When there isn’t a solution to the problem, invent it. That was the mindset of Johann Barlach and Casey Flynn when they created Cobar Systems. The idea for their venture began while Johann was on co-op in the business continuity department of a large financial services firm located here in Boston.
Johann Barlach

“While working [at this large financial services firm], I realized there was a huge demand for new products,” explains Johann. “Not only are a lot of the current product offerings outdated, but the industry is rapidly growing and in need of new software solutions.”

One of Johann’s responsibilities was to compile reports from various departments that tested their business continuity strategies. After finding the process time consuming and current software ineffective, Johann saw a value in developing a solution himself. From there, Johann reached out to his friend, Casey, and they began developing Cobar Systems.

Cobar’s first application, Themis, is what Johann envisioned while working on his coop, designed to combat the business continuity problems companies can often face.

“Themis is a management system for business continuity exercises, providing tools to prepare, execute, and record exercises, which improves and validates recovery strategies in organizations as a result,” says Johann. “The concept for Themis is a combination of work experience, market research, and workability.”
Casey Flynn

Themis’ unique feature is compatibility. Many of Themis’ competitors are windows-based, but while technology continues to develop, Johann and Casey believe there must be more options available. Themis can be utilized on all browsers, smartphones, and tablets to ensure exercises facilitate more efficiently.

Business development has also proved to be a learning curve for both Johann and Casey, soon discovering that startups don’t appear overnight. After joining IDEA this past March, Johann, a Business Administration major at Northeastern, and Casey, a Computer Science and Business major, have been working full-time to make Cobar a success. As young entrepreneurs, this requires both to be involved in all areas of the business.

What’s next for Cobar? Themis is currently in the development stage and will be tentatively launched this fall. Keep your eyes out for great things from Cobar!

Today, July 16th, IDEA has officially “launched” its first round of successful ventures. Each of the six ventures have completed IDEA’s “Ready, Set, Go” program to become investment ready or self-sustaining. They will remain in the IDEA family with access to its investor network and any relationships they have established, but they will no longer have an assigned coach or be eligible for Gap/prototype funding .

The ventures include:

Akrivis Technologies

Akrivis is a biotech company committed to the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening disease. They have been an IDEA venture since January 2012 and have received $10,000 in Gap funding.

influencers@

influencers@ is an influence marketing agency that increases brand awareness and boots sales through street and web marketing campaigns driven by our gen-y and gen-x community of influencers. They have been an IDEA venture since November 2011 and are becoming a service provider.

Mini Pops

Mini Pops manufactures a unique and delicious addition to the snack food industry: air-popped and seasoned organic sorghum grain, organically farmed in the USA. They have been an IDEA venture since November 2010 and have received $10,000 in Gap funding.

 Moniker Guitars 

Monkier Guitars is the first custom guitar maker to allow customers to design and purchase a new electric guitar online. They have been an IDEA venture since August 2011 and have received $20,000 in Gap funding.

Pure Pest Management 

Pure Pest Management is a service company that specializes in safe and natural control of mosquitoes, ticks, deer, and indoor bugs in residential, commercial, and recreational areas. They have been an IDEA venture since November 2010 and have received $10,000 in Gap funding.

 Tuatara Corp.

Tuatara is the first Digital Learning platform designed to leverage the shift from paper textbooks to eTextbooks in order to focus on the unique learning styles of end-users. They have been an IDEA venture since February 2011 and have received $10,000 in Gap funding. Additionally, Tuatara has raised over $2 million in friends and family funding.

This is an incredibly significant milestone because each of these successful ventures are proof that the student-led model is indeed lucrative. Additionally, they are testament to the value of IDEA’s services and resources. These ventures have worked incredibly hard for their accomplishments and IDEA is excited to see what’s in store for them next!

Featuring VisibleGains, Joppa Global Marketing Partners, & Accounting Management Solutions

IDEA provides ventures with coaching, connections to resources, and funding. One key aspect of IDEA, however, are our service providers. Our providers consist of public relations firms, financial and accounting groups, marketing and media strategy agencies, and legal offices. These professionals dedicate their time and services to assist our ventures throughout the business development process. And, as an added bonus, their services are free of charge for IDEA’s ventures to utilize!

