jpec annual report 2015 final-lr

EXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES | 1

2 | JPEC 2015 ANNUAL REPORT

FY2015 AT A GLANCE

Entrepreneurship Course Sections Taught = 115• 66 on-campus courses and 49 online courses

JPEC Alumni*

• 244 in FY2015

• 2,950 to date (since 1997)

* 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

Scholarships Awarded = $22,500• 17 students received academic scholarships

• Scholarships ranged from $500 to $2,500

Youth Impacted = 21,664• 8,209 students impacted by BizInnovator Curriculum

• 11,895 students impacted by STEM Innovator

• $22,070 seed capital awarded in FY2015

• 57,126 youth impacted since 1996

9 Cohorts• 8 Venture Schools

• 1 Summer Accelerator

66 teams• 182 participants

• Location of cohorts: University of Iowa, Cedar Rapids,

Cedar Falls, Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines, Council Bluffs

• 350+ hours dedicated to mentoring

• 18 instructors trained in I-Corps/Lean LaunchPad since 2013

Economic Development ImpactAcademic Impact

3,883

8,937

13,633

242

$131,100 seed funding

229 894 525

8,773+

undergraduate enrollments

program, seminar and workshop participants

participants across all programs (including academic and outreach)

startups served

graduate enrollments clients

assisted

hours dedicated to clients

2014-2015 Venture SchoolStatewide Expansion

Venture School

jobs created

INTRODUCTION | 3

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 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.

• 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

NEW IN FY2015• “Hawk Pitch”

• Venture School Expansion

• American Girl’s Entrepreneurial “Girl of the Year”

• Sigma Nu Tau

ACADEMICSBEYOND THE CLASSROOMEXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES STUDENT COMPETITIONSPARTNERSHIPS

468

910

Photo Credit: Manny Albadab, IMU Marketing + Design

2014-2015 Venture SchoolStatewide Expansion

CONT

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ACCELERATIONCOMMERCIALIZATIONCOMPETITIONSYOUTH OUTREACHALUMNINEW IDEAS

ACADEMIC IMPACT2015 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.

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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM JPEC is committed to providing students with real-world experience. Whether it is an internship, a startup business, a part-time 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.”

“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.

Photo Credit: Mark Zhu, Student Life Marketing + Design


ACADEMICS | 5

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.”

“

“

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

Photo Credit: Iowa Startup Accelerator


BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

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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.

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.

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.

Mitch Larson, Lynn Allendorf, Jon Myers

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM | 7

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.

“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.

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.

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.

Mackenzie Phillips receiving certificate Photo Credit: Ben Handler

Sigma Nu Tau


HAWKS DIVE WITH SHARK TANK STAR

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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.

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#ThePeoplesSharkPhotos 2 & 4 by Tim Schoon/Strategic Communication

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Photos 1 & 3 by Joe Photo/Impact Photography

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.

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.

ROSE FRANCIS STUDENT ELEVATOR PITCH COMPETITION OPEN TO UI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (65 ENTRANTS)

$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)

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 UNDERGRADUATE & GRADUATE STUDENTS (29 ENTRANTS)

$5,000 Spectator (Jon Myers, Brandon Kiefer and Mitch Larson)$3,000 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui) $2,000 Whexbook (Vuk Radosavljevic)

COMPETITIONS | 9

FOUNDERS CLUB FAIR/YEAR-END COMPETITION OPEN TO UI STUDENTS IN THE FOUNDERS CLUB (30 ENTRANTS)

$1,500 SWINEGUARD (Matthew Rooda)$1,000 Swvl Shkr (Connor Keane)$500 Test Buddy (Andrew Shao)$500 Lohman Earthworks (Pierce Lohman)$500 AppyHour (Neil Jirele)$500 Organizer (Eric Pahl and Dalton Shaull)$500 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 Quick Scripts (Eric Pahl)$400 Bid the Med (Sandeep Bodduluri)$300 Career Karma (Julian Valencia)$300 My Stuff App (Josh Giles)$200 Home Energy Monitor (Kayley Lain)

THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS FALL 2014 BOARD MEETING PITCH COMPETITION

$500 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)

HAWKEYE INNOVATION SUMMIT EXPO (36 ENTRANTS)

$1,000 Iowa Adaptive Technologies (Ben Berkowitz)$500 3D Digital Design Class (Monica Correia)$500 Valor (Madison Gingery)

HAWKEYE INNOVATION SUMMIT HAWK PITCH (3 ENTRANTS)

$2,000 Test Buddy (Andrew Shao)$1,000 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)$500 Track Slides (Anthony Gair)

STUDENT COMPETITIONS

UI STARTUP OF THE YEAR$1,000 Iowa Approach (Steve Mickelson)

UI STUDENT STARTUP OF THE YEAR$1,000 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and

Chen Cui)

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION


ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (EMI) is a partnership between the Tippie College of Business and JPEC where students gain real-world 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

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING LEADS TO PARTNERSHIPSPA

RTNE

RSHI

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Ryan Ciepley

Dimy Doresca

Kristin Knudson

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!”

Paul Kongshaug

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PARTNERSHIPS | 11

Photo Credit: Justin Torner

Photo Credit: Joe Photo/Impact Photography

PARTNERSHIPS THAT CELEBRATE

IOWA INNOVATION CORPORATION


VENTURE SCHOOLAC

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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

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.

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.

DAVID HENSLEY Executive Director of the UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center

Lynn Allendorf & Elizabeth Caven, UpCraft Club

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).

COMPETITIONS | 13

COMMERCIALIZATION COMPETITIONS

BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION OPEN TO UI FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS, UI RESEARCH PARK & BELL TENANTS (48 ENTRANTS)

$7,500 Western Wise (Emily Roberts and Chen Cui)$2,500 CartilaGen (Ma [Mark] Tianxiang)$2,500 Track Slides (Anthony Gair)$2,500 Epileptic Seizure Monitoring System (Kwan Lee)$2,000 Needle Eye Medical (Kristin Knudson)$2,000 College Gaming Series (Connor Alne)$1,000 Re:fresh (Alanna Rumler)$1,000 Valor (Madison Gingery)$1,000 Wihsil (Zach Musselman)$1,000 Shake It, LLC / Glimpse [Drake] (Ethan Turner)$500 Whexbooks (Vuk Radosavljevic)$500 Swvl Shkr (Connor Keane)$500 Spectator (Jon Myers, Brandon Kiefer, JD McCullough and Mitch Larson)$500 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)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION$2,000 QUARTER FINALIST Western Wise

THINKCHICAGO CONFERENCEATTENDEE Farm Manuals Fast ATTENDEE Test Buddy

NATIONAL CEO COMPETITIONSTUDENT ENTREPRENEUR Tyler FinchumOF THE YEAR

2014 -15 EO IOWA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMACCEPTANCE INTO PROGRAM Ellison Eyewear

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN FRANCHISINGACCEPTANCE INTO CONFERENCE Deanna Dozer

SAN DIEGO LEAN MODEL COMPETITIONSEMI FINALS: TOP 25 OVERALL Wihsil & TOP 5 IN CATEGORY

BAYLOR NEW VENTURE COMPETITIONSEMI FINALIST Wihsil

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION COMPETITIONTHIRD PLACE Edible Innovations

5TH TEEC CUP AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITIONTOP 10 PLACING Edible Innovations

STU CLARK INVESTMENT COMPETITION IN MANITOBASEMI FINALIST - $781 Career & Company

DREAM BIG, GROW HEREPARTICIPANT Career & Company

PROMETHEUS AWARDS (TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF IOWA)STUDENT INNOVATION SpectatorOF THE YEAR FINALIST

STUDENT INNOVATION Western WiseOF THE YEAR FINALIST

STUDENT INNOVATION WihsilOF THE YEAR FINALIST

2015 RICHARDS BARRENTINE VALUES & VENTURES BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION AT TCUSEMI FINALIST - $100 Spectator

CHICAGO MIDWEST TRADING COMPETITIONPARTICIPANT Voyager Investment

Technologies

UNIVERSITY INNOVATION FELLOWS ANNUAL MEET-UPATTENDEE Aaron GoddardATTENDEE Anastasia Hertz

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.

REGIONAL/NATIONAL COMPETITIONS

Junyi Xia, PhD

Alfredo Siochi, PhD


INSTITUTEJACOBSON

FORYOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIPThe University of Iowa

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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.

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.

“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.

Photo Credit: David Scrivner, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Endotherm Team

YEAR ONE71 high school

students nationwide have earned

UI college credit in entrepreneurship

REACHING YOUNGENTREPRENEURSNATIONWIDE

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.

FY2015 AT A GLANCE: YOUTH OUTREACH OVERALL IMPACT

YOUTH OUTREACH | 15

$22,070 Seed Capital Awarded to

High School Students

11,895 High School Students Impacted

by STEM Innovator Program

21,664 Students Impacted Through

Youth Outreach Initiatives in 2015

57,126 Students Impacted Through Youth

Outreach Initiatives Since 1996

Endotherm Team

BIZINNOVATOR CURRICULUM

Active Teachers

608

8,209Students


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.”

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.”

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.”

TIME WELL SPENTALUM

NI

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.”

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.”

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.”

TELL US WHERE YOU ARE NOW WITH

#JPECalum

ALUMNI | 17

HAWK POWER: BLUE CHIP STARTUPS

ALUMNI | 17

AJ NELSON AND JOE DALLAGOCo-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.”

HUNG TRANMS, 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.“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?”

BEN BERKOWITZBSE, 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.”

ADAM KEUNECo-founder and Chief Business Development Officer, Higher Learning Technologies, Coralville, Iowa”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.̓ That book is still being written.“

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

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.

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.

CONNECTING WITH JPEC You are important to JPEC students and 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

INNOVATION & INSPIRATION


NEW

IDEA

S

Jake Wood

Paul Heath

Jeff NockBob Walker

““

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.

JEFF NOCK JPEC Lecturer and Faculty Advisor for Founders Club

Photo Credit: Alberto Vasari

@iowajpec (UI Entrepreneurship) @iowajpec (UI Entrepreneurship)

John Pappajohn Educational Center at the University of Iowa


HIGHLIGHTS | 19

HEREʻS WHAT YOU MISSED: FY2015

• Jacobson Institute Entrepreneur Camps• JPEC wins Service Provider of the Year —

Silicon Prairie Awards• STEM Innovator Teacher Institute launched

• Founders Club Fall Competition• Internship panel by Alumni Board• Sandage Lecture Series: Todd P. Smith

• American Girl releases Grace with help from Jacobson Institute

• Venture School — Cedar Falls and Iowa City/Cedar Rapids

• 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

• Statewide Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition

• Founders Club BizFair and Awards Ceremony

• EntreFEST• Venture School Student Accelerator• Jacobson Institute’s BizInnovator

Competition goes national

• Venture School — Des Moines • ENTREdays: Startup Stories,

IdeaStorm• UI JPEC Homecoming Networking

Reception• Innovation Expo• Venture School — Cedar Falls

JULY-AUGUST

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

JANUARY-FEBRUARY

MAY-JUNE

MARCH-APRIL

@iowajpec (UI Entrepreneurship)


ADVISORY BOARD

STAFF

108 John Pappajohn Business Building, Suite S160 | Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1994facebook.com/Entrepreneurship.at.Iowa | twitter.com/iowajpecwww.iowajpec.org | (319) 335-1022

ALUMNI BOARD

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

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.

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 NannyTIM 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

jpec annual report 2015 final-lr

Documents