With over 30 years of wide-ranging experience, Mark Barberio is an accomplished business leader and an influential angel investor in Upstate New York. In an interview with Upstate Venture Connect he shares more about his background, and mission to help support the next generation entrepreneurs.
As much I would love to think I have all the answers, I’ve quickly find out that being an entrepreneur is all about listening to others and molding it into your business. I really believe that trying to be in business without a mentor and the right people in your corner is dangerous.
Successful startup founders are the key to building a sustainable ecosystem in Upstate New York. A great example is the recent new of Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya paying it forward by offering 2,000 of his employees shares of the yogurt company. By passing along this wealth, some employees could become millionaires when Chobani is sold or goes public. This creates opportunities for the employees to launch new companies of their own, or invest in other Upstate NY startups.
I had the privilege to be among the 14 judges RPI enlisted for their Business Model Competition, joined by serial entrepreneur Bob Godgart, who contributed the $8,000 first prize. In a compelling, ten-minute pitch, RPI mechanical engineering student, James Cazzoli, took home first place for his plan to develop and market a new inhaler device.
Get a job after graduation or create your own? That’s the decision students at Syracuse University are exploring as part of a new campus entrepreneurship program, Blackstone LaunchPad. Last week SU hosted a LaunchPad grand opening celebration featuring student demonstrations, along with the presentation of $60,000 in CompeteCNY awards to winning SU student ventures in the regional qualifier of the NYS Business Plan Competition.
The growth of our development community is essential to the success of our entrepreneurial ecosystem. There is a real need for more coding resources in Syracuse. Individuals need education and mentorship opportunities, while employers need help finding talent. The founders of local venture accelerator, StartFast, have a solution to this problem. They aim to create a sustainable bootcamp called StartFast Code, specifically tailored for the Syracuse market.
The days when technology was a field reserved for men are definitely gone. As the need for diversity in this industry has been growing through the last decades, promising in-field initiatives gradually make it possible for women to access the resources and the support they need to succeed in Tech. The new Meetup Group Women in Tech launched a few weeks ago by Elisa Miller-Out is one of them.
The day when humans never again have to vacuum came another step closer to reality last week as Maidbot, the Cornell University student startup that’s on a mission to transform hotel housekeeping with robots, took first place in Student Startup Madness, a national tournament-style competition for new digital media businesses.
Upstate Venture Connect (UVC.org) Founder Martin Babinec says follow venture capital to determine Upstate job growth.
Some of the coolest and most experienced angel investors have joined forces to launch a new angel investment fund in the Hudson Valley. In a recent roadtrip to New Paltz, I met up with several of these outstanding angel investors, who are ready to support local, scalable startups with capital, mentorship and valuable network resources.
