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MAY 27, 2016

TABLE of
E XPERTS Series
Insights into

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Sponsored by:

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BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

The Experts

Joel H. Dobbs
UAB, Collat School of Business

Joel H. Dobbs is Executive in Residence at


UABs Collat School of Business where he also
directs the schools Office of Innovation and
Entrepreneurship, teaches, and works with
entrepreneurs within the UAB environment and
the greater Birmingham business community to
help them develop and grow their businesses.
In addition, he serves as Director of
Commercialization Initiatives for UABs Institute
for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Dobbs
is an experienced life sciences executive
with more than 30 years of experience in the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
He is also CEO and President of The Compass
Talent Management Group LLC.

Franz T. Lorhke

Theresa Welbourne

Samford University, Brock School

The University of Alabama,

of Business

Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute

Professor Franz T. Lohrke holds the Brock


Family Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Brock
School of Business at Samford University.
He has assisted aspiring entrepreneurs
for over 20 years through his teaching and
community service activities. For example,
he helped establish and currently directs both
the Regions New Venture Challenge Business
Plan Competition and Brock School Student
Business Incubator. He also serves as an
investor in and mentor for the Roundhouse
Startup Factory in Opelika, a mentor for
Alabama Launchpad, and contributor to
business press stories about entrepreneurship.

TABLE of
E XPERTS Series

Dr. Theresa M. Welbourne is the Will and


Maggie Brooke Professor in Entrepreneurship
and Executive Director of the Alabama
Entrepreneurship Institute at The University of
Alabamas Culverhouse College of Commerce.
Welbourne is the founder, president and CEO
of eePulse, Inc., a human capital technology
and consulting firm. Her expertise is in the
areas of human capital and strategic leadership
in high growth, entrepreneurial and high
change organizations.
Welbournes research and work have been
featured in popular publications such as
Inc. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The
Financial Times, Business Week, New York
Times and Entrepreneur Magazine. She
has published in books journals such as the
Academy of Management Journal, Academy of
Management Review, Strategic Management
Journal, Journal of Management, Human
Resource Planning, Journal of Organization
Behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology,
Leader to Leader, Organization Dynamics and
Group and Organization Management.

The Discussion
Q: How does your company/
organization help foster
entrepreneurship?
Joel H. Dobbs: At the Collat School
of Business we focus on three broad
areas: Awareness, Entrepreneurial
Thinking and Entrepreneurial Practice.
Awareness begins with various
programs we run that are open to all
students at UAB. For example, we
conduct freshman and sophomore
seminars in entrepreneurship,
innovation and creativity for students in
the Honors College. The intention is to
introduce students to entrepreneurship
early in their academic career. Second,
we teach students how to think
like entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial
thinking is the term we use. We
offer a minor in entrepreneurship,
which is open to all UAB students

regardless of their major. We also


offer an undergraduate certificate in
entrepreneurship for business majors
as well as an MBA-level graduate
certificate that can also be taken as
part of an MBA. We teach a set of
core entrepreneurial competencies
aimed at teaching students how
to think like an entrepreneur, and
then we give them the opportunity
to use those skills to set up real or
simulated companies and non-profits.
Finally, we provide a practice site in
our Innovation Lab, or iLab, which
is a partnership between the Collat
School of Business and Innovation
Depot. Here student entrepreneurs
can incubate their companies we
currently have 12 at the iLab plus
we offer a for-credit internship where
we pair students with startups to give

them real world experience. This has


been tremendously successful.
Franz T. Lohrke: At the Brock
School of Business, we help students
with a passion for an idea hone
their business skill set and enhance
their entrepreneurial mindset both
inside and outside the classroom.
Students begin their freshmen year
by crafting a business plan and
having a chance to compete in the
Regions New Venture Challenge
for funding. Moving through the
entrepreneurship program, they take
courses in opportunity recognition,
evaluation, and exploitation; receive
funding to test market their business
ideas; attend networking opportunities
with entrepreneurs, angel investors
and other business professionals;
and receive ongoing mentorship

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from Brock School faculty, alumni


and Advisory Board members. They
also can qualify for Student Business
Incubator residency to help grow their
startups.
Theresa Welbourne: The
experiential classes students take
provide them with opportunities
to develop their ideas and build
businesses. The Alabama
Entrepreneurship Institute (AEI) was
created to support entrepreneurship
within the Culverhouse College of
Commerce, to collaborate across
campus, and to connect entrepreneurs
in the community with access to
the broad array of expertise at the
University. AEI is located in the Edge
Center for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation, where AEI partners with
the Chamber of Commerce of West

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MAY 27, 2016

Alabama and the City of Tuscaloosa.


