Entrepreneurs Share Advice on Innovation Economy

The College of Management, in conjunction with the College of Engineering and Division of Science, presented “Innovation for the Next Generation” during inauguration week. Shown at the event are, from left, College of Management Dean Kathryn Carter, Frank Paolino, Joseph Vaillancourt, Michael Olivieri, Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, Yash Puri and Joey Mead.

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“Innovation is all about change and change is all about leadership,” Sycamore Networks Co-Founder and Chairman Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande told the more than 200 students, faculty and staff who packed Alumni Hall on Wednesday, April 2 for “Innovation for the Next Generation.”

Deshpande was one of the entrepreneurs, including UMass Lowell alums, who shared their tips for success at the program, which was presented by the College of Management in conjunction with the College of Engineering and Division of Science. L. Donald LaTorre ’59 donated $25,000 to sponsor the program, one of the signature events held in conjunction with the Friday, April 4 inauguration of Chancellor Marty Meehan.

“We have an innovation economy in this region,” Meehan said during his opening remarks at the event. “The role of the University is critical to growing that economy.”

Deshpande was introduced to the capacity crowd by Prof. Yash Puri, who detailed the entrepreneur’s experience from founding Cascade Communications in the early ‘90s to the sale of that company for $7 billion in 1997 to Ascend Communications, which later became part of Lucent Technologies. Deshpande eventually left Lucent to start his current venture, Sycamore Networks, which has its international headquarters in Chelmsford. That business was worth $14 billion the day it went public, Puri said.

Deshpande told those assembled that this is the time to think about innovation because information and means to communicate it can be developed anywhere in the world, thanks to advances in technology. That means that the global economy is open to virtually anyone who has a good idea and a means to commercialize it.

“There’s going to be a dramatic change in the way people live,” he said, adding that all of these changes will create opportunities for today’s students to be leaders. “The U.S. economy is going to be driven by the innovation economy.”

That innovation starts with entrepreneurs, he said, because big companies can’t afford to do research anymore because so much focus is on the bottom line. So the $50 billion available annually to fund research will be more accessible to startup ventures that have new ideas for which there is a need.

“Innovation is all about finding something new and finding an application for it,” said Deshpande.

Deshpande advised students to not only be creative and innovative when it comes to business, but also about how they fit their careers into the rest of their lives.

“You are the CEO of your life. You manage your careers. The things you do will affect your balance sheet,” he said. “You will either accumulate liabilities or assets. That balance sheet carries you forward.”

Critical to success, he said, is working with “good people.” Don’t worry about salary, position or title, Deshpande advised. “Good people show you what’s possible in life.”

Deshpande also advised students not to get too comfortable in their job and to save their money so that if they want to make a break and start their own venture, they have something to live on until they are making money. “Don’t get too trapped into things that take away freedom,” he said.

He also cautioned them about being afraid to take chances, noting that when it comes to making big decisions, “rational thinking doesn’t usually work.”

“You have to go with the gut feeling,” he said, “and have the guts to do it.”

Also, a positive attitude is important, especially when things don’t go smoothly in getting the business idea off the ground, said Deshpande, who also encouraged students to remember, as they become successful, those who are less fortunate. He also spoke about the need to juggle family, work, personal beliefs and other demands.

“Work is a rubber ball,” he said, “it will bounce back if you drop it. Everything else is a crystal ball that will break if you drop it. Don’t lose that balance in your life. Otherwise, you’ll be left with a rubber ball in your hand.”

Following Deshpande’s address, a panel of UMass Lowell alums shared their advice to students about how they can be innovative in their approach to their careers and how to turn good ideas into business reality.
 
Moderating the panel was Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech Publisher Michael Olivieri ’85, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UMass Lowell. Panelists were fellow alums Joseph Vaillancourt, who earned a bachelor’s degree from UML in 1990 and an M.B.A. here in 2001 and is the managing director of Organic Growth for Waste Management Inc.; and Frank Paolino, founder and president of MayFlower Software Inc., who earned a bachelor of science in chemistry at UMass Lowell in 1980. 

Also on the panel were Prof. Joey Mead, co-director of UML’s Nanomanufacturing Center; and Prof. Stephen McCarthy of the Department of Plastics Engineering and co-director of the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2). Prof. Valerie Kijewski served as the session chair.

Visit UML's photo gallery to view an array of photos from the event. 

Valerie Kijiewski, left, speaks with Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande and Frank Paolino at “Innovation for the Next Generation.”

Chancellor Marty Meehan, right, speaks with Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande before Deshpande delivers the keynote address at “Innovation for the Next Generation.”