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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DINGMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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ANNUAL REPORT 2016–17
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REMARKS FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ELANA FINE teuqoC neirdA yb detaerC tcejorP nuoN eht morf
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DEAR FRIENDS,
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erennially invigorated by the energy and imagination of our students, this year our team channeled our diverse talents and passions to advance our enhanced mission to: “Equip the next generation to launch and support ventures that advance industry and society; Connect the University of Maryland to the innovation economy; and Leverage thought leadership and our network to make entrepreneurs of all kinds more successful.” New ideas ignited projects, and projects led to new programs, events, content, partners and relationships, with outcomes we never anticipated. For example, a goal to help more students explore how passions can turn into business ideas evolved into spark, a high energy two-day ideation event. Another creative concept to connect the Dingman Center Angels to MBA students produced our DCA Fellows course and a partnership with the University System of Maryland’s Momentum Fund; and a novel approach to engage with a local incubator in a research project landed four students and a professor at an academic conference in Rome, Italy.
CONTENTS 2. Remarks from Executive Director 3. Welcome New Board Chair 4. Rudy Awards 6. Bootstrapped 7. Pitch Dingman Competition 8. Ladies First 10. Social Entrepreneurship 11. Research 12. Fearless Founders 13. Seed Funding 14. Spark 16. Dingman Center Angels 18. Beyond the Classroom 19. Honors & Media 20. Fellows Programs 22. Honor Roll 23. Staff, Faculty & Community
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Rolling out a revised mission statement catalyzed many of the new initiatives detailed throughout this annual report as we balanced our educational mission with sustainable venture creation. The enduring commitment of our network of donors, sponsors, mentors, alumni, advisors and angels continues to be our most valuable resource. The appointment of Liz Sara as the new chair of our Board of Advisors and the addition of seven new board members revitalized the engagement of this prestigious group and broadened our connections to the startup community. As the co-host of our bi-weekly podcast, Bootstrapped, I’ve enjoyed sharing unique stories of funders and founders in our network. Translating their journeys, successes and failures into actionable takeaways for our students, alumni and other listeners has been enlightening and gratifying. I feel privileged to serve as a bridge between startups and our classrooms to help make entrepreneurs more successful by learning from one another. Four years ago we launched this annual report to celebrate and archive the accomplishments of our entrepreneurs and our Center. Our first three issues featured too few women, which frustrated our team and board. As you venture through this report, you will see early sparks of progress stimulated by our “Ladies First” initiative. Next academic year our vision of a vibrant physical space will be realized as we expand our footprint to the University of Maryland’s Discovery District. As pioneers alongside our campus partners in The Hotel’s Diamondback Garage, we will create the first hub of coordinated resources to enhance venture creation; moving our university one step closer to achieving President Wallace Loh’s mission to become a premier innovation and entrepreneurship institution. Be Fearless, Elana Fine ’97 | Executive Director, Dingman Center
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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ADVISOR AND ANGEL INVESTOR LIZ SARA ’80 APPOINTED BOARD CHAIR
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he Dingman Center appointed Liz Sara as Chair of its Board of Advisors for the 2016-18 academic years. She becomes the first female chair in the Center’s 30-year history. She will lead the current board of 15 members in advising the Dingman Center’s executive director on initiatives, development and growth strategies. Liz has more than 25 years experience
in the local high-tech community as an entrepreneur, business leader and angel investor. In 2001, she founded Best Marketing, LLC to provide early-stage tech companies with strategic marketing services and expertise. Liz succeeds prior Chairman Mark Walsh, former head of Innovation and Investment, U.S. Small Business Administration.
• Liz Sara
“ I am honored to accept this role as chair and look forward to ramping up the visibility of the fantastic programs, services, support and mentoring available to student-led startups across the campus through the Dingman Center. I’m especially excited to attract additional members to the board and to the angel group, which will further our ability to raise awareness in the region and build on our success in nurturing startups that last.”
• B oard Member Steve Ferber ’90 (far left) visited an undergrad- • Board Member Matt Fishlinger ’07 and his father uate entrepreneurship course in which classmates form teams and start real-world companies.
Bill Fishlinger attended the inaugural spark: Where Fearless Ideas Start to meet students and evaluate their ideas.
• B oard Member Brian Taff ’89 (left) hosted this year’s holiday party at the Bethesda headquarters of his company, Streetsense.
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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3RD ANNUAL RUDY AWARDS
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ntrepreneurs, investors, mentors, students and faculty gathered on May 4 to celebrate the 3rd annual Rudy Awards. The ceremony honors the Center’s vibrant community of entrepreneurs. Special guests included Michael D. Dingman, benefactor and namesake of the Dingman Center; his wife, Betsy; and sons, David and Patrick. Former dean and Dingman Center founding director, Rudolph "Rudy" Lamone, also attended. He shared his thoughts about Dingman’s gift and their shared vision: “When I envision the entrepreneur, I see Mike Dingman. He demonstrates over and over the real challenges for the entrepreneur in creating and building successful ventures.”
• L eft to Right: Asher Epstein MBA ’04, Elana Fine, Rudy Lamone, Michael Dingman and Charlie Heller.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2017 RUDY AWARDS WINNERS & NOMINEES RESEARCH HONORS |
MENTOR OF THE YEAR |
HEEJUNG BYUN PHD ’18, PhD Candidate in Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship – Winner
Bob London ‘83 – Winner
Heejung’s paper, “Employee Capability Discontinuities and Firm Knowledge Space: The Effects on Employee Entrepreneurship and Mobility”, found that when an employee’s environment changes suddenly and their value increases, they tend to leave and become entrepreneurs. When environmental change happens more slowly, employees tend to stay put.
