{"id":818,"date":"2013-09-25T19:21:34","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T19:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sadlouskos.com\/Business-Consulting-Services\/?p=818"},"modified":"2013-09-26T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T16:07:08","slug":"disruptive-change-higher-education-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sadlouskos.com\/Business-Consulting-Services\/higher-education\/disruptive-change-higher-education-inside\/","title":{"rendered":"Disruptive Change In Higher Education: From the Inside Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Disruptive<\/a>Over the last year I\u2019ve had many conversations about the role ed tech incubators and accelerators play in stimulating disruptive change in higher education.\u00a0 Today I read an article<\/a>\u00a0 written by Andy Thomason<\/a> about colleges creating their own in-house ed tech incubators.\u00a0 Thomason positions the dialogue between the ed-tech startups and universities as a \u201ctwo-way conversation.” Startups gain access to the rich intellectual capital cultivated at universities and colleges. Institutions gain perspective on what\u2019s in the works for the future of higher education.\u00a0 The first question universities and colleges must ask is should the investment be in an incubator or accelerator?<\/p>\n

What is the Difference Between an Incubator and an Accelerator?<\/h3>\n

Often the definition is blurred and the terms are used interchangeably. At a high level, here\u2019s the difference. An incubator fosters a supportive environment to develop ideas, test solutions and examine business model options. Time spent in an incubator is usually less definitive than an accelerator.\u00a0 There may be other start-ups in an incubator that form a cohort, a supportive community of peers.<\/p>\n

Accelerators focus on nurturing startup success as well, however, the approach may include access to bundled professional services (business model development, branding, PR, product design),\u00a0 seed capital, support for launch and is bound \u00a0by a time frame requirement. Often accelerators are defined as early stage investments and more questions are focused on ROI.<\/p>\n

\u00a03 Benefits to Universities and Colleges for Establishing In-House Incubators\/Accelerators<\/h3>\n