Agile Science

Our last stop on the trip was back on Centennial Campus at Agile Science headquarters. We thought we had the wrong location originally, because we opened the office door and it was a lab room with beakers brewing, computers buzzing, and hazardous material sign warnings. Shortly after the entering the lab we were greeted by Eva Garland, the company's Vice President of Research & Development. Eva led us into a back office conference room and began providing a little background on the business. Agile Sciences is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded in 2007 by Professors Christian Melander and John Cavanagh of North Carolina State University (NCSU) to provide commercial solutions to those industries plagued by the effects of biofilms. The co-founders of Agile Sciences have developed compounds that can disperse colonies of bacteria called biofilms. These compounds have applications in the areas of medicine, agriculture, and industry. This was my first experience learning about an science oriented entrepreneurial venture, yet the struggles their business had experience were very similar to any other start up. Eva explained that her main role was to be in attendance at the lab but she is also an avid grant writer. Grant writing is a popular form of funding in an industry like science, it has helped provided a significant amount of funding for their business, especially during the recession. Eva also spoke about the importance of the patent process to Agile's business and discussed the patent plaques that were located on the conference room wall. After a brief discussion the crew was separated into two groups, one stayed to chat with Eva and the other was led on a tour of the lab. The conversation in the small group was a chance for us to express concerns or questions about our specific entrepreneurial dreams. Eva was an active listener and provided great advice for those of us who spoke up.The tour group was led back into the lab by the director of its construction. The lab is the essential piece to the Agile business structure and the scientists take great pride in the planning and funding that went into its development. The crew may have not been familiar with type of research being conducted in the lab, but we were all able to identify with the pride and importance of productive surroundings that we observed. Thank you to both Eva and our lab guide for hosting us at the end of our trip!

Celito.net

Celito is a an entrepreneurial consulting company founded in 1999 by Sharat Nagaraj who is also a State Alumni. In 1999 Sharat, launched Celito with a passion for providing “desktop to the Internet” technology solutions and support services for business. Celito's continued success is driven by their desire to help clients understand their technology needs and to create solutions that can grow with their businesses. In the early years, Celito developed a speciality for assisting non-profit organizations, particularly those in the arts, and identifying ways to efficiently and effectively meet their Internet, data, telecommunication and support & service needs. We had a round table discussion in the company conference room that provided a few helpful hints like Sharat's advice for new businesses "scale it, execute it, charge for it." He also said be aware as a founder and know when to step out of the way and admit when you may be wrong; also be choosy when deciding additional co-founders in order to avoid jealously or laziness. We embarked on a tour of the facility with Sharat which gave all the engineers on the trip a thrill, especially in the data center room. Most of the engineering terms were over my head, but the business advice and organizational structure had a positive impact on me. The entire meeting from start to finish was energized and refreshing because after being in business for 13 years, Sharat still had a passion for his idea and it was shared by all of his employees as well. This was the only stop that offered up free treats for the crew as well, we all know college kids love free stuff. A big thank you to Sharat and his team for a great meeting and tour!

Empire Properties 1792

Our lunch for the tour was hosted by Empire Properties 1792 founder Greg Hatem at his restaurant Sitti in downtown Raleigh. Hatem is a local entrepreneur and fellow NC State Alumni who is devoted to redeveloping old properties in and around Raleigh. He has more than 20 years in real estate development, finance and international business culminated in 1995 when he created Empire to preserve and enhance the character of downtown Raleigh. Since forming the company, Greg has been a leader in the efforts to renew downtown through adaptive reuse of historic structures. Under his leadership, Empire Properties now owns 42 buildings with more than 600,000 square feet of office and retail space in downtown Raleigh. His Empire Eats restaurant division has given rise to fan favorites such as: The Pit, Raleigh Times Bar and the Morning Times. Hatem believes in building a community when he recreates a property and determines which tenant will occupy it. His partner Andrew Stewart was also in attendance at the lunch. Stewart joined Empire Properties in 2003, bringing with him years of experience in city planning and research, economics and analysis. He plays a key role on the leadership team, evaluating current and future projects and managing relationships with debt and equity sources. He is responsible for Empire Properties' financing strategy and asset management of the real estate portfolio. The lunch and conversation was a perfect break in our adventure.

