CENTURION ACQUIRES XERTEX TECHNOLOGIES; EXPANDS CUSTOMER AND MARKET BASE
-- October 3, 2000
LINCOLN (Neb.)— Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc. (formerly Centurion International, Inc.), a worldwide developer, designer and manufacturer of antennas and power products for wireless communications and nomadic devices, has acquired Xertex Technologies, Inc., of Broomfield, Colo., in a merger transaction. Xertex will continue to do business as a division of Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc.
"Xertex is an antenna development company that produces flat, very small, yet high-performance antennas. The company brings a unique combination of engineering in an intellectual properties area that will assist Centurion in extending its market base," said Gary Kuck, president and CEO of Centurion. "Our acquisition of Xertex will enable us to deliver multiple antenna solutions to customers worldwide, diversify our market base, and enhance our engineering expertise in wireless technologies." "Centurion has an excellent reputation as a leader in the wireless communications industry. We are excited about the opportunity to join the Centurion family, and to help extend its product line into new markets," said Dax Craig, president of Xertex Technologies. Centurion strives to continually develop cutting-edge technology solutions and products to support the explosive growth of technology worldwide. "Our streamlined research, design and manufacturing processes-available at our worldwide facilities-enable Centurion to tailor wireless technology designs to support a wide range of wireless communications products," Kuck explained. "We are able to assist companies in quickly and efficiently introducing new products on a global scale."
About
Centurion
Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc. (http://www.centurionwirelesstechnologies.com) is a
leader in researching, designing and developing
innovative technology for
wireless communications worldwide. The company holds multiple
U.S. and international patents and is an ISO 9001
registered company. Centurion's headquarters is in
Lincoln, Neb., with additional facilities in five
countries.The company recently changed its name to Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc., to reflect its business strategy and leading role in the wireless technology industry.
About
Xertex
Founded in 1995, Xertex designs, develops and produces small, yet unobtrusive antennas for the wireless industry, based on its patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex (www.xertex.com) antenna applications include Bluetooth, cellular, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and GPS/telematics applications.
For more information please contact:
Jefferson Jenkins
Marketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
303.635.2000, Ext. 117
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Technologies Launches Full-Line Distribution with Talley Communications
-- September 6, 2000
Broomfield, CO. - Xertex Technologies, Inc. recently began a full-line distribution agreement with Talley Communications of Santa Fe Springs, California. Talley now offers a wide range of Xertex antennas, including the Microsphere, Mercury, Whisper, Sphere and Terrace product lines. Talley currently is the only full-line distributor to sell Xertex products.
"We at Xertex are very excited to be affiliated with such a high-quality distributor as Talley Communications," said Tom Trexler, Xertex Technologies Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "This relationship speaks both to the quality of Xertex's products and the increasing demand handled by Talley."
Talley Communications is positioned to provide rapid delivery and thus meet the growing need of direct buyers for wireless communications products. For 16 years Talley has been a stocking distributor for the top manufacturers in the wireless industry. Talley supports the wireless communications industry with products, engineering and technical support. Talley's sales and customer service departments have an average of more than 20 years of industry experience.
Talley has offices in Hayward, Santa Fe Springs and San Diego, CA, as well as Phoenix, AZ. For ordering, please call Talley at (800) 949-7079, or reach them through e-mail at sales@talleycom.com, or on the worldwide web at Web site: http://www.talleycom.com
Xertex Technologies, Inc. is located in Broomfield, Colorado. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company's patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex antenna applications include Bluetooth, cellular, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and GPS/telematics applications.
For more information please contact:Jefferson Jenkins
Marketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
303.635.2000, Ext. 117
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Introduces New Sleek, Low-Profile Diversity Antennas
-- August 20, 2000
Broomfield, CO. - Xertex Technologies, Inc. recently unveiled its newest sleek, low-profile diversity antenna - the omnidirectional Sphere Diversity 1900.
"The Sphere Diversity antenna offers excellent performance in a sleek package ,"said Dax Craig, president of Xertex Technologies. "This antenna already has been adopted by a major telecommunications OEM for their in-building system."
The new Sphere 1900 Diversity provides 3 dBi gain and a maximum VSWR of 2.0 across the PCS band (1850-1990 MHz). Xertex also offers its Diversity antennas in bi-directional Terrance and directional Whisper models.
