More than 80 people braved Friday's snowstorm to learn more about starting technology-based businesses in Michigan. Lawrence Technological University hosted the "Invention to Venture" conference, the only Michigan stop for the national tour of such events sponsored by the Hadley, Mass.-based More than 80 people braved Friday's snowstorm to learn more about starting technology-based businesses in Michigan.Lawrence Technological University hosted the "Invention to Venture" conference, the only Michigan stop for the national tour of such events sponsored by the Hadley, Mass.-based National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (http://www.nciia.org/).
Your humble narrator had the privilege of moderating the daylong event, easy duty that consisted mostly of getting out of the way and letting the people who actually know what they're talking about take the microphone . . .
The morning session wound up with Jonathan B. Smith, founder and president of Summit, NJ-based Wave Dispersion Technologies Inc., which has developed a floating breakwater that provides both security against terrorist attacks and wave erosion control.
Smith said his experience shows rapid prototyping allows a startup to innovate quickly, and learn from calculated risks in real time. He also said his experience in Web site optimization helped put the company on the map.
As for entrepreneurial advice, Smith said: "Don't be afraid to fail... when I make a mistake, I just figure that I am one step closer to the answer." Also, preaching patience, he said, "It takes forever to make things happen. It takes about three times longer than you think to make any venture work." He also advised building a good support system and joining a peer-to-peer networking group.
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