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During the 3rd day of the Indiana University Innovation Fellows we had a chance to meet with Professor Mark Long. Long has been involved in 68 different ventures, so he shared with us his insights and experiences. One of his focuses was explaining how many startups benefit from incubators.

Incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array networks, resources and services. They vary in the way they deliver their services, in their organizational structure, and in the types of clients they serve. Launching in an incubator dramatically reduces startup costs; rent is set at low prices and resources such as conference rooms and equipment are pooled.  We’ve covered some of the more famous incubators, such as Tech Stars, Launch Box, Y Combinator and DreamIt, which all take a portion of the company (typically between 2 and 12%) for a seed investment. However, the incubators that Long is familiar with are R&D shops that have a different structure.

Long explained that incubators are looking for businesses that have : 1) Business Plan 2) 6 Months Rent in capital (specific only to some types of incubators) 3) Dedicated management team. For more information and to find an incubator near you click here. Keep in mind, you are not limited to your own state. In the words of Mark Long, “neighboring states love to pull companies”.