Before Silicon Valley was even thought of, there was Dayton, Ohio. This city was the technology capital of the nation where innovation and new technologies were springing up almost every week. According to an article written by BBC, in the early 20th century, Dayton had the most patents per capita of any American city and was home to some of the most world renowned scientist and technologist. Just some of these technologies and inventions include the airplane, cash register, and even scratch and sniff stickers. It is hard to go anywhere without finding a connection to the Dayton region. It is uncommon knowledge that almost 1/6th of corporate executives have spent a portion of their career in the Gem City. In an interview with the BBC, Alex Heckman, compares Dayton of that time to how people now flock to the Silicon Valley to start their business and make it in this tech economy. After the downfall of the GM plant in the heart of Dayton many have decided to leave and find work somewhere else. The closing of the plant put hundreds of thousands out of work and into unemployment and eventually, poverty.
There is hope. A frontier of new technology and entrepreneurship is on the horizon. An evolution of Dayton is taking place and we are continuing to see a change in the startup spirit. Many new startups are coming to this area to pursue their dream of being known for what they do and what products they provide. Many are saying “Why not Dayton?” instead of “Why Dayton?” So why bring your business here?
Next to intersection of I-70 and I-75 and the conveniently located Dayton International airport, you have short travel times to various outside cities to grow your business. Air travel, water, rail and highways all open the Dayton region and make it the gateway to national and international markets. According to the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC), Dayton has established infrastructure that puts its businesses within 600 miles of 53% of the U.S. populations. With these short commute times, many vendors, suppliers, and customers all are within a convenient reach of your business.
With the low real estate costs and short commute times, you will be able to find your own personal healthy work/life balance here. The Dayton region has seen a 4.5% population growth within the last 10 years. Ohio has been rated one of the top 5 business climates in our nation and had a 1.4 billion dollar budget surplus. 3 of the Dayton region Universities ranked in the top 10 in Ohio by Forbes magazine in 2015. This will give you access to a large amount of skilled citizens coming out with in-demand skills and education.
Many high profit industries have found a home in the Dayton region. These include industries such as: defense, with the location of Wright Patt AFB, Dayton is near the core of the defense industry. Aerospace, with all the established infrastructure to support aerospace operations Dayton is recognized as the hub for aerospace innovation. Biosciences, because Dayton is the Epicenter for healthcare to human sciences and is home to a cluster of biosciences businesses. Information technology, because Dayton has the network and resources needed to innovate in information technology and advanced data management. Finally, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing, because the built upon the solid foundation of its past Dayton has a globally competitive hub for manufacturing with continuous growth on the horizon.
Written By: Austin Rains
Marketing Associate at Dayton Tech Guide
A swarm of students bustled about Oct. 5th at the Wright State University – Wright Brothers Day sponsored by the American Marketing Association WSU chapter. Surrounded by companies who represent the true innovation spirit of Dayton, students, faculty, and staff members were able to see why the entrepreneurial spirit and startup revolution is coming to the Miami Valley. Numerous technology based startups that Dayton Tech Guide promotes were able to make it out and show off their products. These startups include Galatune, an action packed anime battle card game, Marxent, a virtual reality and augmented reality based company who is offering ways for companies to allow their customers to see and visualize their products before they purchase them, and finally, Obi, a robot feeding device designed for at-home care. These companies are currently leading the way for Dayton-based technology companies, and are making their mark on the Gem City startup scene.
Scott Stone, VP of Customer Experience at Obi, says, “The Wright Brothers Day and a fair centered around innovation, especially in the mid-west region, is really cool. If you look at the Wright Brothers and how they got their start, it shows other people that it is possible to start a company and follow your dreams if you want.” Obi is a robotic dining companion that allows people, who can’t feed themselves, to enjoy some of the freedoms of self-dinning. It is extremely useful for people suffering from debilitative diseases such as ALS, MS, and Cerebral Palsy. The team at Obi is here to show people that “robotics is here, and is here to do useful things” he states. “People want to see the life-like version of Rosie from the Jetsons, and we are really here to help make that happen.” Scott goes on to explain that “I think things like the Wright Brothers Day, and Dayton Startup Week, really show that there is a real community with entrepreneurial drive. With events like this we are really inspiring not only college kids but the whole community to rally behind the entrepreneurs who are driving the city of Dayton.”
