Below is what I’ve been up to over the past week-plus. I have moved the needle a bit away from educational meetings/talks and more towards engaging with the startup community and actively looking for my next position.
- Two former colleagues
I had separate meetings with two people who had been at Analog Devices and had left to join local startups. They both expressed great satisfaction with their career paths and experiences at startups and had a variety of practical advice in transitioning from a big company. One of these ex-colleagues has set up a meeting for me with his company’s founder for further networking. - Building efficiency startup
This call was with the two founders of this early-stage company. They are operating in a market area where I am experienced and believe I can be of some assistance to them. We discuss various engagement models and will talk again in April as they get closer to raising funds. - Mentoring: MIT Clean Energy Prize
I met with two members of the team I am mentoring in this competition. We had a very interesting discussion about their go-to-market options and business model. I found myself enjoying the discussion and helping this team wrestle with the various questions and challenges they are facing. - Mentoring: MIT Enterprise Forum
This is another startup program for which I have volunteered as a mentor. It is fairly unique in that it is not part of a competition nor requires any affiliation with a university (despite the name). I met my assigned team yesterday and look forward to working with them. - MIT Enterprise Forum event
(Crowd Funding: Where it stands now – “The Power of Alternative Financing for Entrepreneurs”)
Despite the fact that I think the crowd funding model is primarily applicable only to B-to-C businesses I found it interesting to learn about it as well as the status of new legislation enabling the offering of equity via crowd funding. - Presentation at Lyric Semiconductor – Analog Devices
Gave a presentation today about my experience starting up and growing Analog Devices’ iCoupler business to the Lyric team. This was something requested by Lyric’s director, Ben Vigoda. Ben felt that hearing about my iCoupler experience would be useful for his team now that they are part of Analog Devices and are working to get their technology into the market. - Clean tech angel/advisor
Had coffee with a very active and connected player in New England’s clean tech community. He expressed optimism in the long-term promise for clean tech technologies and business. This person reinforced that the networking and volunteering activities I’ve been doing will lead me down the right path. He also offered additional suggestions in terms of people, organizations, and resources with whom I should engage.