Fall Local Tours 2012

Today the Entrepreneurial Initiative students embark on an exciting adventure, visiting six local companies to listen to inspirational stories, advice, and explore the city in which they learn. I am attending the trip not only to learn with the other students but to be the trip story teller! Keep in touch with us all day long for updates throughout our adventure!

Longview Center/Raleigh Foundary

Picture an 1880 baptist church in downtown Raleigh, with Sunday school classrooms being transformed into entrepreneurial office's. The founder of the building has old ties to the history and founding of NC State. He shared his grandfathers passion for entrepreneurship when he was the editor of a farming magazine and Southern Living. He discussed his development ideas with us for the church space and what being an innovative thinker was all about. The big takeaways were: understand your 8 intelligences, the past has more to teach us and figure out how to climb the walls. Next Friday is an open house of the facility; there will be free food and music! Check it out online for more information!

HUB Raleigh

The HUB was the first stop along the way in downtown. It is a space designed to facilitate office space for new start up companies in the Raleigh area. It is an international idea with differences in every space. The Raleigh location prides itself on being in the university "hub" of the Triangle area. Gathering talent from the various universities to inspire entrepreneurial growth on the area. We sat it a bright open conference room with a panel of local entrepreneurs who shared their story and answered our questions. Each person had a different motive and industry. The best summary of this visit was the quote "find the balance between your big idea and the problem you are trying to solve." Thank you HUB Raleigh and all the participants!

Brooks Bell

Our second stop happened to be in the same building as the HUB. It is the main proprietor of the space and serves as a host to others. This company is the industry leader in enterprise-level A/B split testing. Their goal is to optimize a company website and optimize conversation. The space was designed around the company values with a full kitchen, nap room, and conference rooms called left and right brain! The space is meant to influence flow of people, conversation and ideas. Removing doors from office's and putting whiteboards on the walls throughout the office, inspires employees and management to pursue bigger goals.

Fireside Chat Series #2

Monday night we embarked into the world of entrepreneurship with second Fireside Chat of the fall season! Students met with local entrepreneurs Donnie Barnes and Julie Gavaghan. Donnie told his story about the early days of Red Hat and the struggles they experienced getting the business off the ground. It was a group of men who believed in an idea, all the while being told there was nothing to come of it. Donnie also shared with us what he believes in as a modern day entrepreneur: "aha" moments. His "aha" moments essentially began in the beginning days at Red Hat. However, now the moments occur less often but he experienced them through his hobbies or reading about new ideas. He expanded his interests beyond Red Hat and made his work more well rounded. Donnie claimed "aha" moments are truly important throughout a lifetime as a student and as a working adult. Julie spoke about the beginning of her entrepreneurial career in the cleaning business. While in high-school Julie started a cleaning business which she managed all the way through college until she sold it to a national brand. The business was challenging at times, and managing people older than her was a struggle. However, Julie conquered the business and its troubles with a positive attitude and help from mentors along the way. Now, Julie is working as a developer for Keystone Corporation here in the Triangle area. Her job requires some entrepreneurial thinking, but her position on the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board is truly what keeps her connected to the mindset. Both speakers tonight are current members of the Entrepreneurial Initiative Advisory Board that meets twice a year to discuss ideas, events, and fundraising  We truly appreciated listening to both Julie and Donnie's insight this evening beside a lovely digitally provided fire. It was a relaxing way to enter the week. Stay tuned for more exciting events later in the week! G

Entrepreneurship in Action!

This week is full of exciting entrepreneurial adventures waiting to be experienced!  Monday night kicks off the week with the second Fireside Chat of the fall series.The speakers joining us will be distinguished local entrepreneurs Donnie Barnes and Julie Gavaghan. Thursday night is another Student Network Meeting with Aaron Gerry, co-founder of StartupAndPlay and all around awesome guy. Aaron is a core driver of Raleigh's young entrepreneurial community, and is more than happy to help you with advice and connections to progress your projects. Finally, Friday is the Fall Local Tour for a select group of entrepreneurship students, who will spend the day touring local start-up companies such as: Brooks Bell, HUB Raleigh, Empire 1792. Longview Center/Raleigh Foundry, Celito, Agile Sciences. This is sure to be a week of stories, inspiration and action for the NC State Entrepreneurship Initiative. Keep checking in with The STATEment for a sideline view of all the action! Have a wonderful week everyone. G

