The Entrepreneur’s Pitch

A decade after the dot-com boom introduced us to the idea of entering our credit card numbers into our Web browsers, the world of purchasing and customer interaction has gone online.  Most of us purchase most of what we buy over an Internet connection.  Some websites do a really excellent job of making it simple, intuitive, friendly and straightforward. They've cracked the code on making ordering fun, and the experience of friendly, flexible sites can be very rewarding.  But when things go wrong the contrast is maddening.

A recent example:

A few years ago I purchased my first portable, automobile purposed GPS unit.  I'd used the technology as a pilot, but really had little interest in it for the purposes of navigating my car.  I realized that my lack of interest applied to installed units, since most of my driving was local. But that changed when the units became small and easily portable, and thus became useful for travel.  I was pleased with my particular Garmin product.

I'd updated the unit online in the past, and recently began receiving alerts that it was once again time to do so.  I linked it to my laptop, logged in, verified my personal account and unit serial number, selected the lifetime map upgrade option and triggered the download. Knowing that my unit was registered and identifiable by serial number, and that the download I'd selected was specific to that unit, it never occurred to me that I would experience what followed.  

After a download lengthy enough for a cup of coffee, I followed the prompts to the next step, which was the upload to my GPS unit.  About 2/3 of the duration, as indicated by the progress bar, the upload was canceled; I was informed that my unit had insufficient memory for the upgrade.  So sorry!  No suggestions, explanations, or alternatives.  And no prompt to enable me to cancel the order.  

I abandoned the convenience of my online transaction and dialed customer service , only to learn that,  yes - I had ordered the software. And that--no - they would not refund the upgrade I couldn't use.  The "free prize inside," as Seth Godin might call it, was a transfer to sales to purchase the required memory card.  I If I'd looked closely at the system requirements page beforehand (the representative actually used the words "fine print"), I would have foreseen and avoided the problem.   Conclusion - I have been happy with my use of the Garmin product.  It's almost 3 years old, however, and, given the improvements that have been made with newer units and displays, I will be ready for an upgrade soon.  In the meantime I have no desire to spend much on an older unit.

Of course I'm picking on Garmin as an example that entrepreneurs today have to decide carefully which mechanism they would rather support and repair: the widget or the relationship.    A credit offered in the spirit of keeping my business over the long haul seems smart.   In light of my experience, what would motivate me to  consider their product line?  

Technology is a good thing; common sense is too. BTW - I did succeed in obtaining the refund.  I hate to think of matching the amount of the refund to the value of the time I spent on the phone. If my story is demonstrative of anything, it's that no matter the demographic, the market segment, no matter the medium through which we conduct our business, the experience economy is upon us.  Consumers consider more than the quality of the product and its feature set, especially since the Internet has introduced everyone to the concept that good things can be free.  Capitalizing on the intangibles is the tricky task of today's entrepreneur.  

Perhaps this is why companies such as Zappos.com are so vocal about choosing to focus first on customer service, transparency, and empowering the people who are in front of the customer--either physically or virtually--to do what they think makes good sense.  The next time I'm shopping for a GPS unit, I'll plan on using my good sense, too--and my memory.  

It's a toss-up between caffeine and networking as to which is the primary energy source for entrepreneurs.  But the genome of every entrepreneur includes a networking gene - check out the research - QED.

We all know and appreciate the importance of entrepreneurial ecosystems.  We stress this to our students from the first day they arrive on campus.  It is remarkably easy to network in our business community, and is a critically important part of the experience of our students as they get their educational experience.

But, surprisingly, it's not intuitive.  To some it is an intimidating thing.  To others it is too indefinite; they don't always appreciate that 2nd and 3rd degrees of separation are not an impediment, but rather a pathway to use an initial connection to lead to a second and a third before the synapses fire.

I had an experience just before the holiday that demonstrates, however, just how easy networking can be--sometimes by accident.

I was rushing late one afternoon to attend a pre-holiday reception for an organization in Boulder.  I knew roughly where it was taking place, but the names of the bars and restaurants in the area had gone through recent changes and I wasn't clear about the specific location. I reached the general area, parked, and with collar up and hat pulled down against the cold and windy weather I headed across the street, looked for a lively venue - and spotting one - entered without further thought.

Upon entering I observed that it was indeed a lively group. There were several familiar faces, and again without further thought, I accepted a drink and went looking for my first conversation.  I was almost immediately engaged in animated conversation with a number of people including students, business colleagues and familiar faculty members, but it began to slowly dawn on me that it was not the group with whom I had intended to meet. Instead I had accidentally crashed the holiday gathering of the staff, faculty, students and supporters of the Environmental Studies department--ENVS.  ENVS is one of our truly outstanding departments at CU Boulder, and our dual degree program - MBA/MS in Environmental Studies is one of our most excellent and competitive from an admissions perspective.  So I was not among strangers - but the enthusiasm with which this gate crasher was included in the celebration was in the best spirit of the networker's credo.

By the end of the evening I'd had several terrific conversations during which I'd received and offered referrals to several other folks, and enjoyed hearing and suggesting great ways in which our two schools could work even more collaboratively in addressing the world's really big challenges with sustainability. 

Happy Networking in 2010!  I can only wonder what might have happened had I arrived at the event for which I'd set out.

Great news for all entrepreneurs to kick off 2010:  We now have it on good authority that caffeinated coffee is the ultimate new health food--no joke.  If coffee has been the fuel of choice for the 24/7 entrepreneurial lifestyle, according to WebMD, it's now OK!
What's more, my own anecdotal evidence suggests that knowing about the health benefits of coffee may be one of the most effective sales tools available.  I'm continuously meeting with people to tell them about the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, about the extraordinary talent pool of our students, and to convince folks of the excitement and value of our work here and at the Leeds School of Business.

Typically I've relied on eloquence and compelling reasoning (feedback invited), and most of my meetings take place over coffee; all too often the person with whom I am meeting orders de-caf, or tragically passes on coffee altogether.  When I ask why, I find that mostly misimpressions of the effects of coffee on health are to blame. When I then share the good news, enabling them to shed those negative feelings of guilt and concern, the years of self-sacrifice, I'm almost always successful in closing the deal--and almost always over a pot of freshly brewed. Conversion!

Try it out--and best wishes for your entrepreneurial adventures in 2010.

DISCLAIMER:  The WebMD article speaks for itself.  The writer disavows any claims or representations of offering healthcare advice.  All you have to do is take a look at him, a long-term 4 to 6 cup a day caffeinated coffee drinker, and draw your own conclusions.  Just don't hurt his feelings.

I recently attended a 2010 Outlook for the Investment Banking and Venture Capital industries, an event hosted by Polsinelli Shughart PC . In addition to thanking Polsinelli Shughart, I'd like to acknowledge two excellent speakers featured at the event: Wayne Nielsen of W.G. Nielsen & Co. and Stephanie McCoy, most recently a venture capitalist at Meritage Funds.

Stephanie, speaking from a venture capitalist's perspective, addressed the liquidity crisis; Wayne, who made some remarkably accurate predictions last year for 2009, made 2009/2010 economic observations that contrasted the carnage of 2008 with some encouraging trends from 2009. Both speakers highlighted the lows, but followed with some signs of promise.

What everyone wants to know is: How do we work our way out of last year's economic abyss, and when do we see a light at the end of the tunnel? What is the impact that the absence of capital markets will make on the types of innovative, early stage businesses that characterize our Colorado business community, especially in the emerging business sector of renewable energy and other sectors that are at the heart of our economic health?

Here are some notes from both presentations and key takeaways from the event. Any editorial commentary is my own!

A Venture Capitalist's Perspective

• Institutional investors all but disappeared in 2008 and through much of 2009, leading to the precipitous decline in funding to the VC industry.

• Institutional commitments to venture firms were $5B year-to-date in 2009; down from $23B in 2008 and $40B in 2007. (The number was $80B in 2000).
• The number of venture investments followed suit, both in number of investments and in the size of the investments.
• Early stage companies were hardest hit. $2.4B went to 536 companies in 2009 (YTD); down from $6B invested among 2550 firms in 2008, and $7B to 2852 companies in 2007.
• Exit strategies became a memory of the past. The IPO market ground to a halt- especially for small cap firms. And as Wayne predicted, M&A activity in 2009 has declined more than 40% from 2008 and more than 80% from 2007.

The result: Companies retrenched and venture firms marshaled their remaining capital.

And there are some seemingly favorable indicators of an improvement in the venture industry, as seen in a survey of the top 100 institutional investors.

• Despite a virtual stoppage of venture sector investments, over 90% of surveyed firms indicated their intent to continue to invest in venture capital firms.
• More than 30% indicated that the level of their investment as a percentage of their allocation would increase.
• Only 6% indicated their intention to reduce their percentage exposure to venture capital investments.
• Private equity funds currently have approximately $400B in investment capital available, while commercial banks and lending institutions have approximately $1.2B in cash assets.

What's not so clear is: How much remaining capital have VC firms retained that is not likely to be limited to follow-on investments?

An Investment Banker's Perspective

There is no question that the picture here is complex. Without a healthy investment banking industry, the parties affected by the events above are absolutely affected by the lack of access to capital along the way. They are critically affected by the inability to achieve liquidity events through public markets or M&A transactions. We hear much in the press--repeatedly--about economic sectors: Retail sales and consumer confidence, low housing starts, mortgage foreclosures, the federal debt, and the implications of the bailout.

Despite Warren Buffett's admonishment, "Anyone who thinks the market knows the value of anything needs to do more homework," some indications of favorable trends include:

• The DOW, Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500. They're all up between 60% and 70% since March of 2009.
• Low price/earnings ratios and skyrocketing worker productivity. Decade-long highs indicate a likelihood that business profits will improve.
• Increasing U.S. manufacturing activity throughout 2009.

Physics warns us, however, that for every force there is an equal and opposite force. Many of these indicators mirror the relationship between high productivity and high unemployment, etc.

The IPO market seems to be returning.

• Q3 2009 saw an IPO volume of 20 deals producing $5.8B of equity investment.
• As of October there were 34 registrants in the IPO pipeline, up from 28 registrants seeking $7.6B on June 30, 2009.
• Only 12 companies went public in the first half of 2009; 8 were US-based.

What does this mean for Colorado and its sustainable startups?

The venture capital landscape in Colorado is experiencing some uncertainty with a number of firms in fundraising mode. Our venture investment reality is that 80-90% of venture capital comes from out of state. At the same time there's another development occurring. We are experiencing an explosive emergence of the cleantech/renewable energy sector which saw 76 Colorado companies apply to make presentations at this year's 22^nd annual NREL Industry Growth Forum. About the same number of applications came from California, and is almost double the number of Colorado-based applications from the previous year. However, while the general impression seems to be that regional firms are having difficulty raising money, the reality is a bit more mixed in my mind as evidenced by (if my facts are correct) a number of firms that have in fact raised money within the past few years: Foundry Group, Altira Group, Infield Capital, Access Venture Partners, Boulder Ventures and Meritage Funds. And there are other smaller funds emerging on the landscape. Demonstrative of a transition, Altira Group is, and has been, entirely focused on energy technology. Infield capital was formed to focus their investments on cleantech-related vehicle powertrain technologies, and Access Venture Partners has become active in the cleantech space.

During a follow on visit with Stephanie, we discussed the regional VC landscape. She agrees that, while the cleantech sector is an area of great opportunity, it's relatively immature; it struggles with uncertainties around government policies and subsidies, and developing convincing business models. We both were reminded of Colorado's cable industry during the 1970s--how it developed a critical mass here, despite regulatory challenges, and was supported by some of Colorado's most prominent venture capitalists, visionaries, and leaders.

We know that venture capital flows to great new ideas in the hands of seasoned entrepreneurs. Perhaps we're going to see a similar evolution in the cleantech space, and the influx of established energy companies will attract capital and new management talent. Do we have the necessary ingredients? I invite your views.

Social Entrepreneurship is one of the fastest-growing and most inspiring fields of entrepreneurship. Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize - primarily for founding the Grameen Bank and spawning the concept of microfinance, suggests:  "Social Entrepreneurship is a very broad idea . . . any innovative initiative to help people may be described as social entrepreneurship." 

There is a growing appreciation that entrepreneurial approaches are most powerful in unleashing the skills of millions of people in some of the most economically challenged areas of the world.  Similar to the concepts expressed in C.K. Prahalad's book, "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid,"  social entrepreneurship is premised on legitimizing that sector of the world's population as economically important and viable. 

Student interest in social entrepreneurship at CU-Boulder has never been more enthusiastic.  CU Boulder was recently selected as an Ashoka Changemaker Campus, and cross-campus, multidisciplinary student groups are forming and convening activities pertaining to social entrepreneurship.

The Deming Center has responded to this student interest by becoming involved in various efforts on campus.  For instance, we are a part of SEED@CU - Social Entrepreneurship for Equitable Development -- an interdisciplinary field research project on social entrepreneurship.

The Third Annual Business/Social Entrepreneurship Event

The Third Annual Business/Social Entrepreneurship Event was held in Colorado Dec. 1 & 2.  Peter Kellner, named Young Global Leader in 2009 by the World Economic Forum, was the featured guest and speaker and was accompanied by Justin Rockefeller, another social entrepreneurship proponent. During this event, the City of Denver announced its partnership with Ashoka through its participation in Ashoka's "Change Your City Initiative." 

Our University hosted a follow-up event in Boulder featuring Peter as the speaker- and discussed the meaning of CU-Boulder's recent selection as an Ashoka Change Maker Campus.

Peter's lifelong mentor has been Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka, a "global association of social entrepreneurs," and based upon his years of association with Bill he developed a model for fostering social entrepreneurship through the creation of an organization called Endeavor.

Peter Kellner's presentation on Endeavor's accomplishments in the 11 years since its founding provided extraordinary evidence of the power of social entrepreneurship models.  Endeavor has screened over 19,000 applicants and has chosen to support 420 in the creation of their businesses - to whom they provide mentorships, networks, strategic advice, talent, skills and inspiration.

I hope you continue to share with me the excitement and deep appreciation of the enabling power of entrepreneurship. We're privileged in our mission of educating the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders who will find great opportunity in solving some of the world's great challenges in energy, health care and nutrition, and in innovating solutions for the world's developing economies.
 
Please share your thoughts and insights on how we can best nurture social entrepreneurs here in Boulder. 

When faculty members are guest speakers at our Deming Board breakfast meetings, their presentations consistently inspire some very intense and lively discussions. 

One of my favorites was a presentation entitled "Do Venture Capitalists Really Matter?" by Professor Sharon Matusik. I won't go so far as to state how the debate came out. 

Her talk underscored the notion that the Leeds School of Business has some of the most highly respected faculty in the field publishing entrepreneurship-focused research in leading academic research journals. We also have a thriving Ph.D. program, one of the most prolific in the country with more than 20 graduates, who are now established as leading scholars in entrepreneurship at universities around the country.

To learn more, take a look at our 2009 Academic Report, hot off the press.

Some takeaways from this report:

• During 2008-09 academic year more than 500 undergraduates took one or more of our entrepreneurship courses.

• Our MBA program has grown by 140% in the past three years, with more than 50% of this year's incoming class identifying entrepreneurship as their number one area of interest.

• Almost 300 MBA students took at least one of our entrepreneurship courses during the year, representing almost 33% of all of the elective courses taken by Leeds MBA students.
  

Since the creation of the Deming Center in 1995, more than 1000 students have taken our business-planning course.  This, too, is a tribute to the quality of our faculty and to their ability to bring entrepreneurship alive in the classroom.

As stated in the report, our faculty had nearly 30 research papers selected for publication in leading journals from 2006 to 2009.  Another 20 papers are currently in the works.  

Not only are these research efforts advancing the theoretical understanding of the creation and successful management of entrepreneurial companies - they are of relevance and interest to members of our entrepreneurial business community and Deming Center board.

And just for the record, I do believe that venture capitalists really matter.

The kick-off event of the University of Colorado's New Venture Challenge featured a talk entitled  "How to Pick a Business Worth Starting" by local Boulder entrepreneur Paul Berberian. Held November 11 in the Courtroom of CU's Law School, the Deming Center hosted about 200 attendees including students, faculty, staff, and members of the local business community recruiting interns. We are pleased to feature a blog post covering the event by Joanne White, a member of our executive committee, co-founder of TribeVibe and blogger for Mediamum.net.

The 2009 CU New Venture Challenge began Wednesday night with a full house in the Wittemeyer Courtroom at the CU Law Building to hear Paul Berberian deliver the rousing and interactive session called, "How to pick a business worth starting."

Paul 's first slide, "how to pick a winner," set the tone for the evening. A kid with his finger up his nose, nearly up to the knuckle, brought lots of laughter. Paul continued to describe the essences of what types of businesses were worth pursuing, how to choose one that suits you, and a few hard realities of working in a startup. He talked about his failures. His personal reflections on one business experience selling plastic name tags which resulted in him marrying with a "negative dowry" was one many entrepreneurs see as a reality. Luckily, that experience appears to be humorous when it's eclipsed by successes. And Paul has had a few, to say the least.

Paul is onto his sixth business (solar panels), and admits he's the guy who wants to have lots of money raining on him. For him, that's a key aspect of the type of business he chooses. He said though, that there are other factors that weigh in for consideration when deciding on a business to launch, and that the audience should look for something that suits and fits in all areas of who they were, and what they wanted to achieve. He described the process of looking at 14 different companies over the last year or so. One example was a company that produced bulletproof vests. "I'm a pacifist," said the air force veteran, "I did that stage of my life and want to move on to other things." So, while the bulletproof vest company might have been a strong one, it didn't go further on his list to investigate.

In a highly engaging presentation, Paul invited the audience to ask questions and be interactive throughout - and they did. Numerous times Paul was asked to offer more detail on specific process, and simply to ask additional questions. Paul answered everyone, and kept a perfect balance of information, entertainment and informality so no matter where you were in your business journey, there was value in his message.

The broader message that while you have nothing is the best opportunity to go out on a limb and start a business was directly aimed at the students in the room. Paul's encouragement was a great beginning to CU's New Venture Challenge for 2009/2010. Following the presentation, everyone headed upstairs to network, enjoy some refreshments, and chat with some local startups looking for interns.

Paul Berberian was the perfect beginning to the CU New Venture Challenge and fired up the anticipation for next week's pitch evening. A number of people have registered their intent to present their budding idea at the event, being held in the ATLAS building at 6pm on Wednesday 18th November. All members of the campus, and the broader community are invited to come along, hear ideas (or present their own), and network with others to hopefully start something that could be the next big thing. As long as, according to Paul Berberian, it isn't selling plastic badges.

Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine,  paid a visit to the Deming Center a few weeks ago.  She attended our Deming Board Breakfast in the morning (more on that in a moment), followed by a series of discussions with Deming board members, entrepreneurship faculty, MBA students and recent alumni. 

Entrepreneur is the largest-selling business magazine on newsstands in America. Its print circulation has been increasing in a declining industry. Additionally, Entrepreneur reaches millions of online subscribers. In about a year and a half as Editor-in-Chief, Amy has engineered an amazing reorganization and strengthened the magazine's positioning. 
Surprisingly, Entrepreneur appeals to a diverse age demographic. Her view is that the term "Entrepreneur" inspires an emotional reaction at many age levels. 

(As an aside, the magazine's latest issue featured Kim Jordan, founder of Colorado-based  New Belgium Brewing Company, who recently gave a talk at the Leeds School of Business.  New Belgium is a remarkable company -- built from its start on the fundamentals of sustainability.)

During Amy's visit with students and alumni, Leeds School alumna Sarah Schupp joined us.  In an undergraduate Leeds School of Business business plan course, Sarah founded University Parent, which enables universities to more effectively communicate with the parents of their students.  (She also won the business plan competition here at the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship in 2004.) Launched mainly by bootstrapping, University Parent now serves more than 100 universities!  

Needless to say, we at Deming, and Amy, learned a lot at about Boulder's particularly entrepreneurial climate and how the local business community so supportively engages with the entrepreneurship program at the Leeds School of Business.  Amy is always looking for good stories about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship and I believe she left with a sense that she'll be hearing many more from Boulder.  

JOHN MULLINS: GETTING TO PLAN B

As I mentioned, the day began with a Deming Center Board Breakfast.  Our VIP guest speaker that day was Prof. John Mullins  from the London School of Business.  His latest book, Getting to Plan B,  co-authored with Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins, has just been published by Harvard Press and is available in bookstores everywhere.  John is an entertaining speaker and this latest book, as well as his previous book, The New Business Road Test, are both insightful, thought-provoking handbooks on the realities of starting new businesses. We've had the pleasure of having John visit and speak to us in the past and look forward to the next opportunity.  He always inspires great discussions.

ENERGY INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL & RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INSTITUTE

Two weeks ago, I participated in a meeting of the Energy Institute Leadership Council (EILC) of our Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI). The Leadership Council is a select group of corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, scientists, policy makers and academics that provide high-level governance and strategic direction to the University of Colorado at Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI). Created to merge the private sector's market-based experience and perspective with the innovative research capabilities of the scientists and faculty at CU-Boulder, the Council provides a powerful leadership team for RASEI.
 
The Deming Center plays a central role in promoting and supporting private sector engagement and commercialization activities on behalf of RASEI. 

Now - if that's not enough for one week in the life of an entrepreneurship center director -I've also recently had the pleasure of meeting with a faculty delegation from universities in Poland including The Silesian University of Technology  and the University of Economics in Katowice.  I will soon be addressing about a dozen visitors from the University of Paris - Sorbonne.  

These opportunities were inspired by relationships built between these schools and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Additionally, these schools' representatives are interested in learning more about entrepreneurship education, technology commercialization, and the many things that work so well between our university and the entrepreneurial community in Boulder.  

Why does the Deming Center find itself so involved in these diverse external activities?
 
Because of the fundamentally important role of entrepreneurship in making a productive impact on society, based on the results of outstanding research and discovery. Our Center has the privilege of being a catalyst and a connecting hub toward that end. We create benefits for our students by being able to open doors and showcase their capabilities.  And in turn, we bring value to the business community by making it easier for them to engage with and support the university, and to tap into the talent pool and resources that we have.

I just returned from attending the annual Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers conference, hosted this year by Rice University in Houston.

GCEC was founded in 1996 (as NCEC at the time) to provide a coordinated way for participating members to communicate on the issues and challenges confronting university-based entrepreneurship centers.  GCEC now has over 200 university members -- including the top universities in the United States and around the world.  Conference attendance was close to 400 and attendees were able to select from 42 different sessions on an amazingly diverse and interesting set of topics. 

Every time I attend and participate, I am inspired by the popularity and demand for entrepreneurship education at universities everywhere and by the creativity and breadth of what is happening at other schools.  On the other hand, I'm always jolted by the feeling that we've only scratched the surface in our own program and that it's time to get back to the work of delivering on our mission.

Keynote speakers included Dr. Ed Roberts, Founder/Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Catherine Rohr, Founder, Prison Entrepreneur Program (everyone was emotionally affected by her talk); and Dr. Jack Gill, Founder, Vanguard Ventures.  Perhaps the runaway favorite, however, was Michael Holthouse, formerly the founder of Paranet, Inc., who spoke about his new passion as Founder of Lemonade Day. 

Take a look at these websites:
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/09/11/story5.html
http://www.lemonadeday.org/public/pag219.aspx

I have a new appreciation for the curbside lemonade stand as a wonderful platform for entrepreneurship education for children (the investor pitch item in the checklist is particularly informative!).  Having begun a few years ago as a program for at-risk kids, with (only!) a couple of thousand lemonade stands in Houston opening on the same day.........the program has grown to over 27,000 lemonade stands nationwide.  Lemonade Day opens up a whole new world to young, at-risk kids, who have never imagined the enabling power of entrepreneurship and possibilities for self-directed opportunities.  

I co-presented with Connie Bourassa-Shaw, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at the University of Washington-Seattle's Michael G. Foster Business School at a session entitled University Programs Making an Impact: Environmental Innovation/Clean Tech Entrepreneurship.

Other selected sessions of interest included: Alliances and Partnerships Across Institutions, Incubators & Collaborative Environments, Social Entrepreneurship, Life Science Entrepreneurship, Graduate Masters Programs in Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, Going Global, and one of the most provocative - What Will Entrepreneurship Programs Look Like in 2019?

Consistent themes included student demand for entrepreneurship education, the desire from the corporate world for more entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary skills among graduates, and the requests on campuses from other departments/schools to bring entrepreneurship education into their programs.

In other words - evidence shows that demand is high from several directions, while entrepreneurship centers are seen as enabling go-to organizations. Meanwhile, we commiserated together on how difficult it is to create and support interdisciplinary and collaborative missions.  A value of the conference was associating with like-minded colleagues facing similar challenges.

The shared vision of leaders in entrepreneurship education recognizes the simple fact that large companies don't innovate. For years, large companies have seen declines in their employment.  Large companies that are unable to change and redefine themselves fail. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leaders have driven economic development and job creation in the U.S. for years.  

Additionally, the U.S. has maintained its leadership in the world through innovation and entrepreneurship.  We accept risk and tolerate failure to a degree that is rare in many developed countries.  What's changing dramatically on a global scale is that countries like China, India, Brazil and many others share our same characteristics of risk tolerance.  Their arrival as major economic forces in the world economy has transformed the competitive landscape.  It is critical that we do everything we can to foster entrepreneurship education.  To fail on this front is to impair the future prospects of today's youth.

Graduate Entrepreneurs Association (GEA) - Annual Fall Retreat

I thought I'd take a break from a series of things that I've written about -- the myths and realities of entrepreneurship and education -- to report on another fantastic event, our annual GEA Retreat, which I attended last Friday.  The purpose of this annual fall event is to welcome new MBA students to the program and to our business community; to give them a taste of the entrepreneurial Kool-Aid that defines Boulder.

This event, organized by the GEA, and sponsored by the Deming Center, has been a tradition for several years.  This year it was held at Chautauqua.  In most past years it has been held at a venue far up in the mountains - great introduction to Colorado for our out-of-state and international students - but logistically challenging.

 (The distance and high altitude nature of past locations also contributed to it being called a "retreat"- despite my constant observation that to use the words "retreat" and "entrepreneurship" in the same sentence is an oxymoron.) 

We had close to 100 attendees this year - mostly 1st year MBA students, a number of 2nd year MBA students, as a number of faculty members, and about 20 participating speakers and panelists as well. Click here to see the list:
GEA Retreat 2009 - Speaker List.pdf

Special thanks to the participants who served on panels entitled "Young Entrepreneurs," "Finance," and "Awesome Entrepreneurs."  (I thought they were all awesome.)  Great stories, lots of lessons learned, and truly inspiring.  I walked away with several new insights and several more stories for the telling.

But no take-away was more compelling, once again, then the willingness of Boulder's entrepreneurs to give their time to provide help and perspective for our students that are interested in taking advantage. Tim Falls noted well the unique openness and approachability of the Boulder entrepreneurial community.

Thanks to Tim and to Jay Wilson who organized this year's event and to all of the panelists and participants who made it such a successful day.
 

Ashoka

As enjoyable as the GEA Retreat proved to be,  I was sorry to miss another milestone event on campus.

The University of Colorado (CU) has been named a "Changemaker Campus" by Ashoka, the largest association of leading social entrepreneurs in the world. The partnership brings together students, faculty, and staff from across campus to transform the university into a hub for social change.

The Initiative kicked off with a weekend retreat, featuring visits by Lynn Price, Ashoka Fellow and Founder, Camp to Belong,  Chris Pelley and the Ashoka U team. Thanks to Lennon Flowers and Erin Krampetz for organizing the three-day event.

Stay tuned - more to come on the topic of social entrepreneurship.