Archive for the 'Conversations' Category

Aug8th2008

Houston’s Dearth of Biotech Entrepreneurship

This post comes to us courtesy of Graham Randall, Ph.D., MBA, who has agreed to become a regular contributor to Startup Houston and will write on the topic of biotech, life sciences and entrepreneurship. Graham is a Ph.D. candidate in molecular biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine where he was a fellow of the W.M. Keck Center for Computational Biology and a recipient of the prestigious John J. Trentin Scholarship Award. His research focuses on the effects of DNA topology on protein-DNA interactions. Prior to graduate school, Graham spent eight years in Silicon Valley as a software architect working for several startup companies, including Tellme Networks. He has an MBA from Rice University and a B.A. in applied mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley. Graham also writes two other blogs: Driving While Texan and Two Randalls.

Houston lags the major biotech clusters

A lot of energy has been spent in the last 10 years trying to figure out why Houston, with all the research conducted in its world-class medical center, hadn’t spawned more biotech startups. Houston lagged behind the major biotech clusters-San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston-in the number of biotech employees (~10,000 vs. 30,000-40,000), the number of VC deals (<10 vs. ~100), and the proportion of corporate-sponsored R&D (25% vs. 70-90%). The density of technology companies in Houston was far lower than the leading regions, so we had an underdeveloped infrastructure to support startups and a small pool of startup leaders.

Still, the city’s leaders wanted to see biotechnology become a major driver for growth in Houston’s economy over the next 15-20 years by creating 65,000 to 95,000 jobs and allowing Houston to remain competitive. Two organizations in town, the Houston Technology Center and BioHouston, lead the city’s efforts to encourage growth in the biotechnology sector. These organizations deserve credit for more than doubling the number of life sciences companies in Houston, as well as tripling life sciences employment.

But Houston still lags far behind the major biotech clusters. What is missing? For a while, the prevailing reason was that there just wasn’t enough biotech-savvy venture capital in town. Startups were forced to seek funding on the West or East coasts, and those deals invariably required the startup to move away from Houston.

This is only one piece of the puzzle, however.

Results of a competitive analysis

Last spring, I led a team of Rice EMBA students in an analysis of Houston’s biotech cluster. Our analysis included a look at the best practices of Houston’s competitors with the goal of identifying opportunities. The 20 competitors we considered were a selection of universities, economic development organizations (EDOs), non-profits, startup incubators, and state programs.

For each of the competitors, we examined their organizational philosophy and vision, primary target audience, scale, activities, and fundraising model. For the universities, we found extensive cross-campus programs with strong ties to the local business community. The schools actively promote technology transfer to students, postdocs, and faculty through a variety of cross disciplinary events designed to encourage attendees to think about how research can be commercialized. The integration of technology transfer with research stood out at UCSF, in particular, where the Center for BioEntrepreneurship is officially housed in the Office of Research. Similar initiatives to link academic research and local industry were found at the EDOs, non-profits, and state programs, with the additional focus on developing biotechnology-friendly public policy. Continue reading ‘Houston’s Dearth of Biotech Entrepreneurship’

Jul29th2008

Forbes Showing Houston Lots-o-love: Best City to Buy a Home

I’m not sure what sparked this but the writers at Forbes have come to realize what we’ve known for some time. Besides being a Top 10 Up-And-Coming Tech City, Houston has topped the list of Best Cities to Buy a Home. What jumped out at me while reading this was the following statement:

“Well known as an energy industry hub, this growing metro area recently made Forbes.com’s Top 10 Up-And-Coming Tech Cities thanks to the Houston Technology Center and bubbling entrepreneurial tech scene.”

I wonder what they could be referring to when they say “bubbling entrepreneurial tech scene?” Any one have an idea?

Jul2nd2008

StartupHouston interviews Tara Hunt and Alex Hillman about Caroline Collective opening

Continuing on our coverage about the Caroline Collective Opening and its impact on Houston’s technology startup and art scenes, we are posting interviews from various people who were at the opening party.

Part of the reason that we felt that this opening was different and signified that something special was happening in Houston, was the attention it drew not just from within the city, but from others outside.  Two pioneers in the CoWorking space flew in from both the west coast and the east coast to attend the opening party.  We’re talking about Tara Hunt with Citizen Space in San Francisco and Alex Hillman with Independents Hall in Philadelphia. 

Tara Hunt of Citizen Space and Alex Hillman of Independents Hall

Tara - Meeting Tara at this event was just a joy.  She carries so much genuine enthusiasm for CoWorking in general and Caroline Collective specifically that its hard not to be caught up in it.  It was Tara Hunt that infomed us that the Caroline Collective is the largest coworking space in the world based on square footage (yeah, the world) and is the first coworking space to also incorporate art space.  Overall a great interview and we look forward to hearing more great things that Tara is doing at Citizen Space.  You can also read her blog at http://www.horsepigcow.com .

Listen to the Interview with Tara Hunt

Alex - Alex Hillman also brought a lot of energy to the Caroline Collective opening.  (You can hear in my interview with him, how I mistakenly introduce him as one of the originators of the CoWorking concept ((not to be confused with Jelly)), and how he sets me straight on how Tara has pioneered the coworking space, how Independents Hall has contributed, and ultimately what he thinks Caroline Collective will mean for Houston’s Startup community).  A great interview not to be missed.  You can also read his blog at http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/ .

Listen to the Interview with Alex Hillman

 

You can also see our whole set of shots of the opening party on Flickr here and all of the photos taken by a host of photographers at the event at the Caroline Collective Flickr group.

May12th2008

Houston Lacking in Sufficient Brainpower Study Claims

A recent bizjournals study that ranks the brainpower levels of America’s 100 largest metropolitan areas places Houston 83rd with a brainpower index of 41.05. Madison, Wisconsin topped the list with an index of 57.80. Washington and San Jose were right behind Madison. Washington boasts the nation’s largest share of adults with advanced degrees, 22.2%, while San Jose follows close behind with just under 20%. Outside of Austin, most Texas cities faired poorly in this survey with high school dropouts outnumbering college graduates by a margin of over 2:1.

So why does a blog devoted to technology startups care about this? If you even ask that question, you’ve made my point. Almost every “so called” startup expert points to certain required elements, one of which is proximity to centers of higher learning.

Education is extremely important to me both as a startup advocate and as a father. Having been less than 2 years through the Houston public school system with our oldest, we have placed our children’s future in the hands of private education. Things seem so bad to me that I now wonder if the film Idiocracy is not a very topical and intelligent docudrama (who knew Beavis and Butthead were statement pieces).

Enough about me…what do you think?

Apr30th2008

Join us for the next Houston Startup Happy Hour on Thursday May 1st

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Startup Houston and the Houston Technology Center are proud to present
The May Houston Startup Happy Hour.

Demo by Strongroom Solutions

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The May Houston Startup Happy Hour features a live presentation of StrongRoom Solutions. StrongRoom Solutions offers a B2B service called the Payables Lockbox that is an online bill-pay service that lets business customers view, approve, and pay invoices online. There will also be an open mic opportunity for all startups to share recent announcements with the rest of Houston’s startup community.

New Location! New Format!

Here is your chance to meet Houston’s growing network of emerging startups, entreprenuers, investors, and technology enthusiasts to share drinks, tips and beta invites. Swap business cards and war stories and learn something new about Houston’s Tech Scene!

Join Us For:

  • Free drinks for the first 25 people
  • Wine-by-the-glass drink specials from 6 pm to 8 pm
  • Complimentary hors d’oeuvres
  • A live demo of the Strongroom Solutions site
  • Open mic for all startups to make announcements and provide sneak peeks of their latest sites and services
  • Meet Houston’s hottest innovative startups and entrepreneurs

The Tasting Room

When:
Thursday, May 1st (tomorrow)
6pm - 9pm

Where:
The Tasting Room @ River Oaks
2409 W. Alabama
(713) 526-2242
(Click here for map)

RSVP (here)
Sponsored by Phillips & Reiter, LLC

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Our sponsor for the May Startup Happy Hour is Phillips & Reiter, LLC. Phillips & Reiter is a new kind of law firm, offering an innovative approach to managing legal services. Their senior legal executives provide counsel to growing organizations on an as-needed basis, at a fraction of the cost compared to hiring a full-time General Counsel or traditional law firms. P&R has offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth. Continue reading ‘Join us for the next Houston Startup Happy Hour on Thursday May 1st’

Apr23rd2008

Guy Kawasaki is speaking at the Houston Technology Center tomorrow night (Thursday)

guy.jpgAs we wrote here, Guy Kawasaki is coming to Houston to speak at the Houston Technology Center about his book, The Art of the Start.  We will be there covering the event and asking questions that we hope will help Houston’s entrepreneurs and startups.  In addition, we’d like to ask for your input. 

