Entrepreneurs Foundation of Kentucky
April 29, 2009
I am pleased to announce the official launch of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Kentucky. The inaugural announcement is here along with additional information about the foundation. We have two companies who have joined as our inaugural member companies, Biological Prospects and Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals.
Company Profile: Neocytex
April 27, 2009
This is an interview with Nilabh Chaudhary, PhD, co-founder of NeoCytex.
What is your company’s 30 second elevator pitch?
NeoCytex is developing regenerative drugs to treat devastating neural diseases such as Parkinson’s, dementia, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. The lead drug candidate, at the preclinical research stage, works by boosting the supply of fresh new brain cells to replace dead and dying ones. The compound induces preexisting neural stem cells in the brain to proliferate. Two key features make our approach attractive and distinct from nearly all other competing regenerative therapies: first, we have evidence that the drug candidate, because it is a small molecule, can be injected or administered orally; it crosses the blood brain barrier and enters the CNS (central nervous system), so there is no need for risky ’brain surgery’ to transport the drug to the CNS targets. Second, our lead candidate and other compounds in the pipeline are new chemical entities– molecules with unusual molecular scaffolds that provide an exceptionally powerful platform for making innovative new regenerative medicines for treating an array of degenerative diseases. Our business strategy is to develop compounds for specific major market diseases and license or sell the promising leads to large pharmaceutical companies.
What attracted you to entrepreneurship?
Previously, over a span of about a dozen years, I worked at five different young biotech companies, so the experience of leading R&D and commercialization at small startups is very familiar and exciting to me. I learned about a series of intriguing stem cell technologies developed by NeoCytex’s cofounder Professor Kiminobu Sugaya of the University of Central Florida. We decided to form the company in 2006 because it was the fastest path to develop promising new therapies for treating severely debilitating neural diseases.
What has been your company’s funding & growth so far?
NeoCytex has been funded by founders as well as federal and state grants. We have operations in both Kentucky and Florida and collaborators and consultants in several other states. To enable expansion, NeoCytex will be relocating to a modern new lab and office facility in Covington in May 2009.
What is the outlook for your business in the next eighteen months?
We plan tocomplete the preclinical testing of our lead and backup drug candidates in multiple animal models of neural diseases, in preparation for an IND filing in about two years (investigational new drug filing to enable human trials). The key financial objective is to raise funds to complete the work. The recent economic downturn has slowed the process somewhat, but we have received multiple research grants to support the ongoing projects. By meeting the milestones, we expect to be in good competitive position when the investment climate improves. Recently, with support from a Kentucky grant, we demonstrated in early experiments that our compounds are not toxic in rodents, nor are they mutagenic. This markedly reduces the risk of developing these compounds as potential therapeutics. Additional R&D collaborations to optimize chemistries and populate our pipeline with improved new regenerative compounds are currently underway.
What have been the advantages and disadvantages of starting a high tech business in Kentucky?
Kentucky provides an unusually receptive environment for startups. We are in the process of moving NeoCytex into new lab and office space at a bio-accelerator (bioLogic) in Covington, where we will be close to many of our collaborators and advisors. NeoCytex has a location in Orlando as well, to take advantage of our proximity to partners and collaborators at the University of Central Florida and MD Anderson Cancer Center. I had initially thought of keeping the company in Ohio, because I lived there and because I had fabulous support from the President of the biotech incubator in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, the state of Ohio and the local investment community do not provide meaningful support for ‘entrepreneur-led’ biotech startups (…though relatively vast sums are provided to large institutions and their tech spinoffs, with dubious success rates). In contrast, in a meeting with Kentucky officials arranged by a former colleague who runs another KY-based company, it was amazing to learn about the multiple programs established by the Commonwealth to help high-tech entrepreneurs at the earliest stages, when the need is greatest. There are some perceived geographic disadvantages in being here, but we will deal with them when the time comes. Right now, every metric suggests that the KY support programs are attracting high tech entrepreneurs, leading to the creation of knowledge-based jobs right here in Kentucky.