Most of IDEA’s service providers have an affiliation with Northeastern. Regardless of whether they are a former graduate, professor, or parent of a student, they all share the hope of being able to give back to the entrepreneurial community at Northeastern. In the past year, Boston’s ownVisibleGains, Joppa Global Marketing Partners, and Accounting Management Solutions were some of the service providers introduced into the program, each eager to start!

Cliff PollanVisibleGains
Cliff Pollan’s goal is to create better communication between the business and the client. As founder, president, and CEO of VisibleGains, Pollan joined IDEA over a year ago and was blown away with the concept of IDEA and by how involved the students are.

Two months ago, VisibleGains launched Postwire, a software which they call “a dead simple way to collect and share videos, photos, web links and documents on a private page you create for each client in a minute.” This program allows the business to virtually share projects and documents with the client to review and provide feedback – doing away with lengthy email chains and typical file sharing. Postwire was launched in April at New York City’s TechCrunch, where Pollan and his team finished in the top 30 out of 6,000 applicants.

Postwire will help IDEA ventures earn business, generate funding, and communicate internally, says Pollan. In addition, ventures will receive free access to the program.

Pollan is thrilled to be part of the service providers program and working with student entrepreneurs. “Having the service provider network is a huge asset,” explains Pollan. “But most importantly, the students are the best asset. And I think it’s a great opportunity for the service providers to learn from them.”

Dick AndersenJoppa Global Marketing Partners
Joppa is a strategic marketing consulting firm, specializing in marketing technology products and services. Dick Andersen, a partner at Joppa, received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern (’71) and is a former adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Business (1975-1995). New to IDEA last year, Andersen and Joppa came on board to give back to the university and the students.

Joppa provides their clients guidance and operational oversight for their marketing strategy, plans and activities, beginning with an assessment and analysis of the company’s current marketing plan. Following that analysis, Joppa assists their clients with a full range of services to plan and execute marketing and product programs insuring they get the most out of their marketing investments.

Andersen has experience in running multiple startups and in the past, has held positions in marketing, product management, engineering, and operations. He uses his past venture knowledge to help clients establish business structure, evaluate finance alternatives, conduct market research, and build industry connections. With Joppa, Andersen will be working with IDEA ventures to provide these services, along with marketing planning and program execution.

Andersen explains that marketing plays a crucial role in the startup venture process. “Having a focused marketing plan, executing it, and adapting it to changing market conditions is critical for a company to establish itself in the market and grow. Our services can help ventures create the plan, put the right team in place to execute the programs, and fine tune the programs to maximize the results.”

Accounting Management Solutions
As a leading providers of outsourced account and financial management services, Accounting Management Solutions helps for-profit and nonprofit organizations with financial modeling, software selection, and account infrastructure. And as organizations grow, AMS can be the “financial eyes and ears” for their clients.

Jim BourdonJim Bourdon is CEO & founder of Accounting Management Solutions and a former Northeastern undergraduate (’73) and MBA student (’84). As the newest service provider to join IDEA, AMS has already had the opportunity to work with a student venture, KeeWee Listings. KeeWee is a social platform that allows college students to post and search for sublet openings. In April, KeeWee founders Brandon Beneduce and Andrew Rodriguez met with Bourdon to discuss their revenue strategy; Bourdon then assigned KeeWee with one of AMS’ senior consultants. From there, AMS worked to build an extensive financial model, develop a sustainable budget, and clarify financial assumptions.

“It’s hard enough coming up with a concept and by having service providers in different fields, it helps them come up with a better model,” explains Bourdon. “Particularly for students, it’s hard to have the answers and to have professionals available, it helps them make the best decisions.”

Beneduce says that without AMS’ help, KeeWee would not be where they are today. “When we had gone through the IDEA gap funding application rounds in the past, the investment committee had indicated to us that our [Profit & Loss], assumptions, and overall revenue model were not clear enough. AMS was able to help and improve our models so that we operated as a better business and were able to solve the errors that the investment committee had found.”

