| Time | Session Type | Title | Speaker | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 9:00 AM | Registration and Breakfast | |||
| 9:00 - 9:15 AM | Welcome | Opening Remarks | Dr. Gilian Wilson - Vice Chancellor of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development, UC Merced | |
| 9:15 - 10:00 AM | Keynote | A Serial Entrepreneur’s Guide to Academic Innovation and Startup Success | Bob Tinker - CEO, BedRock Systems & Managing Partner, Metamorph Partners | An inspiring journey through the lens of a serial entrepreneur on leveraging academic innovation for startup success. |
| 10:00 - 10:40 AM | Panel Discussion | Transforming Ideas into Products |
Wilson Mak - Digestiva (UC Davis) Ishita Shah - Matrubials (UC Davis) Broder Schmidt - Prose Foods (Stanford) Emerald Nash -GridSense (UCM) Moderator: Daphney Sihwa |
Gain insights from founders as they discuss the process of transforming ideas into tangible products and launching successful companies |
| 10:40 - 10:45 AM | Break | |||
| 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM | Presentation | Legal Workshop 101 for Start-ups |
Larry Adkison - Senior Principal Counsel, UC Legal |
An in-depth look at choosing the right business structure and managing equity effectively for startups. |
| 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM | Panel Discussion | Industry-Academic Collaboration and Intellectual Property Strategies | Vadim Vapnyar - Partner, Carter, DeLuca & Farrell LLP Jay Sharping - Professor, Physics, UC Merced Shijia Pan – Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, UC Merced Moderator: Jesse Rodriguez Reyes |
Insights into forging successful industry-academic partnerships and navigating intellectual property challenges |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch | |||
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | Presentation | Business Model Testing and Iteration using the Lean Startup Methodology | Darren Cooke - Executive Director, UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center and Faculty, Berkeley Haas School of Business | Exploring the Lean Startup Methodology as a framework for testing, iterating, and refining business models for success. |
| 1:45 PM - 2:15 PM | Presentation | The Ecosystem = The Innovation | Harold Schmitz - Founding Partner, The March Group | Understand how a supportive ecosystem contributes to fostering innovation and growth for startups. |
| 2:15 - 2:30 PM | Break | |||
| 2:30 - 3:30 PM | Panel Discussion | Attracting Investors and Funding Strategies |
Chuck Eason – Advisor, Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) and Director, Small Business Development Center |
Dive into the world of investment and learn how to attract capital for your venture from both investors and government grants. |
| 3:30 - 4:20 PM | Company Showcase | UCM Company Showcase |
BreakdownBio |
Join us for the 1st M2M UCM Company Showcase highlighting companies that have emerged from UC Merced and founded by faculty, alumni undergraduate and graduate students. |
| 4:20 - 4:30 PM | Closing Remarks | Dr. Gilian Wilson - Vice Chancellor of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development, UC Merced | ||
| 4:30 - 6:00 PM | Networking | |||
