Oct. 6, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by South Dakota Biotech.

Do you own a business, or are you thinking about it? Consider a trip to Startup School.

The free event series runs this month and is hosted by South Dakota Biotech, the state’s industry trade association, in partnership with the Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership Hub and the Dakota Research and Consulting Organization, or DRACO.

The one-hour workshops run weekly starting at 8:45 a.m.

Here’s a look at the topics and locations:

Livestream is available for virtual attendees, and watch parties will be posted on DRACO’s Facebook page.

We asked DRACO co-founder and president Eric Sandhurst to tell us more about Startup School.

Who is a good fit for Startup School and should consider attending this?

• Students with an idea, students who want to try something new, anyone interested in a side hustle, researchers and academic inventors, community innovators, anyone looking to network with the entrepreneurship/startup community in the state, technology transfer personnel, and city and state economic development representatives.
• Students who are interested in taking an idea to the next level, looking to connect with other like-minded students or looking to learn something new or get involved in exciting entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Researchers interested in commercializing their technology.
• Technology transfer personnel looking to assist academic researchers in forming a company around their research.
• Economic development representatives seeking to support emerging technology sectors.

What can people expect from the content? What did you keep in mind in putting the topics together?

Startup School is intended to be a crash course on starting a company from the ground up. We wanted each week to provide an overview of topics ranging from what it takes to be an entrepreneur, funding your entrepreneurial endeavors, building a good team, connecting to resources in South Dakota, understanding intellectual property and navigating the regulatory environment.

The event series started with a talk from Brian Rupert of Hill City, S.D., about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, first steps and some of the books he found inspirational and applicable. The next event on Oct. 8 will feature Ryan Oines and Dr. Mark Brown of the USD Discovery District discussing various approaches to funding a startup.

Startup School launched last year. How are you adding to it or changing it this year?

We had very positive feedback from the attendees last year. The 2020 Startup School will feature talks delivered by entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the state. To broaden our impact and support entrepreneurial activities happening across the state, we are hosting two of the five events from Rapid City. DRACO seeks to continue building bridges across the state to connect institutions, businesses, researchers and students together to strengthen the local startup communities. We anticipate that the majority of our audience will continue to join virtually, and our goal is to provide engaging and professional remote experiences.

How can people sign up? If they missed the first week, can they still jump in?

People can register for free though Eventbrite. 2020 Startup School will continue for the next four Thursdays in October.

Since each week features a new speaker on a new topic, interested participants will benefit from each session independently. The information conveyed on each topic will help build competencies and serve as a foundation for establishing a new startup company.

We will be posting a summary of each talk, including a recommended reading list and any actions you can take to get audience members closer to starting their company. Finally, we are preparing a highlight video of the entire series, which we will share with those who have registered.