Texas Venture Labs
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin
Company Information Session
5/15/2014
Mission
1. Accelerate UT and Local Startups
•
•
•
Help raise capital
Bring products to market
Develop a growth strategy
2. Transform UT Graduate Students
•
Create and inspire future entrepreneurs and
business leaders
3. Create a Community
What is Texas Venture Labs?
Texas Venture Labs
Texas
Venture
Labs
Practicum
Accenture
Venture
Partner
Program
New
Venture
Creation
(NVC)
Venture
Labs
Investment
Competition
TVL
Scholarship
Program
Texas Venture Labs Practicum
What is the Texas Venture Labs Practicum?
Course
Accelerator
• Focus on
entrepreneurship
• Students learn from top
professors
• Work with local
entrepreneurs
• Gain skills to help with
projects for startups
• Startups partnered with
with graduate students
from across campus
(MBA, Pharmacy, CNS,
Engineering and Law)
• Create, supervise
consulting projects
based on real company
challenges
• Students gain
experience and apply
your knowledge
outside the classroom
Organization
• Get to know
entrepreneurialminded students from
multiple degree
programs
• Experience Austin
entrepreneurial
resources and events
How does it work?
Present startup
to students of
first day of
class
Assigned a crossfunctional team
(typically 2 MBA,
1 Law, 2 Technical)
of graduate
students
Meet regularly with
students to
complete consulting
projects (receive
~500 hours of grad
student work total).
Receive final
deliverables from
team
Pitch startup at
Venture Expo, an
exclusive event
for "Investor
Ready" ventures
Company Stages
Early Stage
• Usually pre-revenue
• Typically <$50k raised
• At least one full time employee
Typical Projects:
• Market research for commercial
viability
• Target customers for product or
service
• Go/No go decision for a startup
Growth Stage
• Some revenue (often <$1M)
• Raised some external funding
• Typically have at least 1 nonfounder on team
Typical Projects
• Improved marketing strategy
• Competitive analysis and
differentiation research
• Best practices for sales, marketing,
and legal functions.
Project Focus Areas
Market Validation
Business Model
Assessment
Worked with Admittance Technologies to research three potential
applications for their product, ultimately determining that one was viable
and two were not.
Examined the marketability of Kin Valley as a social media platform and
worked with them to shift to a data-based business model.
Financial Analysis
Helped Moniker Guitars get their statements in order and analyze the
information to validate their pricing model.
Funding Guidance
Assisted Farmhouse Delivery in identifying their five-year growth
potential based on different funding options (VC, Angel, Loans,
Bootstrap).
Competitive
Analysis
Looked into competitors and substitutes for Jurify and found they did not
provide enough differentiation to gain funding.
TVL in Action
Fall 2010
Spring 2011
Fall 2011
Atonometrics
Hurricane Party
Hyperware
M87
Ovna Medical
ThaTrunk
Alafair Biosciences
eCampusTutors
Infochimps
Mass Relevance
SpectraPhase
Xeris Pharmaceuticals
Akimbo
Digital Harmony Games
RayDyne Energy
Salient Pharmaceuticals
Televero Health
Vocal Media
Zilker Motors
TVL in Action
Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Clear Technology Systems
Enerlyte
Gametime Arena
Terra Pave
Titralyte
Vecturalux
Escapaide
EyeQ
Health Information
Associates
Jurify
Nuventix
Paybook
TeVido Biodevices
Unique Influence
Spring 2013
Admittance Technologies
Altogen Labs
Carnegie Design Systems
Cellular Machines
IncentTo
Infinite IO
Vampire Labs
77 companies • Over 41% funded • Over $203 million raised
Company Evaluation
What we look for while evaluating companies:
1. Good fit for TVL
 Projects in line with TVL expertise
 Students will be interested in the company
2. Able to provide a good student experience
 Willing to work closely with students
 Will attend important accelerator events

First day of class, mid-semester update, Venture Expo,
etc.
Benefits of the accelerator
1. 400-500 man hours of multi-disciplinary, talented grad
student work
2. Opportunity to pitch your startup at “Investor ready”
Venture Expo
3. Access to TVL resources and larger Austin-based
entrepreneurial community
4. Wide range of potential projects for most business
challenges, not limited to fundraising
5. TVL takes no money or equity.
Application Process and Timeline
Application Currently Live at
bit.ly.com/ApplyTVL2014
1. Submit basic company information online
 Due: June 15, 2014
2. Interview with TVL staff
 Rolling interviews
 Completed by: June 25, 2014
3. Selections communicated: July 1, 2014
4. First Day of Class: September 9, 2014
Questions?
Learn more at http://bit.ly/TVLaccelerator
Apply online at http://bit.ly/ApplyTVL2014
Questions?
tvl.utexas.edu
infoTVL@mccombs.utexas.edu