Speed ‘dating’ event sparks business relationships

‘ ‘ ‘ Nehal Bhojak looked impatiently at her watch. ‘ ‘ ‘ 11:25 a.m. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pairs of men and… ‘ ‘ ‘ Nehal Bhojak looked impatiently at her watch. ‘ ‘ ‘ 11:25 a.m. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pairs of men and women donning suits and ties sat at round tables around the William Pitt Union Ballroom, deep in conversation with their partners. ‘ ‘ ‘ Bhojak sat alone two rotations into the Innovator’s Speed Dating Event. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This second guy stood me up,’ she said with a shrug. She doesn’t take it personally. These relationships are all business for her. ‘ ‘ ‘ For 14 businesses and more than 20 Pitt faculty researchers, the Innovator’s Speed Dating Event on Tuesday created new relationships, but not of the romantic kind. ‘ ‘ ‘ Businesses dedicated to starting new ventures courted Pitt faculty in the hopes of turning their research into commercial enterprises. ‘ ‘ ‘ Sponsored by the Office of Enterprise Development, these quick rendezvous ran like a typical speed dating event. ‘ ‘ ‘ Business representatives sat at individual tables and talked to each researcher one-on-one about their innovations or inventions for 15-minute periods. ‘ ‘ ‘ At the end of each period, an announcement over the microphone alerted the researchers to move on to another table. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Fifteen minutes is enough time,’ said Harold Safferstein, who works for Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse. ‘It compels investors to get right to the point.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ According to Andrew Remes, assistant director of business development in the Office of Enterprise Development, the speed dating approach is beneficial to both faculty and businesses. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘All of these people are very busy,’ he said. ‘If you were an innovator going to visit a business with an idea, you would have to go to their office, set up a meeting, and that would take up a lot of time.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ With this speed dating approach, each person had about 60 to 70 meetings in two hours, Remes added. ‘ ‘ ‘ After the event, the businesses can follow up on the various proposals they have received from researchers by scheduling additional meetings with the researchers who developed them. ‘ ‘ ‘ Alan Boruch, a post-doctoral fellow at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, came to the event to find out how to begin commercializing his technology for helping people recover from spinal cord injuries. ‘ ‘ ‘ After speaking to Gary Glausser, from Birchmere Ventures, the two decided that they didn’t match up well. ‘ ‘ ‘ Glausser informed Boruch seven minutes into their conversation that his business plan was not developed enough for Birchmere Ventures to assist in making his idea a commercial reality. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Allied Angels or Life Sciences Greenhouse might be a better bet,’ said Glausser, pointing to the direction of the two tables. ‘ ‘ ‘ He then gave Boruch useful tips on developing his business plan further. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It really works out for me,’ said Boruch after the meeting. ‘Everyone’s been extremely helpful. Even if my project doesn’t work with them, they say, ‘Hey, we can point you in the right direction.” ‘ ‘ ‘