Business Incubator

Thanks to my experience living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area my exposure to Silicon Valley based firms and talent, I have a very expanded view of Start-Up. As a person raised in New York, the way a business starts up is very different from the models derived out of universities and as of late out of Silicon Valley. These are models based on the selling of software and technology which is very different from a retail business model or a corporate model.

Business Incuabor (Wiki):

Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts. Incubators vary in the way they deliver their services, in their organizational structure, and in the types of clients they serve. Successful completion of a business incubation program increases the likelihood that a start-up company will stay in business for the long term: Historically, 87% of incubator graduates stay in business.[1]

Incubators differ from research and technology parks in their dedication to start-up and early-stage companies. Research and technology parks, on the other hand, tend to be large-scale projects that house everything from corporate, government or university labs to very small companies. Most research and technology parks do not offer business assistance services, which are the hallmark of a business incubation program. However, many research and technology parks house incubation programs.

Incubators also differ from the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Development Centers (and similar business support programs) in that they serve only selected clients. SBDCs are required by law to offer general business assistance to any company that contacts them for help. In addition, SBDCs do not target start-up and early-stage companies; they work with any small business at any stage of development. Many business incubation programs partner with their local SBDC to create a "one-stop shop" for entrepreneurial support.

In 2005 alone, North American incubation programs assisted more than 27,000 companies that provided employment for more than 100,000 workers and generated annual revenues of $17 billion.[2]