Why You Need to Tell Stories

I recently read an article on INC.com.  The title, Why You Need to Tell Stories, is what caught my interest as I scrolled through the Web site. The article talked about how using stories to describe your product helps employees, customers, and media understand how it works in the real world, not in a presentation deck. As entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs it is important to remember to keep the dream alive. As children we were entranced by fairy-tales, mysteries, and non-fiction stories. These stories all had their own affect on our character and beliefs about the world we live in. The article speaks about a man who runs a marketing software company, and was looking to connect on a more personal level to his business and its purpose. He discovered the best way to get his idea across to others was through storytelling. He described the ideal situation in which his software would benefit a customer and continue to change as they experienced success. His business was meant to provide others with the help they needed to be successful, and, as a result, their stories become his storytelling line up. In his opinion: "Stories work. Stories stick. Use them!"  G

"Never Eat Alone"

Welcome back to those students who enjoyed a much needed Fall Break! Over the break I began reading a book about success that I wanted to share with my blog readers, entitled, "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. The book guides its readers to build a lifelong community of colleagues, contacts, friends and mentors; essentially, your own unique network that will bring much success along the way. As I enter my senior year at NC State I have begun to realize how critical a strategic network can be for job hunting, advice or lasting friendships for life. The book is broken down into four sections: the mind set, the skill set, turning connections into compatriots, turning up and trading back. Each section has a thoughtfully constructed message to help readers develop strength and depth in their social networks. Ferrazzi speaks to importance of the physical connection rather than the digital connection because it makes people remember you as an individual. A few intriguing quotes from the book: "Relationships are more like muscles- the more you work them the stronger they become." "Like my dad said- no one becomes an astronaut by accident." As we gear up for the holiday seasons filled with family, friends and, most likely, delicious food do not forget to add to your network in these social times, after all, "your network is considered your net worth!"  G

Unreasonably Reasonable

In order to destroy the wrath of the Joker, Gotham City called on the Batman to use his prowess to defeat the mad lunatic. In order to defeat the malicious Dr. Von Doom, the world united as one and stood behind the Fantastic Four to help them defeat the mogul millionaire. And today, in order to overcome the overbearing obstacles placed on society by corrupt politicians and war criminals, the world will look to one force and one force only to help it prevail: and that force is the Unreasonable Institute.

I had the chance to sit down with Kevin Miller, a Senior majoring in entrepreneurship at NC State as well as recent graduate of the Unreasonable Institute, over breakfast to discuss his experience at the institute. Kevin, a recipient of the Caldwell Fellow Scholarship, interned at the Institute this summer and gave me the scoop about his experience. After spending two months at the Unreasonable Institue in Boulder, Colorado this past summer, Kevin left with not only a burden on his shoulder to one day solve a major problem that the world is currently facing, but he also left with a set of skills and advice that he hopes to pass on to you, the lonesome reader. Kevin describes the 25 entrepreneurs at the institute as “religious”. He doesn’t mean the traditional definition of religious, rather he means that they stick and adhere to a “set of values” and seldom do they break from them. He says that keeps them all on the same page, and it keeps everyone “driven by the same thing”. The institute is notorious for pairing the most uncommon entrepreneurs and thinkers together in order to elicit an uncommon relationship, which ends up being a relationship like no other. Kevin urges his colleagues to just “do it”. “What experiment is more worth doing than what you really want to do” he comments as he scarfs down the last bit of his mushroom omelet. Kevin hopes to one day make guitar and camera straps out of recycled plastic bags from the streets of India.

The investors, entrepreneurs, interns, and mentors at the Unreasonable Institute may not all wear capes and have a giant “S” imprinted on their chests, but they are a dedicated group of individuals that are dedicated to changing the world as we know it. Watch out Dr. Von Doom, because the Fantastic Four was the least of your worries compared to the Unreasonable Institute.

By: Ibrahim Zafar

Kevin Millers- TEDxNCSU Talk