Diversity antennas - which include two or more radiating elements in a single unit - provide improved signal reception in areas where scattering and reflection can cause multipath problems.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company's patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex antenna applications include cellular, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and telematics applications.
For more information, please contact:
Jefferson JenkinsMarketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
6252 W. 91st Avenue
Westminster, CO. 80031
Tel: 303.635.2000 ext. 117
Fax: 303.635.2003
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Introduces New Ultra-Thin, Dual-Band Microsphere Antenna
-- August 1, 2000
New Orleans, La. - Xertex Technologies, Inc., recently announced the introduction of dualband Microsphere Antennas, the latest additions to Xertex's line of credit-card thin broadband antennas.
The dualband provides simultaneous cellular/PCS and GSM/DCS signal transmission by means of a single feed and a patent-pending built-in diplexer. The operation of each antenna is independent of the other, with excellent isolation.
"The dualband Microsphere raises the bar for in-building antennas," said Dax Craig, president of Xertex Technologies. "Xertex now offers service providers and OEMs a single antenna for multiple transmission technologies - with a single feed port and ultra-thin packaging."
The Microsphere antenna line features antennas that are only one-tenth of an inch thick (0.10"), yet provide extremely broad bandwidth, 3dBi gain, and a maximum VSWR ratio of 1.5:1. The Microsphere's ultra-thin form factor allows for practically invisible mounting on ceiling tiles, and can be built with pigtail assemblies for remote mounting or embedded applications.
Xertex provides its dualband Microsphere in two models: a cellular/PCS version (806-896 MHz and 1850-1990 MHz) and a GSM/DCS version (880-960 MHz and 1710 - 1880 MHz).
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company's patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex antenna applications include cellular, SMR, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and telematics applications.
For more information, please contact:
Jefferson JenkinsMarketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
6252 W. 91st Avenue
Westminster, CO. 80031
Tel: 303.635.2000 ext. 117
Fax: 303.635.2003
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Introduces New Ultra-Thin GSM, DCS, and SMR Antennas
-- July 10, 2000
Broomfield, CO. - Xertex Technologies, Inc., recently announced the release of its ultra-thin Microsphere antennas for the GSM, PCN, and SMR markets.
"With the release of our antennas into these three key markets, Xertex Technologies can now provide our high-quality antennas to service providers and OEMs around the world," said Dax Craig, Xertex's President.
The Microsphere antenna line features antennas that are only one-tenth of an inch thick (0.10"), yet provide extremely broad bandwidth, 3dBi gain, and a maximum VSWR of 1.5:1. The Microsphere's ultra-thin form factor allows for practically invisible mounting on ceiling tiles, and can be built with pigtail assemblies for remote mounting or embedded applications. The omnidirectional pattern of this antenna is suited to a variety of uses, including hand-held devices, in-building systems or other applications where mobility is a factor.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company's patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex antenna applications include cellular, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and telematics applications.
For more information, please contact:
Jefferson JenkinsMarketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
6252 W. 91st Avenue
Westminster, CO. 80031
Tel: 303.635.2000 ext. 117
Fax: 303.635.2003
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Introduces New Whisper 800 MHz Directional Antenna
-- July 10, 2000
Broomfield, CO. - Xertex Technologies, Inc. recently announced the introduction of the Whisper 850, its newest low-profile, directional antenna for in-building and outdoor cellular, microcell and wireless Local Loop applications.
"The new Whisper antenna provides excellent gain with broad bandwidth and very low VSWR," said Dax Craig, Xertex's President. "Plus, its sleek design offers service providers an aesthetically pleasing option for in-building and microcellular coverage."
The Whisper 850's breakthrough design provides 8.5 dBI gain and a maximum VSWR of 1.5:1 across the 824-896 MHz band. The Whisper antennas come equipped with a mounting bracket for flush mounting to any surface, and can be enhanced with optional articulated mounting brackets and rugged pole/wall mounts for outdoor and base station applications.
Xertex also offers its Whisper-series directional antennas for the cellular, SMR, GSM, 900 MHz ISM, PCS, and wireless LAN markets.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company's patented and patent-pending antenna technologies. Xertex antenna applications include cellular, PCS, GSM, wireless LAN, wireless Local Loop, wireless PBX, PHS, DCS, DECT and telematics applications.
For more information, please contact:
Jefferson Jenkins
Marketing Manager
Xertex Technologies, Inc.
6252 W. 91st Avenue
Westminster, CO. 80031
Tel: 303.635.2000 ext. 117
Fax: 303.635.2003
E.mail: jenkins@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
AirIQ and Xertex Introduce New Stealth Antenna
-- MAY 11, 1999, Toronto, Canada
AirIQ Inc. today announced an exclusive agreement with Xertex Technologies Inc. for use of its new combined cellular and GPS wireless antenna known as the "Mercury. The exclusivity pertains to AirIQ,s primary markets, the Vehicle Rental Industry and untethered Trailer Fleets.
AirIQ worked closely with Xertex to
specify the design of this sleek, low profile antenna, built
specifically for stealth mobile applications. Having one antenna
operate on both cellular and GPS frequencies means that AirIQ
can provide its clients with quicker, more efficient installations,
without compromising antenna performance. "Xertex has made
a tremendous break-through in antenna design for mobile fleet
applications, notes Michael Oakes, Director of Client Services
at
AirIQ. "Our customers require quick and simple installations
and prefer to hide the antenna without degrading performance.
In the past, vehicle applications requiring both cellular and
GPS antennas had conflicting issues relating to optimum placement,
timeliness of the installation and performance.
The Xertex antenna is extremely compact. At 29 X 10.5 mm and only 60 gm in weight, this antenna is only slightly larger than a credit card, making it ideal for quick, covert installations. The small, thin, flat profile of the antenna is intended for concealing in dashboards, headliners or rear deck panels of vehicles. Most cellular antennas require extra space for a whip. The Mercury does not.
The special dual-mode construction requires no mounting hardware or extensive cable routing and is designed to reduce the effects of interference caused by antennas that are too closely mounted to one another, a problem often encountered with multiple antenna installations. The Mercury does not require mounting to a metal surface.
AirIQ is a partnership amongst three high-tech leaders: Bell Mobility, Lenbrook and Veridian. AirIQ,s comprehensive fleet management solution makes complex technology simple to use. It is based on an intelligent on-board computer with integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) and wireless transceiver, communicating to a PC-based digitized mapping system. Some of the features of the AirIQ solution include location upon demand, out of bounds reporting, excessive speed reports as well as the ability to remotely disable vehicles.
Information about vehicles is constantly being monitored and vehicles can be programmed so that only exceptions to normal operating routines are reported. AirIQ OnBoard (the intelligent on-board computer that resides in each equipped vehicle) is constantly recording data that can be recalled when required, showing a vehicle,s movements - where it went and how fast it traveled using the AirIQ Fleet Operator System that resides at the customer,s very own location.
Xertex Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company,s patented and patent-pending antenna technology. Xertex antenna applications include WLAN, Cellular and PCS, WLL, PHS, PACS, wireless PBX (WPBX), DECT and Telematics applications.
For more information, please contact:
| Susan Mayers AirIQ Inc. Telephone: (905) 831-6444 ext.4353 Toll-free 1-888-606-6444 Facsimile: (905) 831-0567 E.mail: corporate@airiq.com |
Mr. Dax Craig Xertex Technologies Inc. Telephone: (303) 635-2000 ext.101 Facsimile: (303) 635-2003 E.mail: info@xertex.com Web site: www.xertex.com |
Xertex Helps Major Cruise Line to Cruise Airwaves, Unnoticed
-- FEBRUARY 4, 1999
Broomfield, Colo."Xertex Technologies, Inc., received orders to "wire 25 cruise ships with six wireless antenna configurations to suit various applications.
The challenge, which Xertex met, was to customize antennas for the client,s WLAN on-ship communications applications, such as restaurants, with undetectability, and resistance to corrosion (caused by salinity in a marine environment).
Xertex Technologies went from concept to completion of production-ready antennas, with the configuration of six antenna types, in less than five months.
To satisfy the cruise line,s offshore communications demands, Xertex developed antennas to expedite both the embarkation/debarkation processes.
