Discovery Partners Institute & Gies College of Business Innovation Policy Summit
Strengthening Community Innovation
Ecosystems for Startup Success:
Research Insights and Policy Recommendations
August 8, 2024
University of Illinois
4th Floor, 200 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois
The Summit
As global economic competition becomes increasingly innovation-driven, policymakers are intensely searching for ways to increase entrepreneurial activities in their communities. One strategy being actively pursued is promoting high-growth startups in emerging technology areas. While startups bring many benefits, they are inherently high risk: On average over 20% fail in the first year, 30% do not survive two years, and 50% close within five years. Failure rates among tech startups are even higher.
Past studies have focused primarily on factors affecting startup launch or creation, and not determinants of longer-term startup success. Studies have also tended to take a piecemeal (instead of a comprehensive, holistic) investigative approach, focusing on a single or narrow set of explanatory variables (e.g., funding, entrepreneurial training, or regulations), leading to limited or potentially ineffective policy recommendations. This research approach needs to be corrected for better outcomes.
This Summit aims to advance both the science and practice of innovation policy. It does so by adopting a systems approach to examining three fundamental issues concerning the efficacy of community innovation ecosystems in providing the incentives and resource support that startups need to succeed:
Creating enabling institutional environments
These include needed economic, legal-political, and socio-cultural conditions to attract private and public investment in startups, particularly deep-tech ventures that are high risk.
Building supportive innovation infrastructure
Incubators/accelerators, research parks, R&D consortia, fast-speed internet, etc. can facilitate startup activities from launch to scale and beyond.
Providing easily accessible, field-tested training resources
These resources help aspiring entrepreneurs develop the needed capabilities (mindset, knowledge, skills, and confidence) for startup success.
Leading experts and thought leaders from academia, business, and government will address these issues at the Summit. Roundtable discussions will allow participants to brainstorm and propose actionable solutions. Our goal is to form research and professional networks for follow-on collaboration, seeking to develop and implement comprehensive, evidence-based policy recommendations to strengthen community innovation ecosystems at the local, state, and regional levels for enhanced startup success.
This event is co-hosted by the University of Illinois’ Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Gies College of Business, with funding support from the Don and Anne Edwards Gift to the University of Illinois.
Who Should Attend
The Summit will provide actionable outcomes for inventors, entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, directors of accelerators/incubators/research parks, commercialization advisors, patent lawyers, economic development planners, policymakers, startup consultants, technology transfer professionals, and university faculty/administrators. Participants will have opportunities to engage in roundtable discussion with panel speakers and network during and after the formal program.
Attendance
Attendance is by invitation only and includes members of DPI, its university and industry partners, and invited guests from other organizations interested in sending representatives to attend and serve as panel speakers, discussants, roundtable facilitators, or resource persons.
Agenda
9:00 – 9:45 am
Registration and Refreshments
9:45 – 9:48 am
Introduction
Joe Cheng, Research Professor and Director of Special Projects, Gies College of Business & Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois
9:48 – 9:57 am
Welcome Remarks
Nicholas Jones, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Illinois System
Bob Okabe, Director, New Business Ventures, Discovery Partners Institute
Jeffery Brown, Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business and Dean, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
9:57 – 10:57 am
Panel 1: Mapping Innovation Ecosystems for Comprehensive Analysis
Moderator
Joe Cheng, Research Professor and Director of Special Projects, Gies College of Business & Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois
Speakers
- Maryann Feldman, Watts Endowed Professor of Public Policy and Management, Arizona State University
- Abin Kuriakose, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, World Business Chicago
- Ruth Shuman, Program Director, Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM), U.S. National Science Foundation
Speakers will each present for 15 minutes followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.
10:57 – 11:10 am
Break
11:10 am – 12:50 pm
Moderator
Joshua Drucker, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago
Speakers
- Lauren Lanahan, Associate Professor of Management, University of Oregon
- Haven Allen, CEO, mHUB
- Kristi Dula, Deputy Director, Office of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Development
Speakers will each present for 15 minutes followed by 25 minutes of roundtable discussions and 2-3 minutes of summary reporting by each roundtable facilitator.
