The Role of Alumni in Interdisciplinary, Experiential

Entrepreneurship Courses

Todd Warren & Mike MarascoNorthwestern University3/22/2013 – NCIIA Open

Agenda• My journey from Alum to Adjunct• NUvention Overview• Alumni Engagement Structure• Creating and integrating alumni in curricula

– Advisory Board– Broader Feedback

• What works and what hasn’t• Alumni Engagement Playbook• Lessons Learned

Journey from Alum to Adjunct• 21+ year career at Microsoft

– Many product areas: new and existing products

– Taught at NU on a leave in 2001• Engaged to teach after leaving

Microsoft• Engineering Dean asked me to

work with the entrepreneurship center

• Led to NUvention Web • Joined a Venture Firm

What is NUvention?

• Interdisciplinary/Experiential• What students are asking for• Alums with deep experience chair classes• Evolution of case based learning• Best simulation of creating a product/service and business• Start-ups are not a goal but nice follow-on validation• A partnership of students, faculty, alums, government, and industry• Expanding to Digital Media and Nano

Nuvention Web• Focused on Web or Mobile Applications• Business and Design and Software Engineering• Undergraduate and Graduate• Two Quarters• Mentored and Evaluated by Advisory Board

• Work together as a team to:– Develop a workable business

concept– Research and classify customer

needs– Design a compelling web or mobile

product– Build and iterate the product in a

team environment– Launch the product on the web– Attract and retain initial customers

Course Goals

NUvention team brings customer on stage

• Each Course has an Alum Chair– Coordinates teaching team and advisory board

• Alums support and mentor teams– Guest Lecture, Guest Critique, Primary Mentors

• Alums and Advisors on the Advisory Board– Mentor Teams, Attend Final Presentations, Give

Feedback on the course structure

• Share our projects with the broad Alumni Community– LinkedIn Groups

4 Ways we engage Alums/Advisors

• Ask Deans/Development– Often they are looking for a way to engage successful,

entrepreneurial alumni

• Cast a broad net– Ask them to meet or coach a team– Guest Critiques terrific in iCorp format– Use your Alumni’s Network– Attend Local Networking/Pitch Events– Ask students

• Create a “big tent”– Engagement Levels Vary

Engaging Alumni and Industry

• Before Class: Review Curriculum, Recruit for Lectures and critiques

• Teams Selected: Get AB Feedback, preferences for mentoring

• During Class: Teams Required to get feedback from AB Mentors

• Quarter End: AB Meeting– 50-75% attendance

Advisory Board Engagement

Full Name Expertise Connection Current TitleFrank Barbieri Startup Founder Chair Connection SVP Corp Dev and Strategy, YuMeViresh Bhatia Startup Founder Alumni / Local Founder, InstallshieldJeffrey Bier Founder / Venture Capital Alumni Investor, Beir & Co.Bill Bliss Serial Startup CTO Alumni VP, VMWareKapil Chaudhary Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Director, IA2 FundJim Ewel Startup CEO Chair Connection CEO, Adomotry

Rick Fink Venture Capital Alumni Managing Director, Miramar Venture PartnersGrant Gochnauer Startup Founder Alumni / Local Co-Founder, VodoriGabe Greenbaum Venture Capital Alumni / Local Senior Associate, OCA VenturesSuneel Gupta Serial Startup PM Alumni VP, Product, GrouponJosh Hernandez Startup CEO Through Student / Local Founder & EVP, Tap.meWarren Holtsberg Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Principle, MVC CapitalTim Krauskopf Serial Startup CTO Trustee / Local Principal, Round Lake Designs, LLCPaul Lee Venture Capital Local Venture Partner, LightbankBret Maxwell Venture Capital Alumni / Local Managing Partner, MK CapitalMatt McCall Venture Capital Alumni / Local Partner, New World VenturesKristin McConnell Startup CEO Alumni Founder, Limelife .com

Jon McNeil CEO Alumni CEO, EnservioSteve Olechowski Startup Founder Alumni / Local CEO, Red FoundryBill Pescatello Venture Capital Local Venture Partner, Lightbank

Bob Plaschke CEO Alumni President and CEO, Sonim Technologies, Inc.Vivek Ragavan Startup CEO Alumni President and CEO, Actelis NetworksMary Lou Song Ebay employee #3 Trustee Co-founder Tokoni

Rob Shurtleff Venture Capital Chair Connection Managing Director, Divergent VenturesBen Slivka Startup CEO Trustee Trustee, Wissner-Slivka FoundationSteve Subar Startup CEO Local President and CEO, OK-Labs

Hon Wong Startup CEO Alumni CEO, SymphoniqDave Zwyer Venture Capital Alumni / Local Venture Partner, OCA Ventures

Current AB Members and Expertise

• Decide Curricular goals for Engagement– Critique, Mentoring, Special Topic Expertise

• Engage University/Community to Find Best Fit Connections

• Meet with connections to refine plan• Design connection points within curriculum• Communicate regularly with Alums

– Students and Faculty

• Give them time to interact with each other when you bring together

Alum/Industry Engagement Playbook

• Students need structure to engage effectively– Graded assignments, provide a play book

• Make it easy for AB members to interact with Students– LaunchPad central too high a bar for most– Structured Feedback (e.g. Status Reports) Better

• Students love Industry presenters, but it’s work to structure to fit curricular goals– Moderated Panels Best

• Some Alums overachieve– Engage them more deeply

Lessons Learned

Great for Students and Alums!

Contact us to learn moreTodd Warren (todd@toddwinc.com)

Michael Marasco (mmarasco@northwestern.edu)http://nuvention.northwestern.edu

Blog: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startupviews/ This presentation will also be posted on slideshare

Appendix

NUvention Web ‘13•Value Prop•Target Customer

•Basic Scenario

Problem ID

•Persona•Target Market

•Storyboards•Landing Page

Segment Definition

•Detailed Value Prop

• Initial Product

•Customer Trial

MVP

•Revenue Model

•Potential Channels

•Product Refinement

Initial Pitch

Scenario Slice MVP

NUvention Web ’13 - Spring•Re-visit

Canvas•Re-Engage

Customers•Dev Iterations

Persist or Pivot?

•Get, Keep, Grow

•Engage Early Customers

•Advanced Agile

Acquire & Build

• Launch•Customer

Purchase/Trial•Cohort

Analysis

First Customer

Ship

•Business Model Proof

•Refined Product

•Customer Feedback

Final Pitch

Product and Customer Development

Build

MeasureLearn

Build

MeasureLearn

Build

MeasureLearn

Alums

2012 Teams

Sartorial continued over the summerin the NU Incubator, but was absorbed by

Led by AB member and LightBank EIR-Josh HernandezAlums involved:• Nik Roth-first startup coop student• Derek Morris-turned down Microsoft offer• Matt Gilk-turned down Microsoft offer

3/12 Business Pitch Session Structure

• AB Lunch/Ground Rules (noon)• 10 Minute Presentation per team• 10 Minute Q&A• Short reception and team meetings with AB coaches

after class• Pitches will run until at least 4:30• 6:00 Dinner of AB and Faculty Team