Over the next three-year period, this contract will mean $1 Million to $ 1.2 Million in revenues for Xertex Technologies, as it continues gradually to equip the fleet.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company,s patented and patent-pending antenna technology. Xertex antenna applications include wireless local-area networks (WLAN), Personal Communication Services (PCS), wireless local loop (WLL), Japan,s Personal Handyphone (PHS), Personal Access Communication Systems (PACS), wireless PBX (WPBX), and DECT applications.
Media Contact: Mr. Dax Craig
Telephone: 303-635-2000, extension 101
Facsimile: 303-635-2003
Email: info@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Wireless Innovator Airs Miniature, Unobtrusive Antenna
-- JANUARY 21, 1999
Broomfield, Colo."Xertex Technologies, Inc., introduced the Microsphere 1900 Antenna" the world,s latest, greatest, yet unobtrusive 3 dBi, omnidirectional wireless antenna.
Operating on both PCS and cellular frequencies, the Microsphere 1900 consists of a flat panel antenna element to provide a practically invisible profile"approximately 0.1 inches.
Despite its extremely discreet design, the Microsphere 1900 provides excellent coverage, and broad bandwidth. The omnidirectional pattern of the Microsphere is suitable to a variety of applications"including hand-held devices or other applications where mobility is a factor. Its small size and low weight, enables this product to be used in applications where traditional "whip antenna designs are not suitable.
The Microsphere is supplied with several mounting options in a hardware kit to facilitate quick installation at the end user site. The Microsphere 860, slightly larger than a baseball card also has an omnidirectional patters and a peak gain of 3 dBi. It,s frequency range is 824-896 MHz.
Both the Microsphere 1900 and Microsphere 860 models will debut at the CTIA trade show in New Orleans from February 8-10, 1999.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company,s patented and patent-pending antenna technology. Xertex antenna applications include wireless local-area networks (WLAN), Personal Communication Services (PCS), wireless local loop (WLL), Japan,s Personal Handyphone (PHS), Personal Access Communication Systems (PACS), wireless PBX (WPBX), and DECT applications.
Media Contact: Mr. Dax Craig
Telephone: 303-635-2000, extension 101
Facsimile: 303-635-2003
Email: info@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex Technologies Gets Fleets Wired
-- JANUARY 25, 1999
Broomfield, Colo."Xertex Technologies, Inc., introduces its cellular/GPS wireless antenna for in-vehicle use.
Operating on both GPS and cellular frequencies, (the cellular antenna is omnidirectional) this antenna is designed for locator and mobile fleet applications, where precision is a necessity and stealth (invisibility or unobtrusiveness) is a priority.
Designed to be concealed in dashboards, headliners or rear decks of vehicles, the cellular/GPS antenna is suitable for antitheft system tracking (such as LoJack), rental cars, taxi cab and tractor trailer fleets, parcel delivery and courier services, and any other business in terrestrial transportation.
Exterior models of the cellular/GPS antenna are available, and both interior and exterior configurations are supplied with several mounting options to facilitate installation at end-user sites. Rugged construction and compact dimensions that make it slightly bigger than a credit card"29 mm x 10.5 mm, and a weight of only 60 gm."simplify installation even more.
Cellular/GPS Antenna models will debut at the CTIA congress in New Orleans from February 8-10, 1999. The convention will be held at the Ernest Memorial Convention Center.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company,s patented and patent-pending antenna technology. Xertex antenna applications include wireless local-area networks (WLAN), Personal Communication Services (PCS), wireless local loop (WLL), Japan,s Personal Handyphone (PHS), Personal Access Communication Systems (PACS), wireless PBX (WPBX), and DECT applications.
Media Contact: Mr. Dax Craig
Telephone: 303-635-2000, extension 101
Facsimile: 303-635-2003
Email: info@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Xertex To Supply Digital OEM Leader
-- FEBRUARY 4, 1999
Broomfield, Colo."Xertex Technologies, Inc., has signed a contract to furnish a major mobile wireless infrastructure manufacturer with antennas that are integrated into the company,s micro base station.
In order to gain the client,s business, Xertex had to meet stringent specifications. The antennas had to meet rigid Bellcore environmental standards, in addition to challenging size, configuration, and performance specifications, plus budgetary guidelines.
Xertex, applying its patented technology, developed antennas small enough to fit into the company,s micro base station system. The micro BTS is a convection-cooled system with one transmit and two receive antennas. So the 3dBi, 130-degree beamwidth antenna could not block airflow. The antennas meet all the criteria while providing exceptional coverage in a surprisingly small package.
