Invite to Wake Forest's Elevator Competition

I received an email from our friends at Wake Forest for their Elevator Competition.  You actually pitch while going up an elevator.  Duke's own Daniel Egger was involved in this competition for quite a while. 

If interested in competing, contact them directly.

-Howie

"I hope the start of 2009 is proceeding well and that it continues that way.  At Wake Forest we are planning for a great business plan competition, our 10^th Anniversary.  Time with friends goes very quickly.

 

Stan and I are hoping that a team from Duke will register this year for our elevator competition.  

There are some details below; please let me know if I can provide any additional insight.

 

The Elevator Competition (TEC 2009): 

Moving to New Heights

 

q     MBA Business Plan Competition.  TEC 2009 is in its 10^th year.  It is consistently one of the best in the nation with $85,000 in cash/prizes to the winner.  This year we are opening it to all college students regardless of classification.  (Our entry to Moot Corp will be the highest ranking business plan led by an MBA.)

q     Social ENT Business Plan Competition.  Last year we opened a new bank of elevators for those of you with programs that generate interesting business plans in the social arena.  This is open to all college level students regardless of program.

Þ   We have reorganized into four “power alleys;” compete in alternative energy, life sciences, social entrepreneurship, and technology.

q     $85,000 in Awards.  The total package is among the largest of any competition. 

Þ   What to do now?  Go to www.elevatorcompetition.com  

o       Click on “Intent to Compete Form” and complete the requested items. 

o       When you are ready to complete your registration, return to the same web site and à Click on “Submit Executive Summary for Business Plan.”  Complete the items requested and upload your executive summary. 

 

I hope you will have both a traditional and social entry.  The experience is always great, and we would welcome your participation"

WEC25 - Wharton Business Plan Competition

Attention entrepreneurs:

You are invited you to apply now to showcase your business at the

"WEC25 Startup Expo,"

which will be part of the 12^th annual Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference,

Friday, February 13^th, 2009 in Philadelphia.

 

What is the WEC25 Startup Expo?

The WEC25 Expo is a unique opportunity to present your entrepreneurial venture to a vast network of VCs and entrepreneurs. 

The WEC25 Expo will be composed of 25 of the most promising startups, which will each be given their own table to exhibit their business all day alongside the annual Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference. The WEC25 companies will gain incredible exposure to our 500+ guests, including leading venture capital investors, MBA students from The Wharton School and other Penn Graduate students (e.g., Engineering and Medicine), and industry professionals from the greater Philadelphia entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Our judges (leading VCs and Wharton professors) will select the ten most promising businesses from among the WEC25, who will be awarded the opportunity to give a live pitch to a group of leading VCs.

The winning company will receive:

-          A private meeting with a top venture capital fund

-          Premium versions of Microsoft Office 2007 ($600+ value)

-          Cash

To apply:

Go to http://wec2009.com/expo 

1. Today – Submit the "Preliminary Submission – Basic Contact Info".  This should take only 15 seconds. We'll use this info to keep you informed about the WEC25 between now and conference day.
2. By the application deadline, Monday, January 12 (11:59pm ET)
1. Complete and submit the "Expo Application Form".
2. Upload your business plan.

You should apply if:

-          You are anyone with a startup business.

-          Your business could benefit from exposure and/or funding and/or networking.

-          Your business is in any stage of growth/funding, from unfunded through series C.

-          Your business is in any industry, including:

o   Web services / e-commerce

o   Energy / clean technology

o   Wireless / telecom

o   Healthcare / life sciences

o   Retail

o   Business-to-business

o   Consumer goods

o   … or anything else not mentioned here – all are welcome.

The benefits being selected to the WEC25:

-          Unique opportunity to present your entrepreneurial venture to a vast network of VCs and entrepreneurs, including:

o   Draper Fisher Jurvetson

o   Highland Capital

-          Top ten companies will be selected to do a live pitch to a panel of leading VC professionals. Winning business will be awarded:

o   A private meeting with a top venture capital fund

o   Premium versions of Microsoft Office 2007 ($600+ value)

o   Cash

-          Excellent networking opportunity

o   Exposure to potential employees/partners and other likeminded entrepreneurs from Wharton, Penn and the Philadelphia student and professional community.

o   Meet Wharton MBAs and Penn Engineering students who could do projects for you. Who doesn't love free labor?

o   Meet leading providers of business services, such as Morgan Lewis (legal), and Meltwater and Cohen Brothers (Accounting).

