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Headlines:
Friends of the Lester Center Support the Launchpad Liftoff
Blazing the Way for Women Entrepreneurs
Putting the People First: Human-Centered Poverty Alleviation
Haas@Cal Encourages Alumni to Capitalize on Their Connections!
Attend the Venture Capital Executive Program: November 30-December 4, 2009
The Lester Center Mourns the Passing of Don Fisher
Upcoming Events:
Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum:
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series:
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Competition Season Under Way
The business plan competition season is under way at the Lester Center. Each Fall, first year MBA students at Haas are selected to carry on the torch of student leadership for competitions and programs sponsored by the Lester Center.
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UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition |
Global Social Venture Competition |
Venture Capital Investment Competition |
The UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition, Global Social Venture Competition and Venture Capital Investment Competition are all managed by a team of MBA student leaders in collaboration with the Lester Center. Each competition has its unique attributes and allows Haas students interested in entrepreneurship and venture capital to organize and learn the inner workings of managing a competition. It also provides the students an opportunity to meet and work with Haas alums and members of our VC and entrepreneurship community, in addition to getting a first-hand peek at the new and innovative business ideas their peers are “starting up.” Congratulations to Parkin Kent and Richard Kenny, MBA 11, co-chairs of the 2010 UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition (Bplan). Parkin, Rich, and their team of ten Executive Committee members have been hard at work for the past three weeks getting up to speed on all things Bplan and revising the structure of the 2010 Competition. Congratulations also go out to Long Lam and Joyce Chung, MBA 11, who were recently named chairs of the 2010 Global Social Venture Competition. Long and Joyce are already at work shadowing the outgoing chairs and will have their 2010 leadership team in place in the next couple of weeks. The Venture Capital Investment Competition, “a reverse business plan competition” is in the process of selecting their new leadership team as well. We look forward to reporting in on their progress in a future issue of INNOVATION. Heartfelt thanks from all of us at the Lester Center to our student leaders from 2009 who should be proud of all they accomplished in the past year!
Friends of the Lester Center Support the Launchpad Liftoff
Last week the Lester Center marked an important milestone with the liftoff of our new UC Berkeley New Venture Launchpad initiative. Building on our rich and diverse set of educational and experiential learning programs for student entrepreneurs, Launchpad provides a new set of advanced services to support student entrepreneurs at the critical point of new venture development.
Dean Lyons and Jerry Engel are welcomed by
hosts Jenny Redo (MBA 97) and Kevin Brown (MBA 96)
Dean Richard Lyons, Lester Center Co-Faculty Director Jerry Engel and more than 80 friends of the Lester Center gathered at the Atherton home of Kevin Brown (MBA 96) and Jenny Redo (MBA 97) to celebrate the public unveiling of the new initiative. The Launchpad Passport provides a roadmap to all of the Lester Center’s programs and a guide to those exploring and preparing for new venture creation. For student entrepreneurs taking the plunge, the Launchpad New Venture Accelerators will provide access to a network of experienced entrepreneurs and other support services tailored to entrepreneurs-in-process.
Kevin Brown, the evening’s host and a member of the Lester Center Advisory Board, exemplifies one of the Lester Center’s many successful students, helping to found a series of successful ventures including Inktomi (IPO & acquired by Yahoo), Decru (IPO & acquired by NetApp) and Kidaro (IPO & acquired by Microsoft). As Kevin remarked, “Berkeley was there for me,” and the Lester Center is very proud to have played a part in his success. Members of the Lester Center Advisory Board, including other Internet ‘greats’ such as Noah Doyle and Jed Katz, have provided significant leadership to get the initiative off the ground, including helping shape the strategic vision as well as contributing significant seed financing to the project. The event provided a venue to go public with the campaign and invite others to participate.
To learn more about the Launchpad Initiative and to get involved, contact the Lester Center at lester@haas.berkeley.edu.
Internet and social innovator Danae Ringelmann is flanked by
Lester Center Advisory Board member Steve Gertz and Lauren Gertz
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Blazing the Way for Women Entrepreneurs
One of Silicon Valley’s best kept secrets for women entrepreneurs is Astia, a non-profit organization featuring a community of experts committed to building women leaders and accelerating the funding growth of high-potential, high-growth, women-led startups. The organization is spreading like wildfire, serving markets not only across the US but also in Europe and India.