The contract will generate $500 Thousand to $2 Million in revenues per year over the next few years for Xertex Technologies.
Xertex Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes high-performance antennas based on the company,s patented and patent-pending antenna technology. Xertex antenna applications include wireless local-area networks (WLAN), Personal Communication Services (PCS), wireless local loop (WLL), Japan,s Personal Handyphone (PHS), Personal Access Communication Systems (PACS), wireless PBX (WPBX), and DECT applications.
Media Contact: Mr. Dax Craig
Telephone: 303-635-2000, extension 101
Facsimile: 303-635-2003
Email: info@xertex.com
Web site: www.xertex.com
Jury out on ETAP success
-- Reprinted
from posting at
http://www.bcbr.com/aug98/etap2.htm
By Beth Potter
While a few start-up companies with $75,000-$100,000 Department of Energy grants have seen limited success, a Rocky Flats-inspired program has nowhere near the jobs or revenues it was expected to generate.
Entrepreneurs in the second round of the Entrepreneurs' Technical Assistance Program, funded by the Rocky Flats Local Impacts Initiative through DOE, originally estimated they would generate up to 1,200 jobs, a number later revised to 680-700 jobs, and $190 million in revenue by 2000. In that 1996 funding round, 14 company/university teams received an average $76,700 each for high-tech research project.
Halfway through the project, one of the 14 went out of business and several others appear to be struggling. Of the nine Boulder County companies in the program, only four returned phone calls. Of those four, none has more than four employees.
It appears two companies are generating revenue. Broomfield-based Xertex Technologies Inc., makers of an antenna system used by AT&T Wireless Communications and Qualcomm Inc., projects $600,000 in revenue this year, said Dax Craig, president. CDM Optics, which is working on lenses to use in camcorders, has licensing agreements with other companies and has discussed going public.
Overall, with about 30 companies receiving an estimated $2.5 million since the program started in 1994, about 200 people have jobs, said Fred Fraikor, program administrator through the Colorado Advanced Materials Institute based in Golden. Program funds go to university researchers paired with each company -- 60 percent at the beginning, 40 percent after a final report is completed.
"They're very high-risk companies. Some will not make it," Fraikor said. "But like all small, start-up companies, their biggest problem is money, money, money."
That might be true, but it's not the whole story, says Bill Weida, an economist at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and a consultant who works with anti-nuclear groups on nuclear plant issues around the United States. While such programs were meant to create jobs, the rationale for them was political, not economic, he said.
"Programs like that are going to have a difficult time achieving what they're supposed to do, and they have, I'll tell you," Weida said.
On the other hand, all small, high-tech start-up companies struggle, said John Greff, a partner at Sequel Venture Partners in Boulder. Companies chosen by the venture capital firm receive $3.5 million to $4 million in funding over time, and many still don't make it, Greff said.
"The ones that are successful are either sold, or they become public companies," he said."That's the nature of our investing."
Empirical evidence shows, however, that companies with venture capital investors tend to be more successful than those without them, Greff added. Venture capitalists bring experience to the table that most entrepreneurs can't match.
When the Department of Energy funded the first four entrepreneur projects in 1994, the idea was to pay for research that could develop commercial products and technology-based services.
Of the four, two were "under way to commercial products and success," according to a project report. Another still was working on technology development; the fourth was seeking private investors after reaching a technology "breakthrough." Only one of the four, Xertex Technologies, which received funding again in the second round, returned phone calls to The Business Report.
"If one or two of these turn out to be a StorageTek (a Louisville data storage company with more than $2 billion in revenue last year), then we have something of value," Fraikor said. "The kind of companies we try to attract, we can grow here."
The former Magnetic Devices Therapeutics, now FeRx Inc., may be one such company. The Boulder-based drug "carrier" maker plans to go public within the next year to 18 months and employ up to 150 people, said Tom Kent, executive vice president. The company's drug "carrier" takes chemotherapeutic drugs directly to cancer tumors, helping patients avoid side effects of taking chemotherapy.
