Budding entrepreneur ready for next big step

BYLINE: Jerry Siebenmark, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Apr. 26--Joey Blue had a pretty good idea going into the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp.' s PIPELINE program last fall of what his idea for a new business was all about.

But what he's found, nearly halfway through the yearlong program aimed at grooming 10 promising Kansas entrepreneurs, is that his business plan needed quite a bit of tweaking.

That was made pretty clear when the inaugural class of PIPELINE entrepreneurs met for the first of four quarterly, three-day-long learning sessions.

"He got some frank, hard medicine and took it to heart," said Joni Cobb, president of PIPELINE, which stands for Promoting Innovations, Providing Education & Leadership, Investing in New Entrepreneurs.

Since then Blue, the only Wichitan among the program's 10 "innovators," has had his commitment to MyAthletePlace.com, a social networking Web site for athletes, tested.

He's responded by narrowing the focus of his business plan to the point "I have a very good position" and a "very compelling market," Blue said.

And he's made the decision to quit his full-time job in the computer department at Wichita State University in order to put all of his attention on his venture. He and his wife have two children -- ages 2 ½ and 6 months -- and he is the family's sole earner.

"That was a big step for me," Blue said. "I'll be out on my own May 4.

"It better work or I'll go bust."

But Blue and his fellow innovators have something that other budding entrepreneurs don't.

PIPELINE is giving them access to educators in entrepreneurship, partnering them with mentors who are entrepreneurs and providing them with $36,000 each for their ventures.

Blue plans to use that money to develop his business and to live off of it for the next few months.

David Raehpour, Blue's mentor, said there's probably not a better circumstance for an entrepreneur, since Blue has access to resources that most don't.

"It's this... little environment where these entrepreneurs can come in and test their ideas, but without a negative consequence," said Raehpour, an early employee at Brite Voice Systems and chief executive of local telecommunications software firm Phonetics LC until its sale last year. "They're in a group that wants to help them make what they're doing better. That's just something you can't get anywhere."

Raehpour said he pushed Blue on his commitment to his business.

"And Joey kept refining it until he got to the point he could defend his idea," Raehpour said. "Now he's got a shot at it."

Blue is not ready to say how he's refined his business plan or what his "very compelling market" is. He doesn't want to give away his ideas to competitors before he launches his business, which he said he expects to do in the next few months.

Blue and his fellow innovators will wrap up their PIPELINE experience in January.

Reach Jerry Siebenmark at 316-268-6576 or jsiebenmark@wichitaeagle.com [mailto:jsiebenmark@wichitaeagle.com].

NOW YOU KNOW

KTEC PIPELINE

The next PIPELINE class will begin in January. Applications will be available in late May at www.ktecpipeline.com [http://www.ktecpipeline.com].

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