EXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES | 1
FY2015
AT A GLANCE
Academic Impact
3,883
undergraduate
enrollments
Economic Development Impact
229
242
graduate
enrollments
894
startups
served
clients
assisted
Entrepreneurship Course Sections Taught = 115
jobs
created
131,100 seed funding
$
• 66 on-campus courses and 49 online courses
8,773+
JPEC Alumni*
• 244 in FY2015
•
525
2,950 to date (since 1997)
hours dedicated to clients
* Includes: BBA Entrepreneurial Management (Track), Certificate in
Entrepreneurial Management, Technological Entrepreneurship
Certificate, and Certificate in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship.
Founders Club
FY2015
To Date (since 2004)
60 businesses
324 student teams
82 participants
609 students impacted
33 jobs created 693 dedicated hours of
one-on-one consulting
8,937
Venture
School
9
Cohorts
• 8 Venture Schools
• 1 Summer Accelerator
66 teams
program, seminar and
workshop participants
• 182 participants
2014-2015 Venture School
Statewide Expansion
• Location of cohorts: University of Iowa, Cedar Rapids,
Cedar Falls, Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines, Council Bluffs
Scholarships Awarded = $22,500
• 17 students received academic scholarships
• Scholarships ranged from $500
to $2,500
Youth Impacted = 21,664
• 8,209 s tudents impacted by BizInnovator Curriculum
11,895 students impacted by STEM Innovator
• $22,070 seed capital awarded in FY2015
• 57,126 youth impacted since 1996
•
2 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
• 350+ hours dedicated to mentoring
•
18 instructors trained in I-Corps/Lean LaunchPad
since 2013
13,633
participants across all programs
(including academic and outreach)
CONTENTS
4
6
8
9
10
ACADEMICS
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
EXTRACURRICULAR
OPPORTUNITIES
STUDENT COMPETITIONS
PARTNERSHIPS
12
13
14
16
18
ACCELERATION
COMMERCIALIZATION
COMPETITIONS
YOUTH OUTREACH
ALUMNI
NEW IDEAS
Dear Friends,
JPEC continues to expand entrepreneurial education and outreach to
accelerate growth and economic development. Lately, we’ve done so in part
by adding a cadre of remarkable faculty and professional staff to our team.
I am honored to be working with these individuals to achieve highlights such
as these:
• Expanding access to entrepreneurship education: In partnership with
the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and the Tippie College
of Business, JPEC launched the BA in Enterprise Leadership major,
combining advanced coursework in entrepreneurship, leadership and
professional communications.
• Enhancing the student entrepreneur experience: JPEC significantly
enhanced its support for student entrepreneurs by forming the Founders
Club ­— a program featuring professional mentoring, technical and
prototyping assistance, and expanded seed funding opportunities. This is
in addition to the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory, JPEC’s
student incubation facility featuring student offices, conference rooms and
collaboration space.
• Supporting entrepreneurs statewide: JPEC offered Venture School in six
different communities across Iowa. Venture School teaches entrepreneurs to
properly evaluate their business concepts through customer discovery and
strategic business analysis. The Office of the Vice President of Research and
Photo Credit: Manny Albadab, IMU Marketing + Design
Economic Development and JPEC recently received a three-year grant from
the National Science Foundation for Venture School to become Iowa’s first
I-Corps site.
NEW IN FY2015
• “Hawk Pitch”
• Venture School Expansion
• American Girl’s Entrepreneurial
“Girl of the Year”
• Sigma Nu Tau
• Introducing youth to entrepreneurship and innovation: The Jacobson
Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship launched its second curriculum
initiative, STEM Innovator, to assist high school teachers to incorporate
entrepreneurship and innovation into high school STEM courses. This
builds upon Biz Innovator, the program designed for high school
business teachers.
Our success doesn’t happen without active participation and support from
successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, friends and alumni like you.
Please contact me at [email protected] or call 319-335-1022 to
become more involved with JPEC today.
Sincerely,
David Hensley
Executive Director and Clinical Professor
John Papppajohn Entrepreneurial Center
INTRODUCTION | 3
ACADEMICS
ACADEMIC IMPACT
2015 proved to be another thrilling year for the nationally recognized University of Iowa
John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC). With nearly 4,000 undergraduate enrollments
and over 200 graduate enrollments, JPEC continues to be one of the largest entrepreneurial
programs in the country. 2015 also gave rise to the BA in Enterprise Leadership. This major
presents a unique blend of entrepreneurship, leadership and communication curriculum. The
Enterprise Leadership degree encourages Liberal Arts and Sciences students to apply their
knowledge and skills to entrepreneurial concepts and ventures. JPEC courses are taught by
award-winning faculty and entrepreneurs who have built successful companies.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM JPEC is
committed to providing students with
real-world experience. Whether it is an
internship, a startup business, a parttime job or developing a new student
organization, JPEC students are some
of the most active on campus. In 2015,
JPEC has served 242 startups and an
estimated 525 jobs have been created.
ACADEMIC PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Majors
• BBA in Management/Entrepreneurial
Management Track
• BA in Enterprise Leadership
Certificates
• Certificate in Entrepreneurial
Management
• Technological Entrepreneurship
Certificate
• Certificate in Performing Arts
Entrepreneurship
ONLINE EDUCATION Some of the most
popular opportunities for UI students are
the BBA in Entrepreneurial Management,
the BA in Enterprise Leadership
and Certificate in Entrepreneurial
Management offered online through the
UI’s Division of Continuing Education.
The certificate is also accessible through
JPEC’s partnership with many Iowa
community colleges. Nearly 50 online
class sections were made available in the
last year for students continuing their
education online.
NEW BA IN ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP Extextbooks founder, Jacob Schmitz
(Enterprise Leadership, ’16), has built a very successful startup. Since 2013,
Schmitz has been buying used textbooks from UI students and reselling
them. “I make it easy for students to sell their books at the end of the
semester,” Schmitz said. “I pick up and pay on the spot.”