Another promising company doesn't have funding yet, although success is imminent, said H.L. Gier, founder of the Boulder-based Aerospace Design and Development.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is expected to buy several water-cooled hazardous materials suits with backpack breathing and cooling units produced by the company, Gier said. A Finland investment group may put in $750,000 in the next three months, and an international investment firm based in Washington, D.C., is expected to pony up $100,000 a month for more than a year.
"Either it will be successful, or I'm one of the biggest fools around, because I'm planning on it becoming successful," Gier says.
Entrepreneur Magazine
August, 1995
Back to School
-- Reprinted
from posting at http://www.entrepreneurmag.com/page.hts?N=1838&Ad=S&Highlited=DaxCraig
Small businesses turn to universities to help them make the grade.
Mark Henricks
Rick Larsen had an idea for a new leakless valve seal. Thanks to recent federal emissions regulations, many industries had a pressing need for that kind of valve. The problem: Larsen's start-up, Flexial Corp. of Cookeville, Tennessee, lacked the expensive testing equipment needed to prove his design worked.
Enter Tennessee Technological University. The Cookeville institution had the gear in its labs, the expertise on its faculty and the impartial credentials needed to make a test convincing. For a fraction of a commercial lab's fees, Tennessee Tech contracted to run Larsen's prototype valve through the rigorous testing required by the American Petroleum Institute and the Manufacturers Standardization Society. The arrangement was central to Larsen landing a $96,000 federal grant to commercialize his leakless seal.
"It was a very significant advantage to us not to have to buy a lot of the sophisticated equipment," says Larsen. "[The university has] a tremendous number of very talented engineers at its manufacturing center we can [work with]. And once you establish a rapport with an organization like that, you can gain an awful lot of assistance."
Larsen will turn to Tennessee Tech again for customized testing required by prospective customers. Meanwhile, he's found a quick phone call to a faculty member works wonders at filling in gaps in his professional experience and training as a mechanical engineer.
"It's great to have a team of people who have exposure to a lot of different disciplines," he says. "I can call up a professor and get [information] I forgot years ago."
The Value of Education
Larsen's university ties represent far more than a convenience; they're a major competitive advantage. A recent study of more than 400 high-growth companies by accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand found the ones with close ties to universities grow faster, are more productive and even find it easier to borrow money than those without a university connection.
It may be hard to see a fit between the halls of academia and entrepreneurs in the trenches. But it's there, says Pete Collins, director of Coopers & Lybrand's national entrepreneurial advisory services in New York City. "Universities [provide] a tremendous array of resources a small company can't afford to build on its own."
Besides lending their laboratories and technicians, universities offer low-cost, high-caliber advice and assistance in the form of student interns and moonlighting faculty. Many schools own vast quantities of patents, new and old, that entrepreneurs can license cheaply and explore for profit potential. And entrepreneurs with existing ties to universities are in a prime position to recruit top business-school graduates looking for jobs.
Entrepreneurs can even benefit by making themselves and their companies guinea pigs for business school studies. "When you're an entrepreneur trying to establish credibility quickly, it can help if a study from a fine school says some nice things about you," says Barry Merkin, a clinical professor of entrepreneurship at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Thanks to declining enrollments and slumping government funding, the nation's schools are increasingly eager to market to businesses. Many are actively trying to develop new ways to make more resources available to businesses with less red tape and better bottom-line results. "It's a treasure trove," says Collins.
Unfortunately, it seems to be a one-way street. Few businesses are reaching out in the other direction: Coopers & Lybrand found 60 percent of the companies it polled had never tapped university resources. Says Collins, "This is an underutilized, underpromoted resource."
Intern-preneurs
The most common way for businesses to tap university resources is by hiring business-school students, either as general interns or to handle special projects. Students get real-world experience; entrepreneurs get eager, fresh minds to work on their problems.
When Mary Bonham wanted to expand into the European market, she wasn't sure how her company would be received. J-B Weld Co., the 15-person Sulphur Springs, Texas, plastics company she and her husband founded in 1968, had no experience with foreign sales.
For answers, Bonham turned to a team of MBA students at the University of Texas at Dallas. The project meshed perfectly with course requirements to do a similar study. And results were encouraging. "They did the research and found [our company] would be very well-accepted," Bonham says.
The students also identified potential new distributors, suggested ports of entry and recommended price points. Bonham plunged in, and five years after J-B Weld crossed the Atlantic, the product is sold in 15 European countries. The company's European Union sales grew 68 percent last year alone.
