UNH Entrepreneurship Center Newsletter

The ECenter is the co-curricular heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH. Our goal is to create the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mind-set who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions others have missed, one idea at a time. Although part of UNH, we are independent of any one college.

July 2021 Newsletter

The Latest Happenings from the ECenter

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The ECenter enjoys the warmer and slower days of July. We're wishing you all the best for an enjoyable summer engaging in in-person activities again. It reminds me of the first bite of chocolate after being on a diet.

Students are taking advantage of the summer with our two signature summer experiential programs. In the Summer Seed Grant, students work on their own idea/company while being paid. Our Paid Student Internship at Start-ups Program offers in the trenches internships with founders and co-founders of a start-up.

We are putting the finishing touches on what will be a jam-packed and fun fall semester of events, programs, and activities.

Thank you to all who have supported the ECenter this past year. We can’t do it without you, and the impact you help provide is visible everyday in the faces and experiences of UNH students.

Stay curious,

Ian Grant

Executive Director, ECenter

[email protected]

Support Student Ideas

$16,000 Summer Seed Grant

Awarded to Four Students

It's hard to believe we're in the middle of the sixth year of our Summer Seed Grant program! Time flies when you're having fun and paying students to work on their own ideas instead of having to find a summer job.

For summer 2021, we have three great ideas from four motivated and passionate students. Over the nine weeks of the program, they're receiving funding for 40 hours of work a week and receiving weekly 1:1 mentoring for seasoned entrepreneurs.

Read on to learn more about the three ideas selected for the 2021 Summer Seed Grant!

First up is Eizent Innovations, helmed by Anushreeya Gurung '23 (CEPS) for the summer. Eizent makes data collection easy, efficient, and effective by building customizable localized

wireless sensor networks on the edge, where network coverage is limited. Their system will help

expand Internet of Things device deployment, facilitating the advancement of how people and

technology connect with and shape our world.

"Thank you to the ECenter for providing Eizent the tools and mentorship to grow, and for me to develop the entrepreneurial skills to bring the change needed to take our idea into a company," said Anushreeya.

Also participating in the Summer Seed Grant is HallHub co-founder Caleb Peffer '22 (CEPS). HallHub is a mobile app that streamlines the event-exploration process for students on campus while offering residence hall management tools for resident assistants and hall directors.

HallHub also made it to the finals of the Holloway Prize Competition! Read that story below for more!

Commented Caleb, "The Summer Seed Grant has given me the opportunity to get paid for my passion: bringing ideas to life. Without the Summer Seed Grant, I'd have to get an internship or part time job this summer, keeping me from working on HallHub full-time."

Lastly is beeUtiful, co-founded by Alison Durand '23 (Paul College) and Sophia Bolduc '23 (CHHS). beeUtiful is a subscription to a wellness box for females in college to help boost physical and mental health. Along with the box, beeUtiful is a social media site that is a safe place for people to share their personal stories with others in the hope of helping people realize they are not alone.

"We have hopes that with the resources through the Summer Seed Grant we can build a concrete business plan and further develop our company to launch at UNH and surrounding universities," said Alison.

Thank you to Pierce Atwood LLP for sponsoring the Summer Seed Grant again this year! We'd also like to thank the mentors for taking the time to coach the students and their ideas this summer - Mike McClurken and Ian Grant (Eizent), Mark Phelps '82 (HallHub), and Dana Sicko '10 (beeUtiful)!

Join Our Team!

You've been reading about everything happening at the ECenter in our newsletter, but now is your chance to be part of the action! We're looking to fill two roles at the ECenter.

The Associate Program Manager leads our social media, marketing, and events while supporting our diverse and innovative program portfolio and finances. To learn more, visit the USNH jobs portal.

The Director of Development role works to secure financial support for a leading edge part of UNH that touches the lives of students in every college and school on campus. The spirit of entrepreneurship runs deep in the DNA of Wildcats – thousands of whom have founded companies and command top leadership roles. At just five years old the UNH ECenter has become the co-curricular heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship on campus. It’s open to all students from any college or major with the primary goal to foster the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mind-set who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions that others have missed, one idea at a time. The ECenter operates as a start-up in an academic environment, and most programs are donor funded. Remote option available. To learn more, visit the USNH jobs portal.

Please share with your network!

Seminar Teaches the Surprising Sales

Mindset of Successful Start-up Founders

We hosted a virtual Sales Seminar on April 19th for students who want to learn how to sell their ideas, but also pitch themselves.

