Start-up software company prepares to leave ‘Launch Pad’
for the next development stage

A biomedical research lab is a magnet for smart, driven people drawn together by their passion for discovery.

But those labs are also small businesses, with university budgets that range from $250,000 to $2 million. And therein lies the rub, said Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at UNC Hospitals and founder of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute.

“These labs are run by people who are not trained in business so they are, by definition, poorly run small businesses,” he said.

Story continues below photo

Patterson said he recognized this problem even before he came to the University nine years ago to direct the heart institute, the research arm of the School of Medicine that joins clinicians with basic scientists to unravel the causes of cardiovascular disease.

Patterson said it made no sense to him that research labs on the cutting edge of science should be run with archaic, disjointed business practices. To find a solution to that problem, he asked software development specialist Rob Lineberger and senior lab technician Holly McDonough to come up with an inclusive program capable of “simply keeping track of what was going on.”

In 2005, McDonough and Lineberger developed a Web-based program called BlitZEN that provides a common interface platform for all aspects of the research process, from grant management to data collection to inventory management.

BlitZEN moves beyond the spreadsheet feel of typical lab software to create a visually based virtual laboratory, Lineberger said. To find out what is in a box in a freezer down the hall, for instance, users can navigate their browsers to the virtual freezer and click “open.” On the screen will appear complete information about the item in the box – from who ordered it to how it was paid for to what data was generated from it.

The program’s capacity to perform multiple functions simultaneously helps eliminate duplicate ordering, saves hours of time searching for items and ultimately helps improve the quality of the science produced, Lineberger said.

Best of all, Patterson said, the software was quickly embraced by people in the lab. “Without them knowing it, we are forcing them to function the way a business would function,” he said.

Patterson understood that with BlitZEN, Lineberger had created an indispensable management tool for his lab. But there was no eureka moment when it dawned on either one that they had a viable commercial product that could be sold to research laboratories across the country.

That realization, Lineberger said, came when the phone started ringing from labs as far away as the University of Colorado and as close as Duke. People had heard about this new management system through word of mouth.

But turning a business idea into a business plan is a daunting challenge, so the idea sat dormant until spring 2008 when Patterson, who was then completing his MBA at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, joined with Lineberger in a course called “Launching the Venture.”

The course, designed and taught by Ted Zoller, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Kenan-Flagler, helps people like Patterson and Lineberger figure out whether they have an idea that can be turned into a business and the steps involved in developing it.

By the time the class ended, Patterson said, they had developed a business model and a name for their company: Dyzen.

Then, last fall, they heard about Carolina Launch Pad, a new pre-commercial incubator for University faculty, staff and students – a joint effort of the Office of Technology Development, Kenan-Flagler and the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI).

They quickly jumped at the chance and won an inaugural one-year spot.

“Carolina Launch Pad gave us almost the perfect space to go and do design work,” Lineberger said. “You step off the elevator directly into the RENCI incubator and it’s just you and your idea. If you can’t make it happen in that kind of space, it’s not going to happen. It’s just a calming place to compose your thoughts.”

Of even greater value, Lineberger said, is the supportive atmosphere established by Launch Pad director David Knowles.

“They have basically come to us and said, ‘What do you need to be successful?’” Lineberger said. “I’ve been involved in other collaborations where people have asked that question, but with the Launch Pad, when you tell them what you need, they provide it – not the next week or the next month, but that day.”

An example of that kind of support came when Lineberger asked about marketing BlitZEN, and Launch Pad responded by having Web designer Josh Coyle develop a Web site. In addition, Coyle shot photos for an advertising campaign, while public relations specialist Karen Green created a media plan.

Knowles also worked with them to review potential executives for Dyzen, while Cathy Innes, director of the Office of Technology Development, provided constant encouragement and support.

In December, Dyzen will make way for the new class of five Launch Pad ventures. Patterson said he has already begun to search for a CEO with software experience as he evaluates the money necessary for start-up costs.

The founders of Dyzen have just learned that they are among 10 finalists for a grant from NC IDEA, an organization that fosters economic development in North Carolina by helping young startups commercialize their innovations. This week, they will pitch their company to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs.

“Our fingers are crossed,” Lineberger said. “But whether we’re awarded the grant or not, getting this far speaks to the viability of our idea and the strength of support we’ve received thus far.”

For more information on Carolina Launch Pad, refer to www.carolinalaunchpad.org.