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Minneapolis St. Paul Business Radio

Diane Rucker, University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL)

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Diane Rucker, University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL) (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio, Episode 5)

Diane Rucker, Executive Director of University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL), joined host John Ray to discuss her career journey, what she’s learned about startup ecosystems along the way, the health of the Twin Cities startup ecosystem, how UEL serves its startup clients, and much more. If you’re involved in the Twin Cities startup community, this episode is a “must listen.” Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio is produced virtually by the Minneapolis St. Paul studio of Business RadioX®.

University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL)

The original vision for University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL) came from Dr. Robert (Bob) Elde, who served as the dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences. He noted that a growing number of early-stage bioscience companies were struggling to commercialize research. There simply wasn’t a space in the Twin Cities with affordable and available lab facilities where they could develop the technology for a new business.

UEL was established as a nonprofit, public-private partnership in 2004. A former distribution center for Target proved to be an ideal home for the incubator, conveniently located off I-94 and MN-280 near both Minneapolis and St. Paul. The renovation created 21 new wet labs surrounding the main atrium, conference space, and office space for startups and growing companies.

Since its start, UEL has hosted many companies who needed space and support. The resident companies at UEL are innovative, research-based, technologically sophisticated, and entrepreneurial – precisely the kind of businesses that will help Minnesota’s bioscience cluster to grow.

University Enterprise Laboratories does not receive direct support from the University of Minnesota. It was organized as a separate legal entity.

Company website | LinkedIn

Diane Rucker, Executive Director, University Enterprise Labs (UEL)

**Diane Rucker, Executive Director, UEL**

Diane Rucker is the Executive Director of University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL), a business incubator for early-stage ventures in biotechnology, medical health, and life sciences. Diane is an active part of the growing Twin Cities entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving as a mentor for gener8tor, CleanTech Open, Technovation MN, and Twin Cities Startup Week.

She has an Executive MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and served as a mentor and judge for the MIT 100K competition. She also has an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her recent experience includes a collaboration with MIT’s Trust Center for Entrepreneurship and broad-based business and ecosystem experience around the world, including Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She also served as the VP of Client Services for Carrot Health, a startup in healthcare analytics, and held leadership roles with Seagate and General Motors.

In her current role, Diane works closely with startup and growth companies, helping them to build and scale a business. Diane serves on several boards, including Towerside Innovation District, the Ramsey County Workforce Innovation Board, the gBETA Advisory Board for gener8tor, and the MIT Sloan Alumni Board.

She and her husband, Derek, live in Apple Valley, Minnesota, with their three (awesome) daughters.

Questions and Topics in this Interview

What is University Enterprise Labs (UEL)?
What types of startups do you support?
How has the startup ecosystem changed in the Twin Cities over the last 5-10 years?
What exactly is a startup ecosystem, and why does it matter?
How did you get started as an entrepreneur, and what triggered your interest?
What else do you do – what is important to you?
What’s unique or interesting about the Minneapolis-St.Paul business climate that makes it a good place for startups?
What’s next for UEL?

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the Minneapolis St. Paul studio of Business RadioX® . You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Alpharetta Tech Talk

Alpharetta Tech Talk: Tom Berger, RDK Consulting, Inc.

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“Alpharetta Tech Talk,” Episode 12: Tom Berger

Tom Berger, RDK Consulting, joins “Alpharetta Tech Talk” to discuss his mentorship of entrepreneurs and startups, his comprehensive web resource, CxO Atlas, lessons learned along the way, and much more. The host of “Alpharetta Tech Talk” is John Ray and this series is broadcast from the North Fulton Business RadioX® studio inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Tom Berger, RDK Consulting, Inc.

After over four decades of corporate and venture-backed small company experience, Tom Berger gives back by mentoring entrepreneurs and CxOs of startups and private companies. Although his direct experience has been in technology, Tom has found that his “lessons learned” and work experience is equally applicable to all business sectors. All of the variables in the “Business Success Equation” are the same. Different variables need special attention at different times.

Tom formed his business consulting firm, RDK Consulting, Inc., in 1999. For the past several years, Tom has operated on a pro bono basis, helping entrepreneurs and startup companies by providing guidance on a wide variety of business issues.

In addition to provide in-person mentoring in and around North Georgia, Tom has authored a website, CxO Atlas, which includes over 620 short, single subject articles on a wide variety of business-related subjects. The articles are divided into Volumes, Chapters, and Sections. Articles are about 800 characters long and occupy two pages. Each can be read in any order and take about three minutes to read. There is absolutely no charge for accessing or download any of the website content.

To learn more, go to the CxO Atlas website, or email Tom directly.

About “Alpharetta Tech Talk”

“Alpharetta Tech Talk” is the radio show/podcast home of the burgeoning technology sector in Alpharetta and the surrounding GA 400 and North Fulton area. We feature key technology players from a dynamic region of over 900 technology companies. “Alpharetta Tech Talk” comes to you from from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®, located inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Past episodes of “Alpharetta Tech Talk” can be found at alpharettatechtalk.com.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with approximately $12.9 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you.