Zak Dutton has been the Executive Director of Venture Forum since January 2022, guiding a vibrant startup community in Central Massachusetts. With a career spanning over 25 years, he has extensive experience in entrepreneurship and business development, particularly in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
As the former CEO and co-founder of Prismic Pharmaceuticals, Zak spearheaded the development of prescription pain and inflammation drugs with unique safety profiles. Under his leadership, Prismic raised over $5 million in equity and debt financing before its acquisition by FSD Pharma in 2019.
Zak currently advises startup companies and is a member of The Wire Group, a Worcester-based angel group, as well as Pax Momentum, an accelerator program for innovative technology companies.
Connect with Zak on LinkedIn
A former computational physicist, Paul spent the past two decades becoming a thought leader in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup investing. Paul is the Chief Innovation Officer of PixelEdge, where he helps clients increase their EBITDA and disrupt competitors. He also leads the River Valley Investors, an angel investor network.
Before joining PixelEdge, Paul created and ran programming that helped startups and corporations create new products and ventures that raised millions in external funding and earned tens of millions in revenue. He started his entrepreneurial journey by founding an internet company that helped the blind socialize with their fully sighted friends and families as equals.
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn
Interview Questions
Q1. Can you tell us a bit about Venture Forum and why you believe Worcester has the potential to become a globally competitive startup hub?
Q2. What’s happening for the startup community in Central Massachusetts? What kind of traction are we seeing, and who is it working for?
Q3. Could you share some success stories from startups that have participated in Venture Forum’s programs?
Q4. You introduced the Launch Worcester platform earlier this year to help connect entrepreneurs to local resources. Can you tell us more about this tool?
Q5. Venture Forum’s Mentor Match is an 8-week program to help startups target a focused problem. So it’s not a huge commitment for mentors to make. How do you pair founders with mentors, and what do mentors themselves gain from the experience?
Q6. Building off that, you’re partnering with Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives on the Spark Mentorship Program. How is this different from your standard Mentor Match offering, and how does this collaboration strengthen the support for life science startups in the region?
Q7. Your 5 Minute Pitch Competition has been running for a few years now. What kind of startups typically participate in your pitch competition, and what do they gain from the experience? Any success stories you want to share?
Q8. The WooTank Intercollegiate Showdown was another a new addition this year. What motivated you to create this competition, and how do you see it benefiting student entrepreneurs in the area?
Q9. It’s one thing to offer up your services to startups who are actively seeking help, but how do you pull in the established business community? What brings mentors in the door? What brings seasoned professionals to your events? How do you plug in the people who’ve “made it” already?
Q10. What role do you see Venture Forum playing in job creation and economic growth in Central Massachusetts?
Venture Forum is a startup community sparking economic growth and job creation by helping entrepreneurs launch and scale their businesses in Central Massachusetts. The organization promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation through impactful, inclusive mentorship and programming. Learn more at theventureforum.org and follow on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Recent News: https://theventureforum.org/news-events/
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