Co-working space up and running
April 24, 2009
The wireless is now up and running at the Collexion Space at 941 Manchester street in Lexington. If your an entrepreneur, an independent professional or just passing through town and need a good place to work and share ideas then this is the place. Still a little rough but is being transformed over the next few weeks. www.collexion.net is the link and Todd Willey is the contact.
Term Sheet Generator
April 22, 2009
The law firm Wilson, Sonsisni, one of the leading firms in working with start-ups in the country, has launched a free term sheet generator for use. The Altgate blog has the full story but here are some key excerpts:
“The way the tool works is that you answer a bunch of questions (north of 100) and then when you are complete it gives you a perfectly formatted Word file term sheet. Most of the questions are structured as “select from” several options often with an optional to “write your own.” The beauty of having the option to select from “standard” options is that WSGR has included some market data, e.g. what percent of term sheets in up rounds in 2008 included this term.”
“Apparently this is the first of many online document generator tools that WSGR intends to make publicly available on the web. There are three categories (startup, equity financing and bridge loans) so we can expect more to come.”
While a startup will still need a lawyers advice in closing a deal, this is a good tool for the first pass of a term sheet or for angels/vc’s/attorneys to quickly get a full formatted term sheet ready.
14 web marketing tips for startups
April 20, 2009
This is a guest post by Scott Clark, owner of BuzzMaven labs , a Lexington-based consultancy that helps companies around the country grow by leveraging the Internet.
In the past 10 years, I’ve spoken with over 500 start-up companies from around the country. One thing that strikes me is, despite a huge variety of business types and product ideas, start-ups tend to make very similar mistakes as they focus on the web. Let’s run through a few that keep coming up so that we can avoid them and grow our startups beyond our wildest dreams!
Mistake 1: Hating computers. Ok, this doesn’t sound like a marketing problem but trust me, for start-ups wanting to use the web, it can undermine success more than anything else. Often this is simply caused by using poor-quality computers, old software, and inadequate computer instruction. Sometimes folks wanting to use the web for marketing are simply not web users themselves - and that can make it impossible to succeed with a web-connected business. Good computers, a support network and a lot of patience are critical to overcoming this learning curve. Don’t be afraid to admit that you’re new to the web - there are lots of folks ready to help!
Mistake 2: Skewed priorities. I cannot overstate this - if you’re a start up, fully 60-80% of your web marketing budget should go towards promotion-related activity for your business’ online presence- not visual fireworks. This includes creation of high quality, share-worthy content, blogger outreach plans and solid SEO. Am I saying that websites should be bland and boring? Absolutely not! But you are not in the business to win website awards - focus on getting customers on the phone or in your office - and let profits pay for version 2.0 of your site!
Mistake 3: Setting up “house of cards” websites based on proprietary software. There is usually little reason to do custom ground-up development for small scale websites anymore. Sites developed this way become hard to live with, leading to less frequent updates and lower search rank. The business owner doesn’t want to touch them. Start-ups should consider creating their sites using a SEO-friendly content management system (CMS) with an open-source license and smart, customizable templates. When it’s time to add a new page or section to your site, it’s extremely easy. As your business grows and new functions are needed, many plug-ins and off-the-shelf tools enable expansion.
Mistake 4 : Lack of Link-Worthy, Fresh Content. This is a major challenge for many start-ups wanting to rank well in search engines - a unwillingness or inability to update their sites with outstanding content regularly. This is hard work, but valuable content is the best method for obtaining search ranking from inbound links which is one of the top ranking considerations used by search engines. Businesses tend to try to short-cut this process, thinking that press releases or “sales pitch” pages count as content, but they don’t work.
Mistake 5 : Making SEO an afterthought. SEO is much more than picking keywords and adjusting “tags” on your site. Whenever possible, invite an experienced, full-time SEO specialist to your early web design meetings. Often this can happen via screen share on the phone. When the SEO is reviewing your plans, allow them to have strong influence over the website itself - including navigation, copy writing and how analytics and tools are configured.