Bob is a regular advisor at Dingman Fridays and served as a coach for this year’s Pitch Dingman Competition. When he’s not at the Dingman Center, he’s mentoring founders across the region and telling them their best strategy is listening to their customers. Nominees Maurice Boissiere Henrik de Gyor ’98 Zeki Mokhtarzada ’00 Corinne Pouliquen ’88
FACULTY AWARD | David Kirsch,
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Smith School of Business – Winner
ANGEL INVESTOR OF THE YEAR |
In his long history with the Center, David has integrated theory and practice to help young people succeed. This year, David empowered a team of undergraduates to conduct a research project for Halcyon Incubator, and then guided them to present their research at an academic conference.
Amit Mehra – Winner In his first year as a Dingman Center Angel, Amit proved to be a highly valuable member of our network. Drawing from his deep expertise in both technology and investing, he has made a positive impact through his mentoring and investing.
Nominees Larisa Cioaca, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Joe Bailey, Smith School of Business Waverly Ding, Smith School of Business
Nominees Bill Boyle ’81 Bob Koran Mark Segal MBA ’15
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
Elana Fine, Rudy • Lamone, Benjamin Khakshoor and Aaron Bloch.
STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR | Benjamin Khakshoor ’18
and Aaron Bloch ’18, Founders of CourseHunter – Winners When Aaron and Benjamin were faced with a problem shared by many of their peers, rather than becoming discouraged they created their own solution: CourseHunter, a platform that changed the experience of class registration on campus. Nominees Ray Joyce ’17 and Andrew Wills ’17, Partners at 301 Ventures Richard Kong ’20, Founder of Gravity Tales Abb Kapoor ’18 and David Potter ’18, Co-founders of Curu Simon Amato ’17 and Holly Wilson ’17, Co-founders of FroDoh
Inaugural Dingman Center Faculty Affiliates SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR | Anastasiia Polyakov ’17,
founder of Annie's Children – Winner Anastasiia’s passion for social entrepreneurship first led her to create a social enterprise that supports orphans in three countries. Then, she founded and led the student club Enactus @ UMD, encouraging students to launch their own social ventures. Nominees Babafemi Adegbite MBA `18, Founder of Re-Empower Alex Beall ’19, Drew Hamroff ’19 and Ryan Kosmides ’19, Co-founders of Turbind
ALUMNI ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR | Micha Weinblatt ’05, CEO and
Co-Founder at Betterific, Founder Crooked Monkey – Winner Micha came to the Center as a student to start a t-shirt company. After graduating, he turned that startup into a globally recognized brand, launched a second venture to help companies crowdsource innovations, and still found time to serve as a mentor. Nominees Dan Cowens MBA ’14, founder of Snag-a-Slip John Czupak MBA ’89, President & CEO at ThreatQuotient, Inc. David Engle ’15, Founder of UMD’s Startup Village and Serial Entrepreneur
Academic Director Brent Goldfarb announced the inaugural cohort of Faculty Affiliates. This special group consists of faculty across the Smith School who are committed to the teaching, research and practice of entrepreneurship. Faculty Affiliates work with the Center to link activities and programs to their curriculum and syllabi; serve as mentors to student entrepreneurs in the Center’s programs; and help students navigate the Smith School’s entrepreneurial resources. For a full list of Faculty Affiliates see page 23.
• A lexandra Cimino ’17, Simon Amato ’17, Holly Wilson ’17, Jason Cohen and Diego Lyon ’18.
During the ceremony, Dingman Center Board of Advisors member Jason Cohen ’96 presented the Jason & Jamie Cohen Entrepreneurship Fund Award to FroDoh, a student startup that makes frozen doughnut holes. FroDoh’s co-founders, Simon Amato ’17, Holly Wilson ’17, Alexandra Cimino ’17 and Diego Lyon ’18, were selected in recognition of their commitment to building the food startup while completing their senior year. Cohen created this award to provide exemplary student entrepreneurs with $1,000 to continue building their business.
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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ELANA & JOE WRAP SEASONS 1 & 2 OF DINGMAN BOOTSTRAPPED
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hat started as a simple idea from a student has grown into a full-fledged startup podcast, complete with 27 episodes. After experiencing an entrepreneurship class in his Smith Executive MBA program, Oscar “Santana” Zeballos MBA ’16 decided the content was too good for just the classroom, so he recruited his professors to start a podcast. Bootstrapped is hosted by Zeballos’ EMBA Action Learning Project course instructors: Elana Fine, Dingman’s executive director, and Joe Bailey, associate research • O scar “Santana” professor. Zeballos, MBA ’16 On Bootstrapped, the listener hears from founders, investors and serial entrepreneurs. While the podcast covers many aspects of startup life, the heart of the show focuses on funding from both the founder and investor perspectives. Topics range from fundraising and marketing to team formation and customer acquisition.
CHECK OUT SOME OF THE BOOTSTRAPPED SPECIAL GUESTS WHO SHARED THEIR STARTUP STORIES: EPISODE 9: Follow Her Lead as a Pioneer for Women in Business Guest: Amy Millman, President, Springboard Enterprises
EPISODE 11: Tien Wong Talks about Real Estate Finance and His Journey from Founder to Angel Investor Guest: Tien Wong, CEO of Tech 2000 & Founder of CONNECTpreneur
EPISODE 12: Putting Your Social Media Skills to Work Guest: Ali von Paris ’12, Founder, Route One Apparel
“ Entrepreneurship is not a spectator sport. You have to be all in.” —AMY MILLMAN, EPISODE 9
EPISODE 14: Understanding Equity: What Entrepreneurs Should Know Guest: Andrew Sherman, Partner at Seyfarth Shaw, LLP and Adjunct Professor, Smith School of Business
EPISODE 20: Not Getting Customers? Try Asking Why. Guest: Bob London ’83, CEO & Founder, Chief Listening Officers
EPISODE 24: Investment Criteria from an NFL Superstar Turned Angel Investor Guest: Domonique Foxworth ’04, Senior Writer of The Undefeated, Co-Host on The Morning Roast on ESPN To listen to all of season 1 and 2, subscribe to Bootstrapped on iTunes or download the episodes at go.umd.edu/bootstrapped.
