Technology Has Positive Impact on Family Life

While some observers worry about technology’s increasing presence in our lives, others praise its power to keep families connected in real time. A 2010 survey commissioned by the publisher of Parenting magazine and the producers of BlogHer, Inc., found that most of today’s mothers believe that technology plays a vital role in their own and their families’ lives.

For example, almost three-fourths of the more than 1,000 mothers questioned said that technology-based activities can provide positive family experiences, and 83 percent appreciate technology for its ability to improve their overall quality of life. And while almost all parents who participated in the survey said they set limits on the amount and kind of online content their children access, only 5 percent reported that their child had shown signs of addictive behaviors related to technology.

In 2011, the California-based Barna Group published The Family & Technology Report, which drew on interviews with parents of 11- to 17-year-olds across the country. Among its findings, the report concluded that the majority of parents believe the effects of technology on their families have been neutral or positive rather than negative. Additionally, only about 25 percent of respondents said they experienced family conflicts over media limits.

Rick Bolander, an experienced business executive in the venture capital field, has devoted particular attention to assisting technology start-ups such as Kajeet, Inc., a mobile communications company serving young people and their families. In addition to his position as Managing Partner of San Francisco-based Gabriel Venture Partners, he is a member of Kajeet's Board of Directors.

Rick Bolander on the Advantages of GPS Technology in Children’s Cell Phones

Through his guidance of Kajeet, Inc., Rick Bolander has helped thousands of parents find peace of mind by way of their children’s cell phones. 

For the last seven years, Kajeet has developed and sold cell phones designed specifically for children. The company’s unique cellular technology offers parents the opportunity to limit phone usage, schedule black-out times, and restrict access to certain websites. Moreover, Kajeet allows parents to subscribe to a GPS locator service for just $7.99 per month. Using the company’s interactive mapping service, parents can view a child’s phone location in real time.

This tool can be especially important in emergency situations when locating a child is critical. It is also useful to help cultivate trust between parents and children. While experts caution parents against using a GPS locator as a preventive measure for teenagers, they do recommend this service as a way to rebuild trust after a negative incident. No matter how parents choose to use this convenient service, they will enjoy lessened anxiety about their children’s whereabouts, knowing that they can activate the locator device at any time.

In addition to his role on Kajeet’s board of directors, Rick Bolander also manages Gabriel Venture Partners and Michigan eLab.

Rick Bolander on Michigan eLab’s Commitment to Technology Commercialization

The co-founder of Michigan eLab, Rick Bolander also serves as the firm’s Managing Director. A longtime entrepreneur himself, Mr. Bolander now uses his experience and network to help University of Michigan students, faculty, and partners achieve their entrepreneurial goals.

In addition to sponsoring entrepreneurial training, Michigan eLab provides promising startups with the full venture capital support they need to achieve final liquidity. The eLab also works with a team of technology commercialization experts who identify and transfer recent innovations from the laboratory to the market. Once this team has selected a potential technology for commercialization, its experts guide researchers or university officials through several key steps.

First, the team ensures that the technology is patentable by researching relevant “prior art,” or previously extant information about an innovation, if any. Next, experts evaluate the product’s marketability and technological merit before applying for a patent. Finally, the technology commercialization team seeks out a licensee, or a company interested in purchasing the rights to the innovation. Alternatively, the team at Michigan eLab helps the researcher build his or her own startup company as a way to market the technology.

Managing a High-Tech Startup, by Rick Bolander

You have a great idea, but you still need to know how to turn your great idea into a successful business over the long term. As a venture capitalist who has worked with numerous high-technology start-up companies, I’ve listed a few basic points below that can assist any entrepreneur in finding success.

1. First, understand the nature of what you are selling. Are you carving out a brand new field or niche industry? Are you improving on an existing product or service in the market? This understanding will assist you in determining the right positioning and branding strategy for your company.

2. Invest wisely in researching potential consumer markets for your product. Is there room for it to grow and develop within its industry niche?

3. Plan which aspects of your company you will and will not outsource. For example, many new businesses can reduce overhead by outsourcing their information technology, human resources, and legal departments. On the other hand, you usually won’t save money by outsourcing operations such as product development, which go to the core of your brand identity.

4. Hire personnel who have significant experience getting startups off the ground successfully, and create a strong management team whose members possess complementary skill sets.

5. Remember that the way you organize your new company can ultimately be as important as the quality of your product. Venture capital firms and other potential funders will use the quality of your operations as a key factor in any investment decision related to your company.

About Rick Bolander: The Managing Partner at San Francisco-based Gabriel Venture Partners, Rick Bolander co-founded the firm in 1999. He and his team have worked with companies such as Kajeet, Inc., a mobile phone service for young people, and Netscaler, which developed a cloud-based performance operations program for businesses.

Rick Bolander | Crain's Detroit Business

Silicon ... Michigan? Founders of VC fund whose hearts are here hope to build bridge to the Valley By Tom Henderson


Michigan eLab founders (standing, from left) Rick Bolander, Doug Neal and Bob Stefanski gather with staff in incubator space that the venture capital firm uses in Ann Arbor.        

The business model for one of the state’s new venture capital firms can be summed up as simply as this: Silicon Valley meets Michigan. That refers to Michigan, the state, and the University of Michigan, the university with $1.3 billion in research spending a year and spinoff companies looking for...Read the rest of this entry...

Rick Bolander Discusses Gabriel Venture Partners’ Investment Focus

An experienced finance professional and venture capitalist, Rick Bolander currently works as a Managing Partner of Gabriel Venture Partners (GVP) in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1999 by Bolander and Phil Samper, GVP presently manages some $260 million in assets. The firm focuses its investment activity on early-stage startups, primarily those with passionate founders who offer new business models and next-generation technologies. Throughout all of its business activities, GVP makes use of a capital efficiency model, which focuses on small and early deals with a high potential for rapid growth and exits in the short term. In general, GVP seeks out those companies which will require less than $15 million in venture funding to reach an exit point or achieve cash flow positive status. Rather than seeking out long-term opportunities for billion-dollar valuations and very large initial public offerings (IPOs), GVP’s model allows for resiliency and diversification. To learn more about Gabriel Venture Partners, visit www.gabrielvp.com.

Rick Bolander: Kajeet’s Support of Right Back on Track (Part Two)

Part One of this article discussed the mission and municipal partners of the New York City Dropout and Truancy Prevention Network's (DTPN) Right Back on Track Mentoring program. Kajeet, a technology company focused on the emerging need for kids’ smartphones, is engaged with the program as a partner. The DTPN initiative emphasizes phone-based coaching and mentoring as a way of motivating at-risk teenagers to stay in school. Participating students carry mobile devices with them that have full text, data, and talk capacities. If they do not show up for classes and events as expected, the assigned mentor reaches out to the student through the phone and checks his or her location and expected arrival time. The strength of the program is that it combines the power of a mentoring relationship with greater communication capabilities. Kajeet assists in DTPN’s battle against student truancy by offering cost-effective, contract-free communications options. Augmenting its patented parental online controls are satellite-enabled device locators that allow parents to keep track of their children’s whereabouts. Rick Bolander, a leader at Kajeet, fully supports the company’s efforts in providing teenagers with empowering technologies.