Bonham credits the university team with helping her get off to a good start. "They know very well how to guide people in the direction they need to go," she says. "Go to them, and listen to what they have to say."
Recruiting Edge
About 40 percent of companies in the Coopers & Lybrand study went beyond hiring interns and hired graduates of affiliated universities as full-time employees. Former interns make especially attractive new hires, Collins says, because both company and candidate already know each other's capabilities and requirements.
Hiring interns gives small companies a better shot at high-quality graduates that would otherwise be actively recruited by the Fortune 500. "It's unlikely a small firm will [be able to recruit] the best and brightest in the normal course of events," says Kellogg's Merkin. "Internships and projects are marvelous opportunities to get to know each other well.
"MBA students are increasingly excited about small, growing companies and increasingly disenchanted with large, established companies. Students want to make a substantial impact in a short period of time. That's far more likely in a small company than in a large one."
Profs For Hire
It's a cliché, that professors must publish or perish. Unfortunately, it's also true. To survive professionally, professors need hard data to run through their theories and produce academic papers and books. One way to get that data is to work as consultants to businesses.
"Doing real-life projects for businesses gives professors material for publishing," explains Collins. "In addition, it gives them the opportunity to earn money on the side."
Hiring professors as consultants is attractive to businesses because they get high-level assistance for low-level outlays. Businesses often get substantial assistance by merely agreeing to participate in a study. At worst, professors charge substantially lower fees than nonacademic management and technical consultants.
Professors may be able to help companies improve financial systems, refine operations, assess markets and more. "If you're going to develop a business plan, you may want to hire a business school faculty member to help you," suggests Collins. "You'll have the benefit of all the person's professional knowledge and be able to pay him or her on a project basis while you devote your time to your business."
Faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania and its famed Wharton Business School helped Todd A. Rose with the business plan for his Philadelphia start-up, which sells computers and other office equipment. "It helped me identify some of the pitfalls out there and how to avoid them," says the owner of Rose Computer Systems. "I see it as a very valuable resource." Rose got much of his assistance paid for through a publicly funded program designed to help small businesses in West Philadelphia.
Technology Transfer
Universities are repositories of knowledge, much of it with significant, unexplored commercial potential. When companies take academic research and translate it into commercial products, it's called technology transfer--and it's one of the most intriguing possibilities of a university relationship.
Doug Deming is a former Colorado business student whose year-old start-up, Vertex Technologies Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, aims to commercialize an antenna design patented by Dr. Zoya Popovic, a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Deming and partner Dax Craig have the exclusive option to license the technology from Popovic, and got the professor to help them write a proposal that won a $77,000 government grant to commercialize the design.
University connections alerted them to the chance for government funding, and Popovic is still working with them to refine the technology and develop commercial applications. "From our standpoint," says Deming, "it's a win-win situation."
Universities are becoming more active in seeking out such partnerships, but few entrepreneurs take advantage of them. Only 5 percent of the companies studied by Coopers & Lybrand reported licensing technology from a university.
Ivory Tower vs. Real World
Hooking up with a university involves risk as well as potential reward. For instance, almost all universities receive public funds. That means businesses that work with them may find themselves the object of unexpected public scrutiny. Tennessee, for instance, has a "sunshine law" that requires, among other things, that findings of work done in publicly funded laboratories be publicly available.
Ordinarily, Tennessee's sunshine law would have forced Flexial Corp., in effect, to hand details of the designs for its valve seal over to its competitors in the state before completing testing or filing a patent application. Larsen, however, planned ahead and got an exemption, allowing him to keep his invention secret despite using Tennessee Tech's labs for the testing.
"There were things we didn't want revealed," he says. "There were other competitors in this region."
Entrepreneurs who work with universities must also constantly make sure the focus is on business, not academic, bottom lines. "The risk is getting sucked down the research road and never generating any revenue," says Vertex's Deming. "We have to blend the research the university does with what the market needs."
Another risk is simply failing to produce any worthwhile results. Careful selection of the university will help. Proximity, attitude and appropriate resources are the first keys to choosing a school, say entrepreneurs and experts. Finding the right institution can be critical, so much so that Larsen chose Flexial's site based on its proximity to Tennessee Tech's manufacturing center.
