March 2010 Archives

Today's post is a guest entry by second-year MBA student at University of Colorado - Leeds School of Business, Beth Jensen.  Thank you, Beth.

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March 5, 2010

It's been less than a week since the 2010 Winter Olympics wrapped, and I'm finally beginning to emerge from the haze of triple salchows and McTwist 1260's.

The Olympic drama we've come to expect was present as usual: Shaun White's gold medal run, Bode Miller's triumph in the face of doubters, Lindsey Vonn's injury, the success of the USA men's hockey team 30 years after "Miracle on Ice."  For two and a half weeks, our Olympic athletes gave us water cooler fodder rivaling that of any television show.  The difference with this year's Games was that the water cooler was replaced by the Twittersphere, and the conversations were happening worldwide, instantly - in 140 characters or less.

And the Boulder entrepreneurial community was in the midst of it all.  Local startup Swarm Collective, a boutique social media and digital marketing agency, was selected to manage NBC's "Olympic Pulse" project for the 2010 Vancouver Games: a section of the official NBC Olympics website dedicated to social media feeds from athletes and fans around the world.  I, Beth Jensen (Leeds MBA '10), along with Neal Evers (Leeds EvMBA '12) were part of the cutting-edge project, charged with managing the content pushed through the Olympics "Twitter Tracker" - a real-time, visual representation of the Olympics topics being discussed on Twitter.

Key take-aways from the project:

1. Twitter is a truly revolutionary social media tool.  It allows information to be circulated more quickly and efficiently, and to more people, than any other method of communication in existence today.  Just yesterday, Twitter reached the 10 billion tweet mark, and says it now sees 50 million tweets per day - up from 2.5 million per day at the beginning of 2009 (http://blog.twitter.com/2010/02/measuring-tweets.html).

2. People love curling.  "Housework on ice" was the surprise darling of the Twittersphere, drawing a level of consistent Twitter traffic unmatched by any other sport.

3. Boulder is an emerging leader in social media innovation.  NBC's selection of Swarm Collective to head the project is indicative of the strength of Boulder's entrepreneurial community and its role as a significant player in thought leadership around new media.

 Aside from the sleep deprivation incurred by working many late nights of Olympics coverage and the few extra pounds gained due to steady consumption of snacks throughout the 17 days of the Games (provided by local Boulder/Denver sponsor companies like Justin's Nut Butter and Doc's Popcorn), the project was a great experience, on several fronts in particular: it gave me the unique opportunity to participate in pioneering a leading-edge social media tool, and more generally, provided real-world insight into how people are really communicating. 

Both of these will undoubtedly prove valuable (and marketable) to employers upon my re-entrance into the work world this May.

As interest grows and investment increases in support of the energy sector, a growing number of business leaders have expressed interest in gaining a better understanding of the technologies, markets and opportunities that exist--and lie ahead.

The Deming Center is now offering a four-day certificate program, known as RETool, that provides an in-depth look at all of these topics and more.  RETool addresses questions such as:

•    Which technologies are the most promising and in what time frames?
•    What is changing with costs and pricing of alternative energy sources?
•    What are some of the main challenges with the different technologies and in different sectors of the industry?

That, and a myriad of other topics pertaining to policies, market demographics, and geographical considerations - are included in the curriculum.

The program was created by and is led by our own Steve Lawrence, Professor and Chair of the Management and Entrepreneurship Division of the Leeds School of Business and Paul Komor, who is a lecturer in the Environmental Studies Department, and also a researcher, author, business advisor, and the Energy Education Director for RASEI (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute).

The energy industry is undergoing a transformation, the complexities and scale of which are  almost unimaginable. ReTool provides a terrific opportunity for people to substantially advance their understanding of this emerging industry. We're proud to offer it to the community and our colleagues in the energy sector and beyond. 

Learn more about RETool.

Today's post is a Leeds School of Business breaking news item:

"MBA candidates from the Entrepreneurship and the Venture Capital Process course at the CU Boulder-Leeds School of Business are now sourcing potential deals for the recently revitalized Deming Center Venture Fund.  Students are looking for local companies in seed and early stage development that are seeking growth capital and are willing to engage with CU MBA students throughout the funding process.  Investments could range from $25,000 to $100,000, with the fund designed to facilitate the creation of strong relationships between entrepreneurs and Leeds.  The fund is supervised by faculty from the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship as well as an advisory board of venture capital professionals (to be announced.)

To be considered for investment or learn more, please send your business plan and/or an executive summary to deals@cudcvf.org."

 

It's not that we throw caution to wind, or that we like to invite mid-March madness.  It's that we're entrepreneurs; we're comfortable with taking some level of risk. And perhaps that's why CU's Entrepreneurship Week is taking place now--during the ides of March.  And so far, things are shaping up fine. No offense, Shakespeare.  In celebration of entrepreneurs everywhere, some nice events are taking place from March 11-19 all around the CU campus.  Entrepreneurship lovers, risk-takers, movers and shakers, take note of some key events:

The CU New Venture Challenge is in full swing right now, with the semi-finals, finals, and winner announcements happening today--Friday, March 12, 2010 at ATLAS.

The Deming Center and Silicon Flatirons will welcome an all-star cast of entrepreneurs including Tyler Tisdal of Mantucket Capital and Brad Feld of Foundry Group at Entrepreneurs Unplugged on Monday, March 15, 2010.  See the Silicon Flatirons site for more information and to register to attend free.

In further keeping with our commitment to cross-campus cooperation, the Deming Center is teaming up with CU's Tech Transfer Office and CIMB--Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology--to bring you a special lunch and networking event we're calling "Entrepreneurship Under the Microscope:  A Celebration of CU Research and Technology."  This gathering of biotechnology, entrepreneurship, and technology enthusiasts takes place Thursday, March 18, 2010 at Folsom Stadium Club.  For more information, location, agenda, speakers, and tickets, please visit the E-Week Luncheon Web site at http://eweek2.eventbrite.com/ 

We hope to see you this week and beyond.  How are you spending E-Week?

Part of the excitement of a campus location is that the action is everywhere. Case in point:  Four teams will via for not just prizes, but the attention of an all-star judging panel, in the next CU New Venture Challenge.   Here's more from the good people at CU NVC on the upcoming finals.

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The CU New Venture Challenge Finals are this Friday, 3/12 beginning at 2pm in ATLAS 100 on the CU-Boulder Campus and are open to the public. Don't miss the watching the top four teams pitch their business plans to a panel of judges including venture capitalists, angel investors and serial entrepreneurs.

Prizes include:
•    1st - $6,000
•    2nd - $3,000
•    3rd - $2,000
•    Judges Choice - $250
Now in its second year, the CU New Venture Challenge is a campus-wide initiative connecting students and faculty with teammates in a broad range of disciplines and with mentors from the business community. The goal is to provide knowledge and experience making entrepreneurship accessible to anyone with the enthusiasm and creativity required to start a new business.

Highlights of the 2010 CU New Venture Challenge include:
•    $15,000 in cash prizes
•    More than 20 teams in fields ranging from information technology and Internet to music and outdoor recreation
•    Dozens of mentors sharing their entrepreneurial experience with competition entrants
•    Seven workshops and "crash courses" on topics such as intellectual property, economic sustainability, and how to build a company from concept to completion
•    Networking events connecting CU students with employers and building a sense of community among Colorado entrepreneurs
•    145 Facebook members and 463 followers on Twitter
•    At least one CU student, employee or faculty member per team