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Minnesota is an innovation-driven state.  We enjoy our current quality of life because of the past and ongoing efforts of our fellow citizens to harness creativity, work hard and build things that make a lasting difference - food tech, life science, information tech, clean/green tech, education tech and the list goes on.  Here a few recent and upcoming MN innovation highlights that are a reminder of our robust technology and entrepreneurship scene.

Minnesota Cup Awards - September 6

The Minnesota Cup is our state's biggest business plan competition, with over 1,000 entrants and six divisions.   The year-long process, sponsored by the University of Minnesota and the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, ends with an awards presentation at the McNamara Center.  This year's award ceremony, held just a few weeks ago, brought to the fore six great new companies innovating in completely different spaces.

The top prize went to PreciousStatus (also High Tech division winner), which has built a system to let medical caregivers provide families with short, real-time health updates on loved ones.  The Division winners show the diversity of our economy: Envirolastech (Cleantech; thermoelastic wood replacement); Orthocor (Bioscience; electromagnetic knee pain relief); LifeFloor (General; slip-resistant flooring); Cognific (Student; web-based mental health engagement tools and therapies); Tuloko (Social Entrepreneur; social network/business directory focused on black-owned businesses).

Univ. of Minnesota Venture Center - 12 new startups in FY 2012

The U's Office of Technology Commercialization and Venture Center work to locate, license and commercialize U-based technologies.  The Venture Center focuses on developing and spinning out startups into the local economy.  In FY12, the Venture Center hit an all-time high 12 startup spinouts.  12 in 12 is a great accomplishment.  Keep your eyes open for this U tech in the local economy, creating high-quality jobs and enriching our innovation ecosystem.

EduTech Conference (TiE Minnesota) - October 8

This is the second year of the annual education technology conference hosted by TiE Minnesota.  Education technology has been important part of the IT economy here in Minnesota for the past three decades and is a high-profile growth area nationally.  Among the local successes was the original Oregon Trail software. There are many new education tech startups coming into the local market, which creates great possibilities to align tech innovation, job growth and the manifold challenges of modern education.

MN Venture Conference - October 13

Led by The Collaborative and the MN Venture Capital Assn, the Venture Conference provides 2 days of capital- and startup- focused networking, education and business pitches.  Direct startup investments come out of this conference, which has been happening yearly since 1987.  Thanks to Dan Carr and team for helping to maintain startup investment fervor.

Cleantech Open - N. Central Region Innovation Expo and Awards - October 18

The Cleantech Open is a national accelerator and competition that identifies and supports great new clean and green technology companies.  The Twin Cities is the site of the North Central Region's Innovation Expo and Awards. Winners get to move on to the national competition, with support resources and a chance at a $250,000 grand prize.

U. of St. Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship - Fowler Business Concept Challenge Awards - October 19

This business plan competition hosted by the University of St. Thomas challenges undergrads and graduate students to "develop a business concept that has the potential to become a viable high-growth business."  The competition promotes entrepreneurship on campus and provides more than $35,000 in scholarships (including $10K each to the undergrad and grad division winners).  Alum and entrepeneur Ron Fowler ('66) endowed the Challenge, which generates high quality business concepts every year.

Upcoming later this year:

MHTA Tekne Awards - November 1 - honoring MN's technology and innovation leaders, large and small

Startup Weekend Twin Cites - November 2 - 48 hours to pick a technology, research, develop and present it - startup mayhem!

MOJO Startup School - November 13 - schooling policy leaders on the entrepreneurial pathway (details shortly)

For other startup events and news, check out MOJO Minnesota, an innovation co-op working to energize Minnesota's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

If you have a great idea - whether in the creative, charitable or entrepreneurial vein - where do you get the money to launch?  You can pull from your own pocket.  And most do - at least to get things going initially.  Companies like Medtronic and non-profits like CaringBridge started at least initially with founder resources.  But unless you're wealthy, this often can only get you so far.  Sometimes you need to scale fast - in response to competition or market demand.  You could ask friends and family, the usual next step.  Again, whether this is viable depends on the kind of friends you have.  Banks?  Only if you have a going concern?  Angels or VC's?  Yes, if you have a track record or are an amazing networker (assuming the idea's good enough).  IPO?  Only when you're already in the market and successful.

