As announced in an earlier post, our event “Open Innovation” occurred in the Chicago Loop during the evening of March 15, 2011. Please click here for the video including keen insights from our speakers.

Patent Considerations

I hope that you will greatly enjoy the video in its entirety. Plus, I wanted to highlight an especially informative discussion of patent considerations that is presented in the video from the time mark of one hour and nine minutes (01:09:00) through the time mark of one hour and thirteen minutes (01:13:00).

Speakers

Gratitude abounds for the preparation, conversation, and education that were generously provided by our panelists and moderator: Ross Kimbarovsky, Collin Anderson (filling in for Joe Born), Michael Gruber, Paul Kawalek, and Nancy Sullivan. Additional background on our speakers appears on the MIT EF Chicago event page.

Updated Background of Panelist Collin Anderson

Collin Anderson is a CEO, entrepreneur, and consultant with a broad skill set in all aspects of start-up and growth stages in a range of businesses. He recently returned as President and CEO of Digital Innovations, a manufacturer of proprietary consumer electronic and computer accessories that he co-founded and previously led for the first 5+ years of its existence.  During his first tenure at Digital Innovations, he led the company from what was essentially “two-guys-with-an-idea” to outstanding profitability, revenues well into 8-figures, and extensive distribution via the largest retailers worldwide. Collin was also co-inventor of DI’s flagship product, the “SkipDr” CD repair device, which has to date achieved over $250 million in retail sales and is arguably the most successful consumer electronics accessory product in history. He and his team achieved the above with less than $1M in total paid-in-capital.

Between stints at Digital Innovations, Collin founded his own consulting practice, In the Arena Consulting, where he helped his clients’ top management navigate the waters from start-up to profitable going concern and was also co-founder and President of Neuros Technology.  Collin currently serves on three boards of directors and is a frequent guest lecturer at top Chicago-area business schools. He has an MBA (High Honors) from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Scholar; and a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering (High Honors) from Montana Tech.

Volunteer Team

Praises go out to our volunteer team who superbly contributed to the advertising, organization, and running of our event:

Technical Needs Richard Cross http://healthcodex.com

Communications Adam Hicks http://acuityfacade.com and

Jessica Lybeck http://www.hoply.com and http://www.dabblehq.com

Video Subbu Arumugam http://sugarsnap.com and

Carl Karsten http://www.nextdayvideo.com

Team Leader Bob Brill http://bobbrill.net

Trilogy

Thank you to all the speakers, volunteers, and additional members of the Chicago Chapter of MIT EF for our completed three events of March 2009-11 that were entrusted to my leadership. The talented performances and genuine teamwork made exemplary contributions to our community. Links to posts on our two previous events follow, for reference.

How to Use Web 2.0 to Promote Your Business, March 24, 2009.

Bootstrappers and Investors Faceoff, March 16, 2010.

Text Copyright © 2011 Bob Brill

Adam Hicks · Carl Karsten · Collin Anderson · Jessica Lybeck · Joe Born · Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of Chicago · Michael Gruber · MIT EF · MIT EF Chicago · MIT Enterprise Forum · MIT Enterprise Forum of Chicago · MITEF · Nancy Sullivan · Paul Kawalek · Richard Cross · Ross Kimbarovsky · Subbu Arumugam