New York SBDC Research Network

From BizWomen : When Heatherjean MacNeil launched her fashion startup, Proxy Apparel, several years ago, she applied to a prominent accelerator program. Two years in a row, she was accepted as a finalist. And two years in a row, she found herself pitching her business to the same room of older white men. The men had money to give, which was good. But there were misunderstandings about market opportunity, the vision behind the potential consumer demand and avenues for growth. “I think that [more broadly] represents the fact that, particularly in investment circles, there’s such a strong absence of women, so you feel as if you’re the other,” MacNeil told me recently. “And I think it’s harder to understand how to build relationship capital in that context.” Now, she’s part of a team of women working to create an alternate experience for other female entrepreneurs. MacNeil co-founded with Susan Duffy and Sharon Kan the Babson College Women Innovating Now Lab— or WIN Lab — an eigh...

From Empire State Development The state has created several tax-free programs including START-UP NY and the Innovation Hot Spot Program. These programs assist businesses that are forming, expanding or locating to New York State for the first time. As part of both programs, businesses interact closely with universities and have the opportunity to operate taxfree for a specified amount of time in order to facilitate growth while promoting entrepreneurialism and job creation in communities across the state. New York State Certified Business Incubator and Innovation Hot Spot Program Administered by ESD’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR), the New York State Certified Business Incubator and Innovation Hot Spot Program was enacted as part of the 2013-14 State Budget and provides financial support for business incubators in the state in order to support entrepreneurial activity. Through a competitive process, ESD has designated 10 Innovation Hot Spots (one for ea...

For the full article,  here. Want to get into TechStars? You're not the only one. Of the 1,500 who apply, only 1 percent actually get in the prestigious accelator program. The good news? You can learn from other founders' success and, of course, failure. Here are some tips we learned from the 2012 applicants to New York's TechStars program. Do Send progress reports... Do Show your pe rsonality... Do Fight back... Do Cop to your shortcomings... Don't Stalk the admissions committee... Don't  Ramble... Don't Lose your co-founder... Don't  Request a nondisclosure agreement...

The Research Network has answered over 23,000 questions since its inception. I've been around for most of them. Most every new request reminds me of something we've researched in the past. It's that deja vu feeling, on a daily basis. You can't trust it, though. I wanted to write a post about business incubators in New York, but I was sure I'd done it a year ago. I hadn't. I looked & looked, but there's no record of it. My bad. Sometimes, I just think I remember things. All righty then. David Hochman, the Executive Director of BIA/NYS, visited a Directors' Meeting within the past year. He let on that their website features contact information & descriptions of active business incubators throughout the state. Here's the URL: http://bianys.com/datainc/ Pass this list on to clients of yours whom you feel have the potential to benefit. And sorry for not getting this to you earlier. Say, a year ago.