What questions would you like to see us ask Guy that you think would help entreprenuers and startup companies in Houston to succeed?  Add your questions in the comments section.

Apr2nd2008

Guy Kawasaki to speak at the Houston Technology Center, April 24th

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I found out today via Marc Nathan and also via Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog that Guy Kawasaki is coming to the Houston Technology Center to speak about The Art of The Start on Thursday, April 24th at 7pm. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear this news as this is obviously the type of speaker that could increase visibility for Houston in the startup world.

Apparently Guy was pretty impressed by all of the Houstonians at SXSWi and asked Dwight if he could set up an opportunity for him to come to Houston and speak.  With all of the great minds in the Houston tech and startup communities, I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to impress Guy with when he gets here.

You can find more details over at Dwight Silverman’s Chron TechBlog.

You can register for the event on the Houston Technology Center site (here)

Also, we’re putting together a list of startup questions for Guy, so if you have any good ones that you would like to share or get answered, make sure to add them in our comments section.

Update: Hurry and register now because I’m told that they are already nearing capacity

Mar1st2008

Raising Capital in Rough Economic Times

One of our favorite Startup Houston readers asked a great question so I figured I’d give y’all my two cents: what will startups need to do to obtain funding in a frightened economy?

Straight answer: the same thing they would do in good economic times.

But seriously, there are different answers depending on what type of business each startup is in. The process does not change nor do the players. What does change is the scrutiny you need to put on your financial projections given changes to the market you are going after and the honesty you need to have with your own capabilities. Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Not all markets/industries react the same to economic downturn
  • Venture capital is usually already committed and has a limited shelf life within a fund; it has to find a home
  • Investing is a long term endeavor which should survive short term down cycles
  • Some of the best returns are made in down markets by those who see arbitrage opportunities

I was involved in two different companies that both closed financings within days after September 11. Don’t let things outside of your control give you doubts. A good business plan going after a large market led by talented leaders almost always get funded.

Agree? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Mar1st2008

Reader Poll: What are you interested in?

So I was curious today about what you, Startup Houston readers, are truly interested in hearing about. Houston is a vibrant technology community and has many industry specializations. Of them, what are you interested in us covering. This will not mean that something will get dropped due to non-interest, but like I stated earlier, I was curious:

  • Energy tech
  • Nanotech
  • Biotech
  • Aerospace
  • Enterprise IT
  • Social Media
  • Other (please let us know what)

Give us your feedback so we can work to make Startup Houston even better.

Feb29th2008

Houston is too HOT for startups!

Native American Sweat Lodge

Longtime friend of Startup Houston, Stacey Higginbotham of GigaOM (Stacey is in Austin and used to write for The Deal), authored a post this week about the elements needed to develop a High-Tech-Hub:

“Money, big companies and good weather. That last one isn’t a joke; quality of life is important. For example, many people want to live in Austin, while few want to live in Houston. So even though there are a lot of huge companies, money, and a real effort by folks at places like the Houston Technology Center and Startup Houston, building an information economy there is going to be a challenge. Blame it on the humidity.”

Now I am a big fan of Stacey’s work and the attention she brings to Texas technology startups (and our site) but I have to respectfully disagree with her assessment. If I were to identify the needed components to bring about a High-Tech-Hub, I would list them as follows (actually I am borrowing this from a presentation that Jacqueline Northcut, CEO of BioHouston gave last week):

  • Money (agree on this)
  • Experienced leadership (could be semantics so possibly in agreement on this)
  • Critical mass

By critical mass, I point to every well-known High-Tech-Hub: San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Austin (yes Stacey, Austin is a High-Tech-Hub…I am fascinated why people from Austin don’t get this). Each of these cities has what Houston lacks, proximity to other technology companies to facilitate collaborative effort. I have a client in San Francisco that I talk to weekly and I am always amazed at the number of other notable startups that are “right across the street from us.”

Houston is not too hot; Houston is too sprawled. Try to collaborate with someone in the Woodlands or Sugarland; it’s a nightmare of traffic and schedule coordination.

But what I think is not as important as what you think…let’s hear it!