“The Dayton area is in a really exciting time to have a resurgence of innovation. We have had a hard time in the economy but on the flip side, it is creating some new opportunities” says Adam Wik, Founder and CEO of Galatune. “Dayton Tech Guide has been phenomenal with carrying on the spirit of the Wright Brothers. In Dayton you really have the support you need as a startup. You have the startups that seem like their corporate spinoffs but then people like me, who had a dream as a kid to create their own business, and in Dayton you get the support you need and feel the heart of entrepreneurship. Galatune really started that way. Back when I was 10 years old I was drawing up my own game but didn’t have the vehicle to get it going, until now” Adam explains. He confirms that since he has been at Wright State he has had the opportunity to expand his business and be paired with business mentors, and gather seed funding to really get Galatune off the ground. Adam reveals Galatune products will be on the market in December, near Christmas. He is now working on grassroots connections in the local Dayton region and in the background they are looking into what it takes to takes to move Galatune to the national stage.
Matthew McKelvey and Jordan Shmuckler, from Marxent, were both present at the Wright Brothers Day. The Marxent table featured virtual reality and augmented reality demos for the attendees to try out. Matthew, a Wright State Alumni, says “I am really excited to see Wright State putting on events such as these to celebrate the sprit of innovation”. “Here at Marxent Labs, we are working in mixed commerce to help companies find different ways to use virtual and augmented reality, to create new shopping experiences and help customers visualize products before they buy them. For example, you could build your kitchen with VR/AR before you buy the products necessary to do so that way you can see it before investing the time and money. We have a number of different apps from other companies that function similarly and its all to the end of revolutionizing that retail space. It is to make consuming easier,” he says.
Jordan explains, “The Wright Brothers were innovators and we are here as innovators of the current time. We want to change the way mixed commerce works just as the Wright Brothers changed the way things work in flight”.
Overall, the success of the local technological startups is becoming clearer as we recognize the change in the Dayton community. The Wright Brothers day is just one of many events in the region that pay tribute to this. To see more about what is happening in startup community in Dayton, follow us on Twitter or Facebook and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Written By: Austin Rains
Marketing Associate for Dayton Tech Guide
Maybe you are born with the spirit of the entrepreneur, but there is too much to know and who has time to keep track of all “good” advice and must-know’s?
By analyzing the most recent publications, guides, top ten lists, and infographics, created by the entrepreneur experts all over the wide web, we have filtered and made the top 5 traits every successful entrepreneur must have. You don’t have to be born with any of these skills. They all can be learned through rigorous self-reflection and hard work.
You are going to encounter many obstacles that would deter any other person from moving forward with their ideas. Bouncing back from these is almost impossible without some self-confidence. Leadership and business experts say that, having a moderate amount self-confidence will increase the likelihood of your success. Having the confidence and assurance that your business is something the world needs and that you can deliver it to overcome the naysayers, who will gladly shoot your idea or business down. Dharmesh Shah, Founder and CTO at Hubspot, writes in a Linkedin Blog post, “You can do almost anything you have the desire, skills and drive to do; you don’t need to wait for someone else to discover your talents. The only think holding you back is your willingness to take the leap and try!
One upcoming trait that entrepreneurs share is their ability to be resilient looking into the face of defeat while going through their journey of entrepreneurship. As Joe Robinson writes in his Entrepreneur article, The 7 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs, “Starting a business is an ultra marathon. You have to be able to live with uncertainty and push through a crucible of obstacles for years on end. Entrepreneurs who can avoid saying uncle have a better chance of finding their market and outlasting their inevitable mistakes.”
All of the resilience and confidence in the world would be wasted if an entrepreneur was not consistently putting them to good use. All entrepreneurs must have innovative and creative methods, strategies, and ideas to achieve success. Jason Bowser, Startup Business Expert, wrote “Entrepreneurs are almost defined by their drive to constantly develop new ideas and improve on existing processes. In fact, that’s how most of them got into business in the first place.”
As an entrepreneur, traditionally, you have little access to resources and your assets will be limited. With the resources you do have, use them to the fullest capacity. Tapping into your network and increasing your networking opportunities will be more important that it has ever been in your entire career.
Starting a business is a marathon. This trait has many different names: perseverance, persistence, tenacity, and commitment. “Tenacity is No. 1,” says Mike Colwell, who runs Plains Angels, an Iowa angel investor forum, and the accelerator Business Innovation Zone for the Greater Des Moines Partnership. “So much of entrepreneurship is dealing with repeated failure. It happens many times each week.”
Written By: Austin Rains
Dayton Tech Guide Marketing Intern
Co-Founder and Partner at Mile Two LLC, Jeff Graley
Jeff Graley started a Masters of Engineering and Innovation in Entrepreneurship program approximately 5 years ago to further his education and change his career path. Through this program at Wright State he became excited about engineering and software development and began working for the Air Force Research Lab. His team at AFRL was asked to develop some software for a local company on the side. Out of this project, Mile Two was born. Mile Two is a company that combines the efforts of human-centered software design and the excitement of building better systems in a diverse range of settings. He volunteered as the Pathfinder for this project but eventually took Mile Two on his own as of August 2015. Jeff then became the Co-Founder and Partner of the current Mile Two. He was not alone in his endeavors and actually brought two people on with him from AFRL.
Mile Two bootstrapped themselves and began the startup grind. They took no funding or loans to start, but instead began searching diligently for contracts to get them started. He explains, “At that point, we were literally just hustling all the time”. Day-after-day they were diligently searching for opportunities in the region and trying to land some solid contracts to build their company. They most recently restructured and brought on Dave Best, with Code for Dayton, to their team. With this slight expansion in May of this year, they needed to upgrade from coffee shops and living rooms, to The Entrepreneur Center in Dayton, OH. Now with a 400 square foot space all to their own with resources available at their disposal whenever they need them. “It was a really great fit”, Jeff explained. “Everything you need is basically in house, and as they are expanding you are going to have more resources at your disposal”. He goes on to say “sometimes it is hard, as you are starting a business, to find the right accountant or lawyer but, in The Entrepreneur Center, you have all that stuff in place already. As an Engineer, I really know nothing about these sorts of things and need the right person for our company”. Jeff confirms that with a few desks and tables they are well off. “We don’t need much. I still don’t have a actual “desk” but I made sure to get my partners one”.
Mile Two is now just over a year old. They have some experience and projects under their belt. He says, “We are in a stage now where we need to grow and would benefit from some interaction with the bigger or well-known companies to facilitate some of that growth”. “I think some of these bigger companies are constantly meeting, exchanging dialogue, and attending events which helps them expand and grow together but, unfortunately, I do not see that happening with the smaller startups in Dayton.” He explains that Dayton, just like any other community, has its “strengths and weaknesses” but “overall, I think it’s a wonderful place to bring your business and grow”. “A lot of people point to the Lexis Nexis and Caresource-like companies to look up to but, at this point that is just not fathomable for us”, he says.
I asked Jeff, what exactly Mile Two is about now and where they are going in the future and his response was, “Mile Two is focused on human-centered design, so that we are actually supporting the human in the process instead of developing a tool or system and then expecting a human to adapt to the concrete model later on”. He says that in traditional settings they do this design which is counter-intuitive and really doesn’t do much good to anyone. It requires more man power and time which is in short supply for most companies. “We are a software service company, so we build software across the full spectrum which includes mobile, cloud-based design, or a web application, but bring in that process of designing it around the human so it can bring value to your users. This could be a customer or an employee. We make it easy to use and we make it intuitive. We are going to build it and build it well regardless of who that end-user will be”. As far as where he sees Mile Two going in the future he says, “I see us going a number of different ways. One being defense. Two, being commercial products. Or three, working on our own ideas and moving forward with the in-house products”. Jeff recently pitched one of his in-house products at Dayton Tech Guide’s first Early Risers event. He states “these products are gaining traction which is exciting”. “This company is passionate about creating and innovative design and our team is always looking for more projects”.
The Mile Two team is developing and expanding quickly with more contracts coming in. Over the summer they brought on employee number 1 (Dave Best) outside of Jeff and his partner, Jorge Sanchez. Over the past month they brought on 2 new employees who will be starting within the next couple weeks. Both of the employees are starting as software developers. “Both seem passionate and ready to the join team and we are super excited about bringing them on”, Jeff explains. Mile Two is continuously growing and still looking to bring more people on. Dayton Tech Guide looks forward to seeing where Mile Two goes in the next couple years. We can imagine that if they continue with the pace of their current growth, they will expand past their current 400 square foot space
Check out their website below and explore the career page to find out about the positions they are trying to fill.
http://www.miletwo.us/
Written By: Austin Rains
Marketing Intern at Dayton Tech Guide
Fundraising is absolutely crucial for any just-budding startup. Many startups will not flourish unless they begin bringing in money to cover costs of production, marketing, etc.
