What stands between the engineer and the next big tech start-up? Unless you attended Invention to Venture, it may not be what you think.

Invention to Venture, a program of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), is a nationwide workshop series that travels to cities and college towns, pulling together local resources to educate and inform students, faculty, and entrepreneurs who want to launch tech ventures.

Held at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in September, Kansas City’s installment was organized by the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas, with generous support from the Kauffman Foundation, Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) and the law offices of Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan, Suelthaus.

The full-day workshop led participants through the ins and outs of technology entrepreneurship, including how to

·       validate ideas and assess opportunities

·       sell products and market companies through their first wobbly steps

·       build a team

·       navigate through the sometimes murky waters of intellectual property

·       write the perfect business plan

·       find the money

And the one thread that wove through all the layers: the importance of social networks.

“The best technology doesn’t always win,” said Bo Fishback, director of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation, who opened the first session, “Is Technology Entrepreneurship Right for You?” Fishback, an engineer by training, received his MBA from Harvard, self-admittedly for the social networks he could develop.

"I talk to a lot of people who are starting companies—it seems like everyone I talk to is thinking about starting a company—and 5 times out of 10 it’s, ‘if only I had $1 million,’ or ‘if only I had $300K I could get this started.’ That’s a weak excuse.”

Fishback went on to stress that it’s not money—“there’s tons of money out there”—that makes the tech venture go ‘round.

“It’s really about leveraging your network,” added Fishback, “intentionally and strategically building the things you need” through the people and networks that can provide them. “Great people are the scarce resources, not because they’re not out there, but because they’re hard to find and really popular.”

And the people you need are the ones who understand the market beyond the product.

“Customers don’t want technology,” advised Mark Parry, Missouri Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership at UMKC’s Bloch School. “They want the benefits that flow from technology.”

The power of people was pushed throughout the day by university professors, local tech entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship professors, including such area notables as:

·        Bo Fishback, director of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation, who is currently engaged with Biomed Valley Discoveries developing the strategy and direction for commercializing innovations with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research

·        Lisa Friis, associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of Kansas, who is also a partner in the Sunflower Biotechnology Group, LLC, a start-up committed to bringing new biotech products to market from the university research setting

·        Frank Kruse, COO at Matrix Medical, who has helped raise more than $20M in new capital for product development, market expansion, and plant construction, and generated more than $80M in new sales revenue from technology introductions

·        Matt McClorey, president and CEO at the Lawrence Regional Technology Center, and co-founder of the Mid-America Angels, a regional network of angel investors who provide capital to early-state high-growth businesses

·        Wally Meyer, director of entrepreneurship programs at the University of Kansas, who has led marketing efforts at the Gillette Company, RJR Nabisco, and Sprint

·        Mark Parry, Missouri Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership and ranked No. 13 in the world for innovation management (Journal of Product and Innovation Management)

·        Michael Peck, general partner and manager of Open Prairie Ventures Kansas City office, who previously was the fund manager of the State of Kansas $17M technology venture fund

·        Walt Rychlewski, visiting professor of entrepreneurship at UMKC’s Bloch School, who has founded  and sold six companies

·        Val Stella, University of Kansas, who has invented or co-invented several drugs, including Cerebryx for the treatment of epilepsy and Viread for the treatment of AIDS.

·        Michele Weigand, CIO at KTEC, which invests in companies that are developing or commercializing new technologies

·        Pat Woolley, Science and Technology Practice Group , who has worked in a variety of areas: patents, trademarks, copyright, licensing, litigation, trade secret, and business advice and guidance

Each stressed that passion and people –from stage one advisors to end-of-line customers—turn the entrepreneurial spark into a flame.