2022 Review - Getting Started
We started Innovation Refinery (aka iRefinery) in 2022 with a mission to bring tech startup jobs to underserved regions and with a thesis for accomplishing this using technology transplants. We have located many technologies and products that have one or more additional business use cases that are relevant in the U.S. market. These underutilized technologies constitute the fledgling ideas that we wish to transplant into new ventures and grow independently.
We began our work by talking with many colleagues and experts about designing our operational structure, identifying and developing potential use cases for the venture funnel, and fitting the concept within the intended ecosystem. We decided to avoid known innovation hubs like Silicon Valley. There the costs are higher, the expectations are for creating unicorns, the field is so crowded that it is hard to get recognition, and the local and state government is not so interested in helping create NewCo’s.
We decided that the Louisville, Kentucky region would be the first place to test the technology transplant business model where we could shape an organization to fit. Jeff and I both grew up in Louisville and so we have roots there, giving us a tad of standing in the community - although nearly 50 years have passed since we left Louisville. Plus, I still have relatives there who provide free housing and use of cars!
We literally started by doing cold calls, based on internet research about innovation in the Louisville area. Doing this is a lot like being an archeologist in that you find disconnected things and try to make sense out of what is life-like. But you need to start and so names harvested from research leads to cold calls to try to learn more.
Luckily a professor at the University of Louisville (UofL) answered one of my calls and spent 20 minutes talking with me. I am sure my pitch sounded very hand-wavy to him. However, he put me in contact with Larry Horn at Amplify Louisville and Ben Smock at Venture Connectors. Then the real engagement work could start with help from these two.
In July, after the third trip to Kentucky and numerous Zoom sessions, the ball started to roll much faster. I think people started to warm up to the ideas and got the feeling that we were serious about working in the region. One thread of connections led to participating in the Fall 2022 UofL MBA Capstone program. And in doing so, we met numerous people along the way that we are now working with in developing a full program. Other paths led us to investors, innovation program directors, and the extended ecosystem of government sponsored innovation stimulus.
We were invited to give a talk at the Startup Week Louisville conference in September which then allowed us to meet others who are past, present and future entrepreneurs. While the density of experienced tech entrepreneurs is vastly less than Silicon Valley, it is not zero. The conference was a good place to learn of other activities in the region, including High Alpha Innovation’s system for creating Venture Studios.
We learned of the Venture Studio model from another branch of connections that started with that first phone call. Venture Studios take a fledgling company with an idea and supercharges it with top notch talent to build out complete business plans, architectures, facilities, and initial staffing in a very short amount of time. Basically, they become super co-founders with the particular ventures they support. In six months, the NewCo’s have often developed beyond where they would otherwise be in two years.
There are many varieties of Venture Studios in the region (four in Louisville that we know of). UofL is partnering with High Alpha Innovation to launch Cardinal Direction to productize the technology coming out of the university. Another Studio in Louisville is going after the pet market. We determined that a variation on the Venture Studio model is something we should use to build and launch companies.
As we start 2023, we are establishing a team of partners in the Louisville region to found a different type of Venture Studio that will works with the transplant model we have outlined. The Studio will be the operation to vet incoming ideas, create teams to make solid business plans, and the start a launch process. Innovation Refinery will be a key player in the new organization while also maintaining our independent roles as finder of opportunities, mentor to startups and intrapreneurs, and educators for new business creation.
In the first full year, we are hoping to introduce 4-8 opportunities to our Venture Studio and take three of these to launch. This is very ambitious and subject to the reality of events, our resources, and our skills.
The final structure might be very different than what it is at the start. Like everything else, we must be ready to pivot and accept help from Lady Luck when she visits. Speaking of Luck, we have found a number of partners who look like good complements to what we can do and are anxious to work together.
Some interesting things have started to happen which we did not expect. Some of the companies that developed the technology are wanting to discuss actually have us sell their primary business product in addition to the alternate uses of the technology. Some other companies have approached us to help bring non-tech startups to the USA.
In 1Q23, we will be visiting Louisville multiple times to frame up the Venture Studio and to obtain commitments to join the organization. We will also be traveling to Asia to talk with the source licensors of the technology and parts of the innovation ecosystem.
Jeff and I will continue to take on consulting and mentoring engagements to fund our operations and to develop potential contacts with future licensors (we did not start with a pot of money, nor have we decided to fund raise for these developmental efforts). We will continue to work with accelerators and incubators. Let us know if you know of opportunities.