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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
PITCH DINGMAN COMPETITION
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his year’s Pitch Dingman Competition attracted the largest crowd in Dingman history. At the Semifinals in November, 300 people packed into Frank Auditorium to watch 10 student startups pitch their businesses for a spot at the Finals.
SEMIFINAL ROUND
afterclass | Uday Misra ’18, Ariel Kotch ’17 Carlouie & Company | Carlouie Nievera ’17 CourseHunter | Aaron Bloch ’17 , Benjamin Khakshoor ’18 Curu | David Potter ’18, Abb Kapoor ’18 FroDoh | Simon Amato ’17, Holly Wilson ’17 Gravity LLC | Richard Kong ’20 Grumpy Joes | Gary Hwang ’17, Michael McGraw OpenPT LLC | Ramsey Khadder ’17 POSH | Nathalyn Nunoo ’18, Elania Tait ’18, William Kwao ’17 Tag Along | Karmah El Naggar ’17, Omar Mihilmy ’18 JUDGES Harry Alford ’07 Co-founder & Managing Director, humble ventures Bill Boyle ’81 Dingman Center Angel Investor; Former President, Fibergate Zeki Mokhtarzada ’00 Technical Advisor, Truebill Juliana Neelbauer JD ’12 Software COO, Business Law Lecturer, Hackathon Advisor Ryan Pillai ’17 2016 Pitch Dingman Competition
Thank you to our generous partners David and Robyn Quattrone, Tata Technologies and SECU for providing seed funding for the competition.
FINAL ROUND When the finalists took the stage in March, over 600 people watched them compete for the $15,000 Grand Prize.
GRUMPY JOES | Gary Hwang and Michael McGraw Runner Up An online apparel shop that features a line of novelty t-shirts designed by and for veterans.
CURU | David Potter, Abb Kapoor The David & Robyn Quattrone Pitch Dingman Grand Prize ($15,000) Audience Choice ($1,500)
POSH | Nathalyn Nunoo, Elania Tait, William Kwao Runner Up
A mobile app that helps users improve their credit score without changing their spending habits.
A beauty consultation firm that provides reliable, affordable service to clients seeking freelance makeup artists.
COURSEHUNTER | Aaron Bloch, Benjamin Khakshoor 2nd Place ($7,500)
JUDGES John Czupak ’89 President & CEO, ThreatQuotient, Inc. Christopher Groshko MBA ’05 Vice President - Retail Banking, SECU Warren Harris CEO and Managing Director, Tata Technologies Julie Lenzer Associate Vice President, Economic • W arren Harris of Development & Co-Director, UM Tata Technologies also provided the Ventures, University of Maryland event's keynote David Quattrone MBA ’05 address Co-Founder & CTO, Cvent Liz Sara ’80 Dingman Center Board Chair, Founder & CEO, Best Marketing LLC
A platform that interfaces with school registration systems to help students get into classes.
GRAVITY LLC | Richard Kong 3rd Place ($3,500) Gravity LLC produces Gravity Tales, an online publishing platform for Chinese and Korean fantasy stories translated into English.
• G rand Prize winners Abb Kapoor and David Potter, founders of Curu, with the judges.
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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LADIES TAKE CENTER STAGE AT THE DINGMAN CENTER
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t the Dingman Center we believe that the skills taught by the process of launching a new venture are useful for everyone. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurship world is not as diverse as it should be because not everyone thinks becoming an entrepreneur is a viable option. Women are particularly underrepresented in the entrepreneurship ecosystem nationwide, comprising only about one-third of all founders. Currently, our university is approaching gender parity in student enrollment but our entrepreneurship programs are not yet reflective of the growing number of engaged female students. We are committed to changing those statistics. This year, the Center launched the Ladies First initiative to increase the number of women involved in entrepreneurship at UMD.
EVENTS
OCTOBER: Kickoff Dinner To launch the initiative, the Center hosted a networking dinner and panel discussion featuring female founders. More than 85 aspiring female changemakers attended. Panelists included Emilie Aries, Founder & CEO of Bossed Up; Rachna Choudhry, co-founder & CMO at Popvox; Sara Gallagher, manager of operations at the Do Good Institute; and Anastasiia Polyakov ’17, founder of Annie’s Children.
NOVEMBER: Tech + Socent Panel In the lead up to Technica, UMD’s all-female hackathon, Sara Herald moderated a panel of female social entrepreneurs that focused on how technology businesses can solve social problems. Panelists included Ting Shih, founder of ClickMedix; Stacie Whisonant, founder of PYT Funds; Dale Nirvani Pfeifer, founder of Goodworld; and Daniela Matielo, director of network activation at Ashoka. 8
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
MARCH: Ladies First: Becoming a Savvy Startup Investor Currently, only 25% of angel investors in the United States are women. Integral to our effort to address this inequality, the Center hosted “Ladies First: Becoming a Savvy Startup Investor” with sponsor Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice as part of Women’s Month at Smith. The workshop, designed to teach women about early-stage investing, brought together alumni, local professionals and graduate students. Attendees learned how to evaluate startup companies and then honed their new skills by hearing pitches from local female entrepreneurs. Pam Rothenberg, office managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and head of the firm’s Impact Practice, presented the event’s keynote address.
• Elana Fine, Pam Rothenberg and Sara Herald. Participants then heard from Elana Fine for a session entitled “The 6Ws of Angel Investing.”
“ Instead of simply marketing entrepreneurship programs to women, we’re going to help women solve the problems they care about.” —SARA HERALD MBA ’11, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Next a panel led by Liz Sara, Chair of the Dingman Center Board of Advisors, on the topic of company evaluations featured women angel investors, Melissa Bradley, Kathryn Stewart and Shannon Hynds. Finally, participants heard investment pitches from local female founders Shizu Okusa, Jrink; Lily Yeh, Little Loving Hands; and Amy Nichols ’95, bThere. After evaluating those investment opportunities, attendees provided feedback to the entrepreneurs.
