Mass Innovation Night, June 3, 2010

I have been supporting Mass Innovation Night since December of 2009. This was the first time that Neuron Robotics was there to meet and greet. Founder and President Bob Breznak and I brought our business cards and a prototype of the DyIO.

The best thing about Mass Innovation Night is that, while showcasing innovators in the Bay State it also offers an opportunity for startups, services that target startups and investors to get together in an informal and friendly setting. Thank you to IBM for the use of such a beautiful space. Major kudos to Bobbie Carlton who is the hostess and driving force behind it. Without Bobbie, there is no Mass Inno.

The number of presenters was capped at three so that the winner of IBM’s Smart Camp would have a chance to present as well. Sproxil works to combat the spread of counterfeit products, particularly drugs, in developing countries. Technology can truly do a world of good and save lives as, for example, malaria patients can get the medications they need rather than a bogus dose of pressed cornstarch.

The presenters were:

• Jumper Networks, which is looking to evolve search via user tagging,
• Rate It Green (Allison Friedman, Founder), which seeks to establish and maintain a trusted directory of providers of ecologically friendly building products, enhanced with user testimonials and ratings, and
• The Buyers’ Net (Satya Murti, President), a pooled buyers’ service that aims to assist its members with negotiating volume discounts on everything from wine to automobiles.

But there’s more than just the presenters. There are also tables, with both experts and other service providers. Among others, we saw:

• Patent attorney Miguel Danielson
• Stacie Andrews of Provado Marketing Solutions, Inc.
• Kai Rostcheck, Founder & Creator of Free Marketing Made Easy, who was very interested in the DyIO
• Founder Institute representatives Ariel Assaf and Paul Geffen and
• Scott Bailey of Mandel Communications.

It was great to see old friends Bobbie Carlton, Paul Geffen, Ben Hron and Mike Cohen of VC Ready Law, Rich Sands, Rama Nandiwada, Dave Fogel, Cynthia Gilbert (she’s at Babson) and Colin Kennedy, who was also extremely interested in the DyIO. I have to admit, it’s fun to show it off.

We made some new friends, too! Financial Advisor Yilmaz Rona was very informative and was interested in us, too! Kai Rostcheck and Scott Bailey were fun to speak with. Kai is in marketing so we had plenty to discuss. Scott’s company helps engineers learn how to communicate better. Among others, we also befriended Robert J. Rosenberg with SMC, Tom Kennedy with The Kennedy Group, Reem Kettaneh Yared of Growthwise, Andreas Randow,William Scher with Sandler Training, and Jonathan D. Lettvin, Founder of Aneuran.

There were so many people, it was impossible to talk to everyone. Unfortunately, I missed chatting with Patent Attorney Jerry Kazanjian, Mark Sprague, Masoud Shadravan, Patent Lawyer Noah Malgeri, McCarter & English Attorney Rick Lucash, my former colleague from Hachette, Smita Desai and Steve Saltman. Next time, for sure!

The next one is July 14, Bastille Day. Mark your calendars. We will be back.