The service providers program plays a vital role in each venture’s success. Because all of IDEA’s service providers are distinguished in their individual fields, the program is immeasurably beneficial to ventures.

“No matter what kind of founder you are, you will not have expertise in every aspect of running a business,” says Beneduce. “At some point in your company’s lifespan, you will need help from someone with professional experience in that area you are not proficient in, which could run your company thousands of dollars. This is where our service providers step in, and I think they are an invaluable resource to its ventures.”

After all, each and every service provider has one common priority: to help IDEA’s student ventures succeed the best they can.

To view all of IDEA’s service providers, click here.

Throughout the summer months, college students nationwide spend their days resting, relaxing, and recuperating for the year ahead. Many student entrepreneurs, however, do not afford themselves these same luxuries. After dedicating countless hours to their entrepreneurial work throughout the school year, these students continue working during a season traditionally void of responsibilities for their peers. In order to get a glimpse into the summer lives of these student entrepreneurs, I reached out to Northeastern students Andrew Rodriguez and Mike Behan.

Andrew is the founder and CEO of KeeWee Listings, a social platform that allows college students to post and search for sublet openings in local apartments. Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Njabini Apparel. Njabini employs disadvantaged Kenyan mothers to handcraft apparel using locally sourced materials, and empowers these women through micro-business development programs. KeeWee Listings and Njabini Apparel are two ventures within IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator.

Both Andrew and Mike have spent the first half of their summers in Boston, with Mike taking classes and Andrew on co-op working full time for KeeWee. For the remainder of the summer, Andrew will be splitting his time between meetings and events in Boston and working remotely from his home in Connecticut. Mike will spend the rest of his summer in Boston to work full time on Njabini.

For KeeWee, this summer is critical. As Andrew explains, “this is a very important time in the company’s life cycle…it’s a bit slow on the customer side, but it’s very busy on the business development side.” KeeWee launched two months ago to a great response during the busiest time of the year for Northeastern subletting. As they expected, they have seen use drop a bit over the summer. This allows Andrew and his team time to focus on building the business, as they work heavily throughout the summer to prepare for the upcoming fall sublet rush.

The KeeWee team will be working closely with their IDEA venture coach, Ryan Johnson to “round out” their business plan and take some “large, but necessary steps.” They currently have a beta version of their service launched, so they hope to use the summer to get user feedback, make changes to the site, and “work towards producing a better product.”

Conversely, according to Mike, Njabini is “sales heavy” throughout the summer months. As a result, many of the “time intensive operations” occur between May and August. Between meetings, sales events, and markets, Njabini will be busy throughout the summer “continuing to carve out a customer base in the greater Boston area” and launching a few new products.

From a business development perspective, Mike and his team will be making a big push throughout July and August to solidify their board of advisors and to establish better retail connections.

One major challenge student entrepreneurs face when working over the summer is communicating with their team. Both Andrew and Mike, however, seem to have found solutions to stay connected. KeeWee utilizes weekly team meetings via Skype, as well as bi-weekly meetings with their venture coach. Andrew and his team also make use of programs such as HipChat (a group instant messaging service), Dropbox, and Trello (document sharing and collaboration services).

Due to the nature of Njabini, their team is spread “across the country and around the world” at all times – not just during the summer months. Mike and his team have structured their operations around this and as a result, it is relatively easy for everyone to “stay on the same page.

Beyond working on their ventures, these student entrepreneurs also find the time for more traditional summer activities. Andrew will be working a part-time job in Connecticut, while Mike hopes to enjoy a couple weekends on the water in Rhode Island. (Oh, and to find some time to train for his upcoming ultra-marathon in September!)

Andrew and Mike are hopeful for what the rest of the summer will bring. Both agree that the summer is a crucial time for their ventures. “It’s the first time I’ll have a chance to work on [Njabini] outside of classes,” says Mike. “Hopefully we can make some serious progress.”

In a ceremony held Tuesday, June 12^th, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange recognized IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator, and the Entrepreneurs Club for their contributions to innovation in higher education.

