Shawn M. Lange

In today’s business climate, a majority of a company’s operating knowledge is in people’s heads, paper, or cloud/network drives, and the speed at which they are moving prohibits them from documenting this critical intellectual property. As a result, this leaves a company exposed to disruption in the servicing of their clients and the operating of their business. Our goal is simple: To help companies take control of their Operational IP. To drive quality and consistency, so companies and their customers can thrive. The Confidence platform captures and preserves institutional knowledge into playbooks to enable team members to execute on daily operations, gathering performance data to determine where to optimize and opportunistically automate. Learn more here: https://www.confidence.com/

In today’s business climate, a majority of a company’s operating knowledge is in people’s heads, paper, or cloud/network drives, and the speed at which they are moving prohibits them from documenting this critical intellectual property. As a result, this leaves a company exposed to disruption in the servicing of their clients and the operating of their business. Our goal is simple: To help companies take control of their Operational IP. To drive quality and consistency, so companies and their customers can thrive. The Confidence platform captures and preserves institutional knowledge into playbooks to enable team members to execute on daily operations, gathering performance data to determine where to optimize and opportunistically automate. Learn more here: https://www.confidence.com/

Santa Clara University has launched a new business accelerator to support alumni, faculty and students who are creating new technology and startup companies. The Bronco Venture Accelerator (BVA) leverages the Universitys considerable assets, including access to mentors, faculty advisors, student interns, facilities, and related business and technology expertise. The BVA helps to promote the creation of new ventures, foster innovation, and increase the entrepreneurial culture and mindset at the University. It intends to engage the University community, including alumni, students and faculty. The University’s Schools of Business, Engineering, and Law, as well as the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, provide a strong foundation for the BVA. A number of other campus-based programs enhance the BVAs opportunities to find great entrepreneurs and foster a mindset of innovation, including the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Maker Lab, Frugal Innovation Hub, the Entrepreneurs Law Clinic, the Business Pitch Competition, and student-led entrepreneur clubs. BVA Goals The BVA program will accelerate promising ventures founded by University community members and prepare them for investment and improve chances for successful exits. The BVA will leverage faculty expertise and existing signature programs by creating a pipeline to the program, providing technical advice to companies, and offering programs and workshops to companies and students. The BVA will help participants develop entrepreneurial skills through hands-on experiences. The BVA will build connections with Silicon Valley by engaging experienced professionals as advisors, mentors, and investors. The BVA will promote cross-campus collaboration among academic and signature programs that strengthen the campus innovation culture. The BVA will foster the development of socially responsible and ethical business practices.

Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education.

Revolutionizing the food service industry by creating better opportunities for people — with automation and AI solutions that help them run commercial kitchens & bars with ease. L2F is engineering food service with the same rigor that put rockets in space, electric vehicles on every road, and robots in kitchens. For years, L2F has helped companies innovate and bring new ideas from the lab to full-scale fabrication (Lab2Fab™). Our clients have been acquired by major multi-nationals, received tens of millions in VC financing, and launched disruptive technologies to their markets. We now bring our skillset, with laser focus, to the number one food equipment manufacturer in the world, The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD).