06 Dec My Back to School Day
I ventured up I-65 to Boiler Country this week with the sole objective of immersing myself in the startup and co-working culture in and around Purdue University.
I started my day at The Anvil where I met with Mike Asem. A quick tour and chat with Mike told me that the foundation is in place (it’s built in what seems like a concrete bunker) for a wonderful co-work and events space. With two large rooms and a third one waiting, they have ample co-working space already with a couple meeting rooms along with a large events space that also serves as more communal work space when events aren’t in the house. Just a few minutes walking on the west side of campus, it’s close enough for for students and faculty to work this into their orbit. This student-led effort will pick up momentum as membership and awareness grows. 
Next up was The Foundry, where I sat down with Executive Director Greg Deason. The Foundry is a bit of a culture shift for Purdue Research Foundation. Where they used to focus on companies ready to take space at one of their four state-wide research parks, they now focus on earlier stage ventures they help move from idea to viable startup. They host regular Friday morning pitch sessions at their office. The entrepreneurial community will pitch ideas on a whiteboard and attendees and Foundry staff provide feedback. The Foundry also makes heavy use of the Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR). Between the EIRs and the accomplished staff, The Foundry is a great place for a domain expert to take an idea with the hopes of finding business, marketing, legal and other services to advance to a viable business. One big differentiator here: The Foundry is perfecting how to engage the powerful Boiler alumni network to advance their startups!
Grey House Coffee served as the backdrop for a standup with Jason Tennenhouse. Jason started this very popular coffee house as an extension of Campus House. It thrives as a nonprofit organization with more soul than can you can imagine until you’ve been inside. A “gift a cup” program for people who wish to purchase a cup of coffee for a friend awaits as you enter. A drive to make board games (think Monopoly and Connect 4) available to families fosters the spirit of giving – patrons buy the board games and leave them at Grey House so families, who might not otherwise afford the luxury, can pay whatever they can to take a game home to their kids. Mix their clear organizational culture with the one-of-a-kind Nuova Simonelli espresso machine (their machine was used in the barista world championship competition in Atlanta), and you have a coffee shop that is clearly doing well by doing good!
Out the door and around the corner is the award-winning GreyMob, which is a collection of smart do-gooders aiming to change the world. No weak sauce here! Some great design thinking — with a heart — happens here.
Last stop: The Matchbox. Seeing this in person with Jason was even more inspiring than the renderings and concepts I had seen on previous visits by this group when they stopped by Launch Fishers. A vast, free-span space with a barrel roof immediately took me back to the early days of DeveloperTown. While some say the “across the river” location may initially seem like a barrier, I think this will serve as a strong magnet collecting a following once the doors open in early 2014.
So, what did I learn from this trip? I already knew that Purdue was a monster in the commercialization of ideas and creation of entrepreneurial companies. I didn’t know they had pushed so mightily into the seediest of the seed stage venture creation (applause)! I think The Foundry serves as a wonderful role in continuing Purdue’s long history of successful “launches” (think SSCI and look at the long list of current companies here: https://
Overall, it was a wonderful day that I think will lead to further discussions about partnership and working together to build out this important part of our entrepreneurial ecosystem.