DURHAM -- As a Wall Street titan whose private equity firm The Blackstone Group manages $150 billion in assets, Stephen A. Schwarzman is presumably no stranger to being fawned over.
But even Schwarzman seemed surprised by all the elected officials, university leaders and business executives who came to hear him speak Monday.
"This is a very unusual assemblage, I can tell you," he told a crowd at Durham's American Tobacco Campus, "this kind of enthusiasm, articulateness; the fact that you are even showing up."
They showed up to hear Schwarzman talk about why his firm's charitable foundation is donating $3.6 million to create an entrepreneurial network in the Triangle.
Blackstone's network, a partnership between the company and the Triangle's four major universities, is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the support they need to turn their ideas into fast-growing companies.
The firm hopes the network will become a model that can be replicated across the country.
"The potential is tremendous," Schwarzman said. "The time is right, and the talent sitting in this room, amplified by these universities and the Research Triangle, is really a remarkable group."
Blackstone's announcement drew an inordinate number of officials considering the amount of money involved.
Gov. Bev Perdue, Sen. Kay Hagan, Rep. Brad Miller and the leaders of N.C. State University, N.C. Central University, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University all joined Schwarzman on stage at Monday's event.
Name makes difference
The line-up was evidence of the clout Schwarzman and Blackstone wield in today's global economy. Schwarzman made his billions investing in a wide array of startups and established companies. His firm's portfolio includes 62 businesses with nearly 700,000 employees.
"When you're talking about bringing mentors together with entrepreneurs, the name makes a big difference," said Vivek Wadhwa, an executive-in-residence at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.
Wadhwa, who lives in Silicon Valley but still owns a house in Chapel Hill, has been critical of the support network available to entrepreneurs in the Triangle.
He said Blackstone's network is just the sort of thing the Triangle needs more of.
"When Blackstone makes introductions [in Silicon Valley], everybody here will listen," he said.
Although the Triangle is blessed with an abundance of research activity, it has generally lagged behind Silicon Valley and the Boston area in its ability to commercialize the innovation occurring in its backyard.
Those companies that have made the jump from local universities to the marketplace - SAS, Cree and Quintiles, to name three - are among the Triangle companies that have continued to hire throughout the economic downturn.
Part of the struggle for entrepreneurs in the Triangle has to do with a lack of capital. This region has fewer venture capital firms, which makes it more difficult for entrepreneurs to raise money.
"Everybody points to a lack of capital," said David Jones, a partner with Southern Capitol Ventures, a Raleigh venture capital firm. "I do agree that is one issue."
But Jones said he disagrees with the thinking that if the Triangle just had more capital it would have more companies like Red Hat.
"Capital is not the only answer," he said. "I think great ideas and great entrepreneurs always find capital."
17,000 jobs
Blackstone's grant will finance its network for five years. The money will pay for an executive director and 15 experienced entrepreneurs who each year will select and mentor 30 of the region's most promising start-ups.
The foundation says its network has the potential to create more than 17,000 jobs and more than $4 billion in revenue over the next decade - lofty estimates considering that many of the resources its network will provide already exist in some form in the Triangle.
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, which is also a partner in Blackstone's network, already provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
And two business incubators - LaunchBox Digital and Joystick Labs - recently opened in American Tobacco Campus just a few hundred feet from where Schwarzman spoke.
"It's not like there's some big gaping hole that this is going to be the fix-all for everything," said Katrin Burt, a partner with Durham venture capital firm Intersouth Partners. "But I think it's tremendous to add this to everything that's already happening."
She said Blackstone's decision to create its network in the Triangle is good news for both area venture capital firms and entrepreneurs.
"It's not really the money so much that makes a difference," she said. "It's the recognition that North Carolina's the place to do it."
