[vc_row el_class=”breadcrumbs”][vc_column][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section el_class=”start-ups”][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]OLV\u2019s Mentors-in-Residence (MIR) program didn\u2019t reinvent the start-up\/entrepreneurial wheel \u2014 rather, just enabled it to turn faster and more efficiently, heading toward the path to greater success.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”516″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]And since its creation just a short year ago, the MIRs have helped Duke New Ventures advance many new start-ups into the marketplace.\u00a0 New Ventures is the starting point for turning a university-developed idea into a start-up company.\u00a0 The center helps inventors think through opportunities, craft business plans and investment pitches, find funding and establish industry contacts.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1535394535521{padding-top: 15px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”517″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Under Rob Hallford, Duke New Ventures developed several new strategies to vet faculty and staff inventions and support their development into spinoff companies.\u00a0 One of those new strategies was hiring five MIRs\u2014seasoned entrepreneurs who have successfully raised capital for, built, sold, or invested in start-up companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve recruited for in our MIRs is a diverse set of experiences and expertise to help our faculty across multiple technology and industry sectors.\u00a0 But more than that, we\u2019ve been able to find entrepreneurs with an energy for engaging with and building out Duke\u2019s entrepreneurial community,\u201d <\/em>Hallford said.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The main focus of Duke New Ventures is on finding commercial channels and good management for these Duke innovations. However, much of the work is about building relationships.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1535395083641{padding-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]MIRs have spent their careers building deep industry relationships. As such, they are matched with innovators within the same industry to help them move their ideas to the market.\u00a0 An MIR not only helps the faculty or staff member develop their company plan such that introductions can be made to potential investors, management and partners, but they also help cultivate those connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a clinician and scientist, I\u2019m adept at thinking about how products we develop may fit in the lives of patients and their caregivers. \u00a0But an important gap in my knowledge and comfort is understanding product\/market fit from a business development perspective,\u201d said Arif Kamal, Associate Professor of Medicine and co-founder of the mobile health platform Prepped Health.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”518″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Kamal was paired with MIR Kevin Bowles, who has over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience. \u201cKevin has been an invaluable resource in pressure testing our ideas before we head to market.\u00a0 He is supportive and yet pushes back when needed, so that ultimately, we come to market with the best plan.\u00a0 He is equal parts cheerleader and coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech-transfer opportunities are increasingly important to faculty and staff. By tapping into these experienced entrepreneurs\u2019 business and networking expertise, New Ventures aims to not only promote technology translation but also enable Duke inventors to have a better understanding of the business value proposition.<\/p>\n

MIR Fred Kornahrens, who has supported over a dozen pioneering researchers this past year, saw this within the projects he mentored, “I witnessed significant enlightenment on the part of the innovators as to the true meaning of a value proposition for their technology. \u00a0Moving from a lack of understanding and the need for it to fully developing and embracing it.”<\/p>\n

This last year saw the New Ventures team make 89 introductions and nurture numerous startup ventures based on Duke faculty\/staff technologies, with 1 company acquired for $33 million.\u00a0 15 of 16 start-ups formed in FY18 have stayed in the Durham\/Triangle area, providing jobs and contributing to the thriving local economy.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with OLV and through their own efforts, Duke start-ups have raised over $525 million this year.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OLV\u2019s MIR program didn\u2019t reinvent the start-up wheel \u2014 rather, just enabled it to turn faster and more efficiently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":708,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions\/708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numbers.otc.duke.edu\/2018-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}