I was delighted to attend the latest Ideastream 2009 today run by the folks at the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. Curiously enough, I co-created the original Ideastream with Bob Metcalfe and Mark Gorenberg back in 2001! Compared to those two, of course, I'm a minion in the MIT machine, but we did articulate the core goals of engaging the Institute's technologists with the larger venture capital community and emphasizing the translation of ideas and inventions into widespread innovations. (See here my last year's Ideastream commentary.) So this year's event was great to participate in. I especially enjoyed linking with inventive and entrepreneurial MIT Professor Karen Gleason about new organizational models for running research universities, connecting with the MassChallenge leadership about big news to be announced literally tomorrow, with multiple MIT student and alum inventors about their promising startup opportunities, with Luis Barros of the Mass Life Sciences Center about the idea of Venture Fellows, hearing Shai Agassi portray a path towards a Better Place, and finally with chatting with Desh himself afterwards about the Sandbox he and his Deshpande Foundation colleagues have created in India to accelerate new product and service innovations in his home-zone in India. Ideastream indeed lives up to its own spinonym and is where ideas do stream forth!P.S. Here's the big MassChallenge news! Support from Da Gov.
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