An Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Can Get You Started.
Every new business starts with an idea. Your idea may be well thought out, or it may be a flash of inspiration! And, like most university people, you may have little or no experience in business. The UMass Amherst EIR Program was created to provide you and others with a welcoming starting point for exploring business ideas, and to provide knowledgeable guidance on how to turn those business ideas into new companies.
The UMass Amherst EIRs are volunteers that have deep experience in the business world. They have created and developed new products, and have started and built new companies. Each EIR has experience in one or more specific product fields, but their business expertise is relevant in all fields. They have office hours on campus so that anyone in the UMass Amherst community, including undergraduate students, grad students, postdocs and faculty, can easily get confidential information and advice on the potential value of their business ideas and how to pursue them, no matter how undeveloped those ideas may be.
You can find biographies and contact information for the current UMass Amherst EIRs at this link: EIR Bios. Please call Maryanne Laukaitis at the UMass Amherst Technology Transfer Office, 413-577-2126, or email her at maryanne@research.umass.edu. Or, you can email this form to Maryanne, EIR Sign-up Form, and she will contact you to set up the first meeting.
EIR contact information for all programs can be found here: EIR Referral Form.
The College of Information and Computer Science (CICS) has their own EIR program through Ventures @ CICS. Bios and their appointment request portal may be found on their website.
Meet the EIR
Eric Crawley is well-qualified for his position as Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He holds a B.A. degree in Systems Science and an M.S. in Engineering Management and over the last three decades has worked for Rockwell International, Wang Laboratories, Symbolics, Ford Motor Company, Wellfleet Communications, Bay Networks, Juniper Networks, Funk Software, BigBand Networks, Akamai Technologies, and a variety of startups. But his labor of love was always startups. “I’ve always felt it was a whole lot of fun to take a brand new startup company and build it into a going venture.”
As Crawley readily suggests, “Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Only a few people are qualified and able at it. But even those who fit the bill need a lot of support. Nobody starts a company by himself or herself. Networking is a big key. They come to me to find out if entrepreneurship is something they really want to do and if their ideas are worthwhile.”