Mistake 6: Optimizing your site for the wrong keywords. Most start-up owners live and breathe the particular language of their business every day - so when it comes time to choose important keywords for SEO efforts there is a tendency to use technical or industry jargon. Customers often use a very different language when searching than the business owner. Using a keyword research tool can help find phrases used by buying customers without being unrealistic. It’s not realistic for your small website to rank for phrases like “gardening” so you should think about other phrases used by customers as they approach a buying decision.
Mistake 7: Overuse of Flash and other graphical elements. Flash is the playground of graphical designers, but it can severely undermine your SEO efforts if misused. In the many years I’ve been working with websites, I’ve only seen a few cases where Flash helped the overall effort. Think hard before using it.
Mistake 8: Assume that social media is a waste of time. Blogs and social media are one of the most powerful SEM tools at your disposal if you commit to their success. The ease by which they allow you to add and share content is unmatched. In fact, one of the most powerful website design strategies is to create a site around a blog, seamlessly connecting static features with dynamic ones and then reaching out to the web community in your industry. The post your reading is an example of that outreach. By creating valuable content and sharing it, I’m able to grow my own site and reach a new audience while adding value to the blog you’re reading - a good trade for all.
Mistake 9: Employing sloppy black-hat shortcuts. Many start-ups, anxious to see their web traffic increase, will try to find shortcuts to improving their rank, such as buying links or contracting with companies that SPAM the search engines. These tactics are dangerous and can get a website banned from search engines for months. Growing a popular website is hard work - if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
Mistake 10: Choosing a poor web host. Web hosting quality is all over the map, but once you go into the “cut-rate” offers you are taking a big risk. Website availability and performance are generally believed to be a ranking factor on Google and Yahoo! search engines. Many cheap web hosts do not provide critical features such as server logs or access to important system files that are needed in SEO efforts. The small monthly savings are not worth it.
Mistake 11: Ignoring free options for promotion. Google and Yahoo both have powerful “local business” areas where you can list your business and website, and where customers go to rate your company and you can even make coupons. The resulting listings often appear very high in search results. It pays you to not only have the listing but to encourage happy customers to rank your service or product there. Poor ratings, should they come, can decimate a business and must not be ignored. I would guess that 75% or more of start-up companies do not monitor these or encourage positive listings, leaving them to the mercy of their critics.
Mistake 12: Giving your business a difficult-to-search-for name. The web is a major influencer in the names of new businesses. If you want to do business beyond the local market, naming your company “Quality Construction Services Inc.” is not going to make it easy to find you as the noise level in searches will be huge. Naming your company uniquely with a solid domain name are like the foundation of a building and all future work sits on it. You should utilize search tools to be sure the name you’re choosing can be trademarked and that the domain name is available.
Mistake 13: Ignoring what your customers’ behavior is telling you. Most people won’t call you up and say “your website is hard to use, I’m not going to bother.” Instead you must rely on your analytics and statistics. If 90% of your web visitors leave within a few seconds, there is something wrong and it’s up to you to figure it out. It may be that your site doesn’t work for them, or it’s optimized for the wrong audience. It may be that you simply have a product or service idea that has no market right now - painful to hear but critical! It always amazes me that start-ups never look at their customers’ behavior on the website. It’s like they’re afraid of the information. Get informed and listen!
Mistake 14: Using unlicensed images and graphics. This may not be directly related to SEM, but I really wanted it on my list. Never use unlicensed images on your site. Stock photography companies have a responsibility to the photographers they represent and utilize powerful tools to help them track down the use of unauthorized images (even if they are cropped, flipped or changed.) You will find yourself faced with a multi-thousand-dollar settlement - and removing the image will not make the problem go away. Saving a few hundred dollars on photography is not worth the risk.
