session offered an opportunity for members of the Rice community to get advice on their technology-based business ideas.

Steve Currall, director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and associate professor of management and psychology, introduced the program, in which the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management have teamed up in an initiative to provide a network and resources for the development of start-up technology businesses arising from innovations by members of the Rice community.

“Our vision is for Rice to be to Houston what Stanford has been to Silicon Valley and what MIT has been to Boston,” Currall told the audience, which filled McMurtry Auditorium in Anne and Charles Duncan Hall. “Research has shown that universities really have to take a leading role in these kinds of activities. Universities have to step up and provide the infrastructure. It’s very important for Rice to do that, and I think Rice should be taking the lead here in Houston and that’s what we’re launching today.”

Kenny Kurtzman ’85, chief executive officer of Ashford.com, had this advice to those in the audience interested in starting a new business: “Don’t wait too long to prove the concept, test it quickly,” he said. “Think about business model innovations as much as technological innovations.” Kurtzman pointed to the unique business model of Ashford.com as an example. The company deals with small, valuable items, such as luxury watches and jewelry, so their product is easy to store and ship, and the average order size is $500. He added that entrepreneurs should look for the best brands to work with—service companies as well as products.

A panel of entrepreneurs responded to the five business ideas and facilitated questions from the audience. The panelists were Dennis Murphree, president and chief executive officer of Murphree and Co., managing general partner of Murphree Venture Partners IV, L.P. and adjunct faculty member at the Jones School; Marc Ostrofsky, founder of the Houston office of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization; and Dan Watkins ’85, vice president of the investment banking firm Schnitzius & Vaughan. Currall and Watkins co-founded the Rice Alliance.

Following the question and answer period attendees broke into five groups to focus more closely on developing each of the five ideas.

Future public innovation concept forums are scheduled for Feb. 19 and April 1, and a Business Plan Forum, at which nearly completed business plans will be presented to potential investors, is scheduled for May 6. The content of the forum presentations is kept confidential to protect the presenters’ ideas.

For more information about the Rice Alliance and to learn more about the types of forums and upcoming events visit http://www.alliance.rice.edu/.