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Headlines:
Velocity Conference Held at Haas
Business Plan Competitions In Full Swing
Jerry Engel Makes a Splash In Barcelona
Faculty Feature: Serial Entrepreneur & Lecturer Steve Blank
Turner Fellowship at the Lester Center – Call for Applicants
Lester Center Co-Sponsors Three Programs with the
UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education
Upcoming Events:
Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum - Surviving and Thriving During the Downturn
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series: Incorporation & Compensation:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Velocity Conference Held at Haas March 5-7
The Lester Center welcomed the Velocity Conference to Haas on March 5th through the 7th. Velocity is an annual event organized by Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, for the purpose of “Accelerating Entrepreneurial Careers”. Each year, members of the Entrepreneurship Management Academy from the Kelley School of Business join a selected host school in meeting CEOs from high potential businesses as well as the venture capitalists that fund them. Students hear candid stories of those who have been there and done it.
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Thirteen Haas MBAs joined their colleagues from Rice and Indiana Universities for the three-day event which included venture capital speaker panels, visits to local entrepreneur incubators, and a closing event banquet at the Berkeley City Club. The Velocity Conference reaffirms the entrepreneurship commitment of the MBA students and underscores the premier role of entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation in the contemporary business environment. The Velocity Conference attempts to reveal the business and personal stories behind each entrepreneur through presentations and “fireside chats.”
Business Plan Competitions In Full Swing,
GSVC hosts Social Entrepreneurship Symposium
The Lester Center’s premier business plan competitions are in full swing with the next rounds coming up next week. The UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition has selected 25 teams in the Semi-Final round. The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) has recently completed its Executive Summary judging rounds, and will be holding Regional Finals in March. GSVC is hosting a Symposium on Social Entrepreneurship, open to the public, at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Saturday, April 25th from 9:00am – 6:00pm.
In January the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition completed the first round of the 2009 Competition. Drawing from the student, alumni, faculty, and staff of both the Universities of California Berkeley and San Francisco, the Competition received over 100 entries in total. The 2009 co-chairs, Angus Hildreth and Richard Mordini, were exceedingly pleased. “We could not be more excited with how 2009 is shaping up. With a record number of entries, we were able to provide our partner venture capitalists with an unprecedented quantity of promising plans. The depth and breadth of the ideas was stunning, and selecting just 25 semifinalists was a truly daunting task. We don’t envy the judges for the tough decisions they had to make!”
Upon entry into the Semi-Final round, the 25 selected teams were paired with a mentor from the surrounding Bay Area at an event last month hosted by the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP at their Palo Alto office. Over 75 mentors and semi finalist team members attended. We are looking forward to learning about the full business plans at the upcoming Semi-Final Round taking place on Tuesday, March 17th at the University of California Berkeley’s Clark-Kerr Campus. Best of luck to all of this year’s semi finalist teams!
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary with a record number of applicants in 2009! The GSVC has recently completed its Executive Summary judging rounds, and will be holding Regional Finals in March. The Haas School of Business worked closely with Regional Partners in NY, London, India, and Thailand, collecting over 300 executive summaries from 100 universities in 23 countries, a 30% increase in plans over last year. “Given the current economic climate and the global need for new solutions, we are thrilled to see an increasing number of entrepreneurs embracing the idea of simultaneous social and economic impact,” commented the 2009 co-chairs, Eric Kuhn and Julia Sanders. Major trends in this year’s applicant pool were clean-tech and healthcare innovation.
Approximately 100 teams made it through the Executive Summary Round, and Regional Partners will further narrow the list to 12-15 teams during the Regional Rounds. These finalist teams will present their business ideas and social impact assessments live at Global Finals to a panel of judges with professional and academic expertise in a wide-range of industries including venture capital, social impact assessment, and business development. The GSVC Global Finals is hosted at the Haas School of Business and will be held in the Anderson Auditorium on Friday, April 24th from 8:00am – 4:00pm. Please also join us for the GSVC Symposium on Social Entrepreneurship at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Saturday, April 25th from 9:00am – 6:00pm. Agenda and registration information can be found at www.gsvc.org/symposium.
Jerry Engel Makes a Splash In Barcelona
While recently in Barcelona to present at the Third Annual Conference on Urban Clusters, our Executive Director Jerry S. Engel was interviewed by the two leading newspapers, La Vanguardia and El Pais and the leading TV journalist.
Lester Center Executive Director Jerry Engel
The media outlets were interested in learning how the economic downturn was effecting the pace of innovation in Silicon Valley, and by inference its effect on the EU and global innovation. Engel was at the conference to present a keynote address “Global Networks of Clusters of Innovation: Accelerating the Innovations Process Around the World”. Moreover, Jerry presented the special role entrepreneurs and venture capitalists’ play, in concert with major corporations, in stimulating innovation in business clusters like Silicon Valley. If would like more details, and want to exercise your Spanish language skills, the complete article can be found at http://www.lavanguardia.es/free/edicionimpresa/20090221/53645352522.html
The Barcelona TV interview (also in Spanish) is available for viewing as a wmv file.