AEI coordinates the annual Edward K.
Aldag, Jr. business plan competition
open to all University of Alabama
students. The STEM Path to the MBA
acts as lead in hosting annual Startup
Weekend Tuscaloosa events for
students and community members.
The 54-hour event is a nationallypromoted effort in which participants
from across the region gather to
pitch and develop ideas for new
businesses. The Universitys Alabama
Institute for Mentoring Entrepreneurs
hosts the Crimson Startup Canvas,
a customer discovery program
providing tools for validating a feasible
business model with three cohorts
each year. In addition, the Alabama
Entrepreneurship Institute works with
faculty and community organizations
to provide topic-specific workshops
to aid in business development and
entrepreneurship education. Whether
an entrepreneur needs help in
developing a business plan, new ideas
on how to better reach customers, or
technical advice on product design, the
Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute
works to connect businesses with the
expertise of UA faculty and the energy
of University students. The excitement
of entrepreneurship is that its a
team sport, and the team includes
a large group of players who all
benefit from the initial spark of a new
idea to business development and
growth. Its important to note that the
university is not just in the business of
educating young students, but learners
of any age. The university teams
are all passionate about continuing
education, workforce development
and creating opportunities.

today.
Welbourne: One example is
Brewery Buddy, an online service
where brewers can organize and
track their recipes, schedules,
inventory and budgeting. The idea
was sparked during Startup Weekend
Tuscaloosa. Brewery Buddy won
the event and received co-working
space at the Edge Center for
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
along with business consulting to
advance their business growth.
The team went on to be among
five companies to win an award

in the 2015 Alabama Launchpad


business startup competition. They
received $24,600 provided by the
Economic Development Partnership
of Alabama Foundation. Another
exciting example is Kinematic Sports,
LLC. They are a newly formed
company tapping into a network of
University expertise, including the
Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute.
Their first product is the SidelinER,
a portable and collapsible patient
exam room designed specifically to
meet the needs of athletic programs.
The idea was developed by a

Q: Can you give us an example/


anecdote that shows how your
organization has helped an
entrepreneur become successful?
Lohrke: In 2009, David Yerger
graduated from the Brock School
of Business with a double major in
finance and entrepreneurship. He
first used his business skills and
entrepreneurial mindset to establish
and grow three Newks restaurants in
North Carolina. He then moved into
sales development for a computer
software company in San Francisco
that was acquired by LinkedIn. Since
2015, he has been an account
executive at a digital asset security
company that builds block-chain
applications for companies. These
applications, which serve as the basis
for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,
were first developed in 2009 the year
David graduated but did not gain
widespread recognition until several
years later. This example highlights
one of the most exciting and important
duties when mentoring aspiring
entrepreneurs preparing them for
careers that may not exist yet. It also
underscores the need to hone their
opportunity recognition, evaluation and
exploitation skills, not to just help them
start a business in the world as it exists

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University Athletics staff member and


Engineering students. They worked
with the UA Office of Technology
Transfer in securing a patent and have
successfully launched their business.
Dobbs: I could give several, but lets
focus on one of our MBA students who
started a commodities trading firm last
year. He houses his company in the
iLab where we connected him with
several of the volunteer mentors who
work with us. These folks were able
to both give him advice and introduce
him to others in the business and
investment community who have been

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BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

helpful to him. He has already doubled


the size of the fund he has under
management and continues to do well.
Q: How should entrepreneurs
evolve their strategy as their
companies grow?
Welbourne: Today, entrepreneurs
and really any type of business
leader have to be agile and
strategize continually to help their
companies be competitive and grow.
It is important for entrepreneurial
firms to develop excellent vision
and listening skills. As success rolls
around, its easy to get more inwardly
focused, and thats where we see
smaller, entrepreneurial ventures run
into trouble. Confidence is important,
but the entrepreneurial or growth
firm needs to constantly be sensing
the environment. And in an age of
big data, thats really not as hard as
it sounds. Every employee needs to
have high touch relationships with all
stakeholders customers, suppliers,
board members, competitors and
would-be competitors. Leaders can
evolve their strategies when they hone
their listening skills and create ways to
constantly learn from employees. And
not just a few chosen ambassadors,
but all of them. When connecting with
employees and customers, in addition
to the overall business communities,
leaders can strategize and respond
to changes in the environment faster