Of course, the non-profit sector has been able to engage in large-scale public fundraising for a long time (through online campaigns).  And you can go on Facebook now and appeal to your social network to support a charitable initiative.  There are also platforms such as IndieGoGo, StartSomeGood and others that allow you to seek donations from the general public through social media.

The most well-known crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, has an amazing story.  Originally focused on creative projects (films, plays etc...), it's expanded to include product development.  I had a client, Peak Design, that raised over $300K for the launch of its Capture Camera Clip (released last summer, now sold worldwide).  One game company raised over $3M to fund development of a new videogame.  Notably, these are not equity investments.  You contribute for designated benefits, usually the good in question, plus fun stuff like t-shirts or product add-ons.  Basically you're pre-selling your product to fund its finalization and market release.  Brilliant strategy.  Market test, complete R&D and take the first large orders all in one.  

But what of the lonely entrepreneur?  The SEC (and related securities laws) have long thrown up barriers to easy public equity fundraising for new business ideas.  Following the Depression, laws were put in place to protect the public from fraudulent stock sales.  Lengthy disclosures and other processes were required to ensure that the public would know what it was buying and what the true risks were.  Of course, these only applied to public offerings.  Private stock sales to "accredited investors" (wealthy individuals) were permitted.  But these exemptions apply to a very small percentage of Americans.  So only well-connected entrepreneurs with access to sophisticated investors were allowed to avoid the very expensive and time-consuming public stock registration processes.  In essence, average citizens have been effectively prevented from supporting startups in their communities.

Thankfully, necessity is the mother of invention.  And our economic woes, now 3+ years running, have demanded new tools and strategies to support innovative enterprise.   In light of the ease of information-sharing and success of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, Congress finally has delivered a means to let entrepreneurs to fundraise publicly from average Americans.

The JOBS Act of 2012, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and now on Obama's desk (to be signed this Thursday), will allow entrepreneurs to raise up to $1 million per year through crowdfunding.  While the companies using crowdfunding will still need to "register" with the SEC, the paperwork is minimal compared to traditional IPO requirements.  Sites seeking to host crowdfunding efforts also must register with the SEC, advise investors of risk and take steps to prevent fraud.  For more info, see http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/31/jobs-act-law and http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.03606:.

The SEC will be developing regulations and more details will follow over the next few months.  But this is a great step to allowing the 99% to help support job-creating startups.  While there concerns about fraud on average investors, we have seen with the Enron scandal that traditional SEC practice hasn't stopped occasional rogue conduct.  By letting consumers share information and scrub opportunities in the ways they do best on the Internet, the overall risk of fraudulent investments will likely go down.  Startup investing is inherently risky.  No change to that.  But given all the legal ways to burn cash (gambling etc...), why not let citizens take a chance and invest in their local startups.  The JOBS Act will finally provide the means.

2012 is going to be an amazing year for Minnesota startups, both in idea generation and funding. Lots of industries are in disruption mode, and you can be part of the story.  

Here are a few entrepreneurial items to consider/ponder as the temperature outside drops to absolute zero:

MN Angel Tax Credit – Time to Renew: Another funding essential. If you’re a Minnesota startup looking to raise angel money, get certified so your investors can get their credit. If you were approved in 2011, you need to re-up. Here’s the link(now go fill out!).  Don’t forget – you need approval, your investor needs approval and your deal needs approval.

A New Angel Investor Group – Gopher Angels: We need more angel investors in MN, and Gopher Angels is looking to grow the pie.  Read a summary here and find Gopher Angels on GUST here. If you’re in startup fundraising mode, make sure you have a GUST profile and share with the Gopher Angels.  

SOPA/PIPA - Bad; not good. While I strongly support IP rights, these proposed laws go too far and would interfere with basic operation of websites and the internet. Over-correction to the max.   And this will impact negatively on MN's high tech economy.  So, contact your federal representative/senators and let them know what you think.  

U of M’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) – Rocking into 2012 – Great stuff happening at the OTC’s Venture Center. Jay Schrankler and his team have dramatically increased the velocity of on-campus startup development. Read up here about some of the new technologies rolling into commercialization (from today’s Tech Showcase at UEL).

It's Business Plan Competition Season:  With spring coming (yes...), the B-plan competitions are on the way.  Here are two to check out:  MN Cup; Clean Tech Open.