The seminar was lead by Garrett Brown, a sales leader and instructor of the University of Southern California. The seminar was modeled after his USC class, “Sales Mindset for Entrepreneurs.” Garrett and his business partner Colin Coggins show how the best salespeople in the world do the opposite of what traditional sales training teaches, and prove that being a good person and good salesperson are not mutually exclusive.

Garrett Brown (l) and Colin Coggins (r)

In addition to their work at USC, Garrett is the founder and Colin is the founding partner of Agency18 where they help companies, build, scale, and inspire sales teams.

During the Sales Seminar, Garrett shared with the attendees:

How founders can generate their first customers without acting or feeling "salesy"
How to build a sales culture you can be proud of from the very start
Why the newness of your start-up can be an advantage for early sales

The students in attendance came from all five colleges and the graduate school. Some came with ideas or existing start-ups, while others came with a budding interest in innovation. No matter the background, all students walked away with advice to apply to business and life.

Brianna Boga '21 (COLSA) learned, "don't take no as a loss."

Nitin Sharma '21 (CEPS) learned, "a goal without a plan is just a wish."

If you'd like to see the Sales Seminar for yourself, visit our YouTube page.

2021 Alumni Entrepreneur

Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

The ECenter, along with UNH, is pleased to announce the fourth annual cohort into its Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame with the announcement of the 2021 honorees. Both 2020 and 2021 inductions will take place on Friday, October 1, 2021, as part of a double ceremony during Homecoming Weekend.

“Each selection process becomes more competitive as we continue the tradition of the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. What is continually exciting is to see the range of companies and experiences UNH alumni have in their entrepreneurial journeys. I look forward to not only the induction, but the impactful roundtable with highly entrepreneurial UNH students. For these inductees to share their stories with the next generation is always impactful,” said Ian Grant.

The 2021 inductees, in alphabetical order, are:

Kirstan Barnett ‘86

Kirstan Barnett is the founder and managing partner of KBB Capital LLC, which has made over 50 pre-seed investments into early-stage tech companies.

In addition to KBB Capital, she was co-founder of the Element Group, a fintech startup in the digital asset space. It had revenues of $10mm in its first 12 months of operation, before the founders pivoted to take advantage of other market opportunities. Before that, she was a partner in the world’s leading hedge fund focused on fixed income arbitrage, where as an early member of the executive team she played key strategic roles on distressed debt governance and cybersecurity, and directed everything from investor negotiations to investment transactions, and handled high stakes litigation to media affairs.

In addition to her professional work, Kirstan founded SheGives. Names a #SOGOOD Award Finalist by BostInno and featured in the Boston Globe for its innovative philanthropic model, SheGives is a platform to introduce donors to a portfolio of highly vetted, high impact nonprofits. SheGives has made grants of almost $1mm to Boston-area nonprofits.

Kirstan graduated from UNH is 1986 with a BA in English Literature.

Joel Berman ‘76

Joel Berman founded Iatric Systems in 1990 after working in the healthcare software field for 11 years. Iatric Systems provides software, both administrative and clinical, to hospitals in the US, Canada, and UK. When Joel founded the company he was the only employee, and he has since grown it to 330 employees. “What made us unique was that we were a remote office environment from the beginning,” he explains of his 330 employees working in approximately 40 different states and three countries. In 2010, Iatric Systems was named one of the top 100 healthcare companies to work at in the country, in addition to having some of the top-rated software products in the industry. Joel sold Iatric Systems in 2018 in a cash deal.

Joel graduated from UNH with a BA in Earth Science and a BS in Physics in 1976. In 1979, he received his masters in Earth and Planetary Science from MIT. His passion for entrepreneurship grew from the belief that solving business problems can be as challenging and rewarding as solving scientific ones.

Joel is involved with my non-profit groups but most proud of his work with the University of Wisconsin and he serves on the UNH Entrepreneurship Center’s Advisory Task Force Board.

Following the death of his wife Sandy, Joel fulfilled her dream to establish a $5 million scholarship fund in her mother’s name for school of social work students at the University of Wisconsin Madison as both Sandy and her mother went to college there. In the years that followed, he reconnected with UNH and visited the Entrepreneurship Center. Wishing he had had the programs, resources, and experiences available to him as a student, he saw the ECenter as was a great way today for UNH to distinguish itself from other area universities and supported and joined the ECenter board and as a student entrepreneur mentor.

David Ferran ‘78

David Ferran is the CEO of Torrey Project, a non-profit organization that is educating and empowering a new breed of conscious entrepreneurs who are committed to building sustainable businesses while simultaneously creating value for all stakeholders. David launched his entrepreneurial career immediately after graduating from UNH in 1978, with the launch of Vacuum General, a technology startup based in Framingham, MA.

