Boomer Business Plans Win Prizes at Silicon Valley Summit

SANTA CLARA, CA. – (June 17, 2008) Proposals for an easily operated machine that would prevent muscle-wasting in intensive care patients and for a chain of stores providing “lifestyle experiences” to Baby Boomers who want to age at home each won $10,000 in the annual Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition for entrepreneurs developing products and services for the 40+ market.

Niveus Medical, which has developed an "intelligent" electrical stimulation system called "Intellistim" aimed at minimizing the muscle atrophy that often accompanies prolonged bed stays, won in the Health category. The machine, designed at Stanford University’s Biodesign Program, is unlike similar products in that it would not require the patient be conscious and does not need to be operated by a physical therapist. According to the business plan, 1.3 million patients stay in an ICU for more than five days, many in drug-induced comas that facilitate healing. Without muscle stimulation, they often have difficulty recovering their muscle tone and functionality, according to Ronald Jou, MD, a member of the Niveus medical team.

He said the Niveus market plan estimates the technology has the potential to deliver $1.3 billion in savings to hospitals by reducing recovery periods. "It’s great to be validated by people who are unbiased and objective," Jou said of the contest. "Of course, it doesn’t hurt to tell potential investors that we won."

John Kalb, founder and CEO of HomePreferred, winner in the General category of the competition, was participating in his third Summit. The strategic consultant (Activations) first attended to learn more about the boomer demographic, which includes 78 million Americans representing more than $2.5 trillion in spending power. Last year, he met and hired the company’s "merchandise maven," Jason Popko, during a Summit coffee break. This year, he entered his business plan, and won.

"This validates the hard work we’ve put in to define a new market," said Kalb, who envisions the HomePreferred stores as "lifestyle" emporiums similar to Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn where customers can see and experience home adaptive equipment, new technologies, "art of aging" materials and services. He hopes to open the first store in Marin, where he lives. He said in an interview that in addition to being a Boomer himself, he also has a son with cerebral palsy who requires adaptive equipment, so he’s very familiar with the needs in the market.

The competition was part of the Fifth Annual Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit held June 17 at Santa Clara University by the Executive Development Center at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University and Mary Furlong & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on the 40+ market. The competition received more than 60 entries from entrepreneurs in the U.S. and from around the world. All entrants receive feedback on their executive summary submissions. Semifinalist plans were reviewed by venture capitalists and industry experts.

Finalists presented their plans to a panel of judges during the Summit. Judges included Carole Anderson, vice president of the American Society on Aging; Ravi Belani, Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Jay DeKoons, partner in Highland Capital Partners; Lorraine Larson, Silicon Valley Council on Aging; Andy Donner, PhysicVentures; Charles Hirschhorn, Retirement Living TV; Nancy U. Kamei, senior director at Intel Capital; Ladan Manteghi, president of the AARP Global Network; Ajit Medhekar, ARCH Venture Partners; Scott Moonly of Johnson & Johnson Development Group; Scott Oliver, Morrison & Foerster; Simmi Singh, Converge Partners; Jon Staenberg, Rustic Canyon Partners; Vance Vanier, M.D., Navigenics; and Peter Ziebelman, Palo Alto Venture Partners.

In addition to the winners, semifinalists were:
About Face Technologies, which designs easy to use remote control devices.
CareSquare.com, which connects seniors and their families to caregivers in a social network.
In My Life, interactive entertainment and web portal/search engine.
SecureAll, a centrally controlled security and activity tracking system.
Cansil, a diagnostic device from the University of Illinois that tests cells for softness as an indication of cancer.
CorTechs Lab, which uses computational tools to analyze magnetic resonance images (MRIs) to discover brain atrophy indicative of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dialog Devices, a British product that diagnoses peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which is often a precursor to stroke.
Radiogenic Therapeutics, developed at Johns Hopkins University, a less invasive implantation system for radiation therapy.

About the co-producers
The Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University has nationally ranked undergraduate, MBA and Executive MBA programs. It is considered one of the premier programs for Silicon Valley’s working professionals, who make up more than 80 percent of its 1,100 MBA students. Founded in 1926, it was one of the first business schools in the country to receive national accreditation. For more information, please visit www.scu.edu/business

Mary Furlong & Associates is a team of business innovators in the fields of marketing, editorial, business, online content and community focusing on the 40+ market. Furlong, a Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, previously founded SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media. Her latest book, “Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace,” was published in 2007. For more information, please visit www.maryfurlong.com