Interesting meeting today with BizdomU. Training Leader Dan Izzo spent a number of years performing and teaching at Chicago’s Second City prior to founding Improv Inferno, the highly successful yet now defunct comedy troupe in Ann Arbor. Who better to teach entrepreneurs than an improv impresario?

Among the many impressive BootCamp participants was Rob Dahm of Emerciv. As a twenty-something founder with six years of entrepreneurial experience, Dahm paid thoughtful attention to his local clients at Computer Works—and saw the opportunity that became Emerciv. Like a jazz musician, he felt the beat of the music and improvised in a general direction—the community portal—while the specific notes arranged themselves around the event ticketing tool.

The ability to improvise—to adapt to the needs and opportunities of the current environment—is a critical success factor for entrepreneurs. Or maybe it’s a way of life. Or possibly an obsession.

Regardless, it comes with a dark side: becoming distracted from a well-crafted plan. Perceptron improvised its way into years of sagging stock price when it tried to diversify into lumber products. Ironically, the vision company lost focus and only began to recover when it removed the splinter from its eye.

Companies that improvise successfully, like the musicians you never tire of hearing, start with a deep knowledge of their base domains. The lesson for the entrepreneur is to approach with caution—what appears to be an improvisation could be a dangerous distraction. Hence the importance of the plan, and of reviewing it regularly in light of new information.

Tuesday night’s Entrepreneurial BootCamp celebration recognized BioLumix as Best of BootCamp. Co-founder Gideon Eden snared the $5K Business Acceleration award from among a highly competitive pool of early stage companies.

The ante for the evening included presentation skills, sizeable market, and stage-appropriate team. So what made BioLumix stand out? BioLumix gives customers the ability to test product samples in their own production facilities, a task that would otherwise be performed at a lab many miles away. The innovation isn’t the equipment per se, but the ability to perform sophisticated biochemical analysis with speed, simplicity and proximity.

Customers recognize that their Voice has been heard—even if they didn’t know how to express their needs.

And speaking of voices, one of the “most improved” BootCamper presentations was delivered by Sherman Powell of ArmyProperty.com. With his military-inflected staccato and bearing, Sherm established his leadership cred with each statement.