Nurturing Newborn Firms

I am an adviser with the Indiana Venture Center in Indianapolis. I work primarily with early-stage companies with high growth potential and assist them throughout the venture creation and expansion process, from business planning, strategy formulation, and capital acquisition to working through issues of execution and implementation. Many clients are at the stage of raising equity financing, so I also manage a network of angel investors across the state of Indiana.

The Indiana Venture Center has five university partners: Ball State University, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana University, and the University of Notre Dame, and the center's model relies heavily on leveraging university talent.

I got my start at Indiana Venture Center, when I led an engagement with a center client while in my second year of B-school at Purdue. I essentially acted as an independent consultant for the Indiana Venture Center, and after completing a successful project, the center asked me to join the staff full-time upon completion of my Masters in Business Administration.

Working with early-stage companies allows me to be part of a passionate and dynamic environment on a daily basis, and my exposure to a variety of clients, industries, and innovations has been a tremendous learning experience. More than anything, however, being able to make a personal connection with entrepreneurs who truly value my assistance is the most enjoyable aspect of my job.

Here's a typical day in my life:

6:00 a.m.—Out of bed for my first "job" of the day, which has me heading out to the barn to feed three horses. The rule is that they eat before I eat.

7:00 a.m.—On the road for a one-hour commute to the office. I have begun to appreciate this time, and I use the drive to focus my mind, ponder ideas, and map out the coming day.

8:05 a.m.—I'm settled into my office to begin checking e-mail and voicemails. Certain items need immediate attention, but most will have to wait until lunch.

8:30 a.m.—I begin to prepare for my first meeting of the day. The center's president and I are meeting with a company that is attempting to raise $1 million to complete development and begin commercialization of a new medical device. I take a detailed look at the company's 35-page business plan to get up to speed on their idea, progress, and plans.

10:00 a.m.—With a list of questions in hand, I enter our conference room to meet the company's two principals. I am immediately impressed by both individuals' technical backgrounds and expertise. However, as in so many cases, it is apparent that these guys have the "if we build it they will come" mentality. And, of course, they think their "idea" is worth $10 million. Maybe it will be eventually, but not at this stage.

Noon—I eat a salad at my desk while I catch up on the e-mails I didn't get to this morning. I also take this time to call and check in with my wife, who has our two boys at home.

12:25 p.m.—Rory, our director of marketing, pops in to get my thoughts on an upcoming newsletter. With a small staff, we all have to wear multiple hats. I review the newsletter, making a few minor edits and recommendations.

12:45 p.m.—I start preparing for a client conference-call scheduled for this afternoon. I'll be joining Jeff, one of our summer interns (a first-year Notre Dame MBA), on a call with a client he has been supporting. I take a look at the research and preliminary analysis Jeff has compiled and prepare my own thoughts on the implications for the client.

1:30 p.m.—My consulting juices start flowing shortly into the call, and I take the client through a discussion of Treacy and Wiersema's "value disciplines." (Anything to get the client thinking in a new way.)

2:45 p.m.—I receive a call from another client, who has just closed a deal with a large customer and wanted to share the good news. The new account will have a huge impact on this fledgling startup, mostly in terms of morale.

3:00 p.m.—I've been working with a software company that is attempting to raise angel money, but has had little success. I really believe in the company and its management team, so I'm trying to schedule a meeting for the company with some potential investors. Between the phone calls, e-mails, and voicemails, it's an exercise in herding cats.

3:45 p.m.—I call my client to update them on my progress in pulling together the meeting, tentatively scheduled for two weeks from now. Our conversation turns to their investor pitch and we go over a 13-page PowerPoint deck, slide by slide.

4:30 p.m.—I have a few more e-mails I need to get to, but I seem to be mostly caught up. Now's the best time to catch up with some of my colleagues regarding some action items that came out of our Monday morning staff meeting.

5:15 p.m.—I begin to wind down and check my schedule for the following day. I stuff a client folder into my bag so I can take a look at it this evening. I have good intentions, but who am I kidding? I have a 3-year-old waiting at home to climb on Dad and a 4-month-old whose mother needs a break.

5:30 p.m.—Time to hit the road for my evening commute. A new audio book awaits!

Though I definitely use the concepts I learned in business school on an everyday basis, I probably didn't need an MBA to perform well in my current role because I also have an undergraduate degree in business. For people with a more technical background and education, however, it would probably be more important to have the MBA.

When I first started at Indiana Venture Center, I tended to assume that most entrepreneurs generally knew and understood a lot of the same core business concepts that I did. I underestimated exactly how much hand-holding some clients need when it comes to the fundamentals, because many entrepreneurs come from technical/science backgrounds.

As a consultant, I am basically required to be a generalist when it comes to the various functional areas of business. But were I to choose one area to develop more fully, it would definitely be finance. Many of the early stage companies that I deal with are attempting to raise capital, and being able to create optimal financing strategies and approaches is critical to helping these clients achieve their maximum value.