Reason #3 - You need a navigator

Another reason to collaborate in the Venture Development Center:

You just can't sprinkle your idea with pixie dust to make it happen. You know that. But you wish you could, don't you?

Nine times out of ten you are better explaining where you want to go but not how you are going to get there.

Not to worry. This is where the VDC's team of professionals come in. We excel on navigating the execution side, the stuff you feel kind of lost trying to deal with. As part of your team, we work with you to assemble everything you need to be successful.

We will adeptly steer you around those who will tell you that what you are doing can't be done, shouldn't be done, and isn't necessary. And then of course there are the university policies and procedures we know how to comply with.

Our team has a few internal center start-ups under our belt. And our entrepreneur in residence has done four software companies. Need we say more?

Reason #4 - You prefer to work in a team

Another reason to work in the Venture Development Center:

From the moment you step through our doors, you'll know that this is not business as usual.

We vanquished the solo investigator lab, substituting open labs. We shrank offices to the minimum, substituting work pods for teams. (To underscore the point, we even included two stand-up private offices.) And we provided lots of places where researchers can congregate outside their labs or offices to talk with one another, exchange ideas and write-up results.

Why did we do this? Because modern research and development is an intensely social activity. So the VDC’s designers delivered a program that facilitates interaction, flexibility and sharing.

The program supports research clusters, designed to enable scholars to better exchange ideas and explore emerging research areas and to work more effectively with industry, other research organizations and the community. We've learned that collaboration creates synergy, excitement, and creativity. Besides, we hear from students that employers want graduates who are prepared to meet the multidisciplinary needs of the world, integrating what they have learned in disparate fields.

We really pushed the concept. As networks connect people and organizations, sharing data within a team and with other research teams becomes key. Our technology enables you to include your colleagues scattered around town or the world, even in the labs.

Reason #5 - You need speed

Another reason to work in the Venture Development Center:

We told our IT folks: “Big science will be done here. Have at it.”

They delivered. The VDC is the fastest place on the UMass Boston campus. Universal CAT 6A connections everywhere linked by fiber optic cable to the data center which is connected to Internet2.

The IT folks did not stop there. Because you also have to be able to dynamically visualize data, not just process or store it, we installed a full high definition plasma display, at 103”, the largest in the world.

Now you can take advantage of the new availability of huge amounts of data, along with the statistical tools to crunch these numbers, and experience a whole new way of understanding the world. So go sequence an entire ecosystem.

We think big so you can too.

Think like a sponsor

You are pitching a sponsor whether a program officer from a foundation, science agency or a private investor. Instead of thinking about you, think about them. Everything then changes, in your favor.

What is the sponsor most interested in? We can answer this question with a few observations from our experience being both funding seekers and givers.

Contrary to popular belief, the sponsor is not thinking, “Is this venture going to make a lot of money?” or “is this venture going to have an impact?” That is the simple question that most think they are answering, but they are missing the crux of the investment process.

What the sponsor is really thinking is, “Is this venture the best next investment for me and my fund?” That is a much more complex issue, but that is what you have to pitch. So, you have to figure out how your venture fits with other investments the individual sponsor has made and the investments the sponsor is chartered to make.

The sponsor is also thinking, "Will my investment increase your venture's capacity to be self-sufficient or it's attractiveness to other sponsors?" Most sponsors do not take on a permanent funding commitment. So, you have to present milestones and say how you will use the requested investment to accomplish the milestones, in order to move the venture from one stage to the next, and meet the sponsor's objectives.

Investors like it when you're making just enough to pay your program expenses. It shows you've thought about sustaining your venture, instead of just working on amusing technical problems; it shows you have the discipline to keep your expenses low; but above all, it means you don't need them.

You may still need investment to make it big, but you don't need it next month. The reason they like it when you don't need them is because that quality is what makes ventures succeed.

The investor wants to say "Oh, those folks can take care of themselves. They'll be fine." Not "those folks are really smart" or "those folks are working on a great idea."