than their competitors. Also, one big


We use a thinking tool known as the
lesson learned from the research we
Business Model Canvas to generate
have done is that growing up does
hypotheses and then ask questions
not mean looking like
such as, What has to be
the big guys. Too much
true for this to work? The
bureaucracy too early can
goal is to find out what
kill a growth company.
works and what doesnt
The ongoing challenge
as quickly and cheaply
is how to retain the fast,
as possible, make
lean culture that usually
corrections and keep
makes an entrepreneurial
moving. As your company
firm successful, while
grows, entrepreneurs
bringing in the right types
need to continuously
of controls to assure
test their assumptions
When a
efficiency.
and make corrections.
company
Dobbs: I am a
Profitability and cash flow
big believer in the
need to always be front
first starts, its
Lean method. I spent
and center.
founders need
over 30 years in
Lohrke: One useful
the pharmaceutical
definition of a startup
to answer
and biotechnology
company is an
important
industry, and the basic
organization in search of
concepts of the Lean
a repeatable and scalable
questions like
method were core to
business model. So
how it will be
how we approached
when a company first
drug discovery and
its founders need
profitable, who starts,
development. We teach
to answer important
its customers
students to fail early,
questions like how it
fail fast, fail cheap and
will be profitable, who
will be and
learn quickly. The idea
its customers will be
how it will
is to be very clear about
and how it will reach
what you think you know
them. Because as
reach them.
and most importantly,
entrepreneurship expert
dont know formulate
Steve Blank said, No
- Franz T. Lohrke
hypotheses, and find
business model ever
ways to test those
survives first contact
hypotheses quickly and cheaply.
with the customer. Founders need

to be prepared to tweak or even pivot


the startups business model, if initial
assumptions about the industry and
customer prove to be incorrect. Once
the founders develop a business
model, they need to execute on
it. They also need to prepare for
imitation, which will happen if their
business model is successful, by
continuing to innovate.
Q: What is the biggest challenge
facing entrepreneurs today?
Dobbs: As with companies of all
sizes, finding and retaining talented
people is the perennial number one.
Lohrke: Entrepreneurs have to
find ways to overcome what are
known as liabilities of newness, which
startups face because they dont
have a reputation with consumers,
partnerships with resource providers,
or established routines within
the business. Thus, they have to
quickly and efficiently overcome
these liabilities by networking to find
customers and resource providers
as well as perfecting their startups
business model. The good news is
that startups can sometimes benefit
from assets of newness, based on
the fact that early adopters like to buy
the latest things from new companies.
Even so, to grow the company,
entrepreneurs need to build a product
that appeals to a wide audience.
Welbourne: The speed of change

Entrepreneurship at Samford Universitys


Brock School of Business

Our students are tomorrows business leaders.

Drew Jackson, Class of 2016


Open Division Winner
Regions New Venture Challenge

samford.edu/business
Samford University is an Equal Opportunity Institution/Employer.

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and the need to be agile are big


challenges. The speed of change in
business overall shortens the product
life cycle, so entrepreneurial firms dont
get much rest. They have to constantly
be thinking about continuous
innovation. The funding models also
have changed, and despite what
we read in the press about a few
big venture capital or private equity
deals, most entrepreneurial firms are
still struggling to find funding that is
adequate to grow their ventures. The
mood is cautious optimism, but caution
means smaller deals and more
milestones for many. With less money
and the need to go fast, entrepreneurs
are challenged in one way but perhaps
saved from themselves in another.
Lets face it, when there was too much
money available, many start-ups were
not ready to spend the money wisely
and they went through their cash
without the associated deliverables.
Putting this all together, the biggest
challenge goes back to the team sport
concept. The entrepreneur and the
one idea wont cut it today. You have to
be willing to evolve your business and
yourself constantly.
Q: What would you say is the
most important thing someone
should know before becoming an
entrepreneur?
Lohrke: They need to have some
knowledge about their industry and

