Monday June 6th, 2016

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Welcoming Remarks from NSF 8:30 - 9:00am

Imperial Ballrooms

Barry Johnson, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) in the Directorate for Engineering at NSF.

Welcoming Keynote: ecoATM - One Entrepreneur’s Journey to Success Through the NSF SBIR Program 9:00 - 10:00am

Mark Bowles, will discuss his journey from company formation in 2008 through acquisition by Outerwall in 2013 for $350 million, and how funding from the NSF’s SBIR program played a role in his success. He also will discuss lessons learned along the way, from overcoming technical hurdles encountered during product development, to building a world-class team, to identifying and negotiating strong partnerships and raising private investment. This insightful talk will focus on the issues that are faced by many technically-differentiated start-ups, across sectors and geographies.

Dancing with Elephants: What Are Corporate Tech Scouts Really Looking For? 10:30 - 12:00pm

Forming meaningful partnerships with large companies is more often than not a critical task for the smaller entrepreneurs and innovators that comprise the SBIR and STTR communities. Successfully executing such an undertaking, however, is far from trivial for the smaller partner in this dance. How do the scouting teams at large companies operate? How are they measured? What are the challenges they face? What, exactly, are they looking and hoping for when they talk to prospective partners? What should the smaller partner be ready for, open to and cautious of? We’ll demystify the corporate tech scouting black box and show why this is critical for those in the SBIR and STTR communities that are looking to accelerate their growth.

Moderator: Kevin See

Panelist:
Joe Fox

Panelist:
Jason Lynch

Panelist:
Rick DeRose

Panelist:
Tom Boyd

Entrepreneurs have more options than ever for seed fundraising. Crowdfunding sites. Angel List. Professionally-run Angel groups. Wealthy young entrepreneurs. SAFE term sheets. The options and information can get overwhelming. Kevin Dewalt is a 2-time NSF SBIR grantee winner and an active Angel investor who has helped dozens of Phase II recipients navigate the challenges of fundraising. In this 30-minute talk he will talk through some practical, time-effective options NSF SBIR teams can use to get the seed funding necessary to commercialize their innovations.

Grantee Q&A Breakout Sessions by Program Director 1:30 - 2:30pm

These Q&A breakout sessions allow grantees an opportunity to ask questions of their NSF SBIR/STTR Program Director in a small group setting with other grantees in the same technology area. This is a good time to learn more about supplemental funding opportunities, Phase II reporting requirements, the entrepreneurial educations sessions, or other questions about the program.

Ruth Shuman, NSF Program Director

Rajesh Mehta, NSF Program Director

Prakash Balan, NSF Program Director

Peter Atherton, NSF Program Director

Murali Nair, NSF Program Director

Jesus Soriano, NSF Program Director

Glenn Larsen, NSF Program Director

Ben Schrag, NSF Program Director

Telling Your Story - Pitch Training for SBIR/STTR Grantees 3:00 - 4:00pm

Imperial Ballrooms

The 4 ways you need to know to tell the story of your startup. How to effectively pitch your company, what to focus on, and what you’ll need to prepare. Grantees will be asked to practice and perfect their pitch during the conference. On the final day, each grantee will be assigned to a breakout room where they will have an opportunity to give their pitch and receive valuable feedback from a NSF I-Corps instructor.

Supersize Phase IIB Presentations 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Speakers:

  • Ted Acworth, Founder & CEO, Artaic LLC
  • Jason Ethier, Founder, President & CEO, Dynamo Micropower
  • Jason Kelly, Founder, Gingko Bioworks
  • Craig Knoche, Founder & President, i-Human Patients, Inc
  • Lee Redden, CTO/Co-Founder, Blue River Technology Inc
  • Eric Smith, CEO, Keystone Tower Systems

Selected SBIR/STTR Phase II grantees that have received a Supersize Phase IIB award of $500k in matching funds from NSF will share their “lessons-learned” for companies that haven’t yet reached the IIB milestone. These IIB grant recipients will each give a brief presentation where they provide their insights, experiences and challenges in conceptualizing a minimally viable product, developing customers, fundraising and establishing strategic partnerships.

Tuesday June 7th, 2016

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Concurrent Sessions

The entrepreneurial educational sessions listed below are offered in concurrent sessions. Grantees will be able to attend four of the six sessions offered on Tuesday. Please review the detailed session descriptions below to determine which courses are most appropriate for you to attend.

What You Need to Know About Mergers and Acquisitions

8:45am - 10:00 and 1:30 - 2:45pm - (Imperial Salon A)

Thinking strategically about the financing of your company from founding to exit (IPO, Mergers and Acquisitions) with a focus on important considerations for founders/executives.