Faculty Feature: Serial Entrepreneur & Lecturer Steve Blank
The Lester Center is pleased to present this month’s installment of our faculty feature, focusing on one of our esteemed faculty members. We bring you Steve Blank who currently teaches Customer Development and High Tech Enterprise.
Lecturer Steve Blank
Steve Blank retired in 1999 after 21 years in eight different high technology companies. His last company, E.piphany, started in his living room in 1996. Other startups include two semiconductor companies (Zilog and MIPS Computers), a workstation company (Convergent Technologies), a supercomputer firm (Ardent), a computer peripheral supplier (SuperMac), a military intelligence systems supplier (ESL) and a video game company (Rocket Science Games). After retiring, Steve took some time to reflect on his experience as he moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship. He wrote a book about building early stage companies: Four Steps to the Epiphany. The “Customer Development” model developed for the book is one of the core themes for Blank’s classes. Outside of Haas, Steve currently serves on the California Coastal Commission, is Chair the board of Audubon California, and spent several years on the Audubon National Board. He is also a current board member of Peninsula Open Space Land Trust (POST).
When asked what he likes about teaching entrepreneurship at Haas, Steve reflects:
“Haas students are that rare combination of smart, driven, curious and agile. Jerry Engel and the Lester Center have offered me the opportunity to interact with a world-class faculty and students while offering a set of new classes for the business school.” Steve also shares that the premise of his class is that “startups are not smaller versions of large companies. Instead early stage ventures require their own tools and techniques.”
Turner Fellowship at the Lester Center – Call for Applicants
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is now accepting applications for the Turner Fellowship. The Turner Fellowship was established by Daniel K. Turner III, founder of Montreux Equity Partners, in 2003 to recognize and support MBA students in their entrepreneurial efforts. One $5,000 award will be given to an outstanding MBA student (Full-time or Evening/Weekend) with at least one year of study remaining towards their MBA degree.
Applications are due Friday, April 17, 2009. For more details on the criteria and application process, please visit: http://entrepreneurship.berkeley.edu/fellowships/turner.html
Fellowship Sponsor Daniel K. Turner III
Lester Center Co-Sponsors Three Programs with the UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education
Corporate Directors Enterprise
Geared toward directors and future board members to improve effectiveness and accountability. Industry speakers and business faculty cover broad topics from legal, fiduciary, and enterprise concerns to committee governance and M&A and private equity funding.
Upcoming Dates: April 6-7, 2009
http://executive.berkeley.edu/programs/cde/
Venture Capital Executive Program
Designed for investment professionals, economic policy advisors, and entrepreneurs striving to gain advanced results-oriented training in the venture capital process. A thorough, intensive view into the venture capital industry.
Upcoming Dates: May 18-22, 2009
http://executive.berkeley.edu/programs/vcep/
Open Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship
Provides concepts, processes, and tools to launch and manage new growth initiatives within a firm. Based on cutting-edge theory and industry experience of professors at the Haas School.
Upcoming Dates: October 26-30, 2009
http://executive.berkeley.edu/programs/oice/
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum - Surviving and Thriving During the Downturn
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series: Incorporation & Compensation:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum
Surviving and Thriving During the Downturn
Thursday, March 19, 2009, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Andersen Auditorium
The economic downturn has entrepreneurs focused on survival, not just company growth. They are shifting emphasis from new customer acquisition to customer retention, from employee recruiting to employment optimization and from fundraising to capital preservation. This new setting may involve salary cuts, terminations, out sourcing, and other strategies for “getting the job done.”
The upcoming Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum will tackle these topics through a discussion with some of the best entrepreneurs and venture capitalists around the Bay Area. We will address topics such as:
- What strategies are best to remain viable?
- How should a company position and prepare for opportunities as they arrive?
- What is the role of venture capitalists and board members in this environment?
- How the entrepreneur/CEO manage the VC community and the obligations to investors in these circumstances?
- How can you align your company with industries or verticals that are more resilient to macroeconomic challenges?
We are proud to partner with Faysal Sohail and his colleagues at CMEA Capital as they put together an expert panel of CEOs and bankers who will join Faysal in helping us make sense of these challenges.
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Faysal Sohail Managing Director, CMEA Capital |
Pre-registration is $20 per person and is available until Tuesday, March 17th at 5pm. Reserved parking is available for an additional $15 and can be purchased on the event registration page. On-site registration is $30 per person. For more information about the Forum, please visit our website.
If you are currently a UC Berkeley faculty, staff, or student, a Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory employee, or associated with the UC Office of the President, please register here.
Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series: Incorporation & Compensation:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Wells Fargo Room
(more info on BPS series)
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The Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series is held in conjunction with the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition and the Global Social Venture Competition. The Best Practices Series invites experts from Berkeley and the Silicon Valley to speak about practical aspects of entrepreneurship. Each session begins with pizza and networking at 6:30pm, followed by the session at 7:00pm. The event is free and no registration is required. For more information, visit the Best Practices website or contact the Lester Center at 510-642-4255 or lester@haas.berkeley.edu.
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.