12:50 – 1:50 pm
Lunch
1:50 – 3:30 pm
Panel 3: Building Supportive Innovation Infrastructure to Facilitate Startup Activities
Moderator
Gerald Wilson, Director of Entrepreneurship, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Speakers
- Scott Stern, David Sarnoff Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management
- E.J. Reedy, Founder & CEO, Intentional Gravity and Strategic Advisor, Portal Innovations
- Mauricio Suarez, Deputy Head of Industry Engagement, Fermilab
Speakers will each present for 15 minutes followed by 25 minutes of roundtable discussions and 2-3 minutes of summary reporting by each roundtable facilitator.
3:30 – 3:45 pm
Break
3:45 – 5:25 pm
Panel 4: Developing Entrepreneurial Capabilities for Startup Success
Moderator
Michael Roach, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois
Speakers
- Chuck Eesley, Associate Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
- Mark Achler, Managing Director, MATH Venture Partners
- Jonathan Fay, Director, Great Lakes Regions NSF I-Corps Hub and Associate Professor of Practice, Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
Speakers will each present for 15 minutes followed by 25 minutes of roundtable discussions and 2-3 minutes of summary reporting by each roundtable facilitator.
5:25 – 5:30 pm
Summary and Closing Remarks
Joe Cheng, Research Professor and Director of Special Projects, Gies College of Business & Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois
5:30 – 6:45 pm
Networking Reception
Confirmed Speakers and Moderators
Mark Achler
Mark Achler is Managing Director of Math Venture Partners an early to mid-stage technology venture capital fund and an Adjunct Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Northwestern University Kellogg school of Business. He has started four companies, managed three venture funds, and was head of Innovation for Redbox as well as an early employee of Apple. He is the co-author of Exit Right - how to sell your startup, and has a popular podcast on the Noteworthy network: The Real Work with Mark Achler. Mark is a frequent speaker, resource and ardent champion for the entrepreneurial community; where he is a mentor for TechStars and several other entrepreneurial organizations.
Haven Allen
Haven Allen is CEO & Co-Founder of mHUB, a business leader and technology strategist focused on driving hardtech and manufacturing entrepreneurship to create economic opportunity. His leadership has translated into mHUB being recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing hardtech innovation centers. Prior to launching mHUB, Haven was an economic development strategist at World Business Chicago where he directed the Advisory Council for Chicagoland Manufacturing. He was named Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2018 and to the Chicago Tribune Blue Sky Innovation Blue Network of Chicago tech and innovation leaders. Haven has a MPP from the University of Michigan, and a BA in Political Science from University of Illinois at Chicago.
Jeffrey Brown
Jeffrey Brown is the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Endowed Professor in Business and Dean of Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also serves as a professor of finance and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA; a trustee and chair of the Investment Committee for TIAA; a member of the Governing Board of the Center for Audit Quality; chair of the Board of Managers of Illinois Global Gateway, LLC; and a member of the board of managers for the University of Illinois Research Park. Previously, he has served as a senior economist with the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He earned his PhD in economics from MIT, his MPP from Harvard, and his BA from Miami University.
Joe Cheng
Joe Cheng joined Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1996 and is currently a Research Professor of Global Innovation with a joint appointment as Director of Special Projects at the Discovery Partners Institute. His research centers on three main areas: (1) innovation, R&D productivity, and international competitiveness; (2) globalization and multinational management; and (3) organizational learning, adaptation, and change. Joe has founded and/or directed five interdisciplinary research centers at multiple universities including U of I, Ohio State University, George Washington University, and University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His research has been supported by grant awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Education, corporate sponsorships, and internal university matching totaling over $10 million. Joe received his PhD in Business Administration from University of Michigan and a BS in Industrial Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Joshua Drucker
Joshua Drucker is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). His research is aimed toward better understanding processes of local and regional economic development and transformation. Topics of interest include innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly the ways in which these activities influence regional economic trajectories and how they may be supported and leveraged through public policy actions. He also studies industrial structure, local government finance, technology-based economic development, and anchor institutions, and teaches economic development policy and methods of economic and planning analysis. He earned a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Michigan and M.R.P. and PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kristi Dula
Kristi Dula, Deputy Director at Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, leads the Office of Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Technology which fosters a dynamic business environment in Illinois by supporting and promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and technological advancements across various industries. Previously, she led Network Relations at Pritzker Group Venture Capital where she facilitated relationships for the firm’s family of companies and connected them with a wide network of experts, strategic partners, and potential customers. Dula is also a Founding Board Member for the Women in Entrepreneurship Institute at DePaul University, the nation’s first comprehensive institute for women founders that integrates academic learning, research, incubation, funding and public policy. She was also a Founding Board Member for Chicago:Blend, a nonprofit organization working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Chicago’s venture capital and startup community.