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Claire is active in the life sciences track of Astia's programs |
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Claire Kinlaw, a Haas third year EWMBA and PhD scientist and management consultant first got the “bug” for entrepreneurship while volunteering with Astia in 2005. Since then, Claire has been active on the life science track of Astia’s programs, volunteering with the Life Sciences committee to organize events and programs for entrepreneurs that help them grow their business. Her decision to come to Haas and pursue entrepreneurship was a direct result of the gratifying experience of working with entrepreneurs and investors through Astia. In the summer of 2009, Claire joined a biotech startup with nucleic acid detection technologies that is pursuing disease organism detection applications for the food and health care industries. “Being able to tap the Astia community for advice and resources continues to be invaluable for me as I work inside a startup.”
If you are a women entrepreneur and would like to see for yourself what Astia is all about, we invite you to join us during the Doing it Right Silicon Valley program, November 2-7, 2009. Male entrepreneurs are also encouraged to attend, but further involvement in Astia’s programs requires that at least one member of the management team be a woman. Tickets to attend public sessions featuring expert panelists are available now. Visit Astia’s website here for more information. To purchase tickets please visit the track links below and select the track best suited to you. Students receive a 50% discount. Please contact vanessa@astia.org to receive a discount code. Space is limited.
General Entrepreneur Track
Life Sciences Track
Clean Technology Track
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Putting the People First: Human-Centered Poverty Alleviation
Last month, Global Initiatives, in collaboration with the Lester Center and the “Market Based Approaches to Poverty Alleviation” course at Haas hosted Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund and Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, an innovation and design firm to discuss human centered poverty alleviation. Stuart Davidson of Labrador Ventures, moderated the intimate and engaging conversation which addressed the intersection between design and development, a partnership between two seemingly different organizations which has proven to be profoundly impactful.
Tim Brown of IDEO, Stuart Davidson of Labrador Ventures,
and Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund
The two speakers, old friends, realized early on that they were both working towards a very similar goal: helping people innovate in order to grow. Jacqueline explained that in Acumen Fund, “we were putting ourselves in other people’s shoes to better understand what they want, and that’s design thinking, that was a whole new lexicon for Acumen Fund.”
At the core of their approach is a full respect for all human beings, a sentiment that continually surfaced throughout the conversation. Human centered design and investment based approaches to poverty alleviation aim to treat people as consumers, who despite their income level, desire all the things those with more means desire. Jacqueline explained that instead of telling people what they “should” do, it’s about asking what people want, as consumers, and truly listening. In forcing accountability and investing in growth, we are able to actionably demonstrate a belief that all people are capable of achieving success.
When the panelists asked for questions, the room of more than 300 people, exploded with hands. The closing sentiment related to each firms contribution to change in the developing world. Tim explained IDEO is about enabling choice; creating new choices that didn’t exist, so that people can make them if they desire. At the core of what both firms seek to produce, Jacqueline concluded, “real dignity ultimately comes from choice and opportunity.”
The event was hosted by Global Initiatives, a student run organization at the Haas School of Business focused on exploring market-based approaches to international development.
Haas@Cal Encourages Alumni to Capitalize on Their Connections!
The Lester Center’s Executive Director, David Charron, recently encouraged Haas alumni to hire interns and recruit Full Time MBA students as part of his endorsement of the “Entrepreneurship” Affinity Group. The Entrepreneurship group is one of many industry-focused affinity groups available in the newly-launched Haas@Cal, a password-protected website exclusive to the Haas community— faculty, staff, students and alumni. Login to Haas@Cal at: haas.berkeley.edu/alumni -- just click “NEW Haas@Cal” -- and Capitalize on Your Connections!
Haas@Cal is more innovative & interactive than ever before. Here are just a few of its features...
1. Alumni Directory: The search functionality of Haas@Cal is intertwined with the directory. Update your directory profile (in the People section) with detail and a photo to strengthen the power of this networking tool. NOTE: The directory is only as good as the information YOU provide. Update your profile today! ** Targeted Directory Search: Find classmates by year, alumni working in specific companies, industries and/or job functions, or in certain regions or countries.
2. Professional Opportunities: Job postings and career services are right at your fingertips in the MBA Jobs and Careers sections of the site. Many “Fortune 1000” companies use Haas@Cal to connect with talented Haas alumni and students. Join the “Haas Alumni Job Seekers” group for information on workshops, webinars and career advice. **“Hire Haas”: Work with the best by posting jobs in Haas@Cal (30 days for free).
3. Content from Campus: HAN-sponsored “Affinity Groups” (like “Entrepreneurship”) are primarily industry-focused groups that provide content from Haas faculty, centers and institutes, including white papers, event announcements and video-taped presentations. Join the groups and engage in thought-provoking discussions with peers in your industry.
