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2015 | Doing Business in Connecticut 35 By David Ryan Polgar T here are two major elements flowing through Mary Anne Rooke's veins: start-ups and saltwater. Rooke, who was born in Connecticut and grew up in the hamlet of Griswold, lives and breathes helping emerging start-ups in her professional life and getting out on the sea in her personal life. In both entrepreneurship and sailing, Rooke sees the value of fostering community and the im- portance of understanding proper navigation. Rooke serves as the executive director of Crossroads Venture Group (CVG), along with running her boutique management consulting firm. CVG is an organi- zation whose primary mission is connecting venture investment professionals with early stage technology companies that are on the verge of high growth, and assist- ing and mentoring them in the process. In addition, Rooke has served as the executive director of University of Con- necticut's Technology Incubation Program, and an Executive-in-Residence for Connecticut Innovations. She works with tech startups at CTNext and UConn, along with being a mentor and advisor with the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute. e course that Rooke has charted in her own life has taken her from Connecticut to Boston to California. Aer spending 20 years on the West Coast, where she was heav- ily involved in the start-up community and successfully launched her own company, the pull of family brought her back to Connecticut in 2006. She currently makes her home in Lyme, and has been extremely involved in the state's innovation ecosystem ever since. A lot has changed since she first le. "Twenty years ago, being an entrepre- neur was a riskier option. Now you have resources," Rooke said. "ere's a whole network now that allows start-ups to get connected to resources early. In the last 20 years, we've really moved the needle." Getting connected to resources in the initial stages of growth is a point that she can't emphasize enough. "Start-ups can't move forward unless they get funding early," she said. e mistake that many startups make, according to her, is not being adequately prepared when seeking funding. Investors, she pointed out, may only give an entrepreneur one shot at making a positive impression. Rooke, known as a major connector who diligently prepares entrepreneurs, is optimistic about the prospects of Connecticut's innovation economy. "Once you get into the ecosystem, that's when you start to see the vibrancy," she said. While her consulting firm, Rooke & Associates, serves start-ups from thriving ecosystems such as New York and Boston, she views Connecticut as on par. "We have the same ingredients; we just happen to be more spread out." In order to get there, though, she emphasizes the need to properly traverse the world of funding. For someone who has been boating since the age of 10, sailing with her parents in the Mystic area, the metaphor runs deep. e slogan for Rooke & As- sociates is: Navigate the Waters of Raising Capital™. ❑ Mary Anne Rooke, executive director of Crossroads Venture Group. Charting New Waters Mary Anne Rooke helps start-ups navigate to success PHOTO/ CROSSROADS VENTURE GROUP) PROFILE within incubator space set aside in Nerac's building in Tolland. Other start-ups that originated at UConn that year have moved to Boston and New York, he says, partly because they followed their funding sources. is is why Bouley is intent on encour- aging other Connecticut investors to sup- port Connecticut start-ups. ese creative entrepreneurs fuel one another, which is a factor in Bouley's decision to rent incubator space to more than two dozen startups with the hope that once they outgrow the Nerac- building digs, they'll construct a building and provide space for other innovators just starting out. "e business incubation and accelera- tion environment is so much more than just the physical space. Smart people grow companies," he said. When people work together in an entrepreneurial environment, they share challenges and solutions, bounce ideas off of each other and seek guidance from each other. Even though some entrepreneurs leave the state, the relationships formed oen last, so UConn alumnae "remain connected to the university and the ideals of entrepreneur- ship," he said. "I'm an evangelist. I look to recruit others." ❑ State Share of Adults Massachuse s 17.8% Maryland 17.1% Connec cut 16.6% Virginia 15.1% New York 14.8% Vermont 14.3% Colorado 14.0% New Jersey 14.0% Delaware 12.6% New Hampshire 12.6% Rhode Island 12.6% Illinois 12.4% Washington 11.8% California 11.5% Oregon 11.5% New Mexico 11.4% Pennsylvania 11.2% U.S. Average 11.1% Percentage of Adults with Master's, Professional or Doctoral Degrees Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013; calcula ons by Connec cut Economic Resource Center