6. In which industries are you seeing new activity? If you had to bet on three industries to emerge in the next five years, which ones would you choose?
Currently we have a wide variety of industries housed in NTEC, from esports to medical sciences, and are always open to industries that need innovating.
The future of drones has been a fascination of mine lately. I’d love to see how the technology will advance and in what other industries it can be utilized.
While I have reservations about “self-driving” cars, I see the potential advantages of applying technology to the automobile and there are so many possibilities for the future. I’m really looking forward to seeing its advancements.
And, battery technology has advanced but we need a breakthrough in both capacity and time to re-charge. The functionality of batteries are limitless and innovations to them affect countless industries from cell phones to aviation.
7. NTEC appears to have a great culture. What’s the secret to maintaining such a positive vibe with so many different people and companies under one roof?
We do, and it is something we take very seriously. We try very hard, when accepting new people/companies into the program, to gauge whether or not they are a “good fit” for our current company culture. For example, we don’t bring in companies that would compete with someone we already have in our program. And, we try to assess whether or not what they are working on could potentially help other companies in the program and vice versa. This is part of, what we call, the “magic,” which is basically when our companies find ways to work together that causes them both to grow and win in ways that neither could have done alone.
8. What piece of advice would you give to a first-time entrepreneur starting out?
Have patience and determination. It’s not just about whether or not you have a good idea. It’s about taking that idea and executing it. You have to plan out the action steps required and turn the idea into a reality, but also to make the idea produce revenue. It requires a great deal of time and effort just to come up with the plan of action. Then, you have to find a way to bring in the right people who are capable and willing to do what it takes to execute that plan, who are just as passionate as you are to bring the company to life.
9. What are some examples of NTEC successes?
Since we shifted our focus in 2013 (from a med device/bio life science incubator to a mixed use “later stage” accelerator) our members have succeeded in many ways, both within their own industries and by completing our program.
For example, a current member, PVP Live, is disrupting the esports industry and has been featured in major publications such as Fortune and Forbes, and just closed over $2M in funding.
Valify, is certainly an industry disruptor as well. They have developed the only web-based solution for hospital systems that simplifies the analysis of non-labor spending to track savings in purchased services. They typically find savings between 10%-20% of a hospitals operating budget. Before Valify, healthcare organizations would have to bring in consultant teams who would take months to analyze spending. Now, Valify can take their data and get them results within five days. Valify’s solution helps mitigate financial risk and reduces the overall cost of operations. The CEO, Chris Heckler, came into NTEC back in September of 2014. Matt Clark, the CTO, came in shortly after – now they have grown to an employee count of 16 people, have recently obtained over 2 million dollars in Series A funding, and will be moving into their own office headquarters in Frisco soon.
True Health Diagnostics, is what we call a true “gazelle”. They created a solution to help physicians and health care providers identify and prevent the progression of early stage cardiovascular disease. They have completed the program and will soon be moving their headquarters into Frisco.
Captured Dimensions is a company that is finally finding some solid ground. They are a company with brilliant minds who use photogrammetry to digitally scan and produce extremely detailed 3D assets that can be used for things like CGI (computer generated images) and VR (virtual reality), etc. When they came into the program, they were a company struggling to figure out where to focus their technology. They ran the gamut, even trying retail, before stumbling upon what appears to be their niche, which is performing scans for the film and entertainment industry.
Guild/SA is a fun one because they are just starting to reach their first success milestone, which is to fill their first code bootcamp class, which starts in August. The founder, Kevin Harris, knows the demand for mobile developers and is working hard to help foster great talent, locally. But he also goes a step further, by offering scholarships to veterans, their spouses, and women interested in technology.
10. How does a company become a member?
The best way to become a member is through our website. There is an application inquiry form that gets you into our system. From there, we will ask you to complete a “needs assessment” form. This allows us to get a general idea of your company concept and needs. If we have the space available, feel you would be a good fit in our community, and believe our expertise and resources can help, we will schedule a face to face interview.
11. Where do you see NTEC going from here?
I would like to see NTEC continue on its current path of helping company’s grow into sustainable business that positively impact the economic growth of Frisco and North Texas. We are continuously gaining traction in being an enormous resource for our members, but we are also becoming an additional resource hub for the Frisco and North Dallas communities.