Asking for these funds can be especially difficult for any “green” entrepreneur, just starting to make his mark on the startup community. Asking absolute strangers (maybe friends or family members) for capital to get your business growing would be uncomfortable for anyone. Asking for these funds usually require some sort of promise of repayment but, that is not always possible for new or small businesses. In order to be sure your investment pitch is ready to go you must do a few things to prepare. Preparation will put you at an advantage and will comfort you in this time of uncertainty.
Here are some successful ways to get yourself started!
Whatever you do, do not bring in your 50-page, sleep-inducing business plan but instead, create some concise, liberating pitch deck. Be sure to include the research, team biographies, and financial projects into your appendix. This does not need to be longer than 15 slides. Ask yourself, what is critical to know about my company? What do I think any investor should know before giving me money? What would excite them about my business? Including things such as: the problem your solving, your plan to solve this problem, key milestones that have already been accomplished, industry experience, and why this is such an incredible opportunity to be a part of. Speaking on milestones will help investors understand how much money you need and why you need it. Always be strategizing the next phase of your product or company, so that you can answer those questions when they arise.
Investors can see through any smokescreen you put in front of them. This is because, there are plenty of “fish in the sea”. They receive a lot of requests a year and have had their fair share of bad investment pitches. It is in your best interest to actually do your homework first so that you are not wasting your own time but theirs, as well. Targeting specific investors in your industry would also benefit any hopeful entrepreneur. Coming with a software pitch to an investor who knows little to nothing about tech would not be a good idea. No one wants to seem like they don’t know something about everything. Look at what type of investments they have made in the past and see if your company or product aligns with their past investments. All of these things will help you trickle down to a few investors that will really be beneficial for your company.
Duh. This is presentation 101! You will see that once you have practiced your presentation several times you can polish it each and every time. Practicing your pitch will help you prepare for the real thing and will give you an advantage to anticipate questions from potential investors. If you continue to get the same questions over and over again, you may want to rework your pitch to cover those topics. Practice does actually make perfect in this case. Practicing will build your confidence which will show in your pitch. Confidence matters. Who wants to invest in something that no one is excited about or confident in?
Written By: Austin Rains
Dayton Tech Guide Marketing Intern
Startup communities must find a balance between providing density and connecting globally. This point was stressed throughout #1776Challenge and 1776’s Startup Communities & Investment Forum.
“Ecosystems of the future are both virtual and physical; hyper-local and hyper-global.”
. Startup communities must have density and connectivity to be successful.
The Innovation That Matters report says the following about density:
Innovation economies require a critical mass of people working together in close proximity where they can easily and regularly interact with each other. It is no coincidence that the next generation of startup communities are sprouting up not in isolated suburban areas, but rather small, dense neighborhoods such as Kendall Square in Boston and South of Market in San Francisco.
A similar call for density is also made by The Brookings Institution’s in The Rise of Innovation Districts.
The clearest example of density in our community is centered between Tech Town and the Oregon District. Check out our map to see for yourself.
Part of this density can be attributed to organizations like The Entrepreneurs Center and Nucleus CoShare which provide space for entrepreneurs and startups to work from. Both organizations have space which allow a startup to pay daily or via a short term lease, giving them flexibility, access to services, and proximity to other companies at the same stage.
Not so long ago, a tech entrepreneur needed to move to Silicon Valley to get access to the best mentors, capital sources, or talent. The digital revolution has changed that. A startup can skype with a mentor in Silicon Valley, find funding in D.C., and build development teams with employees all over the world.
The next wave of startup communities will be bound digitally, not geographically, allowing entrepreneurs to access all #1776Challenge
— Dayton Tech Guide (@DaytonTechGuide) June 10, 2016
The Innovation That Matters report says the following about density:
It’s not enough to have strong talent, capital, and density in your city. You need to make sure people are actually working with each other in meaningful ways that are helping new businesses to succeed. The connectivity score looks at eight key actors: universities; mentors and advisors; professional services firms such as legal, accounting and office space; investors; corporations; cheerleaders such as event organizers, tech media and industry associations; civic institutions such as public schools, hospitals and government agencies; and local citizen advocacy groups.
