TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

What’s old is what’s new. Or at least, what’s new is what’s happening for the old.

We are about to experience a massive demographic shift in the United States such that by 2050, senior citizens will make up 20% of the population.

Our nation, still young itself on the world stage, has never focused on the needs of the aging as much as other cultures have. Marketers, product developers, and software developers have seen those 18-30 as the drivers of demand and innovation.

Well, the change is coming.

Kathryn Roberts is President and CEO of Ecumen, a 4,000 employee senior services non-profit based in the Twin Cities. She has recognized this as the opportunity that it is and aims to better serve this emerging market by leading with an open focus on innovation and technology.  Ecumen re-branded in 2004 and since shifted primary focus from nursing homes to senior housing — now routinely engaging with the tech industry to look for ways to improve the life of its clients.

Read More…

If you have to ask who Sona Mehring is, you’re missing the big story.  Mehring is a leading tech entrepreneur in Minnesota and certainly among the great women tech entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Armed with a computer science degree from U.W.-Eau Claire, she has led the creation of a number of Minnesota tech service and consulting companies, with software related to online ordering systems and fantasy sports leagues, among other things.  Her vision early in the days of the internet was to how to use this new powerful technology to serve people.

Read More…

By Dan Haugen, The Line

“Any business gathering that features conga drummers obviously means to motivate. And that was just what a group of Twin Cities attorneys, advisors, entrepreneurs, and investors wanted to do when they launched the new “innovation advocacy force” called MOJO Minnesota in May–right around the time we were putting together the first issue of The Line. Besides a conga beat, that launch event featured a speech about success and failure by an entrepreneur who’s experienced both, and games to hone participants’ networking skills.”

Read More…

Born in India, Ashish Gadnis moved to Minnesota in the 90′s where he has since built a successful consulting firm speaking truth to bureaucracy  (Forward Hindsight), recently launched a personal electronic medical portal for consumers (Koozala) and (in his spare time) travels the globe working to end world hunger.  Just another day’s work for this radical CEO who clearly understands the connection between business and social progress.

Ashish Gadnis Facts:

Read More…

By Ernest Grumbles, via Star Tribune

“On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the biggest patent case in recent years, In re Bilski. The case related to the patentability of business methods (steps in accomplishing a business task) and has been a lightning rod in the intellectual property world (and elsewhere) during its long path to conclusion.  These business method patents, typically directed to financial, Internet commerce, data analysis and business processes, are often written such that the particular machine or system used to perform the method is irrelevant.  Bilski himself had tried to get a patent on various methods of managing hedge fund risk.”

Read More…

Does Minnesota have any “radical tech CEOs”?

I’ve asked this question many times, and I usually get blank looks or, “I can’t really think of any.”

What is a radical CEO?

First, you have to understand what a radical CEO is.  My definition is: a CEO who (a) understands the effect that their company has on the socio-economic, political and cultural circumstances of their workers, customers, investors and partners and (b) is able to articulate and share a credible vision for the company’s role in improving those circumstances (beyond mere foundations and donations).

Radical CEOs, who are, in larger enterprises, analogous to political figures, understand the clear connection between what their business is trying to sell and its cultural and social impact.  This is obviously a vital business skill in the sense that to be able to sell products and services well, you need to understand the environment that you are trying to sell into.  But I think there is an aspect of how radical CEOs operate that shows that they are fundamentally concerned with both the economic and social impact of their enterprises.

Read More…

By Thomas Lee, MedCity News

“Aside from sharing the same first letter, “Mojo” and “Minnesota” are words that don’t seem to carry a lot in common, though that may soon change. The state is home to 19 Fortune 500 companies, a world class hospital and research center in Rochester, and Spam-what else do you need?-but the land of 10,000 lakes has long lacked competitive fire, the kind of risk hungry entrepreneur and investor that not only tolerates failure but embraces it.

Mindful of this, a group of entrepreneurs, lawyers, and investors have formed MOJO/minnesota, a grass roots group that wants to restore the state’s taste for risk and innovation. From advocating for the angel investment tax credit to finding the local Steve Jobs MOJO/minnesota hopes light a spark under the state’s proverbial rear end.”

Read More…

MOJO/Minnesota is “a collective agitating for innovation and biz revolution in Minnesota.”  The 11 person group,  facilitated by Ernest Grumbles III & Brad Lehrman, has released their statement on the Angel Tax Credit. For a thorough background and context on the SBITC/Saltzman Bill/Angel Tax Credit situation, see our previous coverage here and here.

Mojo Draft

Ernest W Grumbles III is a startup-focused IP attorney with the local firm Merchant & Gould.  Ernest helps entrepreneurs launch new tech (clean/green/IT/med tech) companies and has been known to rumble in the courtroom. He is one of the founders of MOJO/Minnesota – a collective promoting innovation policy and community in Minnesota. He also blogs for the Star Tribune, hosts his own IP podcasts and plays in a Roots/ Americana/ Jazz Band called The New Nationals.  Here is a link to his recent “IP Crash Course for Startups” held at CoCo MSP this past Wednesday.

Podcast Transcription:

Jeff: Ernest Grumbles – here we are; thanks for taking the time to sit down and chat with TECHdotMN, we appreciate it very much.

Ernest: Happy to.

Read More…