The photo above was taken June 12 in the lush North Georgia mountains where I had a chance to spend time with some of my GA Tech colleagues and to reacquaint myself with golf after a few months' break.  Georgia and Texas seem to be sharing the same heat wave, and it reaches well into these mountains.  

Two important new programs have come together to help technology entrepreneurs in the state of Georgia.  They were announced in May, but this was my first chance to talk with some of the key people involved.  Flashpoint, patterned after Y Combinator, is now accepting applications for its first class this fall.  Entering companies will get a stipend in the $15K range, which will cost them up to 6% of their equity.  Unlike Y Combinator, there is no $150K check waiting at the end, but nonetheless I think this is an important first step toward creating the "assembly line" that will prove attractive to all types of investors.  The goal is perhaps 20 companies in the first batch, and yielding a good crop of graduates that are all of the same mold structurally will allow investors and entrepreneurs alike to focus on the core issues of the startups - use case, customer acquisition, and revenue theory.  

A parallel development perhaps more unique and quite significant in its own right is the launch of GT:IPS.   Referred to as "GTIPS", this program is the result of collaborative efforts among Georgia Tech's licensing and technology transfer offices and the state's entrepreneurial development entities like the ATDC.  (In the interest of my readers who are not steeped in GT acronyms, I won't attempt to name all the specific entities.). The licensing office executed a very clever strategy of getting four of the most prominent tech deal law firms in Atlanta to work together on a relatively short licensing contract that is fair to entrepreneurs, their investors, and to the university.  One will have a hard time arguing with this new standardized boilerplate for commercializing technology originating from research at GA Tech.  Already recognized nationally as being among the best at dealing with licensing issues, GT has taken this to a new level with this highly streamlined process, which is backed by copious "how-to" resources and training.  There has never been a better time to invent something at the school and get the help you need to bring it to commercial fruition.

As an aside, it was noted that this is not something a university with a medical school could attempt.  That's a very different world in terms of regulations and the sheer magnitude of money required to unleash new health products and devices.

Funding is the big caveat in this situation, not just the availability of investment capital to get the best Flashpoint graduates to the next level but also state funding to underwrite the human capital to follow through with all the opportunities that evolve.  The generous support of volunteer mentors is of necessity a key part of the plan.

Kudos to all who exerted their leadership to get these new resources in place.  That's no easy job in a public research university operating in a state with lingering economic problems and the resulting budget pressures.  Generally speaking, nothing new is ever easy in academia, and this is all the bigger an achievement in that context.