Photo Credit: Mark Zhu,
Student Life Marketing + Design
“The textbook industry is rapidly changing, and I sell books
online to wholesalers fast,” he said. “However, this can be a seasonally
driven business. Jeff Nock (Entrepreneur-in-Residence at JPEC) has
really helped me accelerate my business. In my model, I have to
flip the books fast, as the next trend will be PDF textbooks.”
Schmitz is already working on his next startup. He plans to
enter the real estate business.
Schmitz has also enrolled in the Enterprise Leadership major.
“This major fit my needs and allowed me to take entrepreneurial classes
while continuing to participate in the Founders Club with my office
at the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory,” Schmitz said.
4 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
Photo Credit: Iowa Startup Accelerator
“
Being around that
energy and large pool of
knowledge helped me
see that I wasn’t alone.
I could create a company
if I wanted to.
“
BLAKE RUPE
MA, International Studies, '14
BLAKE RUPE (MA, International Studies, ’14) launched
Re-APP Inc. in 2014 to enable people to measure and
track their recycling efforts over time by using an app on a
smartphone or tablet. Since then, Rupe’s app was featured in
USA Today, NPR and Iowa Public Radio. It was also featured as
one of the App Store’s “Best New Apps.”
“We created this app to test whether a sustainability application
could have a spot in the marketplace,” Rupe said. “We chose
recycling because it’s a very intriguing target group where
everyone does it, but nobody talks about it. We wanted to open
the conversation about recycling with the hope that people
would do it more.”
“My time in the JPEC programs gave me the resources I needed
to get Re-APP Inc. off the ground,” Rupe said. “I was given a
mentor who still works with me to this day; one who really
and truly cares about me as an entrepreneur and helps to see
my business succeed. JPEC also provided work space, food,
shoulders to cry on and a community of people who were in
the same boat. Being around that energy and large pool of
knowledge helped me see that I wasn’t alone. I could create a
company if I wanted to.”
ACADEMICS | 5
BEYOND THE
CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Tyler Finchum (BBA, Finance
and Economics, Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management, ’15)
was named Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Collegiate
Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) at the National Conference in
Orlando for his business, Farm Manuals Fast. His e-commerce site
sells digital versions of operator’s manuals to farmers all over the world,
“helping farmers get back to work fast,” according to the company’s
website. Finchum’s revenue for his business is well into six-figures.
“If it weren’t for the continual push from the mentors and teachers at
JPEC, I don’t believe I would be at the point I am now,” Finchum said.
STUDENT STARTUP OF THE YEAR Western Wise, co-founded by student
entrepreneurs Emily Roberts (Entrepreneurial Management and Spanish,
’16) and Chen Cui (PhD student, Computer and Electrical Engineering,
’16), received the Student Startup of the Year Award at the Discovery and
Innovation Awards Ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by the Office
of Vice President for Research and Economic Development to recognize
faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars/fellows, graduate students, undergraduate
students and mentors who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments
for research in their field. Roberts and Cui were awarded $1,000 for this
recognition.
Western Wise uses native English speakers to provide online English
tutoring to Chinese K-12 students. The company emphasizes passion,
patience and dedication to create a unique one-on-one experience between
tutors and their students.
ENGINEERING STARTUP OF THE YEAR Spectator, co-founded by
Jon Myers (Mechanical Engineering, ’16) and Mitch Larson
(Enterprise Leadership, ’17), received $7,500 for the Hubert E. Storer
Engineering Student Entrepreneurial Startup Award. Spectator is a
sports information company that connects fans with their favorite
high school teams and provides them with easy access to high school
sports statistics. Myers and Larson want Spectator to be the “ESPN of
high school sports.” This past summer they participated in Nebraska’s
Startup Accelerator, NMotion, to further develop and refine the
Spectator business model.
6 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
Mitch Larson, Lynn Allendorf, Jon Myers
Sigma Nu Tau
SIGMA NU TAU A new national entrepreneurial
academic fraternity, Sigma Nu Tau, was established
at UI JPEC in April. At the annual spring JPEC
board meeting, 21 new student members were
inducted during a special ceremony.
Mackenzie Phillips receiving certificate
Photo Credit: Ben Handler
FOUNDERS CLUB The student business incubator
housed at the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning
Laboratory (BELL) celebrated its 10 year anniversary
as the innovative program that helps entrepreneurial
students launch businesses. Since its inception, over
609 students and 324 student teams have started
new businesses and participated in the Founders
Club. In 2015, the incubator gave rise to an
estimated 60 new startups with 83 participants.
Sigma Nu Tau was established in 2009 at the State
University of New York. Currently, there are 19
chapters nationwide. The University of Iowa was the
first Big Ten university chapter.
“Sigma Nu Tau is a way to recognize students with
outstanding academic performance who are pursuing
a major or certificate in entrepreneurship, or the BA
in Enterprise Leadership,” said Bob Walker, PhD the
faculty advisor for Iowa’s chapter.
Sigma Nu Tau members must hold a cumulative GPA
of 3.2 or higher and junior standing or higher.
“The support that I’ve gotten from [Founders
Club] has provided me with the resources
and mentoring necessary to take my business
to the next level,” said Andrew Shao (BBA,
Entrepreneurial Management, ’15).
Members of Founders Club receive access to free
office space and equipment, one-on-one mentoring
and coaching, funding opportunities, workshops,
trainings, networking and community exposure.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM | 7
EXTRACURRICULAR
OPPORTUNITIES
HAWKS DIVE WITH
SHARK TANK STAR
1
2
1
2
Four University of Iowa students pitched their business
plans to “Shark Tank” star, investor and fashion founder
of FUBU, Daymond John, and other Iowa entrepreneurial
experts at the Hawkeye Innovation Summit. The judges
for the pitches were: John Pappajohn (BSC, Business,
’52), UI benefactor and Des Moines venture capitalist;
Tom Bedell, UI alum, entrepreneur and benefactor of the
Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory (BELL);
Sarah Fisher Gardial, dean of the Tippie College of
Business; and featured guest, Daymond John.
