News & Events

Upcoming Events

The Lester Center will sponsor mentorship opportunities in the fall 2009 semester. Availability of appointments with mentors is announced by e-mail ONLY. If you'd like to sign up for e-mail announcements, you can do so on our Contact page. Click here for information on our mentoring program.
In 2009, the Lester Center is co-sponsoring executive short courses in Global Bio-entrepreneurship (October) and Open Innovation & Corporate Entrepreneurship (October). Please see our Programs for Executives page for details.
The 2009-2010 season of the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum is underway. Videos and presentations are added to the event pages shortly after the event, so check back, and also see the spring Forum web pages for videos and presentations.
The 2009-2010 season of the Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series begins on October 6, 2009 with a session on the topic Opportunity Recognition. This also serves at the offical Launch of the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition and the Global Social Venture Competition.

News

Read this month's Innovation Newsletter for all the recent news from the Lester Center.
The Lester Center now has a Facebook page! To keep up to date on the entrepreneurship program at UC Berkeley and all of the many events, forums, networking and innovation, you are invited to become a fan by going to http://www.facebook.com/UCBLesterCenter and clicking on the “Become a fan” link. Please invite all of your friends to join us as well! Since we can do more with a page than a group, we are moving our presence to the new page noted above and away from our old Entrepreneurship@Berkeley Facebook group. Please visit the link above and become a fan!
A team of undergraduates - Kyson Bunthewong, Joanna Kim (2009 graduate) and Stephanie Wu - from John Danner's "Entrepreneurship to Address Global Poverty" course last spring (UGBA 196) has taken their final class project to new heights. They and their venture idea, Bamboo Lota, have just been selected as one of three national finalists in the MTV-U and NYSE "Movers and Shakers" competition to be held next week in New York City: http://www.moversandchangers.com/.

The team is working to create a bamboo charcoal company that trains local Malawians in bamboo cultivation and gives them an opportunity to sell bamboo and make a living. This brings charcoal-making processes used in Asia to Malawi, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, where deforestation is a major problem. People have been illegally cutting down trees to make charcoal. Other sources of fuel are too expensive for most Malawians to afford, so charcoal is their only option. Bamboo is a solution to this because it makes good charcoal, grows quickly, and requires less water and nutrients. If the people of Malawi switch to using bamboo charcoal, they can not only reduce deforestation but also have a more reliable source of cleaner burning fuel. If successful, the venture can fight global warming and provide heating to the impoverished. For the nitty gritty - including more background information, financial analysis, and exit strategy - please see the team's business plan under the Africa Rural Connect website: http://arc.peacecorpsconnect.org/view/932/bamboo-lota-the-dream-for-a-sustainable-malawi.

We wish them luck. GO BEARS!!
Lester Center faculty director Jerry Engel was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered on July 14, 2009. Engel notes that there are factors working in favor of entrepreneurs. He is telling students not to take crazy risks, but to seize the moment while the economy is in disarray and many existing companies are hunkered down and not taking chances. "There is space," Lester says. "There are those white spaces, we like to call them — those opportunities for people to step into." In addition, because there are so many people unemployed and underemployed, there is a lot of available talent to hire. (listen to interview) (read story with link to audio)
Wall Street Journal Interviews Jerry Engel on Business Plans & Competitions: on 6/22/09, the Wall Street Journal featured Jerry Engel in its Business Insight video feature. Titled "Tips for Pitching Your Business Plan", the interview addresses the increasing popularity of business plan competitions and what it takes to win. Jerry goes on to describe the importance of the business plan competition ecosystem and how you can benefit from participating, even if you don't win. Watch the video, or see it on the WSJ site.
New Leadership for the Lester Center: Haas School Dean Rich Lyons announced Thursday, June 11 that Jerry Engel, currently executive director of the Lester Center, is to become co-faculty director of the Lester Center, effective July 1, 2009. David Charron, currently associate director, will become acting executive director while a permanent executive director is being recruited. These changes were detailed in an e-mail from Dean Richard Lyons to the Haas community on 6/11/09. Click here for more information.
The Lester Center wrapped up a great year with its Annual Awards Dinner. Winners of the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition and the Appel Award, and recipients of the Turner and Larson fellowships were honored at the event. The dinner slideshow, honoring our students, faculty, and sponsors, is available as a pdf file.
Jerry Engel moderated a panel on Social Enterprises at the April 2009 Investors Circle Conference, drawing extensive coverage from the blogosphere: investorscircle, ethicalmarkets, & greenbiz.
The Lester Center honors entrepreneur Vinod Khosla with 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes the best attributes of entrepreneurship - the pursuit of excellence and the support of others in their success.
The entrepreneurship program at the Haas School of Business, coordinated by the Lester Center, was ranked #7 among all graduate business schools by US News & World Report in their issue titled "America's Best Graduate Schools 2010 edition. The Haas School's MBA program was also ranked #7 among all graduate business schools.
IndieGoGo, the social marketplace where filmmakers and fans connect to make independent film happen, and founded by Haas/Lester alumna Danae Ringelmann, celebrated their 1st anniversary and made the news at the Sundance Festival. IndieGoGo's Ondi Timoner won the Sundance Festival's Documentary Grand Jury Prize for her film We Live in Public. Robert Redford made a surprise visit to the festival's Where Internet & Film Collide event, hosted by IndieGoGo.
The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum hosted the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition Finals and Awards Ceremony on April 30, 2009. For an announcement of the winners, click here. The Finals program booklet is available as a pdf file.
The Global Social Venture Competition hosted its Global Finals and Symposium on April 24-25, 2009, at the Haas School. (event detail) (finalist descriptions) (list of winners)
(Finals program: pdf) (Symposium program: pdf).
The conference attracted favorable coverage from the blogosphere, including Nextbillion.net and Change.org.
Lester Center associate director David Charron spoke at the QB3 Entrepreneur's Luncheon on Friday, April 3, 2009, on the topic "Business model innovation in commercializing new technologies", in room 621 Stanley Hall on the Berkeley campus. Abstract: Rarely are technologies taken straight to the market in a predictable manner. New market understandings are developed, experts deliver their opinions, competition arises and teams change. Often the success of an entrepreneurial endeavor comes from flexibility and resiliency that is reflected in the business model adaptation that occurs over the life of a company. One or two examples will be used to illustrate what has created success in business model innovation.
Lester Center Guest Speaker Robin Chase, founder and current CEO of GoLoco and Meadow Networks, spoke at the Haas School on Monday, March 16 on "Rethinking 'Mine' in a Scary World".
Jerry Engel, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was quoted in the New York Times on March 12, 2009, on entrepreneurship during the downturn.
The Lester Center is partnering with the Young Entrepreneurs Initiative, a non-profit network managed by the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy in the United States, which is a platform for mentoring and networking aimed at US-based entrepreneurs who understand the importance of internationalizing their vision and their activity, and who wish to set up a technology venture in France.
After an intense day of competition, the Karnak Capital team of Josh Ewing, Sean Dalziel, Rei Kasai, Victoria Liang and Jacob Rios emerged as winners of the UC Berkeley 2009 Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), held at Haas on Friday, February 6. (photo and more)
Karnak Capital followed up by claiming the Entrepreneurs Choice Award at the Western Regional Finals of the VCIC held at USC’s Marshall School of Business on March 6. (more)
Jerry Engel, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, appeared on Larry Olson's JOB Radio Show on February 8, 2009. A podcast is available here.
The Lester Center has been ranked as the #6 entrepreneurship program in the world by The Financial Times in its January 2009 rankings. We are proud of this recognition. It is another indication of the excitement our students are bringing into their careers when they leave Haas, and the caliber of work done by our corps of tenured and professional faculty who teach them.