“ As a fledgling entrepreneur myself, I often find that the only thing holding me back from taking the next step in creating my venture is me. This initiative has motivated me to dedicate more time to my passion and to not be afraid of defining myself as an entrepreneur.” —NINA SILVERSTEIN MBA ’17, FOUNDER OF 2B
ANASTASIIA POLYAKOV ’17
Ladies First Impact
Anastasiia started her entrepreneurial journey to take action on a serious problem in her home country of Ukraine: the high number of orphaned children. Wars and poverty have resulted in overcrowded and underfunded orphanages, but Anastasiia wanted to go beyond pleas to donors featuring desperate children and dilapidated facilities. Instead, she challenged herself to find a way to highlight Ukrainian culture and improve these children’s lives. Together with classmates, Anastasiia created Annie’s Children. Their first product was a children’s book of Ukrainian folk tales, illustrated by children in a partner orphanage. Sales of the book funded items such as clothes and shoes, as well as a summer camp program. The company has sold over 300 books and donated $4,500 to partner orphanages. Annie’s Children has also released a new book to benefit orphans in the Philippines and Russia. • L eft to Right: Dewan Kazmi ’17, Anastasiia Polyakov ’17,
Dingman Fridays participation:
Fall 2016 - 27% female Spring 2017 - 38% female
Idea Shell participation:
Fall 2016 - 7% female Spring 2017 - 41% female
Lara Martin ’17 and Katie Aranas ’17
Terp Startup participation:
Summer 2016 - 25% female Summer 2017 - 50% female
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT DINGMAN
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key part of our mission is to support entrepreneurs of all kinds, and each year we see more and more Terp entrepreneurs pursue ventures that solve social problems. We help these students match their social missions with earned revenue models, and this year we created a workbook entitled “Ten Steps to Social Entrepreneurship” to simplify that process. Featuring case studies of local entrepreneurs and recent alumni, this guide helps students identify the social issues they’re passionate about and use business skills to work towards alleviating those problems. The guide was used by students in the Social Entrepreneurship Laboratory class and teams preparing for the Do Good Challenge.
DO GOOD CHALLENGE UMD became the first “Do Good Campus” this year with the launch of the School of Public Policy’s Do Good Institute. The Dingman Center partners with the Do Good Institute on their hallmark program, the Do Good Challenge, a multi-phase competition where students team up to launch projects and ventures for social impact, with top teams ultimately competing for $20,000 in prize money. Throughout this year’s Challenge, the Dingman Center provided teams with essential coaching from advisors and staff. Vintage Voices, a student project that uses music to improve mental health and quality of life for senior citizens, and the James Hollister
Wellness Foundation, a student venture that repurposes viable medications for distribution in developing nations, won first place honors at the Finals. MARYLAND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR CORPS (MSEC) For students wishing to go abroad, the Center partners with the UMD Education Abroad office to offer an international internship program to support social entrepreneurs in Latin America. The MSEC program places students as ‘community consultants’ for the summer in various field sites throughout the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala, where they work alongside social entrepreneurs tackling key quality-of-life issues. Prior
Ashoka U Changemaker Campus This year, UMD was recertified as an Ashoka U Changemaker Campus, a designation for colleges and universities committed to a campus-wide culture of social innovation and entrepreneurship. The Dingman Center leads UMD’s involvement in the network and hosted special guests such as the provost from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico, for a site visit with Smith School and university senior leadership.
to departure, students take a spring semester class to learn about social entrepreneurship and the social issues in their destination countries.
“ The cultural values that I will take away from this experience will help me become more of a globally-minded individual. I also hope to learn entrepreneurial skills that I can bring back home to help my own community where people suffer from other problems.” —UPNEET ATWAL ’18, MSEC ’17
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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
RESEARCH AT DINGMAN Smith Entrepreneurship Research Conference
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n February, Halcyon Incubator and the Dingman Center announced a new partnership to bring real-world research and entrepreneurial experience into the classroom and to further understand the social entrepreneur community in the United States. A program of the non-profit organization Halcyon, Halcyon Incubator supports early-stage social entrepreneurs via a unique fellowship based out of their headquarters in Washington, D.C. The hallmark of this partnership is collaboration on the 2nd annual Social Enterprise Ecosystems Report, a study of the state of social entrepreneurship across the country. Released for the first time in 2016 by Halcyon Incubator and Capital One, the 2017 report is based on research led by Smith School Associate Professor David Kirsch and a team of Smith students from the Social Innovation Fellows program, supported by the Center for Social Value Creation. The student team is comprised of Fasika Delessa ’18, Sarina Haryanto ’18, Aishwariya Chandrasekar ’17 and Evan Haas ’17. In addition to conducting the research for the report, David and the students produced a paper based on their work, “Social Enterprise Ecosystems: Initial Findings & Propositions.” In April, the team presented the paper at the inaugural IESE-LUISS Business School Conference on Responsibility, Sustainability and Social
Entrepreneurship in Rome, Italy. The academic community welcomed these young students already engaged in high-level social entrepreneurship research. The team is currently finalizing the paper and their findings to submit to the Journal of Business Ethics, which is releasing a special issue devoted to the conference.
In April 2017, the Smith School hosted the Smith Entrepreneurship Research Conference (SERC), an annual gathering highlighting the importance of entrepreneurshipfocused research papers. The invitation-only conference, attended by prominent researchers and rising stars, helps researchers determine best practices in aligning research findings to practitioner’s goals. A highlight from this year’s conference was a panel discussion titled, “Entrepreneurship Education: Nurturing Human Capital” moderated by Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair and Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship and director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets. Dingman Center executive director Elana Fine served on the panel along with Tsegahiwot Belachew from the African Leadership University; Derek Ozkal from the Kauffman Foundation; and Siri Terjesen from American University. Each panelist provided his/her perspective on teaching entrepreneurship followed by a Q&A on opportunities and challenges within the field.