Andrew Shao (BBA, Entrepreneurial Management, ’15)
was awarded first place and was presented $2,000 for his
business venture, Test Buddy, a portable device aimed to
give more desk space to students during tests.
3
3
Second place and $1,000 were presented to Western
Wise, founded by Emily Roberts (Entrepreneurial
Management and Spanish, ’16) and Chen Cui (PhD
student, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ’16).
Western Wise is a service specializing in teaching English
to children in China via online tutoring.
4
Third place was given to Hawkeye football defensive back
Anthony Gair (Communication Studies and Certificate
in Entrepreneurial Management, ’16) for his invention
Track Slides — coverings used to protect cleats and
athletes, leg muscles. He was awarded $500.
#ThePeoplesShark
8 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
4
Photos 1 & 3 by Joe Photo/Impact Photography
Photos 2 & 4 by Tim Schoon/Strategic Communication
STUDENT
COMPETITIONS
ROSE FRANCIS STUDENT ELEVATOR PITCH COMPETITION
FOUNDERS CLUB FAIR/YEAR-END COMPETITION
$5,000
Test Buddy (Andrew Shao)
$5,000 Iowa Adaptive Technologies (Ben Berkowitz)
$2,500 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)
$2,500 Swvl Shkr (Connor Keane)
$1,000 Deanna Marie Cosmetics (Deanna Dozer)
$1,000
Mobile Water Solutions (Jake Fanella, Alex Fritz, Nick
Fisher and Anthony Izerinskiy)
$1,000
Spectator (Jon Myers, Mitch Larson, Brandon Kiefer
and JD McCullough)
$500 Tadpoll (Caroline Altenbern)
$500 Goode Growth Associations (Sarah Goode)
$500 Subscribr (Melanie Slattery)
$500
GentlemenCare (Conor Paulsen, Lee Miller
and Scott Lahn)
$1,500
$1,000
$500
$500
$500
$500
$500
OPEN TO UI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (65 ENTRANTS)
THE STARTUP GAMES
OPEN TO UI UNDERGRADUATE & GRADUATE STUDENTS
(64 ENTRANTS)
$1,000 MentorMe (Dylan Jones and Tom Werner)
$500
National College Gaming Association (Jacob Bunch,
Connor Alne and Brandon DeMuynck)
$300
JAC Mug (Michael F. Whetstone, George Daniel and
Amanda Smith)
$100
Wemote (Ben Vorwerk and Matt Cooper)
VOLDING BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
OPEN TO UI STUDENTS IN THE FOUNDERS CLUB (30 ENTRANTS)
SWINEGUARD (Matthew Rooda)
Swvl Shkr (Connor Keane)
Test Buddy (Andrew Shao)
Lohman Earthworks (Pierce Lohman)
AppyHour (Neil Jirele)
Organizer (Eric Pahl and Dalton Shaull)
Fenceless Fences (Josey Jewell)
HUBERT E. STORER ENGINEERING STUDENT ENTREPRENEURIAL
STARTUP AWARD
OPEN TO UI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS
$7,500
Spectator (Jon Myers, Mitch Larson, Brandon Kiefer
and JD McCullough)
IDEASTORM PITCH COMPETITION
OPEN TO UI GRADUATE & UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
(30 ENTRANTS)
$500
$400
$300
$300
$200
Quick Scripts (Eric Pahl)
Bid the Med (Sandeep Bodduluri)
Career Karma (Julian Valencia)
My Stuff App (Josh Giles)
Home Energy Monitor (Kayley Lain)
THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS FALL 2014 BOARD MEETING
PITCH COMPETITION
$500
Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)
OPEN TO UI UNDERGRADUATE & GRADUATE STUDENTS
(29 ENTRANTS)
HAWKEYE INNOVATION SUMMIT EXPO
$5,000 Spectator (Jon Myers, Brandon Kiefer and Mitch Larson)
$3,000 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)
$2,000
Whexbook (Vuk Radosavljevic)
$1,000 Iowa Adaptive Technologies (Ben Berkowitz)
$500 3D Digital Design Class (Monica Correia)
$500 Valor (Madison Gingery)
AWARDS AND
RECOGNITION
HAWKEYE INNOVATION SUMMIT HAWK PITCH
UI STARTUP OF THE YEAR
$1,000
Iowa Approach (Steve Mickelson)
UI STUDENT STARTUP OF THE YEAR
$1,000 W
estern Wise (Emily Roberts and
Chen Cui)
(36 ENTRANTS)
(3 ENTRANTS)
$2,000 Test Buddy (Andrew Shao)
$1,000 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)
$500 Track Slides (Anthony Gair)
COMPETITIONS | 9
PARTNERSHIPS
EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING LEADS
TO PARTNERSHIPS
Ryan Ciepley
Paul Kongshaug
Dimy Doresca
Kristin Knudson
ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
(EMI) is a partnership between the Tippie College
of Business and JPEC where students gain realworld experience. 165 students participated in EMI
in 2015. Students acted as consultants to 49 Iowa
business organizations and entrepreneurs. They
collaborate with company leaders to develop unique
strategic market research, competitive analyses and
financial assessments. This year, 6,720 hours have
been dedicated to one-on-one consulting and an
estimated 45 jobs were created.
According to Ryan Ciepley (BA, Economics,
Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management, ’14),
“EMI was the most valuable experience. I learned
so much that I use every day in my position with
Becker Healthcare. I learned how to lead and
manage people in incremental steps according to
our plan and the project goals. The research we
did for BlendCard taught me about how to listen
to the customer, how to better understand target
markets and how to apply that information into a
meaningful plan.”
“It was great to have passionate young entrepreneurs
help a startup with limited resources,” said Paul
Kongshaug, founder and CEO of BlendCard. “It
provided incredible value to our company.”