-          Receive valuable, positive media exposure for your business in leading online and print blogs and publications.

-          Attend (for free) our premier keynote speeches and panels composed of industry thought leaders focused on the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

About the Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference:

The Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference is one of the country's most widely attended entrepreneurship conferences. Over its twelve year history, it has attracted thousands of students, professionals, academics as well as coverage from media companies such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and CNN. This student-run conference has also vastly benefited from various speakers and their entrepreneurial and business knowledge in the form of keynotes as well as panelists.

 

Past participants in the conference include Thomas Stemberg (Founder and CEO of Staples), David Neeleman (Founder and CEO of JetBlue Airways) and Darius Bikoff (Founder of Glaceau, maker of VitaminWater). This year we are inviting over 500 professionals, entrepreneurs, and students to participate in the conference. 

We are especially thrilled to present our two keynote speakers this year: Julian Brodsky, founder, director and chairman of Comcast Corporation, and Donny Deutsch, host of CNBC's The Big Idea, will be speaking about the challenges of entrepreneurship in the current environment, and ways to turn big ideas into reality.  Our keynote will be complemented by words of wisdom from Farhad Mohit, founder and CEO of Shopzilla/Bizrate and DotSpots. 

 

More info:

Conference:

http://wec2009.com/

 

WEC25 Expo:

http://wec2009.com/expo

Contact: Jon Feldman - jfeldm@wharton.upenn.edu  

Trip to Silicon Valley - one part workshop, one part bplan competition

EntrepreneurTrek grew beyond the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab's scope and now operates as a separate non-profit.  Many of Bay Area investor and startup communities have confirmed their participation and interest in connecting with young entrepreneurs and getting access to early stage ideas.

Now, it's a 2-day intensive program designed to help MBA students and young entrepreneurs network and sharpen their tool kit for securing funding and seeking a rewarding job or internship in the startup space.  Over 1000 (mostly MBA) students and alumni from the top 30 schools (e.g. Chicago GSB, Cornell, Stanford, India School of Business, MIT Sloan, Wharton, etc.) are expected to attend with well-vetted business plans and a chance to pitch in front of a live audience and potential investors.  At EntrepreneurTrek, you can expect to

• Meet and network with 20+ leading venture capitalists and angel investors

• Meet and network with 20+ premier start-up and high-tech companies

• Get an opportunity to pitch your ideas to potential investors

• Network with other experienced and successful entrepreneur

Here are some of the speakers and venture firms that have been invited

• Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angels
• Steve Jurvetson, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Drew Clark, Director of Strategy, IBM Venture Capital Group
• David Lawee, VP Corporate Development, Google
• John Ham, CEO, Ustream.tv
• Charles River Ventures, Intel Capital, Kleiner Perkins, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Venrock
• Facebook, RIM, Rock You, and many more!
  

Please let me know if you have additional questions.  If you would like the current Fuqua students to participate, just let me know and we will set up an additional $50 discount (off of the $250 for early birds) for them.  Registration fees include food and beverages.

Regards,

Tan Nguyen
EntrepreneurTrek Foundation
innovation that transcends boundaries
tan@entrepreneurtrek.org

Entex looking for student - Clean Water technology

Entex Technologies is looking to hire a student to do a major update of our business plan.  Entex is now in its 5^th year of operations, located in Chapel Hill. We are looking for a student with strong verbal skills and good financial skills to update and rewrite our business plan.  Entex’s management has a clear vision of its future, but needs to express it clearly and succinctly in its written plan.  Additionally, good financial skills will be needed to update the pro-forma P&L, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow statements.

 

For more information about Entex, visit www.EntexInc.com.