Bill Adamowski hit the ground running when he landed at Iowa State University this past spring. With the same eye that has keenly analyzed multimillion-dollar business opportunities, Adamowski has sized up some gaps in ISU’s entrepreneurial offerings and is moving forward with three innovative programs he’s devised to move the university’s efforts ahead.

Adamowski is director of innovation and entrepreneurship with ISU’s new Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations, which formally launched earlier this year to move forward ISU President Steven Leath’s vision to create stronger connections between the university and industry.

A project on Adamowski’s list is an entrepreneurial incubator he plans to start at the ISU Research Park called the Startup Factory.

The model is based on one used by several Silicon Valley venture capital firms that is sometimes referred to as the “third co-founder” model.

“That analogy is based on two co-founders in the company and we would become the third co-founder,” he said. In many cases, there can be a “billion-dollar idea” out there, but a missing piece of talent in the startup keeps the company from moving forward, he noted. “So I would actually work with them in terms of coming up with a business model, maybe even making some of the first calls to clients and potential investors.”

A second project he’s working on is to create an entrepreneurial network called Cy Angels.

“To make a company successful, what are some of the ingredients we need? Part of it is connecting with the right people — so how do we create the right mentor network, the right adviser network, as well as potential angel investor network? So even though the name Cy Angels implies angel investors, it’s broader than that,” Adamowski said. “It’s about quick validation; it’s about finding mentors and advisers to help companies out.”  

Adamowski observed that ISU isn’t tapping its executive alumni like it should to help entrepreneurs. “Traditionally when you’re talking about entrepreneurship it doesn’t cross with large companies,” he said. “But there’s a lot of subject matter sitting out there, and I think what people have found is that that phone call is very complimentary. … So that’s the whole idea of Cy Angels, is how do we tap that expertise.”

A third project is the formation of what Adamowski terms the Analytics Leadership Council, which will advance and coordinate big data initiatives between industry and Iowa State.

An organizing group of companies made up of Athene USA, Kingland Systems, Kum & Go LC, Wells Fargo & Co., and Workiva has organized a big data and analytics meeting Oct. 7.

We’ll bring a lot of other people to it; my personal ambition is to have a large conference and make Central Iowa a leader in that big data and analytics space,” Adamowski said. “Without big dreams, nothing can happen.”

Iowa State’s position is that it’s already a leader in the analytics space, but it’s seeking to further its leadership position, he said. “So we’re looking to get company feedback into the kind of students they’re looking for; in every discipline I think we’re starting to see it. And of course, I’d like to see some startups come out of that.”