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS (IIB)
served 46 Iowa clients (nonprofit, NGO, retail,
engineering and manufacturing) in 18 different
countries and created 30 jobs in 2015. The mission of
IIB is to foster international entrepreneurship through
its partnership with EMI. IIB students managed
38 projects for companies pursuing new business
opportunities globally.
“In the past year, there has been an increased interest
from Iowa small and mid-sized companies to go
global," said Dimy Doresca, director of IIB. “Some
of them are receiving inquiries from prospects in
the Middle East, North and Sub-Sahara Africia and
South Asia. There is also an interest in new foreign
10 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
markets with growing middle classes demanding
better products and services. Engaging UI students as
consultants, IIB has helped clients with opportunity
assessments and international business risk analysis as
they engage in foreign market investments.”
IOWA INNOVATION ASSOCIATES (IIA) provided 74
students with internships, and over 40 clients were
served in 2015. IIA provides experience to qualifying
undergraduate and graduate students by pairing
them with Iowa businesses, startups and research
organizations based on students’ career goals.
“My internship through IIA gave context to the
information in my engineering classes,” said Ella
Wassweiler (Electrical Engineering, ’15). “Now I
have the design experience necessary to build even
more complicated circuit boards for my research.”
“For very early stage companies with limited
resources, IIA is a great option,” said Ben Berkowitz,
(BSE ’10; MS, ’12), co-founder of Voxello (Iowa
Adaptive Technologies). “We were able to provide
a competitive wage while on a minimal budget.
Since the students were hired through IIA, I was
saved from having to deal with HR and accounting,
and it really streamlined the process of hiring an
international student.”
IOWA MEDICAL INNOVATION GROUP (IMIG)
provides an interdisciplinary opportunity at
Iowa for students from the Colleges of Business,
Engineering, Law and Medicine to work together
to create innovative solutions. In 2015, 46 students
along with 8 faculty mentors developed 5 new
devices, therapies or new models of care.
“I worked with a team on improving the Foley
catheter," said Kristin Knudson (BSE, Biomedical
Engineering, ’12; MSC, Biomedical Engineering, MBA
’16). “It was a great opportunity to solve a real problem
and work with experts in law, medicine, engineering
and entrepreneurship. It was exciting to participate in
the business plan competitions, and win!”
EntreFEST With more than 1,000 attendees, 2015 EntreFEST
provided an outstanding showcase for national speakers like
Seth Godin and Ben Milne, as well as statewide leaders like
Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. Also in attendance was Iowa Board of
Regents President, serial agriculture entrepreneur and CEO of
Summit Group, Bruce Rastetter (BA, Political Science, '78).
These speakers provided more than 115 unique sessions,
celebrated entrepreneurialism with festive events and honored
entrepreneurial icon and JPEC benefactor, John Pappajohn,
with a Lifetime Impact Award.
Like its audience, EntreFEST has been evolving for eight years,
and has now declared its new home to be Iowa City. With new
events like speed networking, product showcases and fashion
shows, EntreFEST’s 2015 focus was to help local entrepreneurs
build new networks, become better leaders, respond to service
needs and develop partnerships.
Photo Credit: Justin Torner
PARTNERSHIPS THAT CELEBRATE
HAWKEYE INNOVATION SUMMIT The third annual Hawkeye
Innovation Summit was held to celebrate innovation and
entrepreneurship across the UI campus. The spring event included
a panel of well-known JPEC alumni sharing their success stories,
as well as a variety of breakout sessions and STEM Innovator
Pitch-It-to-Win-It Competition.
The alumni panel was moderated by lecturer and lead instructor
for UI’s Venture School, Kurt Heiar. A panel discussion entitled
“It All Started Here: Making Bank for Your Business” included:
COO and chief educator of Pear Deck, Michal Eynon-Lynch;
co-founder and CEO of clusterFlunk, AJ Nelson; founder and
CEO of TelePharm, Roby Miller (BA, Interdepartmental Studies,
'10); and co-founder, president and CEO of Higher Learning
Technologies, Alec Whitters.
EntreFEST was presented by the University of Iowa, University
of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University. The event is
supported by over 50 private and public organizations
supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in the Midwest.
INNOVATION EXPO A crowd of more than 600 attendees
from all over Iowa and neighboring states attended the fall
Innovation EXPO. The EXPO was co-hosted by Entrepreneurial
Development Center (EDC) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa Inc.,
Technology Association of Iowa (TAI), University of Iowa
JPEC and Iowa Fund of Funds. The EXPO created a forum
where entrepreneurs, business leaders and financial resources
could connect, exchange ideas and showcase new innovations.
The Entrepreneurial Showcase featured 80 entrepreneurs and
inventors, and 15 UI startups.
The four panelists have raised between $1 to 6 million each in
their respective startups. All agreed that networking and building
relationships continue to be critical for getting investors on board
to fund ideas.
The event was hosted in collaboration with the Office of the
Vice President for Research and Economic Development,
UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, University of Iowa
Research Foundation, University of Iowa Research Park and
University of Iowa Small Business Development Center.
IOWA INNOVATION CORPORATION
Photo Credit:
Joe Photo/Impact
Photography
PARTNERSHIPS | 11
ACCELERATION
VENTURE
SCHOOL
2015 Student Accelerator
train the 236 entrepreneurs who have attended Venture School.
Approximately $725,000 has been raised by Venture School
teams. 4 teams were nominated for the 2015 Prometheus Award,
and 2 were accepted into the Iowa Startup Accelerator (ISA).
VENTURE SCHOOL UI Venture School is an intense six-week
program for entrepreneurs capitalizing on the University’s resources,
dynamic training and fostering an innovative ecosystem to startups.
Employing the Lean LaunchPad methodology, Venture School allows
entrepreneurs to evaluate their business model through customer
discovery and mentor feedback. Venture School also emphasizes
real-world entrepreneurship through experiential learning, featuring
a flipped classroom and immediate mentor feedback.
Through a joint effort between the Office of the Vice President for
Research and Economic Development and JPEC, Venture School
has been awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps
Site designation, making it
Iowa’s leader in entrepreneurial
education. Venture School
was developed with the NSF
curriculum used at Stanford
University and the University
of California, Berkeley.