skills to run a business. Startups need


and a lot of energy. Know why you
at least three skills sets marketing
want to do this and when the going
to make and distribute a product,
gets tough, as it will, be prepared to
accounting/finance to
regularly remind yourself
manage cash flow, and
why you did what you
a subject matter expert
did. I have a two-page
to provide the creative
checklist I sometimes give
or scientific input for the
to aspiring entrepreneurs
product. Rarely does one
that covers some of the
person have all three, so
most important things
building and maintaining
someone starting a
an effective founding team
company needs to think
is a critical success factor
about. The final question
for startups.
is, Are you really sure
Know why
Welbourne: Being an
you want to do this?
you want to
entrepreneur can be the
Know what you are
most fulfilling and fun
getting into.
do this and
adventure of your lifetime,
when the going
and at the same time, be
Q: What is your
ready for a rollercoaster
best piece of
gets tough,
ride. There are so many
advice for would-be
as it will, be
ups and downs, and
entrepreneurs?
its a lot of work and
Welbourne: Talk to as
prepared to
responsibility. Also, they
many people as you can.
regularly
need to be ready to
You should be talking to
learn from others. Talk to
ten people new people
remind
people in your business,
every week about your
to local entrepreneurs and yourself why
ideas and business.
certainly connect with the
Listen, learn and reshape
you did what
university. Learning is the
your idea. Then go out
you did.
key to success, and keep
to more people and
up the learning as you
listen, learn and change.
- Joel H. Dobbs Students Ive worked with
move forward.
Dobbs:
have started businesses
Entrepreneurship is
in eight weeks using this
not for the faint hearted. It requires
type of model. The key to success
passion, perseverance, risk tolerance
is utilizing the feedback you receive

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to shape your idea, so you create a


business or service that someone
would actually buy, versus one that
you personally think is cool.
Dobbs: Find a problem that you
are absolutely passionate about and
become obsessed with solving it better
than anyone else. Fall in love with
solving the problem, not your solution.
One of the biggest mistakes I see
many entrepreneurs make is falling in
love with a potential solution and then
losing sight of the original problem.
The result is frequently an elegant
solution to a non-existent problem.
That is an expensive mistake. If the
solution you are pursuing doesnt solve
the original problem, change course.
Or a mentor of mine once told me,
When the horse is dead, dismount.
Lohrke: If fortune favors the bold,
luck happens when preparation meets
opportunity. Entrepreneurship occurs
when enterprising individuals find
valuable opportunities. Then fortunate
or lucky entrepreneurs who build
valuable enterprises are often those
individuals who are both bold and
prepared. Beyond that, gain valuable
experience before, build a network
before and during, and keep learning
after starting a new business.
Q: What are some under-the-radar
resources for entrepreneurs that
people thinking about starting a
company should consider?

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Dobbs: One of the best is


other entrepreneurs. There are a
number of informal social events for
entrepreneurs in the Birmingham area.
There is tremendous value in talking
with others who are walking the same
path you are. What you will find is that
you are all basically facing the same
issues. There is comfort in that, plus
some people will be further down the
road than you are and will be able to
share their experiences with you.
Lohrke: Entrepreneurs can access
several important resources that
provide help in starting a business.
One example is available at http://
techfaster.com/startup-tools300-resources/#1. Finding good
technology, science and design
sources like publications, Twitter
feeds, blogs or podcasts also can
help keep them up-to-date about
current trends. These will vary based
on each persons interests, but some
that I use to stay informed are Ted
Talks, Crave, TWiT, Popular Science,
and Tomorrow Daily.
Welbourne: Check out the local
entrepreneurship community. Are
there coffee shops people hang out
at, where you can meet mentors?
Visit the Small Business Development
Center, look for a SCORE program
which counselors to small
business and the Small Business
Administration. Look for online
entrepreneurship ecosystem meetups.
And contact The University of Alabama
to learn how to get involved in the
entrepreneurship programs.
Q: How can continuing education
help entrepreneurs take their
companies to the next level?
Lohrke: Information is becoming
a commodity, so keeping up with
current information about a companys
industry is really just table stakes.
It wont provide a sustainable
competitive advantage. Being
able to use information and seeing
connections between seemingly
different things, however, are important
skills for success. Developing these
skills require that entrepreneurs
continue to learn, and to learn about
different things, in order to increase
both their knowledge and the
complexity of their thinking process.
Welbourne: I am new to The
University of Alabama, and part of my

BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

job is to help bring more opportunities


professional service firms.
to the community. Personally, I would
Dobbs: I am a big believer in the
love to learn what the business
power of incubators and accelerators
community needs and
to help jumpstart a new
help create even more
business and provide
possibilities for learning
the kind of peer support
about entrepreneurship,
I talked about earlier.
innovation and growth
Obviously, professional
in both new and
services from accountants
established firms. We
and attorneys, especially
are on a mission to
where intellectual property
spur this activity, so we
is involved, are critical.
invite people to connect
Lohrke: Entrepreneurs
with us. If you have a
need
good legal advice
Technology
business, think about
to deal with important
spurs
student interns, projects
issues like how best to
that can be used in the
entrepreneurship structure their startup
classroom and what we
for future goals such as
because its
call live case studies,
growth, succession and
which are problems
limiting personal liability.
so much less
posed to student
They also need good
expensive to
teams. Collaboration
accounting advice and / or
develop software
can create learning
knowledge to track when
and positive outcomes
applications, and cash comes in and leaves
for the university and
the business. In addition,
once you develop they can find guidance
businesses.
Dobbs: I think
about starting a business
something you
continuing education
from organizations
can quickly
for a busy entrepreneur
like SCORE, business
change.
is most valuable when
incubators and Small
it is targeted towards a
Business Development
- Theresa Welbourne Centers. Students
specific area where you
are weak or where there
in entrepreneurship
is a gap in the expertise
programs can often
of your team. Short, focused courses
benefit from university alumni networks
that are based on real-world problem
from law school and accounting
solving are the most useful.
programs. For example, several
Cumberland Law School alumni have
Q: What are some professional
worked pro bono with our Student
service partners who can help
Incubator residents on important legal
entrepreneurs achieve their goals?
issues.
Welbourne: There are numerous
law and accounting firms that
Q: How has technology changed
specialize in helping entrepreneurs.
the world of entrepreneurship?
Also, most entrepreneurs benefit
Dobbs: Technology has opened
from obtaining help with leadership
enormous areas of opportunity. For
development of their teams and
instance, the whole world of app
professional coaching from people
development didnt exist just a few
who have expertise to help. Being
years ago. Apple alone has paid
an entrepreneur is often a lonely job.
over $30 billion to app developers,
There are not a lot of people to talk
including $10 billion in 2014 alone.
with as problems are encountered.
Secondly, technology has greatly
Therefore, having a network of trusted
simplified reaching consumers. Look
professionals can be extremely
no further than the current quarters
helpful. Additionally, putting together
financial numbers from leading
an advisory board at an early stage
retailers for proof of the growth of oncan help a start-up firm establish
line shopping. Finally, technology has
networks that drive success. The story greatly simplified the distribution and
rolls back to the team concept. The
supply chain. The end result is lower
people who assist an entrepreneur
barriers to entry in many areas.
can be employees, board members or
Lohrke: Entrepreneurs often face

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high barriers to entry into many


industries, like having to make large
investments in assets, advertising,
or prototypes; raise large amounts
of money; deal with government
regulations; and / or convince
customers with high economic or
emotional switching costs to buy from
a new company. New technologies
and platforms such as mobile apps,
social media, crowdfunding and
3D printing have reduced these
barriers to entry in many industries,
as entrepreneurs find ways to build
business models based on increasing
efficiencies like putting underutilized
assets to work or effectiveness,
like providing better and timelier
information. One example is the
company Bellhops, which provides
moving for people living in dorms and
apartments. Starting a company in the
moving industry used to require buying
moving vans, hiring full-time workers
and storing expensive equipment. By
basing its business model on mobile
technology, the company has been
able to recruit workers often college
students, who have flexible schedules
and a high need for money rent
trucks and build its reputation via social
media to overcome many of the high
costs and inefficiencies in the moving
industry.
Welbourne: First, I have to say that
I love technology, and I am biased
because I also founded a technology
company along my own personal
entrepreneur journey. Technology
doesnt just allow us to do things faster.
It gives you the opportunity to radically
change how things are done and
add functionality that never existed.
Technology spurs entrepreneurship
because its so much less expensive
to develop software applications, and
once you develop something you can
quickly change. Thats why you see a
lot of business-plan competitions and
boot camps focused on technology
startups. Its a fairly fast platform for
would-be entrepreneurs to team up
with other like-minded individuals to
develop viable businesses in three
days. Those are the types of programs
the university can help the community
put in place, bringing not only new
business but also technology firms to
our cities.

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