• Left to Right: Fasika Delessa, Evan Haas, Aishwariya Chandrasekar, Sarina Haryanto and David Kirsch. DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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FEARLESS FOUNDERS
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nder the leadership of Student Venture Programs manager Chris Rehkamp, students in our Fearless Founders accelerator program have flourished this year. Each of the three stages, Idea Shell, Hatch and Terp Startup, saw an increase in student participation and engagement. Through Capital One sponsored MVP Grants, students who showed a high level of commitment to their ventures and achieved traction received funding to help grow their businesses. The most dedicated are selected for the Terp Startup incubator.
TERP STARTUP - SUMMER 2017 This summer, nine student startups were awarded a stipend of up to $5,000 to work on their business for eight weeks in our Terp Startup incubator. As part of the experience, they received full access to the Dingman Center co-working space, attended workshops and were matched with a mentor to propel their startup to the next level.
2B | Nina Silverstein MBA ’17 A children’s book and clothing company that inspires children to envision their future.
ANNIE’S CHILDREN | Katie Aranas ’17 Children’s books that use folk stories from various countries to support their local orphanages.
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DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
• C hris Rehkamp joined the Dingman Center team in May 2016
DARK SONAR TECHNOLOGIES | Brian Freeman ’19
GRO TECHNOLOGIES | Abeeb Ayodeji ’17, Dimitri Wolford ’18
Cybersecurity company that detects and prevents threats on websites and mobile apps.
A platform to empower and promote grassroots political involvement.
FLEE | Didac Hormiga ’19 Interactive social media app to help locate nearby events and entertainment.
FRODOH | Simon Amato ’17, Holly Wilson ’17, Alexandra Cimino ’17, Diego Lyon ’18 Food startup that puts a delicious frozen twist on doughnut holes.
GLOWGADGET | Shane Salta MBA ’17 Smart, wearable light-up devices, starting with a digital LED shirt controllable by phone.
SENVISION | Sanna Madan ’20, Christopher Look ’20 Global sentiment analysis on social media to predict stock market movement.
SYMBIONT HEALTH | Erich Meissner ’18, Maria Chen ’19, Kyle Liu ’20 Healthcare startup developing automated fall detection devices for seniors.
SEED FUNDING
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eeding students’ ventures so they can pursue their business ideas is essential to our Center’s mission. This year, we awarded student entrepreneurs $124,141 in scholarships, grants and competition prizes.
AshokaU Scholarship Grants: $2,371 Capital One MVP Grants: $19,000 Dingman Summer Scholarships: $2,000 Do Good Challenge Seed Grants: $5,000 E-Fund Awards: $2,770 Hisaoka Fellowships: $15,000 Jason & Jamie Cohen Entrepreneurship Fund Award: $1,000 Israel Internship Grants: $3,500 Kathryn Stewart Fellowships: $10,000 Maryland Social Entrepreneurship Corps: $5,000 Pitch Dingman Competition: $29,500 Terp Startup Scholarships: $29,000
STUDENTS GO ABROAD
Italy: After being accepted to present at the inaugural IESE-LUISS Business School Conference on Responsibility, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship in Rome, Italy, the student team needed funds to support their travel. Together with the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets and the Center for Social Value Creation, the Dingman Center was able to cover the entire costs for all four student fellows. Israel: Through the Dingman Center Israel Programs Fund, two UMD students received funds to support summer internship opportunities in Israel. Benjamin Taragin ’19, a Fearless Founder working on his own startup, Line-A-Day, spent the summer working at Memeni, a startup that helps organizations create and mobilize online communities. Erin Wernick ’20 accepted a startup internship in Tel Aviv where she worked at GivingWay, a free online platform that connects volunteers to hundreds of NGOs worldwide.
• T he FroDoh team received funding from both Fearless Founders and the E-Fund to purchase a freezer for their frozen doughnuts. Team members are prepping FroDohs in the UMD Co-Op kitchen.
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spark: WHERE FEARLESS IDEAS START
T
erps with an idea for a startup know they can come to the Dingman Center and plug in to a variety of programs to accelerate their businesses. What about students who don’t have a business idea yet? To appeal to future founders across campus, we sought to create an inclusive startup weekend event to encourage entrepreneurial exploration. In partnership with student-run incubator Startup Shell, our vision was infused with the irresistible energy of college hackathons. The result was spark: Where Fearless Ideas Start, a two-day idea festival on October 7-8, 2016 where Terps came together and brainstormed ideas to address problems they care about.
Day 1: What Problem
Do You Want to Solve?
Dean Chang, associate vice president of the Academy of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, kicked off the evening with a design-thinking exercise. Students then entered brainstorming incubators that focused on sparking discussion around problems associated with a specific topic, including entertainment, technology, sustainability, style, education or health. At the end of the night, students who shared an interest in tackling a problem formed teams around seeking solutions.
Day 2: How Will You Solve It? The next day, student teams returned for a series of workshops that focused on breaking down a problem and honing in on the right solution. Dingman Center Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Rashad Moore and Polly Vail mentored students to generate viable ideas for prototypes of their solution. At the end of the day, students presented their ideas in a “Show and Tell” in which judges picked three winners to take home prizes.
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2016 “TOP PICKS”
Ögle – First Place – a means for artisans in rural and isolated areas to piggyback off of established distribution chains via symbiotic corporate partnerships. Blinky – Second Place – QR code based technology that would allow someone to friend/follow someone on all their social media channels at once. Gym Buddies – Third Place – an app that would help pair a person with a gym partner who had a complementary schedule and exercise regimen.
A special thank you to the Fishlinger Family for their contribution to spark: Where Fearless Ideas Start.
“ I really want to create my own startup, and spark helped lead me towards figuring this out. The entire experience overall was enjoyable, and I got the chance to meet a lot of great people because of it. It was wonderful to see all the minds moving together and gears spinning as students actively sought information to better their ideas and make them into something great.” - LAKSHMI SHYAMAKRISHNAN ’20
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DINGMAN CENTER ANGELS
S
eth Shuldiner MBA ’17 joined the Dingman Center as Venture Investment Manager in January 2017. His role is centered around sourcing high quality investment opportunities for Dingman Center Angels (DCA) and working with the UMD System on the launch of the Maryland Momentum Fund. Seth previously worked as an analyst at the Maryland Venture Fund, a $120mm VC fund investing in early-stage technology companies across various industries. Seth recently completed his MBA at the Smith School, where he was the portfolio manager of the Smith School Global Equity Fund. Seth's goals are to grow members, turbo-charge deal flow and raise the visibility of the DCA investors in the region.
