When most people think of business incubators, social networking may not enter the picture. But Web 2.0 technologies and services are the latest trend in startup assistance firms, which hope to improve their relevance to prospective companies and help them operate effectively as self-sufficient entities.
In an average month, 30 percent to 40 percent of visits to the home page of the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI) in Ohio are driven by visits to the incubator’s pages on MySpace and Facebook , reports James Cossler, director of YBI. Many young entrepreneurs are “gleaning updates about our incubator from blog stories,” he reports.
Cossler contends that the use of Web 2.0 at incubators is essential “to effectively reach 18- to 30-year-olds.” In an effort to appeal to that set, YBI’s MySpace pages include music videos. In addition, YBI has operated a virtual matching mechanism that links entrepreneurs with investors for a year on the Idea Crossing Website launched by JumpStart Inc. , a Northeast Ohio technology business development organization.
Another incubator, InNOVAcorp in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was able to increase the number of prospective startups under its umbrella almost threefold as a result of information posted on MySpace, Facebook, and Blogspot. “The main motivation [for using these sites] was gaining access to a greater number of quality startups, especially those percolating within the Generation Y demographic,” says Dan MacDonald, CEO of InNOVAcorp.
The incubator’s use of Web 2.0 is particularly well suited to the information technology, life sciences, and clean technology businesses it serves, MacDonald asserts. He says some startups are conducting focus groups through Facebook, which reduces costs and project time considerably. InNOVAcorp also is exploring the use of virtual worlds for its members and has joined Second Life, where InNOVAcorp has reached out to consultants in that space that might be useful to its clients.
There is nothing new about virtual incubators; until recently, they remotely provided startups with information resources and contacts to accelerate the market introduction of their products/services. But they typically offered no more than raw “online information downloads,” where startups receive unfiltered information on resources. This data, such as contacts for accountants, may not be relevant to companies at their particular stage of development, according to Jack Miner, head of bcVentures, the technology business accelerator for community development organization Battle Creek Unlimited in Michigan. In addition, those virtual incubators have been largely “adjunct programs to their physical incubators,” points out Joey Silvian, project manager at Factotem Constellation, an outsourcing firm that is designing new online elements for Battle Creek Unlimited’s virtual incubator.
That incubator, slated for limited release early in 2009, will focus on assisting businesses that “require funding and quality resources, such as service providers and business coaches.” For example, connections with consultants that operate in the “same space” as the participating startups will be featured.
An element of social networking will be incorporated in the incubator, but its use will be directed and circumscribed. All businesses will be given “a Facebook-like page,” allowing “appropriate matches to be made with other entities,” says Miner. As such, the businesses would be afforded “limited and staged introductions to appropriate resources,” restricting them from “viewing all the resources” in order to steer them in the right direction.
Currently, the Battle Creek incubator has 80 startups and close to 100 service providers, coaches, and other resources ponied up, Miner says. The information resources are provided free to Battle Creek-based companies; others get charged a nominal fee.
Web 2.0-driven virtual and physical incubators have the potential to dramatically transform the model for virtual incubators and have a key role to play in business development for startups, especially in this challenging economic environment. The application of such Web 2.0 elements at virtual and physical incubators can be particularly beneficial, if those elements are properly applied and aligned well with the needs of participating startups.
— Michael Mascioni is a market research consultant in digital media
Speaking of tele conference. This is the most cool tele conference solution i've come across lately. It's cisco's telepresense. Check out this video on YouTube about it:
Take for instance, UPS's announcement today that they are going to close their eCommerce Innovation center in Georgia. They did not say they were going to discontinue the processes, just close the builidng and reduce the cost of the real estate burden.
I imagine that they are going to embrace these new web 2.0 technologies coupled with VOIP/Video Conferencing/Virtual Offices etc. to continue the practices they established in a geographically disparate environment. HOLY COW! THE WEB AT WORK BATMAN!
ok... I am done being happy for now. But thank you ktroulos for getting what I am saying.
to follow up your line of thinking, in the internet of the future (it has been called many names, one if which is web 2.0) it will not matter just how efficiently someone uses it. It will matter the ability of an individual/professional to choose the best way of communications from what there is available. Winners will be those that will know when to send an email, pick-up the phone, send a fax or arrange a meeting.
I think, as families become more distributed (geographically), the use of Social Networking technologies will grow because youngers will want to be able to talk with/to elders without necessarily having to dial up or be in physical proximity.
Also, as kids tell their grandparents "Gran'ma, you should see my facebook..." It will begin to take hold. Web 2.0 is a disruptive technology, and therefore it is in its nature to change the way things are done.
The only down side I see is that massive adoption of this type of technology will lead to a lessening of Human Interaction. There is a radio commercial for McDonaldsTM where a co-worker cannot go to McDonalds for breakfast with his friends because he is "social networking." While this is intended as humor, I fear that it may be more like foreshadowing.
I think it's great to hear every time another corner of the world discovers and embraces a transformational wave like Web 2.0! While I agree with the age bracket finding that social network is essential to reach 18-30, I wonder how fast it will become essential for older cohorts. Remember when we were all surprised when 65+ started accelerating onto the web? Will there be a tipping point where they become the next big age group in social networks? I know several SNs targeted to the older generation have failed to catch on, but that may be more a marketing failure or even a lack of true understanding of their customers.
Ok Michael, I'll give you the data. You can't argue facts. But my question is why is this surprising? Why should it surprise any of us (who are active in and with the technology) that a paradigm like Web 2.0 should change the way business is being done.
I have said before, and will continue to drone on and on concerning this point, "web 2.0 is not a technology or even a cluster of technologies. It is a fundamental paradigm shift in the way technology is used. It is a complex change in perspective with regard to collaboration, the need for colocation, and the impact of both intellectual and cultural diversity. It is, without a doubt, one of the most transformational 'things' of our generation but it is not by itself nor does it stand alone."
Businesses are finally wisening up and seeing that colocation does not always equal collaboration or productivity. So why should startup incubators be any different? They are merely microcosms of the larger business world. Right?
Anyway, I am just saying that it is more important to understand what web 2.0 is and what it is not. Beginning with a solid grasp of that takes some of the "gee-whiz" off of events around the market place but sure does place us in a position to be proactive rather than reactive.
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