Events like the 1776 Startup Community and Investment Forum allow opportunities to network with leaders in other communities. At the event, Dayton Tech Guide met Gordon Daugherty, founder of Shockwave Innovations and Managing Director for Austin’s Capital Factory startup accelerator.
Austin is a city that’s entrepreneurial community started taking off when Dell employees started cashing out their stocks and options. These “Dellionaires” retired from Dell and started their own companies or became angel investors. This influx is one of the reasons Gordon Daugherty has seen over 1,000 pitches, advised more than 200 entrepreneurs, and has been involved in raising over $40M in growth and venture capital.
Connectivity to other ecosystems allows Dayton to take advantage of contacts like Gordon to accelerate the growth of our ecosystem. His knowledge is available to anyone via his blog https://www.shockwaveinnovations.com/blog or the Founders Academy video library (for a fee).
Not sure where to start? Gordon shared his top 10 most read posts:
Dayton Tech Guide will continue to share relevant content from Gordon and build connections with other communities.
How does Dayton become a successful hub for technology innovation, company creation, and import talent over the next wave of the digital revolution? 1776’s Innovation That Matters report highlight’s that the shift to a digital economy provides a “massive opportunity” for the regions to be successful.
As we highlighted in a prior blog post, Dayton Tech Guide spent a day at 1776, in Washington D.C., for the Startup Community and Investor Forum to learn about the next wave and how other communities are pivoting for the next shift in the digital economy.
Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL and current CEO & Chairman of Revolution, lays it out in his new book “The Third Wave” (Which we will review soon). The first wave built the foundation to get consumers on the internet, think AOL. The second wave connected consumers to the information and networking, think Google or Facebook. The third wave will be different though. The third wave will disrupt industry sectors vs general IT and “in the process transform the way we live.”
Or as it was stated at the forum:
The next wave of the #digitalrevolution won't be dating apps. It will be tackling big problems–healthcare, education, etc #1776Challenge
— Dayton Tech Guide (@DaytonTechGuide) June 10, 2016
1776 states the playbook for the future includes the following four items:
As a community, Dayton must be leaders in adopting new technology and “question long-held norms of how we live and work.”
For Dayton, clear opportunities lay in manufacturing and healthcare.
In Dayton, avenues can be created to accelerate technology development by engaging end users and addressing problems.
1776 states that, “Governments, together with startups and corporations, ought to proactively re-examine the body of regulation through the lens of technological possibility”
In their review of 25 startup hubs, 1776 looked at six factors needed to capitalize on the “third wave”:
Dayton will need to take a hard look at these six factors on our path to success. These are the factors, as identified by 1776, that will get us from point a to point b.
Friday, June 10th, Dayton Tech Guide spent a marathon day in the nation’s capital hearing best practices from startup communities around the world and then watched as 45+ global startups pitched for cash and venture funding.
It was all part of the 1776 Challenge Cup, a worldwide tournament for the most promising, world-changing startups to win cash prizes, make international connections and share their vision on a global stage.
The global finals last week was the culmination of a global search for startups disrupting heavily regulated industries. Dayton Tech Guide first experienced #1776Challenge in Cincinnati, one of the local competition sites in November.
Leading up to the pitch competition finals, 1776 held a “Startup Communities & Investment Forum” at their Crystal City campus where startup community leaders got the opportunity to hear best practices from across the globe. The forum was educational and inspirational.
All startup communities have problems they are addressing to move the needle in their community. The problems we have in Dayton, Ohio are no where near as difficult as some of the communities discussed at the form. Communities like: Iraq, Islamabad, or Cairo.
Other key takeaways from the event included:
After the forum, attendees were bused across town to the Lincoln Theatre to hear from 8 startups who had advanced to the finals earlier in the week. The finalists included
The winner & runners up of the 1776 Challenge Cup.
While the judges deliberated, all 45+ startups gave a 30 second pitch to the audience for their vote. The prize? $10,000. The winner? NoAppFee wowed the crowd in their initial pitch highlight how their product can help an individual customer and used the 30 seconds to get the crowd chanting their company name–and it stuck in their minds when it came to vote.
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