Director of UM Entrepreneur Institute talks future goals
Last fall, Stewart Thornhill stepped into the role of executive director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, which is part of the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. His big idea is to intiate a Silicon Valley-style business accelerator. Excerpt: "The accelerator will be modeled on Y Combinator, Techstars, Launchpad LA. The perfect company to enter an accelerator is the one that is quarter-baked. You want it to be half-baked before it's really in a position to get that early, seed or angel investor money. But if companies try to go for that early investor too early, they're going to fail or they're going to have to give up so much of their company because of the wildly risky nature of it that it's often not worth doing. We often find that students who incubate ideas, whether in a formal incubator or just in their dorm room, often get to the point where they finish their degree, they'd love to be able to take it to that next stage, but they have to go get a job. They've got student loans, they have to pay rent, buy groceries." Read the rest here.
Last fall, Stewart Thornhill stepped into the role of executive director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, which is part of the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. His big idea is to intiate a Silicon Valley-style business accelerator.
Excerpt:
“The accelerator will be modeled on Y Combinator, Techstars, Launchpad LA. The perfect company to enter an accelerator is the one that is quarter-baked. You want it to be half-baked before it’s really in a position to get that early, seed or angel investor money. But if companies try to go for that early investor too early, they’re going to fail or they’re going to have to give up so much of their company because of the wildly risky nature of it that it’s often not worth doing.
We often find that students who incubate ideas, whether in a formal incubator or just in their dorm room, often get to the point where they finish their degree, they’d love to be able to take it to that next stage, but they have to go get a job. They’ve got student loans, they have to pay rent, buy groceries.”
Read the rest here.
Related Articles
Recast Leaders aim to revitalize local economies
Ypsilanti and six other Michigan communities are working on building their local economies in the Recast Leaders program. Here’s a look at how the program works.
AI’s impact in Washtenaw County, from tech boom to data centers
Our new three-part series digs into AI’s impacts in Ann Arbor’s tech industry, its utilization in Washtenaw County’s educational world, and the ongoing debate about data centers in several Washtenaw County communities.
Ypsi selected to join downtown revitalization program with emphasis on small manufacturers
Ypsilanti is one of six communities participating in Recast City’s Recast Leaders program, which is focused on strengthening local economies through small-scale manufacturing and product-based businesses.
