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 have over 25 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. From 2004 – 2009, I was helping diversifying Earl Industries, a privately-owned US defense ship repair company, as the Vice President of Strategic Development for Earl’s start-up Earl Technology Group (ETG) subsidiary. ETG 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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