Christopher Wolfel, CEO of IDEA, with Cory Bolotsky, Entrepreneurs Club Director of StrategyMITX is a nonprofit trade association for the digital marketing and Internet business industry. Their annual event, the MITX Innovation Awards, is a competition that “celebrates the innovations powering the future of marketing and revolutionizing the way we work and play.”

IDEA and the Entrepreneurs Club competed against Harvard’s I-Lab and BC Tech Trek East in the category “Best Contribution to Innovation by a University or College.”

For full coverage of the win, including reactions from Chris Wolfel, CEO of IDEA, and Matt Bilotti, President of the Entrepreneurs Club, click here.

Every company is founded on an idea. In an emerging business, that idea then turns into a business plan, and after gaining funding and a concrete and sustainable strategy, a product is born.

At this point, the work has just begun.

As we have recently seen, public relations has controlled the face of corporations and products. Whether it’s promoting a new line or battling the latest crisis, PR practitioners are always on their toes, ready to protect, defend, and promote the brand they represent. Especially in startup success, PR can make or break an idea.

When startup ventures first break ground in the business world, they lack exposure to potential customers or the media. This is where public relations steps in. While roles change from place to place, PR experts are generally responsible for communications efforts, maintaining the company’s positive image, and gaining exposure. This can include pitching to media – journalists, bloggers, etc. – to get a product or service recognized, creating brand recognition, or hosting publicity and networking events. It’s not just the old fashioned way of press releases in startup success. Ventures need exposure to all outlets, whether that be a client or customer. Good exposure can drive a company straight towards victory!

Unfortunately, we have all seen the effects of what bad exposure can have on large corporations. No startup wants to deal with negative press – a non-recognizable brand can suffer terribly with bad press. It’s the job of the public relations team if a crisis occurs to minimize the effects in the media and set the record straight to avoid further harm to the brand.

Products and services make the business, but media and public exposure bring in the customers and clients. Every startup should name someone responsible for communications and PR efforts. Whether it’s talking with reporters or social media, it’s good to have a strategy in place to get maximum publicity!

Northeastern University today announced the launch of the new Center for Entrepreneurship Education, a university program intended to teach entrepreneurship and business skills, while bringing students and alumni together to develop new ventures.

IDEA, the student-run venture accelerator at Northeastern, played a role in developing the center and will lead the experiential component of the center.

“The announcement of the Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education is a huge step forward for not only IDEA, but for the entire Northeastern Community. It truly shows the University’s commitment to entrepreneurship,” said Chris Wolfel, CEO of IDEA.

The center will offer undergraduate students access to entrepreneurial programs, adding more options to the established business classes, theEntrepreneurs Club, and the renowned co-op program. The center also benefits graduate students and NU alumni. Graduate students can participate in the “Lab to Venture” program, assisting researchers at Northeastern to create successful businesses. ”Startup Boot Camps” will be offered to alumni, helping them to create business plans and network with local investors.

Ventures from the Center for Entrepreneurship Education will be directed towards IDEA. With the help of IDEA, the entire Northeastern community – from undergraduates to alumni – has the ability to receive coaching, mentorship, and all of IDEA’s resources.

“IDEA has proven that a university-wide program can not only expand Northeastern’s entrepreneurial community, but help them achieve real success in student and alumni ventures,” said Wolfel. “The announcement of the Center for Entrepreneurship Education enforces what we do and the bright future of Northeastern’s entrepreneurs.”

To view the article released by Northeastern University, visit: www.northeastern.edu/news/2012/05/entrepreneurship-education/

About IDEA
IDEA, Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator, is a student-created and run university program at Northeastern. Our mission is to educate and cultivate the entrepreneurial community at Northeastern University. We achieve this by providing student, faculty, and alumni ventures with coaching, connection to resources, and funding with the end goal of developing self-sustaining and investment-ready ventures.

IDEA is proud to welcome 6 new officers to the management team. 

As we say goodbye to those graduating and wish them luck in their future endeavors, we are happy to announce the new additions to IDEA’s Management Team!

