About
Us
Well, it's not so much "Us" as it is me, although I also have a network of associates that I work with on regular basis that I can
bring into whatever project I get myself involved in. Shoot me an e-mail (Marty@General-Ideas.com) and I'll tell you more about them.
Anyway, I have almost 30 years experience with a broad spectrum of public and
private-sector organizations in strategic planning, technology assessment, policy analysis, marketing, program
management, mergers and acquisitions, forecasting, financial management, and starting/expanding
companies.
As President of General Ideas, I've had customers in the aerospace and defense
industry that have included NASA and a variety of large and small technology-based companies. I've
also done a ton of workshops,
seminars, mentoring
sessions, business plan contests and such, and always love the chance
to talk with entrepreneurs and offer whatever insights I might have.
From 2004 – 2009, I was helping diversify a privately-owned US defense
company, as the Vice President of Strategic Development. The company expanded rapidly via acquisition of, and
further investment in, eight early-stage technology-based companies.
From 1998 - 2004, I was the first Director of the Hampton Roads Technology Incubator
(HRTI) and, along with a terrific staff and some helpful Board
members, built the organization from the ground up to establish and nurture 25 start up companies in a wide
variety of industries. My job was to provide the HRTI, and our parent organization, the Hampton Roads Technology Council
(HRTC), with some vision and leadership, along with effective execution
of our strategic plan, project management, marketing, public relations, financial management, event-planning,
and fund raising.
From 1994-1998, I was Director of Business Development for SpaceTec Ventures,
an entrepreneurial aerospace company headquartered in Hampton,
Virginia. I was part of the senior management team, and responsible for
corporate business development and technology commercialization programs. I also occasionally got to do some
real engineering, too, but mostly I learned alot about how to navigate and nurture very complex and
multi-faceted partnerships and customer relationships.
In the early 1990s, I spent some time in Washington, DC, as a senior staff
member of the Aeronautics and
Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of the National Research Council,
the "working arm" of the National Academy of Sciences. I was responsible for the development and execution of
several important technology policy initiatives for the aeronautics industry, the International Space Station,
and Space Shuttle software safety issues. Prior to my time at the NAS, I was employed at several major aerospace
firms supporting NASA’s Space Shuttle, Space Station, and planetary exploration
programs.
With all the above in mind, I think I can safely say that, in addition to
being prettygood at helping new, high-growth ventures get going in the right direction, I am also an effective,
widely recognized advocate for technology-based economic development and entrepreneurship at the local, state,
and national levels. In 2004, I was appointed by Virginia Governor Mark Warner to the Governor’s Small Business Advisory Board, and served Virginia’s Department of
Business Assistance in realigning Virginia’s small-business programs to better support early-stage, high-growth,
entrepreneurial ventures. I am currently a member of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s recently reconstituted
Small Business Committee, and continue to help promote programs that support technology-based, high-growth
ventures.
Oh, and just because people always ask this sort of thing, in 1982, I received
a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan (Go
Blue!), and earned a Masters Degree in Technology Management from
the George Washington
University in 1994.
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