A few events of note:

Feb 8 – MN 2012 Entrepreneur Kick-Off – hosted by TiE MN, MN Cup, MOJO and others. Details here.

Feb 10-12 – Startup Weekend Twin Cities – great weekend where teams go from concept to business pitch. Details here.

Enjoy the freeze and keep the idea juices flowing.

Ernest Grumbles, Co-founder, MOJO Minnesota

• Fast-Tracking Patent Applications – Addressing concerns of patent delays, which can harm early-stage businesses seeking financing, the PTO is rolling out a fast-track program that guarantees initial patent review within 12-months from filing (instead of average 3-year wait). The fees for fast-tracking are considerably higher than standard patent filings fees ($4800), but the PTO is to implement a 50% fee reduction for small business entities ($2400). Expect some quick activity on this front.

• Micro-Entity Fee Reduction – Over the next 12 months, the PTO will be implementing a 75% patent fee reduction for very small businesses or individual inventors, referred to in the Act as “micro-entities.” This fee reduction is supplemental to the existing 50% fee reduction for “small entities.”

• Establishment of a Patent Ombudsman for Small Business – Per the Act, the PTO is to establish a Patent Ombudsman office, which is to provide support and services to small businesses and independent inventors.

A Patent Quality Improvement: Post-Grant Patent Review:  The U.S. will have a new process to seek review of patents before they go into effect. For a 9-month period after issuance, persons can challenge a patent for any alleged defect. The person opposing a patent must show likelihood that at least one claim of the patent is unpatentable or that there are important legal questions raised that would affect several other patents. This provision will generally apply to patents filed in spring 2013. After the 9-month period, review may only be sought for based on claims that the patent is invalid due to an earlier patent or printed publication. 

Litigation-Related Provisions - While there had been efforts to place general limits on patent damages and new restrictions on where patent suits may be filed, these did not make it into the final bill.  Expect continuing controversy on these issues. Here’s what did go into law:

• Effective immediately under 35 U.S.C. § 292, only the U.S. government can bring false marking claims based on public rights. Prior to this change, many claims had been filed by (intermeddling) private parties on behalf of the public against companies that (usually inadvertently) marked their products with inapplicable or expired patents. Companies experiencing actual competitive injury from false marking with an inapplicable patent can still seek damages from such injury. Marking a product with an expired patent will no longer be a violation of law.

• New limits have been placed on the ability of plaintiffs to sue several unrelated parties in the same lawsuit. This is effective immediately under 35 U.S.C. § 299.

• An inventor’s failure to disclose the “best mode” of practicing an invention is no longer a basis to invalidate a patent (although the inventor still has an obligation to disclose best mode).

• Kathryn graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Psychology, received an M.S. in Special Education from Mankato State University and has a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Minnesota
• The first woman appointed to lead a major zoo, at age 34, she took over operations of the Minnesota Zoo, dramatically increased attendance and revenues and built the first environmental high school located at a zoo.
• Kathryn led the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission in the effort to keep the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota (successfully!).
• She is chair of the Minnesota Veterans Health Care Advisory Council.
• Prior to joining Ecumen, Kathryn was vice president of the Minneapolis Foundation.

• Named as one of the Twin Cities’ “Best Brains” by MSP Magazine in 2008.
• Member of the Boards of LeadingAge, VocalEssence and Northland College in Ashland, WI
• Honored by the U. of Minnesota’s College of Education as one of its 100 Distinguished Alumni in the first 100 years of the College

•  “[P]eople want to stay in their own homes and . . . people really need support to do it so that they’re not isolated and they’re getting the services they need. They need to be empowered to be as independent as they possibly can be.”   
• “This is an incredible time to be doing work in changing aging. The forces of consumer desire, demographics, technology, public policy and longevity have created such fertile ground for collaboration and innovation in Minnesota and far beyond.”
• "We are working to create a suite of services that will give a dispersed group of individuals a shopping suite of everything from groceries delivered to dog-sitters to picking up your daughter at the airport, with Ecumen’s stamp of approval. There would be health components. Within a neighborhood people would communicate and have a social network and support for each other. It’s all about creating ways to empower people.”  

Business and government, time to friendly up and have honest discussions about the critical role that each plays in our common peace and prosperity and how to achieve outcomes efficiently and collaboratively.