exist to provide technical and business management training; access to capital; professional and business networking opportunities; technology transfer assistance; and a host of other supporting activities to help minimize the risk for budding entrepreneurs trying get their ideas from concept to market. The National Business Incubator Association (NBIA) defines a business incubator as "a comprehensive business assistance program that helps start-up and early-stage firms, with the goal of improving their chances to grow into healthy, sustainable companies." Companies graduating from incubator programs have a far higher success rate than the average start-up. The U.S. Small Business Administration has found that after four years, only 44 percent of firms remain in business. Contrast that with what NBIA historically has found about incubator graduates: among incubation programs whose average age was nearly ten years, 87 percent of graduate firms were still in business. Part of that success rate is due to screening, part to culling and part -- the part that NBIA prefers to emphasize -- is due to mentoring. On the screening side, entry into most tech incubators is competitive. You have to explain your product and defend your proposed business plan -- however preliminary it may be -- to the incubator's screening committee. This may be just the incubator manager, but more often it will consist of a group of experts familiar with your technology and your markets. This can be a real trial by fire, though it also forces you to think through important assumptions that you may not