Venture School began in Iowa City in 2013, then expanded
across Iowa to 6 cities (Des Moines, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids,
Council Bluffs, Davenport, Iowa City) and will soon host its first
cohort in Sioux City. Venture School's statewide growth would
not have been possible without educational partners like: Eastern
Iowa Community College, Kirkwood Community College, Iowa
Western Community College, North Iowa Area Community
College, the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa Western
Technical Community College.
To date, UI Venture School has had 81 teams and started 31
new businesses. Participants have had the benefit of counsel
from 100 Venture School mentors in a network that has helped
12 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
VENTURE SCHOOL BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITIONS
$40,000 was awarded to UI Venture School alumni teams at
the Venture School Business Model Competitions held in the
fall and spring. Teams from all over the state of Iowa pitched
their newest business models to groups of investors, mentors and
entrepreneurs.
“
Venture School trains
entrepreneurs to connect with real
customers to validate their business
model, increasing the likelihood
of success. When a team comes
into the program, we help guide
them through early stage market
research, provide mentors with real
world experience and then connect
them with other resources, enabling
them to more confidently launch
their business.
“
Lynn Allendorf & Elizabeth Caven, UpCraft Club
VENTURE SCHOOL STUDENT ACCELERATOR JPEC also sponsors
the Venture School Student Accelerator program, which is an
intense nine-week program for student entrepreneurs. The
Venture School Student Accelerator has been designed for
innovative and creative students who are looking to pursue
entrepreneurship as a career. After completing the Student
Accelerator, startups continue to have access to numerous
University of Iowa resources, including strategic business
assistance, technology consulting services, prototyping assistance
and internship programs. 23 teams have participated in the
Student Accelerator and 13 have started businesses. Two of these
teams have gone on to Iowa Startup Accelerator and NMotion.
DAVID HENSLEY
Executive Director of the UI John Pappajohn
Entrepreneurial Center
COMMERCIALIZATION
COMPETITIONS
BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION
OPEN TO UI FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS, UI RESEARCH PARK & BELL TENANTS
(48 ENTRANTS)
REGIONAL/NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION
$2,000 QUARTER FINALIST Western Wise
$7,500 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)
THINKCHICAGO CONFERENCE
ATTENDEE
ATTENDEE $2,500 Epileptic Seizure Monitoring System (Kwan Lee)
NATIONAL CEO COMPETITION
STUDENT ENTREPRENEUR
OF THE YEAR
$1,000 Re:fresh (Alanna Rumler)
2014 -15 EO IOWA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
ACCEPTANCE INTO PROGRAM Ellison Eyewear
$2,500 CartilaGen (Ma [Mark] Tianxiang)
$2,500 Track Slides (Anthony Gair)
$2,000 Needle Eye Medical (Kristin Knudson)
$2,000 College Gaming Series (Connor Alne)
$1,000 Valor (Madison Gingery)
$1,000 Wihsil (Zach Musselman)
$1,000 Shake It, LLC / Glimpse [Drake] (Ethan Turner)
$500
$500
$500
$500
Whexbooks (Vuk Radosavljevic)
Swvl Shkr (Connor Keane)
Spectator (Jon Myers, Brandon Kiefer, JD McCullough and Mitch Larson)
ORGANizer (Eric Pahl)
VENTURE SCHOOL BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION
OPEN TO VENTURE SCHOOL ALUMNI
FALL (39 ENTRANTS)
$10,000 Iowa Adaptive Technologies (Ben Berkowitz)
$6,000 Spectator (Jon Myers, Brandon Kiefer, JD McCullough and Mitch Larson)
$4,000 Infondrian (Junyi Xia)
SPRING (12 ENTRANTS)
$10,000 UpCraft Club (Elizabeth Caven)
$6,000 College Recruit U (Julie Kent)
$5,000 Immortagen (Kristi Thiel)
$4,000 GoQuets (Shawn Harrington and Lyndsay Clark Horgan)
Junyi Xia, PhD
Alfredo Siochi, PhD
INFONDRIAN, LLC. One of the winners from the Venture School
business model competition, Infondrian, LLC., was founded by
two UI faculty members of radiation oncology at the University
of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Junyi Xia, PhD, and Alfredo Siochi,
PhD. Infondrain was awarded $4,000 at the competition for
its innovative software solutions to automate treatment error
detection and optimize clinical workflow. ChartAlert MVP is
their software solution presently in development and testing
phase. "Venture School was a fantastic experience for our team;
it was business 101 to us. After completing Venture School, we
understood that the most important factor of a successful product
is to understand and solve the customer's problems through
customer discovery," said Xia.
Farm Manuals Fast
Test Buddy
Tyler Finchum
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN FRANCHISING
ACCEPTANCE INTO CONFERENCE
Deanna Dozer
SAN DIEGO LEAN MODEL COMPETITION
SEMI FINALS: TOP 25 OVERALL & TOP 5 IN CATEGORY
BAYLOR NEW VENTURE COMPETITION
SEMI FINALIST Wihsil
Wihsil
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ENTREPRENEURSHIP &
INNOVATION COMPETITION
THIRD PLACE
Edible Innovations
5TH TEEC CUP AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
COMPETITION
TOP 10 PLACING
Edible Innovations
STU CLARK INVESTMENT COMPETITION IN MANITOBA
SEMI FINALIST - $781 Career & Company
DREAM BIG, GROW HERE
PARTICIPANT
Career & Company
PROMETHEUS AWARDS (TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF
IOWA)
STUDENT INNOVATION Spectator
OF THE YEAR FINALIST
STUDENT INNOVATION
OF THE YEAR FINALIST
STUDENT INNOVATION
OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Western Wise
Wihsil
2015 RICHARDS BARRENTINE VALUES & VENTURES
BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION AT TCU
SEMI FINALIST - $100
Spectator
CHICAGO MIDWEST TRADING COMPETITION
PARTICIPANT
Voyager Investment
Technologies
UNIVERSITY INNOVATION FELLOWS ANNUAL MEET-UP
ATTENDEE
Aaron Goddard
ATTENDEE
Anastasia Hertz
COMPETITIONS | 13
YOUTH OUTREACH
REACHING YOUNG
ENTREPRENEURS
NATIONWIDE
JACOBSON
INSTITUTE FOR
YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The University of Iowa
YEAR ONE
71 high school
students nationwide
have earned
UI college credit in
entrepreneurship
Photo Credit: David Scrivner, Iowa City Press-Citizen
AMERICAN GIRL CREATES YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR
GIRL OF THE YEAR WITH JACOBSON INSTITUTE
ASSISTANCE In 2013, Jacobson Institute Director
Dawn Bowlus was invited to participate with the
American Girl creative team on their 2015 Girl of
the Year, young entrepreneur Grace Thomas.
