Rocket Network Minnesota

We are proud to present the inaugural Cafe-X session (Second Season) of the Rocket Network from 5.30-8.00 pm on Thursday, September 7 and each first Thursday of the month thereafter.  As always these sessions are at no charge to the attendees and aim to build stronger companies to navigate through known and unknown issues of building an early stage company. 

During our first 2016-17 season we had presentations from 21 luminaries such as Dr. Daniel Cohen, Round River Research; Norm Dann, Pioneer in MedTech; Mike Derheim, Nerdery; Dileep Rao, Stanford, INCAE and FL International U; Lloyd Sigel, Lloyd's BBQ; Deepinder Singh, 75F and Marty Wetherall, Fallon.  All focused on enhancing the entrepreneurial climate in Minnesota.

We hope to top this in our second year 2017-18.  So let all those aspiring and building entrepreneurs know. Let me know of the e-mail address of those interested.

This month’s program:

Developing an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Path to Minnesota’s Rightful Place

We know that entrepreneurial activity varies broadly across the different regions of the United States. The scholarly literature cites several factors that drive this.  These collections of activities are commonly called by the generalized term ecosystem.  These activities cause a network effect that contributes to the sum total of entrepreneurial activity. However, the factors giving rise, strength, and demise of these ecosystems and their relative factor strength have not been well studied.  Dr. Abraham in his second doctoral study is analyzing these factors using the development of pacemaker technologies as a proxy for the regional development, growth and industry vertical strength of the medical device industry in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region.  Based on his research he will share insights on what it takes for Minnesota to find its rightful place in the entrepreneurial landscape.

Presenter: Dr. Brian Abraham, is a serial entrepreneur and educator.  He is currently working with several startup companies in the Midwest and is a Research Fellow at Case Western Reserve University.  Dr. Abraham has worked in higher education as an Associate Dean and Faculty member for institutions such as Babson College, The Ohio State University, Michigan State University and the University of St. Thomas (MN).

As an entrepreneur and corporate entrepreneur, Dr. Abraham has served as CEO for the defense contractor ProteQ, CEO for the hedge fund Groveland Capital, Portfolio Manager for the hedge fund Whitebox Advisors, CEO of the robotics submarine firm Bluefin Robotics, Director of Commercialization for the research firm Battelle Memorial Institute, Division Manager for Bruker Biosciences and founder of Siteworks, Inc. (now Ion Signature Technologies).

Moderator:  Rajiv Tandon, Ph.D., is an advocate for the future of entrepreneurship in Minnesota. He facilitates peer groups of Minnesota CEOs and runs two programs for propelling ideas into business ventures, the Rocket Network and 100 Launches. He will present the rationale and objectives of the Rocket Network as well as tease out relevant information from the speaker.

When: (First Thursday of each month)

September 7, 2017 5.30 -8.00 pm

Where: Minnesota State University Mankato at Edina

7700 France Avenue South, Edina, MN 55435

Enter through West Entrance  and take elevator to 1st Floor Training room

Parking: Ramp in the back.  

Registration: Free but required