Reason # 6 - You want to make a difference

Another reason to check out the Venture Development Center:

We like to feel good about the business missions we support. That is why we seek out those who are pursuing double or triple bottom line ventures - those who set out with a vision to build a profit focused company that is socially and environmentally positively impacting the world.

UMass Boston is a magnet for those dedicated to improving people’s lives using the power of enterprise as a powerful force for change. It has outpaced the nation in the growth of sponsored social science research. Most of this research is driven by a desire for social change, and it is shared with society in a way to have an impact. And through its many ethnic institutes, it has a finger on the pulse of the world. We know that there are opportunities all over the world for social enterprises that commercial enterprises have missed. We can help you to see and seize a gap in the market.

Reason # 7 - You see things differently

Another reason why the Venture Development Center is for you:

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."*

*"Think Different" is an advertising campaign created in 1997 for Apple. The commercials end with an image of a young girl opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.

Reason # 8 - You need to leverage talent

Another reason why the Venture Development Center is for you:

All start ups have too much to do, in too little time, without enough resources. Your workforce is typically very expensive, however with limited resources, you often are required to use your high priced talent to accomplish everything.

Our student interns provide great value in database entry, database scrubbing, and data verification; event and lead generation; market research; scripted cold calling for webinar, seminar, and event attendance; collection and analysis of data to determine effectiveness or outcomes; lab tests on blood, tissue and body fluids; first level hardware and software support; scripting and code development; accounting assistance and business modeling. They are smart, hungry, loyal, and work hard for everything they achieve.

Our faculty comprise an outstanding translational research community in human development, biological systems, computational science and environmental monitoring, and can solve technical problems, engage in joint development and verify results.

The cultural diversity of UMass Boston's research community and its distinction as one of the most productive of small research universities adds to the robustness of your solutions.

Reason #9 - You need a place where you can do good work

Another reason why the Venture Development Center is for you:

As a lean technical team looking for a place to get started on your venture, you often face the choice between looking impressive, and being impressive.

You could find a cheap deal to share bench or office space in a cube farm or some dreary building in the suburbs that's a wasteland when the sun goes down. Not great since you’ll be practically living in the space, coming back to work after dinner when the phone stops ringing.

Leasing corporate space closer to the action is beyond your reach at the moment. You don't know what your needs will be six months from now and don't want to be locked into paying for space you do not need.

But after investigating what’s available, you quickly find that you have to compromise. Until now.

The VDC brings you the latest in research and development space design with flexible terms that work for you. In our 18,000 sf facility, you can plug in and get to work, almost immediately, and your team can expand or contract as you go. Plus, you can take a walk or run, smelling the ocean instead of traffic.

Reason #10 - You want to build something of lasting value

Another reason why the Venture Development Center is for you:

Inside your research program there is a venture screaming to be set free. A venture might include a subscription newsletter or journal, fee-for-service research, testing, or design operation, or even a product. Researchers rarely stop and think about what is possible.

Having a venture helps you meet the challenge of maintaining the capacity to continue to implement the ideas and approaches begun under a grant. It also helps your program officer show that what resulted from their investment and effort has value beyond the term of the grant.

Most sponsors these days aren’t simply dispersing money but casting a hard eye on results. They’re expecting impact long after their funding is withdrawn.

Most researchers are not prepared to deal with this. They tend to go from grant to grant assuming that just because their mission is worthy, or they achieve good results, their program will continue.

The VDC helps our partners meet this challenge. We begin by asking the right questions. Not at the end of a grant, when it is too late, but at the beginning, so progress can be tracked just like the other outcomes. We also help clients change the pitch they make to sponsors so they'll be more likely to invest.

We'll coach you through a pragmatic step-by-step, test-and-learn process that enables you to see and seize revenue opportunities. You'll learn how to build sustainability into your strategy. It will save you headaches and heartaches down the line.