BIZINNOVATOR BRINGS ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO HIGH
SCHOOLS Since its national release two years ago,
BizInnovator, an entrepreneurial online curriculum
designed for high school business teachers, has been
adopted by teachers across the country and reached
approximately 11,000 high school students. Also
exciting, business teachers from 17 states have
completed the BizInnovator Teacher Certification, and
are able to offer UI college credit in entrepreneurship
to qualified high school juniors and seniors. The first
cohort of 71 students earned University of Iowa
entrepreneurship credit this spring.
“BizInnovator has provided a curriculum at
the high school level and fantastic exposure for
the University of Iowa and the John Pappajohn
Entrepreneurial Center’s outstanding undergraduate
entrepreneurship program,” said Dawn Bowlus,
director of the Jacobson Institute for Youth
Entrepreneurship.
14 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
“The opportunity to work with American Girl
and help influence what entrepreneurship means
to thousands of children nationwide was a dream
come true,” Bowlus said.
Bowlus consulted on three American Girl books
and a curriculum guide, which were all released
nationwide in January 2015. The stories tell about
the adventures of Grace, a 9-year-old entrepreneur
who starts a baking business with her friends.
Bowlus ensured that the entrepreneurial and
business details reflected real-world challenges
that startups face. The guide for Grace features the
Jacobson Institute’s curriculum and allows doll
owners to learn about entrepreneurship.
“American Girl is very popular and helps kids to
grow up thinking: How do I become more creative?
How do I innovate new ideas? How do I do things
differently? How can I do what I want to do?”
Bowlus said.
FY2015 AT A GLANCE: YOUTH OUTREACH
BIZINNOVATOR CURRICULUM
608
Active
Teachers
8,209
Students
22,070
$
Seed Capital Awarded to
High School Students
11,895
OVERALL IMPACT
21,664
Students Impacted Through
Youth Outreach Initiatives in 2015
57,126
Students Impacted Through Youth
Outreach Initiatives Since 1996
High School Students Impacted
by STEM Innovator Program
STEM INNOVATOR HELPS DAVENPORT STUDENTS TAKE HOME THE CASH
Entrepreneurial education partners, Dawn Bowlus and Leslie Flynn (Clinical
Assistant Professor, Teaching and Learning, College of Education), have created a new
didactic partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to
help K-12 students deliver their concepts and solutions to the marketplace.
One example of their new teaching method was showcased at the spring JPEC
Advisory Board meeting. A student team from Davenport West High School
pitched their new invention, Endotherm, to the board. Endotherm helps to
prevent vehicular heat stroke deaths in young children and pets, an occurrence
that happens most frequently from a child or pet being left alone in a vehicle
unintentionally. These students created a winning solution to a deadly problem,
and on the spot, the team was awarded $11,000 in seed capital investment
funds. Endotherm is currently working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office to protect their intellectual property.
Davenport West was one of 15 high schools in the country to be recognized as
a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam. The Jacobson Institute invited the team to practice
their pitch and get valuable feedback at 1 Million Cups and the UI Venture
School. During the summer, the team served as a model for K-12 teachers
nationwide as they presented in the student showcase at the USPTO National
Summer Teacher Institute in Dallas.
Endotherm Team
YOUTH OUTREACH | 15
ALUMNI
TIME WELL SPENT
AUSTIN REICHARDT BBA, Finance, ’09,
Associate, Acuity Capital Partners, Chicago
“I enjoy my private equity position, but have always
wanted to have my own business and give back. One
of the reasons why I wanted to become an apparel
entrepreneur was to pay tribute to my grandfather,
Bill Reichardt (BA, ’51), former UI gridiron standout,
who was a well-known entrepreneur in Des Moines.
He was the business: traditional style, a dedication to
total quality and always available to his customers. I grew up in his store and have always
worn classic button-downs. In 2013, I started Reichardt Threads to solve the problem of
wearing shirts untucked. We adopted my grandfather’s former label for the company,
squared off the shirt’s hem and took the bulk out. With each shirt sold, we donate a
percentage to KIVA and provide microfinance loans to entrepreneurs in Third World
countries. The entrepreneurial classes I took at Iowa taught me how to write the business
plan and get it all rolling. Thanks, Professor Hauser.”
STACEY RODENKIRK
BA, Economics, Certificate in Entrepreneurship, ’03,
Project Manager, Comcast, Philadelphia
“JPEC has instilled five core concepts in me that I carry
with me daily—stay thirsty for opportunity, hustle,
never settle, be proud of your authentic self and be
kind and respectful to others.”
JIM COBLE
BBA, Marketing, Management & Organizations, ’04,
Founder, 13 Fishing, Tampa, Florida
“Learning from experienced mentors like Tom Bedell
was invaluable as a student, and it has been nice to share
what I learned through the program with students at the
BELL. Another important thing I learned at Iowa was the
networking opportunities. You have to keep your ear to
the ground — you never know if an opportunity is going
to come your way.”