The Art of Negotiation and Strategic Partnerships

8:45am - 10:00 and 1:30 - 2:45pm - (Imperial Salon B)

Learning to negotiate effectively is as important to the growth of your business as any other activity. Negotiation is involved in raising capital, hiring team members, closing customer deals, and forming strategic partnerships. Learn the essential elements for your Phase II company, and why your negotiations are unlike buying a car or asking for a salary increase (back when you worked for someone else).
8:45am - 10:00 and 3:15 - 4:30pm - (M103-M105)
It is imperative that a company’s legal affairs are in order. The session will identify the key legal issues an early-stage company needs to address. Is your company’s intellectual property protected? Are you avoiding the taxation minefields? Do you have arrangements in place for dealing with the “what-ifs,” such as your co-founder’s death or decision to quit working for the company or sell his interest in the company? If your answer to any of these questions is no, you are putting your company at risk. The presentation will be amplified with war stories from Michael’s many years of working with early-stage companies. The session will be interactive, so bring your questions.
10:30am - 11:45 and 3:15 - 4:30pm - (Imperial Salon A)

This session is specifically for Phase II grantees. Learn how to clearly identify all customers and stakeholders in your ecosystem, and determine corresponding value propositions for each. Avoid the common mistakes made by even experienced entrepreneurs in this area. Assess your problem-solution fit. Map out complex purchase decisions. Identify competition, re-segment the market to find your best entry point, and assess the overall market opportunity. Learn how to initially generate and begin validating your business model using “customer discovery.”

10:30am - 11:45 and 3:15 - 4:30pm - (Imperial Salon B)
There are four phases of your company’s growth: Business Model Development, Demonstration, Execution and Scale Up. At each stage, investors look for different milestones to be achieved. As a funding source, the NSF SBIR/STTR provides much-needed seed funding in the Business Model Development Stage. In this presentation, you will learn about progressing to other sources of private financing to build and scale your company.

Building Realistic Financials

10:30am - 11:45 and 1:30 - 2:45pm - (M103-M105)

Your financial model drives every aspect of your company - from research to market approach. Investors also take close and critical assessment of your pro forma financials in considering an investment. Therefore, you must have realistic, assumption driven financials you can explain and support. We will talk about some of the important aspects of building your financials and speak with seasoned angel investors about the dos and don’ts.

Wednesday June 8th, 2016

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Women in Business Breakfast
7:00am - 8:30 - Atrium Level, Ballroom B
All women attending the Conference are invited and encouraged to attend.
Venture Capital 101

8:45am - 10:00 - (Imperial Salon A)

For many young technology businesses, venture capital will be an indispensable part of their growth story. We’ve recruited a number of partners from venture capital firms to give an overview of how venture capital works and how entrepreneurs can position themselves to maximize their chances of raising VC funding. The assembled panelists have been chosen with a focus on VC firms who fund at the early stage, and also on those firms which fund the kinds of technology areas that are prevalent among NSF SBIR/STTR awardees. This moderated discussion will allow for plenty of Q&A from the audience. Not Pictured: Panelist: Karen Kerr, Senior Managing Director, GE Ventures;

8:45am - 10:00 and 3:00 - 4:15pm - (Imperial Salon B)

Thousands of early stage companies fail because predictable challenges in bringing their innovations to market are poorly anticipated and addressed by overwhelmed founders. This interactive session introduces how to manage common growth issues, stakeholder expectations, and strategic planning. For many, that includes finding and trusting professional managers to scale the business. We will discuss the changing role of founder, recruiting a complementary team, performing realistic self-assessments, engaging the board, identifying advisors, and developing your company’s culture.

Customer Development Part 2 – Validating Your Business Model
10:30am - 11:45 and 3:00 - 4:15pm - (Imperial Salon A)

This session is specifically for Phase II grantees and builds on the Customer Development Part 1 session. Learn the difference between problem-solution, product-market, and business-model fit. Learn how to use prototype development and testing, and early sales, to validate key elements of your business model. Learn about the “minimum viable product” (MVP) approach and how every company can use it – even for complex technology based businesses. What evidence will investors expect to see regarding your business model?

 

10:30am - 11:45 and 1:30 - 2:45pm - (Imperial Salon B)

Raising capital can be a daunting task for an early-stage company. The session will discuss the key business, finance and legal issues an entrepreneur needs to know to conduct a successful capital raise. There is a dizzying array of financial instruments. Should you opt for traditional convertible preferred stock, stripped-down convertible preferred stock (such as Series Seed or Series AA), convertible notes (such as KISS notes) or convertible equity (such as SAFE or KISS equity)? What terms should you affix to these instruments? How do you set the company’s pre-money valuation? The session will be interactive, so bring your questions.

IP Strategy
1:30 - 2:45pm - (Imperial Salon A)

“IP for the Started-Up” - Ann Fort, presentation

“What to Expect When Filing a Patent” - Mindy Bickel, presentation

This session will build on the IP Overview that you might have attended during the Phase I conference. Topics will include: whether and how to obtain legal representation, including Pro Bono programs for under-resourced inventors; how and what to prepare for meetings with your attorneys; how the patent examination process works and programs to help you when you hit road blocks; working with your attorney to build a record that will help protect you if you end up in court suing an infringer; and free resources available if you are sued for patent infringement.