Camels have been helping people travel through the desert for millennia, and alpacas and llamas have long been raised for their silky fur.
As we celebrate the recent milestone of 100 startups spun out of the University of Pittsburgh since the launch of the Innovation Institute in late 2013, we are regularly updating their progression towards making an impact in the world. Today we check in with LyGenesis Inc., which licensed technology from the laboratory of Eric Lagasse, Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Director of the Cancer Stem Cell Center at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
by Helen Sluder, September 1, 2020 Pitchwerks, is a podcast about sales, marketing, and everything startup-related, hosted by the witty and engaging Scot MacTaggart. If you haven't listened to it, you are missing a lot of great interviews with the Pittsburgh region's best and brightest in entrepreneurship. In this blog compilation, we highlight the many Pitt-connected founders, alumni, and mentors that have been on the show. Hail to Pitt! photos by Buzzy Torek The New Frontier of Clinical Education Topics Covered in the Podcast: Product demos, Navigating the healthcare industry, Education facilitated by automation Best Quote: “My other co-founder Joe Samosky, an engineering professor at Pitt, he often says ‘It’s not practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice that makes perfect.’ Even though you feel confident at doing something in healthcare, in treating patients, you might be confident in doing it incorrectly.” -Doug Nelson, Lumis CEO Doug Nelson’s original plan was to be an academician for life, but he was bit by the entrepreneurial bug after completing his PhD in Bioengineering at Pitt. Nelson, CEO of Lumis, describes the trials and tribulations of navigating the heavily regulated, bureaucratic medical industry. Lumis is an immersive medical training platform that serves as an alternative to the resource-intensive healthcare simulators currently on the market. By automating the process, Lumis’ interface allows learners to practice 24/7, on demand, any time, anywhere. Episode Link: https://www.pitchwerks.com/podcast/previous/3
We are regularly checking in with Pitt spinout companies to get an update on their progress in developing their products, acquiring customers and adding employees. Today we catch up with John Cordier (pictured on right) co-founder of Epistemix Inc., whose technology could not be more relevant to the current global public health challenge.
By Nitin Pachisia, Founding Partner of Unshackled Ventures. Nitin Pachisia is an entrepreneur-turned-investor and recently featured in Forbes for his work with Unshackled Ventures, but prior to this he experienced the myths and misinformation that many immigrant entrepreneurs face when forming a startup. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs in the U.S. first started their long journeys in other countries. I should know. I am one of them. There are many different kinds of entrepreneurs and we should honor all of them. But I wanted to use this post to correct several myths associated with immigrant entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs were selected by American institutions of higher learning or companies from a talent pool of billions of people; they truly represent some of the brightest minds in the entire world. But when they dream of starting a business in the US, a common misnomer I often hear is "I have been told that I cannot start my own company in the US while I am on a visa.” This is simply not true.