BRANDON CAMPBELL
BA, Journalism and Mass Communication, International
Studies, Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management,
‘04, Founder, Little Rock Fashion Week (LRFW) and more
recently, Oneofakind Talent, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas
“I remember interning in New York City, sitting at
MTV when I received a call from [JPEC] saying that I
had won the Edward M. Moldt scholarship. It showed
me that I was on the right track, and that you can
dream big. Winning that award let me know that you
can go for it when you are a student.”
16 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
TELL US WHERE
YOU ARE NOW WITH
#JPECalum
STACY
KELSEY
BA, Journalism and
Mass Communication,
Certificate in
Entrepreneurial
Management, ’10,
Founder, The Kelsey
Experience, Fashion
Editor, EncoreHD
Magazine, Atlanta
“I really enjoyed the leadership and the positive
environment at JPEC. The program was never boring
because there was always something to get involved
in. While in the program, my mentors and the guest
speakers gave so much wisdom and advice to last a
lifetime. JPEC helped me build structure and gave
me direction for taking my entrepreneurial skills to
the next level. The program is like no other because
you have mentors and leaders who do anything
and everything to help you succeed. I would highly
recommend this program above any other because
the leadership you receive is so genuine.”
DEANNA
DOZER
BA, Political
Science, Certificate
in Entrepreneurial
Management, ’15,
Founder, Deanna
Marie Cosmetics,
Law student, Naples,
Florida
“I can be somewhat disorganized, and I needed to
streamline my time getting ready. I had an idea in
mind for a product that would combine mascara and
an eyelash curler. Once I had taken a couple of JPEC
courses, I shared my idea with Jeff Nock and Lynn
Allendorf, who encouraged me to begin by doing
research using the customer discovery process. My
dad used to tell me, ‘It just takes one idea,’ and
Deanna Marie Cosmetics was born. The research
validated my idea; I made a 3D prototype and
applied for a patent. There is still more work before
it is on the open market, but I can do that while I am
in law school.”
HAWK POWER:
BLUE CHIP STARTUPS
HUNG TRAN
MS, Computer Science, ’10; PhD, Computer Science, ’12, Founder and CEO, GotIt! (Tutor
Universe), Menlo Park, California
“At the time I joined JPEC, I didn't have much experience in founding and running
a startup. However, I quickly learned the necessary knowledge and skills from
Lynn, David and JPEC classes to have a solid foundation to get GotIt! (Tutor
Universe) off the ground. We continued getting more support from JPEC at the
[Founders Club] and CoLab to continuously grow GotIt! and turn it into a hot
startup in Silicon Valley.
AJ NELSON AND JOE DALLAGO
Co-founders, clusterFlunk, Iowa City
“The Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory helped propel us to raise
over one million in venture capital and build products that serve hundreds of
thousands of users. Weʻre currently working on clusterFlunk and our newest
education product, Pi.”
“What we are doing now is way bigger than the tutoring business that the company
started with. We are building an ‘On Demand Platform for Knowledge.’ Imagine
that when you have a problem and you need help, you take a picture of the
problem and post to the platform; within seconds someone starts working on it
and within minutes you have an expert explanation back. How cool is that?”
ADAM KEUNE
Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer, Higher Learning Technologies,
Coralville, Iowa
BEN BERKOWITZ
BSE, Biomedical Engineering, '10; MS, '12, Co-founder, Voxello (Iowa Adaptive
Technologies), Coralville, Iowa
“JPEC helped to provide me with the entrepreneurial knowledge and the basis
for capitalization necessary to fund a new company. Essentially, JPEC provided
me with what I needed to know in order to survive in the business world.”
”JPEC was instrumental in my development as an entrepreneur. The courses
I took while at Iowa sparked a passion for wanting to start my own business.
One of the most valuable things I took away was that there is no one answer
to any problem in entrepreneurship. No matter how much you read and study
entrepreneurship, management, marketing and more, you will still have to come
up with solutions on your own. It is part of what makes being an entrepreneur
so much fun. Every business will have unique problems that require unique
solutions, and my professors were very adamant about that. Obviously, learning
about things like business plans and financial models was critical, but there was
no book called ‛How to Build Higher Learning Technologies.ʼ That book is still
being written.“
ALUMNI | 17
CONNECTING WITH JPEC You are important to JPEC students and
NEW IDEAS
Jake Wood
@iowajpec (UI Entrepreneurship)
@iowajpec (UI Entrepreneurship)
John Pappajohn Educational Center
at the University of Iowa
John Pappajohn Educational Center
at the University of Iowa
Bob Walker
Photo Credit: Alberto Vasari
LECTURE SERIES JPEC sponsors several speaker
series each year designed to bring successful
entrepreneurs and business leaders to campus,
giving advice and inspiring students and
entrepreneurs alike. These events also provide
outstanding networking opportunities.
HUGHES LECTURE SERIES
• Featured panelists: Alec Whitters, co-founder
and CEO of Higher Learning Technologies;
Ravi Patel, president of Hawkeye Hotels;
Aristotle Loumis, founder and CEO of Ellison
Eyewear; Roby Miller, founder of TelePharm
• Panel discussion “Startup Stories”
•
210 attendees
SANDAGE LECTURE SERIES
•
Featured speaker: Todd P. Smith (BBA, '90, MBA
'96), founder and managing director of Dreamfield
Ventures
•
Lecture entitled “The Gift of Failure: Powerful
Lessons from an Entrepreneur’s Real-Life
Adversities”
•
387 attendees
BEN S. SUMMERWILL LECTURE
• Featured speaker: Jake Wood, author,
co-founder and CEO of Team Rubicon
• Presented by MidWestOne Bank
• 350 attendees
18 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
NEW IN 2015 New to the JPEC team in 2015 and
bringing their entrepreneurial expertise with them
were Jeff Nock and Bob Walker.
Jeff Nock serves as the lecturer and faculty advisor
for Founders Club. He mentors more than 50
students founding startups, creates networking
opportunities and coaches students competing for
funding competitions. Nock has been involved in
three tech startups and one global nonprofit startup.
