3Day Start-Up Success

Repost: The Fall 2015 3Day StartUp weekend at Texas State University has ended with the creation of another eight viable companies ready to move towards launch!

If you  missed this year's marathon weekend of hard work, team work, creative work and good food, sign up for next April's event!

3DAY STARTUP  - April 15-17 2016

STEM Commercialization of Innovation in Universities

Opportunities for international students in the US to remain past graduation and to contribute to the US economy and 'pay back' their time spent in American classrooms is more possible than ever. Thus far, there is no unique visa track designed only to serve start-up entrepreneurs from abroad, but the trend suggests that within a few more years there may well be!

Of course, the opportunity to have a chance to start-up companies in the US via a university education is attracting new kinds of applicants to universities too, but the chances of this trend's being positive are high!

Solutions finding Problems?

This week, students are returning to Texas State--and some 7000 NEW freshmen enter the dorms (many of them driving cars for the first time in San Marcos). Last year, 21 million students attended US universities and colleges. What does all of this have to do with innovation!? Imagine the streets next week in this small, but growing town of 60,000. What would Herbert Simon say?

A few product inventors you might not recognize but should

Henrietta Hyde, Micro-electrodes.

If many women have a particular weakness, it's their inability to tout themselves. Getting the job done is often more important that letting people know that you did the job. Sadly, too many folks who fall in that category, men and women alike, get lost in the annals of history!

Take a look!

GSVC Winner of Asia Africa Regionals

Cattle Mettle TM

For the last 4 years now, I have enjoyed serving as a mentor via Enterprise Futures Network. EFN comprises carefully select mentors from around the globe who are willing to dedicate at least 10-20 hours of time each year (generally far more) to supporting the development of new university-based business competition teams through both face-to-face in-person and online coaching. Often, we enter the lives of these new entrepreneurs well after they've gotten their starts, and we help to hone their pitches and plans/narratives and numbers. Other times, we are privileged to become ad hoc members of their teams early on.  Regardless, we do our best to add value in any way possible to help ensure the team's success.

For the third year in a row, I've enjoyed mentoring a team from the Indian Business School. Some teams are very open to input and grab every ounce of support and advice they can from every source possible. Not only are these types of teams enjoyable to work with, they tend to have a natural inclination to realize the strategic value of their openness. Thanks to such openness, Cattle Mettle, was able to make significant adjustments to what was already a wonderful concept--and to take home the regional GSVC prize for 2015. They will travel to Berkeley to the Global Social Venture Competition at Haas School of Business for the finals next month where we will finally meet face-to-face (off Skype) for the first time. Congratulations and best wishes in the next round! Stay tuned for pictures!

Hard as Nails

I'm not a big fan of cosmetics, but this new technology might be a good reason for many women to take up nail polishing: NAILS

Putting a new face on disruption

Harvard Business Student, Grace Choi, has the idea to bring the cosmetics industry into the home. Imagine 3D printing and cosmetics on demand, in the bedrooms of 13-20 year old girls all over the world. Presenting her business idea to Tech Crunch, this entrepreneur has it all figured out...maybe. Take a look at her audacious presentation. Photo from Little Plate of Crazy

Still looking for internships?!

Intern Match might be the site for you. Or how about taking a year off!? Take a look at Gap Year and travel your way through learning experiences. Would you like to live with families or individuals for a few days here and there around the world and work a few hours a day in exchange for your room and board? Try Workaway!

Want to make that pitch a little different?

Microsoft's Power Point is well into adulthood and some would say, stodgy. And while it may be true that most users seldom use the full capacity of the Office products, there's nothing like the allure of a new shiny package. Maybe you've tried Prezi? Or Powtoon? But have you tested a few others? How about Haiku Deck, Sparkol, emaze, or even RawShorts or Slid.es! Check them all out!

Texas State University Enactus/SIFE Team Wins 2014 National Championships

The Texas State University Enactus team will advance to the 2014 World Cup in China this fall. 1st Runner-Up: Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, NY 2nd Runner-Up: Heritage University, Toppenish, WA 3rd Runner-Up: Belmont University, Nashville, TN Texas State University – San Marcos will join other national champions from across 36 countries for the 2014 Enactus World Cup in Beijing, China on October 22-24, 2014. Read the PR Newswire release. See the video of the Texas State University Enactus team!

No slumdog millionaire here!

BetaGlide, a team from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagur, India, came to the Rice Business Plan Competition last week-end with its mobile app development tool and was awarded a $1 million prize from the Houston-based Mercury Fund. The Mercury prize, originally set at $100,000, became $1 million as investors upped the ante for this promising product.

Texas State University's SioTex Corp., a new start-up just 3 months old, received the $125,000 Texas Halo Fund prize. SioTeX has developed a "greener" silica additive derived from rice hulls for use in paints and polymers. Read more about the winners at this year's RBPC in the Houston Chronicle.

SioTeX Heads to "Rice" competition!

On April 9, 2014 Texas State University based start-up, SioTeX will be presenting at this year's Rice University Business Plan Competition! SioTeX, a specialty chemical and performance materials manufacturer, has developed a drop-in replacement for fumed silica called Eco-Sil. The production cost of Eco-Sil is 70% lower than that of conventional fumed silica. - See more at I Start!

10 million USD investment, 2 women, and safe cycling

Hövding by Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin of Sweden is a company that stands for safety combined with comfort and even fashion aesthetics. Their "invisible" bike helmet has been under development for several long years and is now making headlines around the world. Last fall NPR (National Public Radio) covered their story. And GE's Focus Forward has filmed the story of these two inventors:

RICE Business Plan Competition

"Get in it to Win It! On April 10-12, 2014, 42 top university teams from around the world will compete in front of over 250 judges for more than $1 million in prizes. On April 12, 2014, we will crown the 2014 World Champion of the Rice Business Plan Competition, the richest and largest intercollegiate student startup competition in the world.

Deadline to apply is Friday, February 21, 2014 at Midnight CST.

The Rice Business Plan Competition is open to all currently enrolled university students from around the world who are seeking funding for their new venture. Simply submit your startup company's executive summary to apply. Forty-two finalist teams will be invited to compete in person at Rice University in Houston, Texas on April 10-12, 2014. Apply Today!!"

Core 77 Design Competition

Design competitions are also opportunities for entrepreneurs. A winning design can lead to a winning company. The deadline for entries is March 20, 2014 and the fee for student entries is $50.00. The earlybird deadline (save 10 dollars) for this year's CORE 77 Competition is 30 January 2014. Enter with a designer, or follow the competition and partner with the winners!

3-D Printing-Scaled-UP

University of Southern California (USC) professor, Behrokh Khoshnevis, has developed "contour crafting" and has taken 3D printing to whole new levels. PSFK.com says that Khoshnevis' system, developed by his students as well, can build a house in 24 hours! Take a look at the article.

Santa Clara University winners

With award-winning business plan competitions available to students all over the globe, there is no shortage of examples of excellent pitches. Take a look at Social Benefit Winners from the Santa Clara University Center for Science, Technology and Society Tech Awards.

Sour grapes

Entrepreneurs and businesses large and small run into situations that they often do not, if ever, anticipate. Business schools may teach about supply and demand, but how the theory is actualized may be something very different in practice. Listen to the United State's National Public Radio as it reports on rebel raison growers Marvin and Laura Horne in California who have taken their free market rights all the way to the supreme court.

Limiting Creativity? How and Why?

Paul Burns cites the likes of Birkinshaw (2003) to discuss the guidance and control of entrepreneurial action in his newest edition of Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization (Burns 2008).

Whilst Burns acknowledges that management must certainly not lose sight of the responsibility of a company to the shareholders in terms of how resources are put to use, he also suggests that there are ways to encourage performance through "awarding outcome rather than behaviour" (p. 185).

Burns is not advocating that badly "behaved" individuals permeate the corporation for the sake of outcome, he is instead saying that in addition to traditional forms of morale and team building *, leadership should encourage positive environments where intrapreneurs can propose and develop new products and/or services that may actually lead to improved sales and happier shareholders.

This kind of work environment is not an easy one to balance. It must allow mistakes to be made, but must still set limits on "creativity" for the sake of a company's financial survival. Moreover, those limits are perceived by leadership both emotionally and pragmatically. Ultimately the balance is therefore driven through risk managment where "risk" becomes relative to the nature of the company, the product and/or service it provides, and the personality and perceptions of leadership. And, as always, risk has a cozy relationship with Lady Luck.

References:

Birkinshaw, J. (2003) "The Paradox of Corporate Entrepreneurship", Strategy and Business, 30.

Burns, P. (2008) Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization. Palgrave Macmillan.

* The link to this YouTube video does not reflect an endorsement of Sabre Development nor of their strategies.

Social Enterprise and Sustainability

Today I took a survey sent out by a national bank to company owners regarding the degree to which they addressed social enterprise and/or environmental sustainability in their operations. As a sole-proprietor of a management consulting firm, I do not address these matters in the same way that a medium or large firm might, or even a small company with employees. But the survey provides insights into how we think about these matters. For me, the words social enterprise and environmental sustainability are not necessarily addressable in the same contexts. Bottom line, paying for carbon offsets--instead of seeking innovative internal solutions for environmental improvements, for example, is not always a good thing nor is it really related to social enterprise. These offsets become simply another financial product and instrument of financial institutions to pass forward as forms of debt. Social enterprise, as Muhammad Yunus would concur, should never be seen first and foremost as a means to increase revenues--even if revenues increase when customers are impressed by the goodness or generosity of a company. Innovation should be understood with these caveats in mind. When Guy Kawasaki talks about "making meaning", he is reminding innovators and entrepreneurs to think about humanity first. In this way, the innovation will be fit-for-purpose and all the rest will fall nicely into place.