After the internet collapsed in 2001, I returned to b-school at U of C and started reading about the CA gold rush; trying to make sense of the bust. One lesson I learned was that when rushes/booms are on, a sure fire way of making money was ‘mining the miners.’ My favorite from the gold rush days is Levi Strauss and his jeans for miners.
‘Mining the miners’ is still a great strategy and is a mainstay in the campus market. Today I received an email that reminded me of that. George Mason University (where I am completing a PhD part time) sent me, and I assume, the entire gmu.edu list, an email that says the following:
Mason’s President Alan Merten has joined together with several hundred other college and university presidents in signing a commitment to reduce university emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. With the goal of achieving climate neutrality, this pledge means that Mason will be taking steps to ultimately eliminate or offset CO2 emissions from all sources associated with university operations including electricity, heating, commuting, and air travel.
Please click on this link to take a 5-7 minute survey that will help focus this initiative.
To access the survey please click here. If the survey does not open automatically, please copy and paste the following link to your internet browser’s address bar:
http://studentvoice.com/p/?uuid=62fdba8142a24371b8d14a37231777b1
“Several Hundred”!!! Clearly, College & University Presidents are joining the ‘green rush’ and about to spend billions on all kinds of ‘green’ products. Above is a simple survey that someone is getting paid on, but think of all the other opportunities; lightbulbs, recycling bins, packaging products, heating/electrical systems, educational modules, marketing campaigns, construction materials, local/organic food services, etc…..
So, not only is it the idealistic youth who can be mined in this green rush (see here and here), but also the big wigs controlling mountains of money around campus. So go out and get some of that green cheddar!
Campus Entrepreneurship 