The Titanic represents to many of us the iconic tale of what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The tragedy is embodied in that instant when The Ship struck The Iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew—and the hubris of thinking we can build something too big to fail. But while the iceberg may have represented the killing blow, what many do not realize is that the demise of the Titanic was in fact a result of a series of small decisions and missteps across a number of dimensions.

Tales of venture failure also often focus on the defining moment when a lost customer, a lack of investor dollars, or a product malfunction results in the death of a promising startup. But that failure is nearly always the result of a series of errors that were not obvious—problems that lurked beneath the surface—that were a consequence of navigating uncertainty in the early stages of development. These errors take the form of hidden non-financial debts that gradually weigh down the budding enterprise. While financial debts are obvious and easy to measure, the hidden debts we explore are obligations and barriers to success that are not as easy to identify, and an unintended consequence of navigating uncertainty.

This presentation, based on the book of the same name, will help startups and their investors and supporters identify and manage the hidden debts resulting from making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Don’t let the Titanic Effect sink your startup!

See the website www.titaniceffect.com for more and to sign up for our blogs on startup success.

Agenda
6:00pm-7:00pm Registration & Networking
7:00pm-8:00pm Guest Speakers
8:00pm-8:30pm Networking

Location
Inova Center for Personal Health
Conference Center
8100 Innovation Park Drive
Fairfax, VA 22031

Parking Instructions
Use the old address in your GPS device: 3225 Gallows Road, Fairfax, VA 22031, but note that the building does say 8100 on it.

Moderator: Jeffrey N. Hausfeld MD, MBA
Co-Founder and Chairman the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs
Chairman and Chief Medical Officer BioFactura, Inc.

SPEAKER BIOS

Dr. Todd Saxton, Associate Professor and Indiana Venture Faculty Fellow at the IU Kelley School of Business, is an award-winning professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. Todd has advised, helped launch, and invested in hundreds of startups spanning life sciences, software, sports, consumer products, and services. Todd serves on the board of multiple entrepreneurial ventures, including VisionTech Angel Partners, the largest angel investing group in Indiana, and Diagnotes, a venture- funded health IT firm he helped found. Todd co-founded the Indiana Chapter of SoPE in 2018, and took on the role of Vice President of Business Development for the Regenstrief Institute in 2019. He has published numerous book chapters and articles on corporate and startup strategies for success. Todd hails from New Jersey, and has lived in Virginia, the DC area, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Bloomington IN, with stints in England and Australia. He currently lives in Indianapolis, IN.

Dr. M. Kim Saxton, Clinical Professor of Marketing at the IU Kelley School of Business, has over 30 years of marketing and market research experience, working with large corporations, startups and medium-sized businesses. Her research on market segmentation, branding, and venture ecosystems has received national recognition. Kim has won numerous school-wide teaching awards including the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence for all of the IU system. Currently, she is an Associate Editor on the Journal of Advertising Research. Kim is also an active angel investor and advisor to high-potential startups. She is a member of the advisory board for PERQ and The Startup Ladies. Kim grew up in Florida, went to school in Boston, and has lived in the DC area, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, currently residing in Indianapolis, IN.

CHAPTER SPONSORS