Through the DCA investor network, the Center connects Mid-Atlantic startups seeking seed and early-stage funding with accredited investors. Since inception, the DCA network has invested more than $12.5M in more than 60 companies. To join DCA and see our full portfolio, visit go.umd.edu/dcangels. DINGMAN CENTER ANGELS FELLOWS This year, the Center launched an experiential learning course on Venture Capital comprised of Smith MBA students named Dingman Center Angels Fellows. The course helps students understand the mindset of an angel investor vs. VC and teaches how to evaluate seed stage deals based on key investment criteria and deal terms. The role of the DCA Fellows is to recruit, screen and diligence companies as well as network in the regional startup community.
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2016-17 DCA INVESTMENTS
• S eth Shuldiner MBA ’17
“ Through the DCA Fellows experience, I was able to employ skills and concepts from all my other coursework, including strategy, finance, and marketing, to analyze and provide feedback about investment opportunities. This was an unforgettable experience and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to participate in the first-ever Dingman Angels class!” —ALISON SCHARMAN MBA ’17
The 2016-17 cohort of DCA Fellows:
Maryland Momentum Fund In an effort to increase commercialization of leading-edge research and support the growth of promising companies, the University System of Maryland (USM) launched a new $25 million early-stage investment fund. The fund is focused on filling gaps in the funding continuum to propel USM’s most promising and innovative ideas into the marketplace. The Maryland Momentum Fund will leverage financial support across the USM ecosystem to: • Accelerate the success and profitability of USM startups
• A lexandra Moore MBA ’17
• J ared Kamm MBA ’17
• Attract promising entrepreneurs/ innovators to USM institutions
• A lison Scharman MBA ’17
• Commercialize valuable USM intellectual property • Generate long-term financial returns to be reinvested in future USM affiliated startups • Arjun Goel MBA ’17
• K athleen Schoolfield MBA ’17
• M anu (Divya Pratap) Gulati MBA ’17
• Shwetha Reddy MBA ’17
• S riram Talluri MBA ’17
• M ichael Fallon MBA ’17
• E mmy Robichaud MBA ’17
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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM FIELD TRIPS
• B oth MBAs and undergraduates took part in the Venture Capital Investment Competition, a global competition in which students play the role of venture capitalists and evaluate startups. Smith MBA students in the Entrepreneurship Club participated as well as undergraduate student team 301 Ventures, which took 3rd place at the Undergraduate National Finals in Chapel Hill, N.C.
• S tudents in the undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club took a trip to D.C.’s food incubator Union Kitchen, where they sampled food from local vendors and learned the ins and outs of the food startup industry.
• A lexandra Gbozia ‘17, founder a new yogurt brand, Yomil, talks to customers about her product at Terp Marketplace. • F ifteen lucky student entrepreneurs were invited to attend the Top 100 DMV Student Entrepreneurs Second Annual Conference at Google’s D.C. office, featuring students from American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, UMD, Catholic University, Howard University, University of the District of Columbia, Johns Hopkins Unviersity, Gallaudet University and George Mason University.
• S mith Association of Women in Business (SAWMBA) toured and met the female founders of local distillery Republic Restoratives. Over a special tasting, the women discussed the challenges and rewards of starting a business
how he uses the principles of entrepreneurship to drive success on and off the court.
• T he Dingman Center celebrated a Day of Entrepreneurship on April 20, 2017.
Marketplace, where 30 student startups showcased and sold their products in the atrium of Van Munching Hall.
- T hat evening,
AT VAN MUNCHING HALL
• O ur first speaking • S mith Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA) traveled to connect with alumni entrepreneurs making it big in New York City, including Tom Ryan, partner and head of Anthemis Americas; Aaron Price, founder and CEO of Propelify; and Katherine Hill Ritchie, CEO of PEX Global, Inc.
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event of the fall 2016 semester featured Andy Enfield MBA ’94, the head coach of the University of Southern California men’s basketball team. Enfield discussed
• D ean Alex Triantis and Andy Enfield.
- D uring the day, we hosted Terp
we hosted a speaker series event featuring Jeff Hoffman, notable entrepreneur and founding team member of Priceline. com. Hoffman met with Fearless Founders for an intimate fireside chat before giving an inspiring speech on the power of entrepreneurship.
HONORS & MEDIA AWARDS
• F or the third time, Elana Fine was named a “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian magazine.
• B rent Goldfarb received two Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation awards. The Schulze Awards recognize contributions to the Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange that have exceptional merit. The first award is for his article, “Are Business Plans Really Necessary?” while the second award was given to Brent and faculty colleagues, David Kirsch and David Kressler, for their article, “The Real Entrepreneurship Competition.”
• S ara Herald was a finalist in the Education category of “50onFire” sponsored by InTheCapital. She also received a 2015-16 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Smith School. DINGMAN IN THE NEWS
UMD Continues Rise in Ranking for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education After ascending into the Top 10 for the first time last year, UMD moved up once again in the latest rankings of the Top Schools for Entrepreneurship by The Princeton Review. UMD advanced one spot to No. 9 for undergraduate entrepreneurship education and also earned a spot
in the Top 25 for graduate entrepreneurship education at No. 20. • T he China Global Times interviewed Brent Goldfarb where he discussed China as a challenger to U.S. technological leadership. ON THE WEB
• L ast summer, Sara Herald participated in TEDxHerndon with her talk, “All the Social Ladies: Bridging the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship.”
• T he Smith School’s Office of Alumni Relations offers free webinars to alumni. As part of this series, the Dingman Center produced “Is a Startup Part of Your Second Act?”
• A fter hearing her episode on Bootstrapped, CNBC produced a feature story on Ursula Mead’s startup, InHerSight.
• U .S. News & World Report quoted Dingman Board Chair Liz Sara on a piece she wrote titled, “Twitter Inc. is Giving Investors Jitters.” The Virginia Pilot’s Hampton Roads Business Journal republished another of Liz’s articles, “Four Ways Trump Could Help Entrepreneurs.”
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
• I n March, Elana led a panel "A New Era for College Towns" at South by Southwest (SXSW) featuring panelists Scott Plank, founder of War Horse LLC; Ken Ulman, Chief Strategy Office at UMD; and Eric Golman ’15, co-founder and CEO of JavaZen. The panel highlighted College Park as a textbook case of fostering an innovation ecosystem.
• E lana joined the Smith School’s CIBER program for a faculty development program to Cuba in May 2017. The program helps participants better understand the Cuban economy within its broader historical, political and cultural context; and to appreciate the changes that are underway both domestically and within the evolving U.S.-Cuba relationship.
• Smith School faculty posed for a group photo in Cuba
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CONNECTING STUDENTS TO THE INNOVATION ECONOMY
W
e recognize that UMD students are interested in pursuing opportunities within current startup companies. At the same time, the startup companies we engage with are seeking student employees for jobs and internships. Our Fellowship programs connect these interested undergraduate and MBA students with a startup opportunity over the summer, while receiving matching funds from the Dingman Center.
HISAOKA FELLOWSHIP In its fourth year, the Hisaoka Fellowship was created through a generous gift from Robert G. Hisaoka ’79. This program supports first-year MBA students. The 2017 fellows are:
Claire Almand | MPOWER FINANCING Prior to pursuing her MBA, Claire worked as a marketing manager for a local restaurant and art gallery. Finding an unmet demand for marketing solutions, Claire started her own digital marketing consultancy, blending her love of patterns, people, and creative media to produce innovative solutions for her clients. At Smith, Claire is focused on marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship and was elected by her class as MBA Association vice president of Marketing and Communications. Claire has been thrilled to intern at startup MPOWER Financing throughout her first year, contributing to their marketing strategy.
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Elle Phuong Le | STARTBLOX Elle is from Vietnam and earned a degree in Maritime Studies from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has spent three years working in the shipping industry, focused on various functions, such as global network design, empty-container flow optimization and business process management. Elle also has a Minor in Entrepreneurship and as an undergraduate co-founded SmartFishy, a company selling pet fish training equipment. She also founded Only Rice Is Not Enough, Singapore—a charity that has raised $20k for students in Dien Bien, Vietnam.
Kelly Zhang | SNOBSWAP Kelly is from Shanghai, China, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in English and her LLM (Civil and Commercial Law) at Shanghai University. Prior to coming to Smith, Kelly worked as a legal specialist for five years with extensive experiences in corporate compliance, contract negotiation and foreign direct investment. At Smith, Kelly is concentrating on Operations, Strategy and Consulting. She is also a member of mQuest cohort 4, a consulting program that develops sustainable business solutions using design thinking and analytical approaches.
KATHRYN STEWART FELLOWSHIP Through a generous donation by Dingman Center Angel and Board of Advisors member Kathryn Stewart, the following undergraduate students worked at startup internships this summer 2017:
Michael Khizgilov ’20 | SANDBOXX Michael is a finance and marketing double major who ignited his passion for entrepreneurship as an intern at Gallup. While there, he co-founded a fashion label to support the entrepreneurial community in the D.C. area. Michael is a member of the QUEST Honors Program and the Business, Society, and the Economy Scholars Program, as well as the International Economics and Finance Society. He has also participated in the Fearless Founders accelerator with his startup idea, ActiveLearn. Michael will be interning at Sandboxx, a veteran-founded company that simplifies the military lifestyle.
Ryan Pillai ’17 | NORTH AMERICAN WAVE ENGINE CORPORATION Ryan is an Aerospace Engineering major passionate about building companies through data, analytical forecasting, and process driven strategies. Ryan and his cofounder Michael Malcolm founded Pitch Dingman Competition winning startup WeCook, and a product built by the company was later acquired. Through his internship he will be working as an engineer where he will be designing and prototyping proprietary aviation tech.
Fosterly Census Report In an effort to help our Fellows find internships, the Dingman Center was among a group of UMD units which contributed to the Fosterly Startup Internship Match which was part of the 2016 Startup Census Report. Fosterly, created the report in response to a need for a more granular, localized understanding of our region’s innovation ecosystem. The Internship Match serves as a platform for startups and potential interns to connect. The mission of the Census is to better understand the dynamics of our region’s innovation economy so that more informed decisions can be made regarding policy and investments that impact the community. A strong showing from D.C., Maryland and Virginia higher education institutions indicates a positive trend for the region. Topping the list with 9% of founders, UMD has contributed a large portion of entrepreneurial talent to the local startup community.
FOUNDER: TOP 10 COLLEGES / UNIVERSITIES University of Maryland American University Georgetown University The Johns Hopkins University George Washington University George Mason University Carnegie Mellon University University of Virginia Harvard University Virginia Tech
2.5% 2.3% 1.7% 1.7% 0
2
4.0% 3.4% 3.4%
4
9%
5.9%
4.8%
6
8
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
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A REMARKABLE
COMMUNITY W
hether it’s time, talent or treasure, the Dingman community gives back in immeasurable ways. Thank you to our donors and corporate sponsors for your generous support.
CORPORATE PARTNERS
PLATINUM | $20,000 +
GOLD | $10,000 - $24,999
JASON COHEN ’96 GIVES TIME & TREASURE Jason Cohen is an aspirational figure to student entrepreneurs at UMD. The journey he took after graduating from the Smith School led him to a brief stint in selling life insurance until he realized his knack for locating opportunities in the snack food industry. Now as the co-founder and CEO of Halen Brands, he has made multimillion-dollar deals and controls a $300 million investment fund, backed by Clearlake Capital. His experience as a successful entrepreneur in the food industry has made Jason a valuable member of the Dingman Center Board of Advisors. He is also a generous donor of the annual Jason & Jamie Cohen Entrepreneurship Fund Award for exemplary student entrepreneurs. He also mentored the student founders of FroDoh, a doughnut snack-food business, and made some invaluable connections for the team. To hear more about Jason’s journey, listen to his Bootstrapped episode, “The Ins & Outs of Food Startups.”
SILVER | $5,000 - $9,999
HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
Jitin Miki Ahuja MBA ’02 | SpaceJet Media LLC G. Anand Anandalingam, Ph.D | University of Maryland William J. Boyle ’81 | FiberGate, Inc. Charles G. Carr ’85 | RSM Jason Cohen ’96 | Halen Brands Stephen B. Ferber, Esq ’90 and Melissa Ferber, R.D.H. Matthew Fishlinger ’07 | Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC Fishlinger Family Foundation Jon Forster ’86 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP Harry L. Geller ’81 | Serial Entrepreneur Jeffrey S. Grinspoon ’90, MBA ’95 | VWG Wealth Management Robert G. Hisaoka ’79 Dr. Rudolph P. Lamone and Linda H. Lamone Mark J. Levine | Core Capital Partners David Quattrone, MBA ’05 and Robyn Quattrone Ted Rose ’89 | Rose Financial Services Liz Sara ’80 | Best Marketing, LLC Brandon Schwab ’15 | D&H Distribution Company Michael Schwab | D&H Distributing Company Kathryn K. Stewart | Cranbrook Capital Brian S. Taff ’89 | Streetsense Mark L. Walsh and Polly Vail 22
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
BRONZE | UP TO $4,999
STAFF, FACULTY & COMMUNITY DINGMAN CENTER PROFESSIONAL STAFF
Elana Fine ’97, Executive Director, Academy of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Distinguished Fellow Brent Goldfarb, Academic Director Holly DeArmond, Associate Director Sara Herald, MBA ’11, Associate Director for Social Entrepreneurship Megan McPherson, Events & Marketing Coordinator Chris Rehkamp, Student Venture Programs Manager Seth Shuldiner, MBA ’17, Venture Investment Manager Rudolph P. Lamone, Founding Director
Publishing Team Elana Fine ’97, Executive Director Holly DeArmond Megan McPherson Editor Marilyn W. Smith ’69, PhD ’93 Graphic Designer Jennifer Paul ’93 Icons courtesy of the Noun Project: Cover: Speech Bubble by Alex Podolsky, Bubble Quote by Thomas Helbig, Group by ProSymbols, Bar Chart by Barracuda, Lightning Bolt by il Capitano, (square) Speech Bubble by Baboon designs, Thought Bubble by Adrien Coquet, Speech Bubbles by AlfredoCreates.com, Money Grow by Royyan Wijaya Pages 2-3: Speech Bubbles by AlfredoCreates.com Page 4: Award by Yo! Baba Page 7: Ribbon by Alexander Skowalsky Pages 13 and 16: Money Grow by Royyan Wijaya Page 19: Spotlight by Olyn LeRoy Page 20: Social by Dev Patel Page 21: Connections by andriwidodo Page 22: Group by ProSymbols Background images: Pages 4–5: chuckchee/iStock Page 13: StudioRoma-biz Page 19: R_Tee/iStock
FACULTY AFFILIATES
MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION Jonathan Aberman, Adjunct Faculty Bob Baum, Professor Emeritus Christine Beckman, Associate Professor, Academic Director of the Center for Social Value Creation Protiti Dastidar, Associate Department Chair and Clinical Professor Waverly Ding, Associate Professor Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, Associate Professor Oliver Schlake, Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow Andrew Sherman, Adjunct Professor Evan Starr, Assistant Professor Mark Wellman, Clinical Professor DECISION, OPERATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES Joe Bailey, Research Associate Professor DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Francesco D’Acunto, Assistant Professor BOARD OF ADVISORS
G. Anand Anandalingam University of Maryland Bill Boyle ’81 FiberGate, Inc. Charles G. Carr ’85 RSM Jason Cohen ’96 Halen Brands Stephen B. Ferber ’90 Golden Gate BPO Solutions, LLC Matthew Fishlinger ’07 Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC Jon Forster ’86 Greenberg Traurig, LLP Harry Geller ’81 Serial Entrepreneur
Jeff Grinspoon ’90, MBA ’95 VWG Wealth Management Mark Levine Core Capital Partners David Quattrone MBA ’05 Cvent Ted Rose ’89, MBA ’93 Rose Financial Services Liz Sara ’80 | Board Chair Best Marketing LLC Michael Schwab D&H Distributing Company Kathryn Stewart Cranbrook Capital Brian S. Taff ’89 Streetsense ENTREPRENEURS-IN-RESIDENCE
Hilton Augustine, Serial Entrepreneur Ed Barrientos, CEO & Chairman of the Board, Brazen Drew Bewick, Managing Director, Tree House Ventures, LLC Paul Capriolo ’06, Founder & CEO, Social Growth Technologies Harry Geller, Serial Entrepreneur Andrea Keating, CEO & Founder, Crews Control Corporation Bob London, Founder & CEO, Chief Listening Officers Rashad Moore, Serial Entrepreneur Liz Sara ’80, Founder, Best Marketing, LLC Polly Vail, Independent Consultant LEGAL ADVISORS
Jon Forster ’86 Minh-Quan K. Pham, Ph.D. ’99 Corinne M. Pouliquen ’89 David Taylor ’90
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DINGMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Robert H. Smith School of Business Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship 2518 Van Munching Hall College Park, MD 20742 301.405.9545 Dingman@rhsmith.umd.edu www.rhsmith.umd.edu/Dingman
FACEBOOK: /dingmancenter TWITTER: @UMD_Dingman LINKEDIN: Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship WORDPRESS: UMDDingman.wordpress.com INSTAGRAM: @dingmancenter