Entrepreneurs also risk being distracted from their other affairs by the demands of university relations. Businesses that hook up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's highly regarded industrial liaison program are often asked to donate employees as special lecturers, help with fund-raising and participate in other activities, says Robert D. St. Cyr with the corporate relations office of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university.
"If you want to get something out of it, you have to be committed," says St. Cyr. "You have to dedicate resources and time to nurture a relationship."
Despite the challenges and limitations of blending university and business goals, entrepreneurs who have experienced the benefits say going back to school gives them a powerful entrepreneurial edge. "Once you establish a rapport with an organization like that," says Larsen, "you can gain an awful lot of assistance in ways that really show up [on your bottom line]."
Young entrepreneurs get
tools they need to succeed from CU
-- Reprinted from posting at http://www.bcbr.com/oct97/taught2.htm
By Vicky Uhland
It's one of those nature vs. nurture questions: Are entrepreneurs born, or are they taught?
The answer is, of course, both.
Take the career processes of two local entrepreneurs, Dax Craig and Jillian Pitt. Both took classes at the University of Colorado's Center for Entrepreneurship en route to earning masters of business administration degrees. But while Craig then went out and started his own company, Pitt decided on a less risky route, taking a key job in a local start-up company.
Craig founded Vertex Technologies (the name has since changed to Xertex to avoid trademark infringement) in August 1994. He was only 25 years old at the time, and was in his last year of MBA studies. He based the concept for Xertex on a business plan he and his team developed as part of a Center for Entrepreneurship business plan prep course.
Craig's team's business plan beat out their classmates' plans in a competition judged by local businesspeople. But when he put the plan to actual use, Craig realized it needed a lot of modification.
Craig's original plan was to build antennas into handheld, pocket computers. But when he built the prototypes and talked to customers, he discovered he had been targeting the wrong market.
"We found out we were wildly mistaken," he said "We had to re-evaluate the market and identify our niche without attracting a lot of our competitors' attention."
Today, Xertex still builds antennas, but for wireless communications systems. The company has two patents pending, two Department of Energy grants, and 1996 sales of about $250,000. Craig hopes to turn a profit next year.
He says he still refers to the business plan he developed in class, and points out that it gave him the tools to put together a solid company foundation. He believes CU's Center for Entrepreneurship teaches people the tools they need to succeed.
But at the same time, Craig thinks he always was destined to be an entrepreneur, from the days when he owned a lawn-mowing business as a kid. In his early 20s, he moved to Colorado from Oklahoma because the Boulder area was more conducive to start-up businesses.
"It's just that age-old argument -- are leaders born, or are they taught?" Craig says.
According to Denis Nock, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, 922 undergrad and graduate students took classes last year. But statistics show that only about 25 percent of those students start their own business or enter into a family-owned business.
Jillian Pitt is one of the remaining 75 percent -- at least for now. A 1996 summa cum laude MBA graduate of the Center, Pitt recently took a job at a new day-care center called Creme de la Creme.
Creme de la Creme is a pricey, high-concept day-care center complete with a mock-Victorian interior, water park, tennis courts, computer labs, French and Spanish teachers and on-site hairstylists. There are two Creme de la Cremes in Houston and four in Atlanta. Denver entrepreneur Bruce Karpis, who created pay per view television, bought the concept for Colorado and plans to open three Creme de la Creme centers in the next year.
Pitt is the company's director of marketing and Karpis' No. 2 person. She says the job gives her hands-on experience at starting a company from scratch.
"I get to do everything -- every decision made is about building a company from the ground up," she says. "It gives me a way to test the waters without much risk."
Pitt, 29, says she eventually wants to start her own company, but learned from her time at the Center for Entrepreneurship that to start your own business, you need a solid idea and a lot of experience in the field you choose. Pitt's background is in non-profit arts management, and she wasn't keen to start her own arts management company. She needed experience in a different field before she took the entrepreneur leap, she decided.
Pitt, like Craig, believes that entrepreneurism can and cannot be taught.
"Either you have a propensity toward small business or you don't," she says. "But you can augment that with very practical skills, like feasibility studies, full-blown business plans, hands-on experience and learning really creative thinking."
© 1996-2000, Xertex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Division of Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc.