Campus Entrepreneurship

I have been watching this competition since its inception and always consider entering. From the land of the young, technically risky, and forward thinking comes the Silicon Valley Boomer Business Competition. The contest is co-sponsored by the Leavy School of Business and if I remember correctly, it is open to all. There are two categories — healthcare (suprise suprise) and general (travel, leisure, transportation, grand-parenting etc.). Here is a teaser…

“Consider this – as of 2006, in the United States alone, there are more than 108 million people over the age of 45. The 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 make up 28% of the U.S. market and own more than 77% of all financial assets. This baby boomer market represents over $2 trillion in annual spending power! By the year 2030 there will be 71.5 million Americans age 65 and older, more than double the number of Americans currently within that demographic. This massive demographic shift means new opportunities for growth, service and profit. This is a business opportunity you can’t ignore.”

Need some ideas: check out AARP, wikipedia’s boomer page, and GrandTimes.

Personally, I’d do something in the vacation home management space.

Just came across an article by Nichole L. Torres on Entrepreneur.com that offers some advice to those who would like to capitalize on the campus as a market place. From the piece,

“College is a time to explore new trends-to wear the hottest fashions, create the newest drink and jump onto the latest entertainment fad. You’re young, you’re free, and as a college student, you’re neck-deep in a plethora of trends just by being on campus–the fashion magazines watch your crew to see what’s going to be hot next season.”

The article goes on to argue that speed is of the essence. To me, if you are looking to make more than just beer money a bigger question is; will this trend go beyond the campus or can I take this to other campuses?

There has been much talk in recent years about Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Foundation, founded by Jeff Skoll (eBay’s first employee and first president), stated mission “is to advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.”

What is a social entrepreneur? According to the Skoll Foundation website,

“Entrepreneurs have always been the drivers of progress. In the business world, they act as engines of growth, harnessing opportunity and innovation to fuel economic advancement. Social entrepreneurs, like their business brethren, are similarly focused; they tap into vast reserves of ambition, creativity and resourcefulness in relentless pursuit of hard, measurable results. But social entrepreneurs seek to grow more than just profits. Motivated by altruism and a profound desire to promote the growth of equitable civil societies, social entrepreneurs pioneer innovative, effective, sustainable approaches to meet the needs of the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised. Social entrepreneurs are the wellspring of a better future. “

Is this really entrepreneurship? I have my own opinion, what is yours?

I am working down in Tallahassee, FL this week with some of their great leaders. While here, I have learned about the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University’s College of Business. The JMI offers mentoring, entrepreneurial roundtables, and tips for entrepreneurs. Anybody out there ever used this resource?

Check out this piece describing a cool program being built at ASU; The Edson (no not Edison) Student Entrepreneur Initiative “provides funding, office space and training for teams of students across the university, from any discipline, to explore their innovative ideas for business products and services in partnership with faculty, researchers and entrepreneurs from the academic and private sectors.”

Here is a link to the program’s site.

Mark Zuckerberg is 22 years old and leads 200 employees as the CEO/Founder of Facebook.com; the company he founded while at Harvard about 3 years ago. If you are a college student you likely use it. Nice interview, by Andy Kessler of the WSJ. with him, though I remember articles like this back at the height of the internet craze in the late 90s. Here is one interesting snippet… (more…)

Really fascinating piece in the WSJ the other day about Prof. David Teece of the Cal Business School who has made a small fortune serving as an expert witness. Even more interesting is the fact that he brought many other economists along for the ride by forming a company (which is now publicly traded) that employs over 1,300 people — many of them brilliant, high wage earners with PhDs. Here are some snippets from the piece….. (more…)

From Sam Fox Krauss of the Daily Princetonian, an article introducing some of the entrepreneurs of Princeton and some of the ways the school aims to meet the entrepreneurial fix of the students. Clubs, courses, etc. From the piece,

“The Entrepreneurship Club and a few classes serve as resources for current Princeton students to learn about starting a business. Club officer Joseph Perla ‘09 directs a small, “precept-sized” discussion group about high-tech entrepreneurship every week. Perla presented a business plan for the group to critique this week.”

“Economics classes do not help you for entrepreneurship at all,” Perla said. He noted that he did not receive any specific guidance from the University when starting his business.”

Does/did your campus offer any resources for entrepreneurs? Anything as obvious as career services?

The sixth annual 5 Ventures Business Plan Competition has announced its 10 semifinalists. Pretty interesting range of plans… a health food maker, an auto safety firm, and one an automated parking management system (more…)

For years managing and owning properties in college towns and around educational institutions has been a common activity for edu entrepreneurs (ee)… A camp friend of mine named Brad used to rent out an entire house, then rent out the rooms separately.. Yes he covered his own rent and made some beer money.

Alternatively, Sam Zell (one of the true giants of modern real estate — his crowning jewel, Equity Office Properties, was just sold for $39 billion), (more…)