Mercury Launchpad: Pre-Incubation Firm Scouts Incubator Clients

Pre-Incubation Firm Scouts Incubator Clients

 

Vol. 13, Issue 6
November 2007

NBIA Updates

National Business Incubation Association

 

Incubator managers know that it's not just the number of potential clients walking through the door that's important. Quality matters, too. Most programs have entry criteria for would-be incubator clients to ensure that companies are ready and willing to accept incubation services.

 

But what about the entrepreneurs who have a great idea, but haven't yet started a business?

 

EmergeMemphis, a mixed-use program in Memphis, Tenn., has one way to capture such clients.  It hosts Launchpad, a firm (started by an Emerge graduate) that helps nascent entrepreneurs turn their ideas into companies, in exchange for an equity stake in that company.

 

"We see [Launchpad] as a precursor to EmergeMemphis," says incubator President Gwin Scott. "They will be our pipeline for qualified companies -- all pre-screened."

 

That's important because Scott already has his hands full with his 27 incubator clients. "I spend a lot of time on them with strategy, sales, investments," he says. He also is raising funds to expand the incubator so it can take up to 15 additional clients. That leaves little time for the kind of hand-holding a totally new entrepreneur needs -- and that is Launch Pad's stock in trade.

 

Launchpad currently has three clients, including the winner of a business plan competition sponsored by the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis. As a competition partner, Emerge arranged to have Launch Pad services in the winner's package.

 

"Since we couldn't write a check, this was our way to help the cause," Scott says. And it was a way to help everybody involved: the competition winner, Launch Pad and the incubator itself.

 

"We're just trying to help entrepreneurs by building the right community with qualified companies," Scott says.

Mercury Launchpad Opens for Business

From experience Mercury Technology Labs understands the struggles of entrepreneurs, one-man start-ups, small technology businesses, and free lance professional service providers in the Mid-South region – that’s how we started in 2006. You go without space, work at home, and/or have meetings in cafes, because in most cases the monthly costs of even an executive office suite can be too high or the terms too inflexible to accommodate the rapid changes faced by the business on-the-move addressing market needs. Staying at the home office has cost saving advantages, but at some point those advantages diminish.

With this in mind we have opened a new flexible work environment for entrepreneurs and technology professionals for the explicit purpose of launching and growing new business ventures -- we are calling it the Launchpad. Combining these benefits with networking, advising, and informal business interaction, and you have a recipe for swift and smart business growth. By creating an environment of mutual respect and collaboration, people will be able to do more value-added work, creating great value for our economy and community. By making it a members-only environment, we emphasize that this isn’t about the space, it is about collocating with others to achieve results. The space is a facilitator that provides visual information management, informal interaction, and a touch point for future customers.

Housed in EmergeMemphis, the focal point for entrepreneurship in the Mid-South, the office space is designed with flexibility as the overarching concept and will provide value to the smart business developer who not only realizes the value of the Launchpad and physical location, but also knows that it's smart not to waste money at the start of a new venture. Our membership based approach is a definitive advantage. Thanks to our partner MBI Marketplace, we have well-designed space, welcoming and accessible environment, and proper amenities to permit new business enterprises to scale appropriately meeting market needs.

People do better, more value-added work when working together -- come visit the Launchpad.

See http://launchpad.mercurytechlabs.com for pictures and more info.