Page 72 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - October 2017

Engineers working in good jobs fulfilling government contracts likely feel extremely
comfortable in those positions, may have families to support and other responsibilities
that make the idea of quitting their job, couch-surfing and eating ramen noodles for
every meal while their business grows a non-starter. No matter how great their idea,
putting everything on the line for it is never going to happen – not without an accelerator
configured like LaunchPad acting as a safety and support net.

LaunchPad hires those innovative engineers, allowing them to work on government
contracts for the company while building up their business. While other accelerators
start with investment dollars and look for entrepreneurs to advance a concept,
Launchpad takes on the role of a pre-startup accelerator. With a profitable company
behind it, the accelerator is fully powered and supported, eliminating the need for initial
funding and allowing the engineers and entrepreneurs in the program to build up their
businesses without the additional strains of unemployment.

The other major hurdle for many engineers is their lack of managerial and business
experience. In many cases, work on the startup is the first time many would-be
innovators have ever experienced the many financial, legal, technical and resource
challenges associated with growing a new business. MasterPeace, having taken on the
responsibility for the engineers they hire as part of LaunchPad, also becomes
accountable to help those businesses grow. This is done by building business plans,
sales forecasts and conducting market research – while simultaneously training the
engineers how to run a successful company. Integrating these traditional accelerator
services with MasterPeaces government contracting business, in support of new
company generation, sets MasterPeace apart from other technology accelerators.

In addition to financial help and business training, LaunchPad also provides a
collaborative working environment filled with the latest in advanced technology. All of
this is installed in a purposely designed space within the burgeoning technology corridor
outside of Baltimore in Columbia, Maryland.

LaunchPad has already fostered two rising startups within their accelerator program.
Zuul IoT Inc. began life at LaunchPad and supported its founder in the creation of an
Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) device management platform that bridges the gap
between Operations concerns and IT security. Zuul IoT Founder and CTO, Edward
Stanford, saw the need to protect IoT devices found in smart transportation, building
automation, and industrial control systems with the same type of robust defenses found
in the more mainstream IT market. Working with LaunchPad gave him the freedom to
engineer the Zuul software suite to simplify the installation, configuration and integration
of large-scale connected device deployments for industrial settings. This saves time,

72 Cyber Defense eMagazine – October 2017 Edition
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