Bob Walker is a lecturer and faculty advisor for
I-Envision and Sigma Nu Tau. He has 24 years of
teaching experience in higher education, previously
as an associate professor and the coordinator for
the Banking & Finance Degree and Management
Degree with Kirkwood Community College. Walker
was also an associate professor and chair of the
department of business at Mount Mercy University.
Jeff Nock
“
Founders Club,
JPECʼs student business
incubator, provides an
entrepreneurial ecosystem
that enables student
business founders to
launch innovative,
successful businesses in a
myriad of industries. “
INNOVATION
& INSPIRATION
to our nationally recognized program. Please consider coming back to
campus to judge a business plan competition or to mentor a student or a
startup. Support JPEC by providing necessary funds to support student
organizations, scholarships or Founders Club. We hope you will plan
now to join us next year at homecoming at the annual JPEC Alumni
Networking Reception. Your support contributes to our success.
#ItAllStartsHere
JEFF NOCK
JPEC Lecturer and Faculty
Advisor for Founders Club
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SBDC)
America’s SBDC at the University of Iowa was
established in 1981 as one of the four original
centers in Iowa. The center has been an active
part of the Tippie College of Business, the Iowa
Centers for Enterprise and UI JPEC. In 2015,
SBDC Regional Director Paul Heath and his team
provided more than 760 hours of consultation
to clients and $9,487,000 in total capital. 261
clients received advice from the SBDC and 225
new jobs were created. The Center provided 11
workshops and conferences, which were attended by
198 interested entrepreneurs.
Paul Heath
HEREʻS WHAT YOU MISSED: FY2015
JULY-AUGUST
• Jacobson Institute Entrepreneur Camps
• JPEC wins Service Provider of the Year —
Silicon Prairie Awards
• STEM Innovator Teacher Institute launched
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
• Venture School — Des Moines
• ENTREdays: Startup Stories,
IdeaStorm
• UI JPEC Homecoming Networking
Reception
• Innovation Expo
• Venture School — Cedar Falls
• Founders Club Fall Competition
• Internship panel by Alumni Board
• Sandage Lecture Series: Todd P. Smith
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
• American Girl releases Grace with help from
Jacobson Institute
• Venture School — Cedar Falls and Iowa City/
Cedar Rapids
MARCH-APRIL
• National Business Model
Competition
• MidWestOne Summerwill
Lecture: Jake Wood
• Venture School — Quad
Cities and Western Iowa
• Volding Business Plan
Competition
• The Startup Games
• Hawkeye Innovation Summit
and EXPO
• Venture School — Cedar
Rapids
MAY-JUNE
• Statewide Pappajohn Student
Entrepreneurial Venture Competition
• Founders Club BizFair and Awards
Ceremony
• EntreFEST
• Venture School Student Accelerator
• Jacobson Institute’s BizInnovator
Competition goes national
HIGHLIGHTS | 19
STAFF
DAVID HENSLEY Executive Director and Clinical Professor • LYNN ALLENDORF Director • DAWN BOWLUS Director, Jacobson Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship • PAUL HEATH Regional
Director, Small Business Development Center • DIMY DORESCA Lecturer and Director, Institute for International Business • PHIL JORDAN Tippie Business Liaison • JENNIFER BANTA JPEC
Training and Engagement Liaison • AMY JO REIMER-MYERS Associate Director, Educational Outreach • PATRICIA WEILAND Accountant • PATRICIA WHIDBY Department Administrator •
CLAIRE MCGRANAHAN Digital Marketing Manager • LAURA TAYLOR Associate Director of Marketing • JEFF NOCK Lecturer and Faculty Advisor for Founders Club • BOB WALKER Lecturer and
Faculty Advisor for I-Envision and Sigma Nu Tau • KURT HEIAR Lecturer and Entrepreneur-in-Residence • JOE SULENTIC Lecturer • KEVIN KRAUSE Lecturer
ADVISORY BOARD
TOM BEDELL CEO, Two Old Hippies • JOHN BUCHANAN Founder, RBP; a Marsh & McLennan Company • BARRY BUTLER UI Executive Vice President and Provost •
TOM CARDELLA President, Thomas L. Cardella Associates • CHADEN DJALALI Dean, UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences • SARAH FISHER GARDIAL Dean, UI Henry Tippie
College of Business • RICHARD JACOBSON Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Jacobson Companies • KEVIN KRAUSE Krausewa, L.C. • JOHN PAPPAJOHN President, Equity
Dynamics Inc. • DANIEL REED UI Vice President for Research and Economic Development • JEAN ROBILLARD, MD UI Vice President for Medical Affairs • DON SCHOEN
Founder & CEO, BettrLife • DEBRA SCHWINN, MD Dean, UI Roy J. and Lucille Carver College of Medicine • ALEC SCRANTON Dean, UI College of Engineering • DENNIS
SPARKS Director Global Logistics and Supply, Pfizer Inc.
ALUMNI BOARD
BEN ANDERSON Founder, Bandwidth Pool • JOE CORTESE Managing Director, Vilas Capital Management LLC • JARED GARFIELD Co-founder & CTO, Corvida Medical • JOSH
KRAKAUER CEO & Co-founder, Sculpt • JOHN MICKELSON Founder and Managing Partner, Midwest Growth Partners • PATRICIA MILLER President and CEO, Matrix IV • ROBY MILLER
Founder, TelePharm • RAVI PATEL Principal and President, Hawkeye Hotels • BRAD PHILLIPS Managing Partner, Phillips Stafford Insurance Group • ANNE PRICE Nanny
TIM RYPMA Manager, R.E. Properties LLC • JASON TROUT Co-founder, Good Blogs • ZAC VOSS Founder and President, Voss Distributing LLC • LAURA WESTERCAMP Management
Consultant, Accenture
108 John Pappajohn Business Building, Suite S160 | Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1994
facebook.com/Entrepreneurship.at.Iowa | twitter.com/iowajpec
www.iowajpec.org | (319) 335-1022