Pierre and I enjoyed participating for several years in the UC Davis Big Bang Competition, a year long contest organized by MBA students of the Graduate School of Management. The goal is to promote entrepreneurship at UC Davis and the region supported by the University. We loved the idea of putting MBA students in touch with scientists with commercialization of research being the end game.

One night we served as coaches at dry run sessions - the presenters putting the polishing touches on their final presentations that were due the next day. That night we met John Argo who was presenting his new collaboration, Q1 Nanosystems, in the field of solar technology. The next night, we watched John do a masterful job at the final competition and win second place.

Over time we kept in touch with John, even running into him in his new office space, which happened to be co-located with the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy in West Sacramento. We even gave him a copy of our favorite startup book at the time.

So, it was with great pleasure that I read in the Sacramento Business Journal this week that UC Davis and Q1 Nanosystems had reached an exclusive licensing agreement.

It could end up being one of the great Sacramento stories of academia fueling industry and it all started with an MBA student meeting a group of scientists at a mixer.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive