Have you ever wondered how cutting-edge federal technology may help minority entrepreneurs in the technology sector? Today, we dive into that subject with our guest, Dr. Paul Campbell. According to Paul, his music background enabled him to see a mashup opportunity to drive innovation from a tech transfer perspective.

Paul is a co-founder and managing partner of Brown Venture Group, a venture capital firm that focuses on Black, Latino, and Indigenous technology startups. Paul has an impressive background in music, tech, and entrepreneurship. 

In this episode we talk about the NASA Inclusive Innovation Mash-up Lab, an initiative brought to life by Brown Venture Capital and NASA. The Innovation Mash-up Lab is meant to empower underrepresented entrepreneurs and contributors to find opportunities through federal tech transfer.

Paul breaks it all down for us and shares how this initiative is opening doors for those who have historically been left out of the conversation. 

In This Episode:

[01:41] Paul has been an entrepreneur since he was a teenager. He worked in the music industry and eventually discovered things like Y Combinator and venture capital.

[03:15] Innovation is a blending of different ideas, just like a music mashup. A mashup lab is often used to solve problems.

[05:00] We learn how a mashup with a wine press ended up leading to the printing press.

[06:11] The study of behavioral economics is a great tool to take complex ideas and whittle it down into something usable.

[07:11] Ask good questions and whittle everything down to a manageable set of opportunities.

[08:54] When NASA reached out, Paul began talking to people in different industries. The question was what would they do if they could harvest NASA technology. They learned about the technology commercialization process. 

[11:06] The group decided to land a relationship with NASA and work strategically. This was the beginning of the NASA Inclusive Innovation Mash-up Lab.

[11:52] They were focusing on the medical side and the aviation fuel side.

[12:29] They needed an expert in technology and an expert in entrepreneurship.

[14:08] This is the beginning of the journey for the commercialization process.

[15:06] After the mashup lab, the entrepreneurs get to have conversations with investors. 

[15:58] Licensing a technology through a federal lab opens many doors and opportunities to entrepreneurship.

[17:33] The licensing technology from a federal lab helps de-risk the investment.

[19:05] The program helps close the relationship gap. 

Resources: 

Dr. Paul Campbell LinkedIn

Brown Venture Group

NASA Inclusive Innovation Mashup Lab