Congratulations also go to our colleagues in the Haas Corporate Social Responsibility program, which ranked #5 worldwide. Together, we were the top two ranked academic programs at Haas. The school overall ranked 31st in the world, although Haas did better in other specific categories, e.g., #2 top salaries in IT, #7 in faculty research and #8 top salaries in consulting. Complete results can be found at http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/globalmba2009.
The Lester Center celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 15-23, with the 4th annual Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge, and other events.
The UC Berkeley Business Plan and Global Social Venture Competition held their Annual Mixer, November 24, 2008, from 6-8 PM in the BofA Forum.
The special edition of the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum, November 20, on the 4th Annual Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge was covered by Andy Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jerry Engel, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, spoke on "Sustaining innovation and entrepreneurship in difficult times" at the Future of Europe Summit in Andorra on November 28, 2008.
Life360, a startup company created by Chris Hulls, BS 06, and located in the Lester Center's Berkeley Entrepreneurship laboratory, has won a $275,000 Google software challenge award for a mobile application that will help families stay connected during emergencies.
The startup venture of Haas graduates Priya Haji and Siddharth Sanghvi, MBA '03, World of Good, made a big splash with news of their partnership with EBay, including coverage by the Newshour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and CNBC, and also by CBS News and Oakland Magazine. Worldofgood.ebay.com is the world's first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place. Grand Prize Winners of the 2005 Global Social Venture Competition, Priya and Siddharth crafted their business plan in the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Laboratory, a business incubator for start-ups created by current Haas School students and recent graduates.
The special edition of the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum, October 23, on The Current Economic Turmoil and the Entrepreneur: the Impact on New Venture Financing and Survival was covered by Andy Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jerry Engel, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was quoted about the impact of the financial crisis on Silicon Valley in an October 1 Les Echos article titled "La crise rattrape la Silicon Valley."
http://www.lesechos.fr/info/finance/4780426-la-crise-rattrape-la-silicon-valley.htm (registration required)
One of the Lester Center's partner schools, the Technische Universität Munich, is collaborating on an International Summer School focused on Entrepreneurial Impact. More information.
Student Fall 2008 Student Leadership Opportunities
The Lester Center maintains a list of available student leadership opportunities. More information.

A plan to make clean energy affordable around the world to poor, rural households without access to electricity won the grand prize at the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition April 18 at the Haas School. The winning team, MicroEnergy Credits Corporation (MECC) from Columbia Business School in New York, received the $25,000 cash prize. This year's Global Social Venture Competition celebrated the preliminary round entry of a record 245 teams from 23 countries, up from 160 teams last year. See the full story here.
Berkeley's Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) team won the Entrepreneurs' Choice award in the Western Regional Competition on March 7, 2008 at USC. The Haas team, called San Andreas Capital, consisted of Kevin Kopczynski, Michael Pearce, Tony Mak, and Kaiann Drance, all MBA 08; and Kaan Ersun, MBA 09. The team also placed third in the competition.
Lester Center announces the winners of the 2007 INTEL+BERKELEY TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE
1st place Navaris Medical, Germany
2nd place NRG Fuels, Israel
3rd Place Trivial Solutions, Brazil
People's Choice Award Qmodule, Russia
Archived News.

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