Well there you have it. I hope you’ll come to my web marketing company and subscribe and perhaps even attend a presentation - until then, please keep your feedback coming and let me know if these tips helped!
Entrepreneurial roadmap
April 16, 2009
Here is the link to my article in Business Lexington on the Entrepreneurial Roadmap. Thanks to Eric Marr for bringing the need for this to my and many others attention. We soon hope to have developed a version for distribution within the community
Transposagen signs distribution deal
April 14, 2009
Transposagen, the company I work with has signed distribution deal with Trans Genic for marketing and distribution of our products in Japan. Japan has a strong pharmaceutical research industry and this partnership will raise our profile in this market. We are excited to have this deal in place.
WKU Entrepreneurial Academy of Excellence
April 13, 2009
Innovation and entrepreneurial interest is not limited to Lexington or Louisville. In Western Kentucky, WKU has a renewed focus on stimulating entrepreneurship in that part of the state. One of the programs they have created is the Academy of Entrepreneurial Excellence (EAE).
The EAE is a team of entrepreneurs from diverse, local backgrounds. Under a contract with WKU, The Center for entrepreneurship & Innovation at WKU, The Kentucky ICC network and other local resources team up to infuse entrepreneurial spirit into the area they call the Lincoln Trail region (Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Larue, Marion, Meade, Nelson & Washington counties). 
One of their projects is the Think Tank Insitutute for entrepreneurship. It is a one day workshop to develop action plans and programs to foster entreptreneurship. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner living in this region and want toparticipate then register here.
Innovation Incubator and co-working space in Lexington
April 9, 2009
Lexington has a new co-working and incubator space located in the
Lexington Distillery District called Collexion. I caught up with Co-founder Todd Willey, president of Rubidine on the details of Collexion.
What is Collexion?
Collexion (pronounced: collection) is a Nonprofit group that is in the late stages of formation, with the goal of uniting, energizing, and publicizing the innovative and technical community in Lexington.
Who are the members of collexion? Who is this targeted at?
Membership is open to everyone, with steep discounts for students. Our goal is to have a good mixture of businesses, students, professionals, and hobbyists. We want to provide a large group to network and collaborate with. By creating a network for talented individuals, we hope to entice new business formation, place talented students in local companies, and have new hobby projects and associations form.
Is Technology the main focus?
Technology is our main focus, but there are some artistic and cultural implications of new technologies, so in addition to completing our own technology projects we are going to integrate with local artists and cultural organizations to help invigorate Lexington’s technology culture and position innovation as a recognized benefit of living in Lexington.
We don’t want to become a walled garden of innovation. Our goal is to reach out in engage everyone in Lexington, and raise the overall technical abilities of the city at large, not just within our organization. As such, we’re going to host workshops and other events that demonstrate what people in Lexington are doing and teach people how to do it themselves. Incorporating children and families in the innovative culture is key to having innovation become a mainstay in our lifestyles, so we’re working on programs that will teach basic and advanced skills such as fabrication, programming, and do-it-yourself projects at levels appropriate for young children up to adults. We want to provide a safe, collaborative place for people to learn in a noncompetitive, nonjudgmental environment.
Your locating in the distillery District, is that correct?
Currently we are meeting at coffee shops while we work on getting a more permanent location. By the end of the month we should have a location of our own. We just talked to Barry McNees about being located in the Distillery District. We’re very interested in that because there will be lots of opportunity to work within the district and incorporate some of our ideas throughout the neighborhood as the area grows.
Everyone is welcome to attend our daily meetings and participate on the mailing list. More information can always be found on our website at http://collexion.net/
KY Ruby Users Group
April 7, 2009
The Ky Ruby users group will mee in Lexington this week.
April 9, 2009 at 7:30PM in the Keeneland Room of the Young Library.
Todd Willey, President of Rubidine, will be presenting a hands on demonstration of Webrat and moderating an open discussion on testing methods. There will likely be a beer meetup afterwards
