Ideas at ND

One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market. To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.  In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.  This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.

One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market. To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.  In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.  This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.

One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market. To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.  In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.  This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.

One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market. To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.  In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.  This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.

In part 4 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth. This episode is moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

Rob McColgan graduated from Notre Dame in 2002 and majored in Finance and Film. Rob is currently the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Modern Market. 

In part 3 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth. This episode if moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

Will McLeod graduated from Notre Dame in 2009 with a degree in Product Design and from the Notre Dame ESTEEM program in 2010. Will is the Founder of SmarterShade, a smart glass technology company. Since 2013, Will has served as the Chief of Product for Keen Home, a startup dedicated to creating connected devices for the home in the smart HVAC space. In 2015, Keen Home was featured on the popular TV show 'Shark Tank.' This podcast was recorded on February 24, 2020. 

Brett Belock received his BA in Design from Notre Dame in 2008 and his MBA from Notre Dame in 2014. Brett is now a Product Manager at AC3. This episode was recorded on February 23, 2020. 

In part 2 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth. This episode if moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

Caile Coughlan is a senior Science-Business major and Bioengineering minor from Massapequa, NY. This episode was recorded on April 11, 2020.

In this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth. This episode is moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

Tyler Hulett graduated from Notre Dame in 2010  and majored in Biochemistry and Anthropology. During his time at ND, Tyler competed in the McCloskey New Venture Competition and later served as a McCloskey judge. Tyler currently works for a startup called CDI Laboratories where he focuses on Immuno-Oncology and Biomarker Development. 

This episode features guest host Bryan Ritchie, vice president and Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame, interviewing Matt Leevy, Director of the IDEA Center Innovation Lab.  Matt Leevy previously appeared on IDEAs at ND on November 14, 2019. 

Ashley Kalinauskas is the Founder and CEO of Torigen Inc, a company focused on veterinary cancer care.  To learn more about Torigen or to reach out to Ashley, visit https://www.torigen.com/

Reilly Lanigan is a senior Finance and ACMS major from Lake Forest, Illinois. Reilly is also a member of the Notre Dame Varsity Women's Swim Team. 

Brendan Gallagher received his MBA from Notre Dame in 2012 and is now the Director of Business Development at Sentieon.  This podcast was recorded on March 18th, 2020 as part of the McCloskey 20th Anniversary Series. 

Hey everyone! Just a quick intro here on a new series I'll be running on this podcast. April 2020 is the 20th Anniversary of the McCloskey New Venture Competition. In honor of McCloskey, I'll be having on a bunch of ND alumni who participated in McCloskey to talk about what the competition meant to them and what they're doing now. Thanks so much for listening!

Alice Reid is a senior finance and ACMS major from Naperville, Illinois. Alice is also an RA in McGlinn Hall.

Joe Witt is a senior International Economics major from St. Louis, MO. Joe is also the Senior Class President.