Kevin Walther, Libby Kober, and Ashley Roth: Communications Officers
Kevin, a political science and communications major, interned last semester at Howard Consulting Group in Washington, D.C. He has interned previously in Governor Deval Patrick’s press office and is active in PRSSA.

Libby completed her first co-op at The Boston Globe, working in the public relations and community affairs division. As a communications major with a concentration in media studies, Libby is the Outreach Coordinator for PRSSA, where she has been a member since her freshman year.

Ashley is pursuing a degree in English with a minor in business administration. She recently completed a co-op in New York City at The Association of Magazine Media and was previously the Marketing Chair for NU’s Relay for Life committee.

Kelly Samoiloff: Events Manager
Kelly joins IDEA as an Events Manager. Majoring in business administration, she completed her third co-op this spring with EMC’s events department. Kelly says she is “excited to join the IDEA management team. Everyone has already been so welcoming and it seems like a great group of people to work with.”

Tyler Welsh: Management Team Assistant
After completing his first year at Northeastern, Tyler is “excited to be surrounded by so many people that have more experience than me and can teach me how to excel in the business world.” In addition to joining IDEA, he recently began an internship at a San Diego-based start-up.

Sarah Park: Webmaster
Sarah is a graphic design & interactive media major. Sarah is in her junior year at NU and on co-op at Above the Fold, a user experience design agency. In her spare time, Sarah co-runs a mobile app company for smartphones.

We are excited with the new additions to IDEA and look forward to a great year!

Part of our mission at IDEA is to educate and cultivate the entrepreneurial community at Northeastern. This is accomplished through coaching, connecting, and funding.

An important yet sometimes underestimated part of startup success is being informed and learning from others who have had similar entrepreneurial experiences. We decided to feature three non-IDEA, successful ventures to demonstrate what it takes to truly make your mark. These startups arePolyvore, Spool, and Yammer. Each of them have received coaching and venture funding from various companies and as a result, have gained a tremendous amount of success and popularity.

Polyvore is the leading community site for online style where users are empowered to discover their style and set trends around the world. The company collaborates with prominent brands such as Calvin Klein, Diane Von Furstenberg, Lancome, Net-a-Porter, Gap and Coach to drive product engagement; and its user-generated fashion campaigns have been judged by celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.

Polyvore was founded in February of 2007 and is funded by Benchmark Capital, Matrix Parterns, DAG Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Vivi Nevo (NV Investments). With the help of investments the company has gained over 15 million monthly unique visitors. Additionally, Polyvore’s global community has created over 44 million sets that are shared across the web.

The web is more than just text. Spool allows you to save videos, images, and articles to your smartphone device by simply using WiFi. Point Spool to a URL, and your SpoolBot will grab the content and sync it to all of your devices. This means you can access your content on your phone, laptop, work computer, and tablet at anytime. Then when you’re on a train, plane, subway, boat or anywhere without Internet access, your content is available! You are also able to share your favorite webpages and videos with friends and family simply by adding it to their Spools.

In late 2010, the company’s co-founders, Archival Garg and Curtis Spencer, developed an engine that could record a video from the Internet, play it on any device, and move videos between devices without having to worry about network connectivity. In 2011 this initial technology was generalized to include any type of content. Spool has received over $1M in venture round funding to reach their current success. Investors include, SVAngel, Felicis Ventures, Yuri Milner’s Start Fund and YouTube founder Steve Chen.

Yammer is an enterprise social network, providing a secure way for employees to communicate, collaborate, and share information. Employees using Yammer can discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information. Yammer also serves as a company directory in which every employee has a profile and as a knowledge base where past conversations can be easily accessed and referenced. The basic Yammer service is free. Companies can pay to claim and administer their network

The company was founded in September of 2008 by David Sacks formerly the COO of PayPal. Yammer grew out of the genealogy app Geni as a way for organizations to communicate. The company has received $142M in venture funding. During 2011, Yammer’s total users increased from 1.6 million to 4 million (2.5X growth), and employees increased from 80 to 250.

All of these companies had an innovative idea, and they were able to use venture resources to truly explode in their individual markets. Let the inspiration begin!