Harlan Jacobs is the founder and president of
Genesis Business Centers, Ltd., a diversified high tech, for-profit
incubator program established in 1993. Mr. Jacobs is a seasoned CFO
with over 20 years experience as a corporate controller and treasurer
prior to becoming involved in the fields of incubation and early stage
venture (seed) capital. He was the CFO for FilmTec Corporation, a
successful Minnesota high tech start-up company with a unique reverse
osmosis membrane technology. Formed in 1977 with only $100,000 of
founders capital, the company went public in 1979.
In 1985, with sales of $10 million and net income
of $1.5 million, FilmTec was sold to Dow Chemical for $75 million in
cash! Mr. Jacobs was actively involved in the acquisition negotiations.
Over the years he became interested in other
early-stage, high tech companies like FilmTec. Most of the companies in
which he invested were having great difficulty raising the first
$250,000 of capital. Paying the rent and having adequate business
advisory services available early-on were common laments among the
management teams he interviewed for his prospective investments.
A business opportunity seemed obvious. In 1993 he
founded one of the most progressive high-tech business incubator
programs in Minnesota, if not in the U.S., by offering to barter rent
and "Acting CFO" services for a negotiated equity position in its
incubatee companies. This bartering program has become a cornerstone of
the Genesis Incubator program.
In recognition of his efforts and success in
helping small businesses raise capital and get off the ground, Mr.
Jacobs was appointed by Senator
Rod Grams to serve as his delegate to the White
House Conference on Small Business in 1995, and again as his delegate
to the Congressional Small Business Conference, held in Washington,
D.C., in June 2000.
Successful graduates of the Genesis Incubator
program include SurVivaLink, a manufacturer of portable battery
operated defibrillators that was acquired by Cardiac Sciences (stock
symbol: DFIB), NT International, a specialty sensor manufacturer that
was acquired by Entegris (stock symbol: ENTG), and Excorp Medical, a
bioartificial liver company whose system recently received FDA "orphan
drug" designation, a significant approval step.
Other promising graduates and client firms of the
Genesis program (and their technologies) include CYMBET, (infinitely
rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery depositions on silicon
substrates), Zivix, a new electronic guitar system for use with iPads™
and the like, GEL-DEL Technologies (tissue engineering), and Electronic
Materials, LLC.
Electronic Materials may very well have a "basic
patent" and therefore be in a position to engage in significant
licensing transactions whenever an electronics company or others
utilize a computer controlled ink jet nozzle for the deposition of
electronic circuitry on flexible substrates. Genesis is assisting the
company to secure licensing agreements on a global basis.
Jacobs' personal track record of investment in
private placement offerings such as in Recovery Engineering, Inc.
($1.00 per share in 1986--acquired by Procter and Gamble in 1999 for
$35 per share) has helped to engender the confidence of those third
parties who utilize the Genesis Incubator program as a high quality
screen for selecting investment candidates.
Genesis works regularly with community development
organizations that wish to bring high tech jobs to their communities.
Genesis helps to establish business angel networks and community-based
seed capital funds that receive funding from utility companies and
commercial banks (in fulfillment of the letter and spirit of the law in
respect of the Community Reinvestment Act) as well as from high net
worth individuals who wish to help their communities to grow and
prosper.