Studio G, a new technology incubator in Redwood City, CA breaks a long established Silicon Valley mold with an approach that makes it seem more like a graduate school for entrepreneurs than rubber stamp hatchery producing the “next big thing.” Called “Studio G, the 3,500 sf incubator is located in downtown Redwood City, CA, and is the home of Guidewire’s US operations and the office of its founder , Chris Shipley. Located near the Train station in downtown Redwood City’s revitalized theater district, Studio G is designed to accelerate technology entrepreneurs through product development, Ms Shipley notes. Shipley has spiced the traditional Silicon Valley incubator recipe of working space, office tools and relentless high speed internet connectivity with practicum and other on-site instruction on what entrepreneurs need to know to succeed. Unlike many Silicon Valley incubators that rely on captive Venture capitalists to proctor start-ups. Studio G’s faculty comes from the deep pool of entrepreneurial connections Shipley has maintained throughout her 30-plus year career. Another important spice in Studio G’s menu is an a la cart option that lets entrepreneurs sign up for classes on a yearly basis. Guidewire groups Studio G accelerator offers Start-ups offers resident and non-resident programs. Non resident membership costs only $650 a year and allows participants to attend Studio G mentoring activities (including lecture classes and critiques of business propositions, attendance at on-site panels by funding sources and other activities.) Ms Shipley says companies selected to participate in Studio G pay for the incubator’ s service on either fee or equity-based arrangements. To apply for a berth with Studio G go to:
When discussing Studio ’d business model with Chris Shipley I was struck by how much her new venture reminded me of consultancy and how easy it would be to scale her new venture for venues nation or world-wide.
(disclosure: Chris Shipley and I were colleagues several times in our careers; first at PCWeek, and most recently producing the Demo technology conference events--jmf.)
Comments