In the following years, David grew Vacuum General organically and acquisitively until renaming it Tylan General and taking it public on the NASDAQ in 1995 (DASDAQ:TYGN).

After a hostile takeover attempt forced the sale of Tylan General, David went on to execute two more public company turnarounds before establishing Noblemen Group, a global M+A advisory firm focused on the technology sector. After a decade of transactional work, he decided to return to his roots with the formation of two more semiconductor sector startups, Reno Sub-Systems and Ferran Technology. The sale of Ferran Technology to Sumitomo Heavy Industries of Japan in 2016 opened the door for his transition out of an operating capacity and into his new role as leader of Torrey Project.

Since 2007, David has been an active board member and supporter of the Outreach Project, a non-profit organization based in Des Moines, Iowa that provides food, water, education and medical services to some of the world’s poorest people. He also serves as a member of the advisory board for the UNH Sustainability Institute.

David and his wife, Paula, have five children, four grandchildren, and a little dog named Smudge.

Kash Kapadia ‘99

Kash Kapadia is an entrepreneurial leader who focuses on building and scaling global digital businesses. As Founder and CEO of Anchor Health, he built an AI platform that champions individuals in navigating the complex and fragmented health care industry. Andreessen Horowitz recognized the company as part of the new technology stack for virtual first health care.

Before Anchor Health, Kash launched new businesses inside companies. As Vice President and General Manager of Digital Health at Stanford Health Care, he built the health system’s digital health unit and spear headed telehealth legislative reform in California. Previously, as Vice President and Worldwide Business Line Leader for Next Wave Industry Solutions at HP, Kash focused on creating new digital businesses across seven industries globally. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at McKinsey & Company, Booz & Company, and Sun Microsystems.

An active supporter of innovation ecosystems, Kash serves on Blumberg Capital’s CIO Advisory Board and was a judge for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year award. He has also contributed to the Walgreens Innovation Advisory Board, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Stanford MedX, and the UNH Department of Computer Science Industrial Advisory Board.

Kash obtained an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he graduated on the Dean's List, and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, where he graduated with Honors. He was born and raised in Mumbai, India and now lives with his family in Palo Alto, California.

Steve Singlar ‘94

Stephen A. Singlar is co-founder and board member of Single Digits, Inc. He is an uber competitor with over two decades of experience in many aspects of technology, including sales, marketing, support and management, all the while leveraging a complementary blend of hardware and software expertise. Frustrated by the complexity of network configurations and limited options for people to connect online, in 2003 Steve Co-Founded Single Digits from his garage in Exeter, NH. The vision for Single Digits was to partner with property owners, primarily in the apartment, student housing, senior living and hospitality sectors, to design, build and support property wide networks which allow consumers to connect seamlessly and for the owners to maximize the benefits of the network through enhanced customer engagement.

Single Digits’ propriety software was named NH High Tech Council Product of the Year in 2012. The company now services over five thousand venues and one million rooms throughout Mexico, Canada and the US, generating $120M in revenue. It has become a trusted partner to some of the largest multi-dwelling unit (MDU) and hospitality brands and has over 455 employees across six office locations including its HQ in Bedford, NH.

Like many startup businesses, success took a while and when it came, it often created more challenging times for the business. In 2009 the company completed its first acquisition of a local competitor and has since completed fourteen others, contributing revenue, EBITDA, customers, technology and the critical employees needed to continue its growth. In 2012 Steve and his team partnered with Tudor Growth Equities from Boston, MA, who’s investment helped build the needed infrastructure to complete the next set of M&A opportunities. Single Digits has had three successful investment relationships over the years dating back to 2012, it later partnered with Bregal Sagemount in 2016 and GI Partners in 2018, a private investment firm in San Francisco with over $28B in capital, who today owns the company.

Steve earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1994 where he was also President of his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His accolades including being named Co-Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 by the NH High Tech Council. He enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and has been involved in a variety of local projects including The Key Collective’s #areyouin program, Exeter Hospital’s Center for Cancer Care, The Moore Center and Friends of Exeter Parks and Rec. Steve is also an avid runner, a Boston sports enthusiast, and enjoys playing the harmonica and guitar.

Selection for the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame is based upon alumni who (a) have achieved entrepreneurial success with ventures as a founder, co-founder or owner, and (b) have given back to the community in a meaningful way. The definition of “ventures” includes economic or social value in for-profit and non-profit entities. The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) is home to the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Nominations are not yet open for the 2022 selection, but if you'd like to nominate yourself or an entrepreneurial alum in your life, please check back at www.unh.edu/ecenter/hof.

