{"id":488,"date":"2015-01-12T15:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=488"},"modified":"2015-01-12T15:00:16","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T15:00:16","slug":"mother-business-incubatorsaccelerators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=488","title":{"rendered":"The Mother of All Business Incubators\/Accelerators"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"harvard2\"<\/a>I’ve been involved in a lot of start-ups. No grand slams, but a few solid base hits and some spectacular strike-outs. My ex wife called me a \u201crisk junkie,’ \u2013 I never agreed with that assessment, but I do enjoy the passion and energy of working with founders and employees of new ventures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve also been an adviser to a couple of incubator\/accelerators. One achieving moderate success, the other a catastrophe, but a disaster that was predictable from day one.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Two years ago, I talked to the guys planning\u00a0BlueSeed,<\/a>\u00a0which was a concept of a cruise ship as incubator, parked in the ocean off Silicon Valley. Being beyond the maritime limit of the US would have allowed BlueSeed to attract entrepreneurs from all over the globe that could come to \u201cthe U.S.\u201d without visas.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

BlueSeed had hoped to have as many as 1000 start-ups on board, along with support services and a group of mentors; they would charge nominal rent for the start-ups space and living quarters.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It sure captured my imagination; the imagination of big investors? Not so much.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I love the concept of \u201cstart-up cities,\u201d and they have been launched and successful for specific business segments around the globe, i.e.\u00a0Dubai Media City.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Illinois has an empty facility that would be an ideal location for a start-up city. It’s large enough that it could not only house the offices and manufacturing \/ distribution space for growth companies, but also house, feed, and educate the entrepreneurs and employees.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s large enough so that it would not have to be pigeonholed into a niche category, but could have separate ‘wings’ or floors for different disciplines, such as medical, the ‘internet of things,’ consumer products and so on<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Depending on the configuration of the property, square footage could be divided into work\/live spaces, or housing could be in one area, offices in another.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rents, such as envisioned by BlueSeed, could be charged not only for companies and residents, but also on a bid basis for support services: companies could vie to provide services like dining halls\/outlets, laundry, a university, medical clinics, salons, law and accounting offices, and retail. Common areas would encourage collaboration and spawn joint ventures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The facility should not consider itself in the landlord business however, that is the downside of many incubators; instead rents for start-ups should be very nominal, while the rents from support companies and services could be much higher.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The space was built in the late 1990s, at a (replacement) cost of $250,000,000, and has been empty for several years. It is located in McHenry County, a hour by (frequent) commuter train from downtown Chicago, and less than an hour from O’Hare International and forty minutes from Chicago-Rockford International airports.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Residents seeking leisure activities \u201coff campus\u201d do not necessarily have to travel to Chicago, as the area is surrounded by the northwest suburban communities of the Chicago area, which offer virtually every type of retail, service, and dining establishment desired.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The facility is presently called the Midwest Corporate Campus, and is comprised of 1.5 million square feet, on over 300 acres, with 6,000 surface parking spots. The climate and geography lends itself to an ideal server farm location.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The property is current;y divided up into these sections:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n