Business Incubator Series: John Richards, BoomStartup, Provo, Utah (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

I am talking to John Richards, co-founder and co-managing partner at BoomStartup, which is a mentorship-driven accelerator in Provo, Utah.

Irina: Hi, John. Where are you originally from?

John: I grew up in the Seattle area. Actually, I was born in Pennsylvania, and then my parents moved back to Seattle. I grew up in Seattle and had a long career in Seattle until I moved to Utah for the teaching position. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 7)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What kind of support do you offer to your entrepreneurs with funding?

Mark: I mentioned before that Pasadena Angels are a resonance to our incubator. They do their screenings here. They do their due diligence sessions here. They do the prescreening sessions here.

We also have a special loan program geared for our clients, where they are eligible – again, the key word is eligible – to receive up to $200,000 in loan money. We are currently lending at 6% fixed, and for a startup company that’s very, very inexpensive. And of course we are looking at collateral and personal guarantees on those loans. The process is very similar to an SBA loan. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 6)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Mark: Actually, Gold Star started by thinking that [they were] going to be an employee benefits company, but they rapidly realized that they can only grow so far in doing that, and opened up to the public and that just took off. So, they did, in a sense, an industry pivot. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 5)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: How long can entrepreneurs stay?

Mark: Entrepreneurs can stay in our incubator no more than four years. We will look at extenuating circumstances and possibly extend that for another year at most. Most of our better clients graduate sooner than that.

Irina: You said you use a lot of volunteer experts. What else do you use to help your clients?

Mark: Well, again, it’s about a system of referrals. We don’t provide legal assistance. We don’t provide CPA assistance. It is really about the entrepreneurs learning to garner resources and make arrangements for themselves. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 4)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Mark: We receive about five or six applications a month.

Irina: How many out of those do you usually take in?

Mark: We have two programs. One is the resident program where we devote most of our resources. We also have an affiliate program. The affiliate program is for clients who aren’t residing here, maybe a bit earlier than we would like to see them, but we feel [they] have good potential. We don’t want to turn them away [so] we put them in our affiliate program. Of those five, perhaps one or two are not ready. One or two will go into the affiliate program. One or two might come into the incubator. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 3)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Mark: We have connections to two of the largest angel groups in Southern California. The Pasadena Angels reside in our incubator. That’s over 100 member organization. And The Tech Coast Angels, I think, is the largest angel network in the world with close to 300 members, all here in Southern California. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: Could you give an example of what kind of entrepreneurs you would like to see applying to your incubator?

Mark: Yes. I am looking at a spin-out at a university where they might have had an SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research Program] grant or an STTR grant [ Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program]. They made a prototype. They have approached a couple of companies to figure out if there is a market there. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

I am talking to Mark Lieberman, manager of regional economic development at the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles. He has also been managing Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County for the past nine years. >>>