Attend the Venture Capital Executive Program
November 30-December 4, 2009
The Lester Center is pleased to offer the Venture Capital Executive Program (VCEP) this fall, a joint program with the UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education. Designed for investment professionals, economic policy advisors, and entrepreneurs striving to gain advanced results-oriented training in the venture capital process, the VCEP will provide participants a thorough, intensive view into the venture capital industry in the world’s premier innovation cluster, Silicon Valley.
Taught by Haas professors in entrepreneurship and venture capital, Jerry Engel and David Charron, the session topics will range from Investment Decision Making and Deal Structure and Selection, and will include a number of guest VCs and entrepreneurs who will speak on topics such as Investing in Life Sciences, Cleantech and Media, to Corporate Strategies and Limited Partners.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
Brian Atwood, Versant Ventures
Matt Caspari, Aurora Biofuels
Sean Doyle, Intel Capital
Chris Groves, Centric Software
Stefan Heuser, Siemens Technology-To-Business Center
Andy Laszlo, ScanR
Paul “Chip” Lion, Morrison & Foerster
Rodrigo Prudencio, Nth Power
Tim Wilson, Partech International
Other firms represented: Deloitte, Gundersen Dettmer, Industry Ventures, August Capital, Panorama Partners, Dow Jones and Saints VC
To learn more about the program and to register, please visit:
http://executive.berkeley.edu/programs/vcep/
The Lester Center Mourns the Passing of Don Fisher
Donald Fisher, BS 51, chairman emeritus and founder of Gap Inc., passed away on Sept. 27, at the age of 81, following a long battle with cancer. Fisher was a long-time supporter of the Haas School including a long-time member of the Haas Board, which advises the dean on strategic and policy innovations, and recently served as the board’s chair. Since 2003, the Fishers have hosted the San Francisco Haas Alumni Celebration at Gap headquarters every spring, inviting the Haas community to hear thought-provoking conversations with leading-edge speakers and to enjoy the Fisher’s renowned collection of modern art, part of which is on display in the building.
Don Fisher
Don was also no stranger to the Lester Center, generously giving of his time and leadership toward our programs in the Center’s very earliest days. Says Jerry Engel, Lester Center Co-Faculty Director, “Don was a great friend to entrepreneurship at Haas. As a founding member of the Lester Center’s Advisory Board, he encouraged us to strive to be among the very best. The results of his leadership are evident in our continued innovation in entrepreneurship education.”
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum
Moore’s Law: 40 Years Later
Thursday, October 22, 2009
6:30-8:30 PM
Andersen Auditorium, Haas School of Business
Live streaming video will be available.
- Pre-register Now - Current UCB/UCOP/LBL faculty/staff/students
- Pre-register Now - Community members & Alumni
- Pitch your own idea to the crowd - "Be a Number"
- More information about this event
For the last 40 years, Moore’s law, which states that transistor density will double every two years, has provided the framework for innovation in the semiconductor industry. But what will the next 10 years bring for this benchmark of the semiconductor industry and for the participants? And what will be the impact? What does the entrepreneur need to do to be successful in the new environment? And is there a role for government and/or venture capital in this industry? Please join us for an enlightening panel moderated by Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum Advisory Council Member Laura Oliphant, PhD, Director of Intel Capital.
Read about our outstanding speakers for this event.
Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series
IP and Legal Issues
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
6:30-8:30pm
Wells Fargo Room- Haas School of Business
No RSVP Required
Intellectual property is one of the most valuable fruits of entrepreneurship’s labor, and has been the foundation upon which thousands of successful business enterprises have been built. This session will cover the legal issues surrounding intellectual property and its importance throughout a company’s lifespan. A team consisting of an IP lawyer and a startup corporate lawyer will provide a “crash course” on patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets; discuss IP issues commonly faced at the time of forming new businesses; explain how IP is exploited during the business development stage of a new business; explore the role of IP when a new business raises financing; and consider the impact of IP on an acquisition of the business. Attend this session to gain a valuable understanding of how these most important legal concepts are applied in the business context, and you may avoid many of the common pitfalls that can damage or ruin your venture.
Click here for more information and to read about our outstanding speakers.
GET INVOLVED!
Get involved with Entrepreneurship and Innovation! The Lester Center's programs offer the inside track on entrepreneurship by bringing entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other industry leaders to the Haas School and provide opportunities for interaction and the development of entrepreneurial ideas. Please check out the The Lester Center's website to view the wide variety of opportunities.
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INNOVATION ARCHIVES
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