Chuck Eesley
Chuck Eesley is an Associate Professor and W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. As a Faculty Director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, his research focuses on the role of the institutional and university environment in high-growth, engineering-driven entrepreneurship. His research focuses on rethinking how the educational and policy environment shapes the economic and entrepreneurial impact of university engineering students and alumni. His field research spans China, Japan, South Korea, Chile, Bangladesh, Uganda, Ethiopia, Thailand and Silicon Valley and has received awards from the Schulze Foundation, the Technical University of Munich, and the Kauffman Foundation. Chuck holds a PhD in Management from MIT and a BS in Biological Basis of Behavior from Duke University.
Jonathan Fay
Jonathan Fay currently leads the NSF Innovation-Corps Hub in the Great Lakes region and is a co-director of the Advanced Medical Product Engineering and Development master’s degree in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His efforts focus on education and research to produce the next generation of diverse engineering leaders and innovators particularly in MedTech and Life Sciences. Prior to joining University of Michigan, Jonathan held senior operating roles in several medical device startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, he was the COO/CTO of EarLens Corporation. Jonathan has over 35 patents and received his PhD in Biomechanics from Stanford.
Maryann P. Feldman
Maryann P. Feldman is the Watts Professor of Public Policy and Management at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University and research director at the Global Center for Technology Transfer. She chairs the Policy Forum of the Science, Technology and Economic Policy Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, where she also chairs a congressional mandated assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Maryann was a winner of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research for her contributions to the study of the geography of innovation, the commercialization of university research and the role of entrepreneurial activity in the formation of regional industry clusters. She received a PhD in Economics and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Economics and Geography from The Ohio State University.
Nicholas Jones
Nicholas Jones is the Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of Illinois System. He serves as the second most senior executive and the chief academic officer, reporting to the president, for the $7.8 billion U of I System. Nick works closely with the chancellors and provosts of the Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield universities in defining and shaping academic priorities and directions for the system, providing advice on important academic policy and budgetary issues, and spearheading system-wide academic initiatives. He holds an M.S. and PhD in Civil Engineering from California Institute of Technology and previously earned his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Abin Kuriakose
Abin Kuriakose is the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at World Business Chicago, the City of Chicago's economic development organization chaired by the Mayor. He and his team manage a portfolio of economic development programs: Chicago Venture Summit (the city’s flagship startup & venture capital conference series), Startup Chicago (capital attraction & startup growth program), ThinkChicago (talent attraction & retention program), & Entreprise Chicago (corporate-startup program). In 2019, Abin was appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker as a member of the State of Illinois’ Asian American Employment Plan Advisory Council. He is a 2018 Civic Leaders Academy Fellow of the University of Chicago, and volunteers as a mentor for UChicago’s Harris School of Public Policy students.
Lauren Lanahan
Lauren Lanahan is Inman research scholar and associate professor in the Department of Management at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. Her research primarily investigates the relationship between institutions as it relates to innovation and entrepreneurship. She uses evidence-based analysis to investigate the role of public institutions in understanding the evolving, multifaceted research and development enterprise. She also investigates processes of self-governance and self-evaluation at academic institutions and of academic research, drawing insights from her experience working in the National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioral and Economics Directorate. She holds a PhD in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bob Okabe
Bob Okabe leads the Business Building activities at Discovery Partners Institute as Director of the New Business Ventures team. His experience in technology commercialization includes 15 years as a consultant to seven universities and three Fortune 500 companies. A practitioner of the art and science of entrepreneurship, Bob has been a co-founder of four companies and an angel investor in twelve other ventures. He has been a startup interim CEO, interim CFO, board member, board chair, or advisory board member for many of these startups. The Business Building team at DPI works with its peers at the campuses of the University of Illinois System to advance research technologies from the lab bench to the marketplace
E.J. Reedy
E.J. Reedy is Founder and CEO at Intentional Gravity, a consulting firm focused on building science-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems. He is also a founding member and Strategic Advisor at Portal Innovations, a Chicago-based venture capital firm with operations in Houston, Atlanta, and Boston, providing wet and dry lab spaces for life sciences companies. E.J. serves on the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition board. With over two decades of experience in economic development, philanthropy, academia, and venture capital, E.J. is a recognized leader in fostering innovation ecosystems. His work at the Kauffman Foundation involved collaborations with the OECD, World Bank, and Census Bureau, highlighting his ability to create impactful, research-based programs globally.
Michael Roach
Michael Roach is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research lies at the intersection of technology entrepreneurship and scientific labor markets, with implications for both academic scholarship and policy. His primary focus investigates the early careers of STEM doctorates as founders and startup employees, as well as the impact of U.S. immigration policies on startup human capital. He also investigates the commercialization of university research discoveries through startups and their impact on regional economic development. Michael research has been funded by grants from NSF and the Kauffman Foundation and has been published in leading academic journals. He received his PhD in Strategy from Duke University and B.B.A. in Decision Sciences from Georgia State University.
Ruth Shuman
Ruth Shuman is currently serving as a Program Director in the NSF I-Corps Program. She was the former Program Director for Biological Technologies in the NSF SBIR/STTR Program. Before coming to NSF, Ruth was the founder, president, and CEO of a successful venture-backed life science company, Gentra Systems, Inc., that developed, manufactured, and sold products for genetic testing and research to clinical and research laboratories worldwide. Following Gentra’s acquisition, she held various consulting/advisory positions with start-up companies, and was CEO-In-Residence for Life Science with the University of Minnesota’s Venture Center evaluating the business potential of University-developed technology. Ruth began her career as a faculty member at North Carolina State University and was a pioneer in the development of gene transfer and genetic engineering technology. She holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota in Genetics and Cell Biology.
Scott Stern
Scott Stern is the David Sarnoff Professor in the Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He explores how innovation and entrepreneurship differ from more traditional economic activities, and the consequences of these differences for strategy and policy. Scott is the co-founder of the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, was the Faculty Director of Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, and advises the development of the Social Progress Index. He was the director and co-founder of the Innovation Policy Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2005, he was awarded the Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship. In 2018, Scott joined the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Science Technology and Economic Policy. He holds a BA in economics from New York University and a PhD in economics from Stanford University.
Mauricio Suarez
Mauricio M. Suarez joined Fermilab in January 2020 as the Deputy Head of Technology Development & Industry Engagement. He is an experienced technology manager with expertise in technology assessment, intellectual property, contract negotiation and partner development. Mauricio has worked in technology management and technology licensing in industry (Syngenta Seeds, General Mills) and academia (University of Wisconsin and University of Nebraska). He earned a PhD degree in Chemistry and an MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and did postdoctoral training in supramolecular chemistry at Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France.
Gerald O. Wilson
Gerald O. Wilson is the Director of Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, responsible for the development and implementation of a vision and infrastructure to establish and accelerate a cross-campus culture of entrepreneurship that spans research institutes, colleges, and departments. Prior to joining the U of I, He was President and CEO of Autonomic Materials, Inc. (AMI), an advanced materials company based in Champaign, Illinois. Gerald is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Innovation, Leadership and Engineering Entrepreneurship. He earned a BA in Chemistry from Macalester College, a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering and an MBA from the U of I.
About the Summit Organizer
Joe Cheng joined the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business in 1996 and is currently a Research Professor of Global Innovation with a joint appointment as Director of Special Projects at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI). From 2013 to 2018, he served three years as Professor of Management and the Michael J. Crouch Chair in Innovation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia and then two years as a Research Professor of International Business at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. During 2012, he was a Visiting Professor at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Joe’s research centers on three main areas: (1) innovation, R&D productivity, and international competitiveness; (2) globalization and multinational management; and (3) organizational learning, adaptation, and change. He is currently studying the inner workings of national innovation ecosystems to help inform policymakers on the proper role of governments in promoting innovation. He has founded and/or directed five interdisciplinary research centers at multiple universities including University of Illinois, Ohio State University, George Washington University, and UNSW. His research has been supported by competitive grant awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Education, corporate sponsorships, and internal university matching totaling over $10 million.
Joe has published seven edited books and many refereed articles in top U.S. and European academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Human Relations, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Organization Design, Long Range Planning, Management and Organization Review, Management Science, Organization Studies, Strategy Science, and R&D Management, among others. A former elected Chair of the Academy of Management (AOM) International Management Division, he currently serves or has served on the editorial boards of 12 academic journals, including appointments as editor, associate editor, consulting editor, special issue editor, and a board member.
An award winner in research, teaching, and professional services, Joe received his PhD in Business Administration with a graduate minor in Social Psychology from The University of Michigan and a BS (with honors) in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.