Save the Date for the

First Shaw Speaker Series

Thanks to the support and engagement of David E. Shaw ’73 and his brother John Shaw, the ECenter is launching the Shaw Innovation Explorers Program with the first cohort in the fall 2021 semester.

Included in the program is the Shaw Innovation Explorers Speaker Series. The vision of the Speaker Series is to bring in a range of diverse and high profile innovative, pioneering “Explorers” who David Shaw knows personally. These "Explorers" come from a variety of backgrounds that include music, business, cinema, science, sports, art, technology, social activists, and more. The goal of the Shaw Innovation Explorers Speaker Series is for students and others to understand that innovation and entrepreneurship can, and does, take all forms.

The first ever Shaw Innovation Explorers Speaker Series, taking place on October 18, 2021 at 6:30pm, will feature Brian Skerry. Please save the date for this exciting event! The registration link is forthcoming and will be shared on our social media channels, so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About Brian Skerry: Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine covering a wide range of subjects and stories. In 2014 he was one of five photographers named as a National Geographic Photography Fellow. In 2017 he was named a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow and in June 2017 he was awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.

He is the author of 12 books including the acclaimed monographs Ocean Soul and Shark. His latest book, Secrets of the Whales, released by National Geographic, is part of a multi-platform project he created that includes a cover story in National Geographic magazine and a 4-part series on Disney+.

Brian is the Explorer-In-Residence and a Trustee at the New England Aquarium, a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Director of The New England Ocean Odyssey for The Conservation Law Foundation and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club. He also serves as a Marine Fellow with Conservation International, serves on the World Wildlife Fund’s National Council and the WWF’s Marine Leadership Council.

To read Brian's full bio, visit his website.

About David Shaw: David E. Shaw '73 is Managing Partner of Black Point Group, with wide-ranging interests in technology companies and public service. His business creation, leadership, investment and board experience includes IDEXX Laboratories (founder, CEO), Ikaria Pharmaceuticals (founding CEO, chair), Covetrus – formerly Vets First Choice – (co-founder, chair), Cyteir, Modern Meadow, Sapphire Energy, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Itaconix, Skinetics, Cytyc, Physion, Venrock Associates, MyTaskIt, New Mountain Capital, Leerink Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. He has produced many short films including Second Century Stewardship and, via Agribusiness Associates, has been a strategy consultant to consumer product, food and agriculture enterprises.

Shaw has served on the faculty of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership with interests in leadership, corporate governance and business social responsibility. He is a founding board member of the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum, chair-emeritus of The Jackson Laboratory, Treasurer emeritus, trustee emeritus and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) publisher of Science, founding chair of the Aspen High Seas Initiative and Sargasso Sea Alliance (ocean conservation), a trustee-emeritus of the National Park Foundation, a founding Advisory Board member to Curiosity Stream, and an advisor to Just Capital. Other affiliations have included Leadership Council of the Service Year Alliance, board member of Maine Medical Center and Hurricane Island Outward Bound, a member of the Executive Committee of the US-Israel Science and Technology Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, Explorer’s Club, Service Nation, the selection committee for America’s Best Leaders (US News and World Report), YPO, WPO, CEO and others.

Shaw has been awarded honorary degrees by Colby College, Bates College, Maine College of Art, and the University of Southern Maine. Shaw was inducted into the Teddy Roosevelt Society, the UNH Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, and IDEXX was inducted into the Life Sciences Foundation’s Biotech Hall of Fame in 2008.

Shaw was honored at the 2017 New York Restoration Project Hulaween Gala. He was named 2013 International “SeaKeeper of the Year” (with the Sargasso Sea Alliance board) by The International SeaKeepers Society, Wave Maker at the 2016 Blue Ocean Film Festival. In 2018 Shaw was appointed a Patron of Nature by IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Additionally, Shaw is the recipient of the 2013 Leslie Cheek Medal from the College of William & Mary.

An Exciting Fall Semester Ahead

We are building out an exciting line up of programming, events, and activities for the fall 2021 semester! Location details are being confirmed, but once everything is set, our website will have all the information, including registration links.

ECenter Week at Paul College

Open to all UNH students, faculty, and staff

September 20th – 24th

i2 Passport Kick-off Party

Open to full-time UNH undergraduate and graduate students who register for the i2 Passport Program at i2passport.com. Registration opens mid-August.

09/26/2021 at 4:00pm

Idea Creation/Design Thinking Bootcamp with Beth Houlis from RiverStone

Open to all UNH students

Two sessions to choose from

10/04/2021 at 5:30pm

10/05/2021 at 5:30pm