We’re back….
January 30, 2009
It’s been a bit of a hiatus (ok, quite a while), but I’m back. The last few months have been quite busy work-wise, but there is some interesting PSU entrepreneurship news to report, so I’ll endeavor to resume my regular posting.
And, if you don’t see what you’re hearing posted, please email me with any interesting PSU / Pennsylvania entrepreneurship news!
Chicken and Egg
May 23, 2008
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article, Facebook Ignites Entrepreneurial Spirit at Harvard. The article discusses the Havard students who have been inspired by Mark Zuckerberg’s runaway success with Facebook and have attempted to mirror his efforts. As you would expect, the article indicates a handful of startups have been working to follow in Facebook’s footsteps, with varying degrees of success. The article also mentions that Harvard has seen spiking interest in various entrepreneurial contests and events on campus. Harvard has even gone as far as to relax its policies around allowing student-run ventures to operate in its dormitories.
Recent days have also seen several interesting blog posts by David Adewumi emerge on the Penn State student-run site ISTBuilding.com. The first generated a lot of discussion regarding how the Penn State community compares to the typical university bastions of startups and entrepreneurship. The post which follows this proceeds to highlight some of the successes this past year has seen.
The blog posts complement the focus of the WSJ article, in that they raise the discussion of what is required to continue growing Penn State’s entrepreneurship community.
David includes a good list of the recent successes:
1. Several Penn State companies have launched within the past few years and are on their way to being successful.
2. In the last year, the formal entrepreneurial community has had a big boost via Lion Launch Pad, Blue Lion Networks, Invention 2 Venture, Ideablob, Ideapitch, and a few news-worthy events for Penn State co-founded teams.
3. In the past few months, the informal entrepreneurial community has had a big boost via blogs like IST Building, Matt Maisel, PSU startups, and get togethers, like the one we had at the Indian Pavilion. With ideas like one Varun has been tossing around about informal TED gatherings to watch and discuss the videos, I’m sure this will only grow in the next months.
4. Next year will kick off with not one, but two, major startup events for the community. (Startup Weekend and Invention2Venture)
Forward progress such as these will only help to continue to provide inspiration for the community. It is also fantastic to see the passion evident in the discussion generated as a result of David’s posts. Moving forward, it will be important to focus that passion on finding additional ways to build out the community, like assisting in building ventures from fledgling innovative concepts, connecting ventures and aspiring entrepreneurs, organizing informal meetups, and attracting more events for the community to rally around.
Make no mistake - the past year has seen a strengthening culture shift with Penn State growing more entrepreneurial. It will be a slow process moving forward even so. More can always be done, though, so harness the energy shown in the blog comments and channel it into finding new ways to grow the community!
New Google Group for Penn State Entrepreneurs
May 7, 2008
For Penn Staters interested in news and discussions around Startup Weekend, IdeaBlob, and other exciting web 2.0/entrepreneurial topics at Penn State, a new Google Group has been created to keep everyone informed. You can request to join the group here. Within 12 hours of the group being created, the discussion has already started. Be sure and take advantage of this new resource!
Xobni, New York Times, and Business Accelerator Programs at Stanford and Cornell
May 5, 2008
The New York Times has recently published two interesting articles for Penn State entrepreneurs. The first appeared today, If You Use Outlook E-Mail, Meet Xobni, heralding Xobni’s emergence from private beta. After more than seven months of being invitation-only, the product for Microsoft Outlook is now available for public download. The article is a great write-up on the product, as well as on the recent acquisition negotiations with Microsoft that Xobni walked away. Brad Stone, the reporter, mentions Xobni’s plans to expand its focus to include web-based email such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail. Great coverage for a fellow Nittany Lion!
The second article, A Classroom Path to Entrepreneurship , appeared late last week. The article, which discusses a New Jersey pasta sauce company formed through an entrepreneurship class at Monmouth University in 2005, discusses the growth of entrepreneurship education around the country, as well as different models used for these classes. Glenn Rifkin, the reporter, also discusses Babson and its yearlong course for incoming freshmen where each class is given $3,000 in seed funding. According to the article, the students have never failed to make back the initial investment and all profits are donated to charity.
It is interesting and exciting to see entrepreneurship education similar to the various programs at Penn State increasingly gain a national spotlight. The New York Times article follows recent announcements at Stanford and Cornell regarding the formation of two apparently officially sanctioned business accelerator programs, similar in concept to the Lion Launch Pad.
At Stanford, The Stanford Daily Online reported on the creation of Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE) Ventures. SSE Ventures appears to be a business advising and funding engine for Stanford students by students. “SSE aims for the division to establish ties with the venture capital community….SSE will invest its available resources in a small number of ideas, with as much as $50,000 or $100,000 devoted to each proposal, depending on the needs of the final selections.”
Also recently, Cornell announced the creation of a business incubator for undergraduates - the Student Agencies eLab. The program will work with 24 student “clients” in its first two years, as well as work to build a network of alumni, mentors, and professional services.
It’s great to see other universities continuing to embrace the support of undergraduate entrepreneurs with similar programs.
Study: Education and Tech Entrepreneurship
May 3, 2008
An interesting study was released by the Kauffman Foundation. Entitled “Education and Tech Entrepreneurship”, the study has produced a lot of conversation, especially in communities centered around young entrepreneurs, with its finding that “that most U.S.-born tech founders of technology and engineering companies are middle-aged with sixteen years of work experience before they launch a startup. The twenty-year-old wunderkind is the exception, not the rule.” (Page 9) The study “reveals most U.S.-born technology and engineering company founders are middle-aged, well-educated, and hold degrees from a wide assortment of universities.” Interestingly for Penn State founders, while the Ivy Leagues get a lot of press regarding their graduated entrepreneurs, the study also reports that “92 percent of the U.S.-born tech founders” come from non-Ivy League schools. Penn State is listed as one of the top 10 universities awarding US-born Tech Founders’ terminal degrees. (Page 7)
Interest Grows in Happy Valley Startup Weekend
April 30, 2008
Thanks to a growing show of support from Penn Staters, including a Facebook group and posts on student-run blogs, State College has moved into 7th place on Startup Weekend’s City Vote page. It’s fantastic to see such interest from the Happy Valley community! Currently, State College has received 90 votes, placing it ahead of the apparent 80 vote mark where it would receive consideration.
Further Updates
February 27, 2008
There has been quite a lot of discussion in the blogosphere around the Lion Launch Pad and the Blue Line recently. Much of it appears to have been driven by a recent article in the Centre Daily Times. As of February 8, 2008, Dave Barton requested that the offices at 234 E. College Ave., Suite 2342 no longer be affiliated with the Lion Launch Pad. Dave wanted to realign the focus of the space, which he was providing. It appears that this space will be renamed The Blue Line and Dave will continue his strong support of Penn State and Centre County entrepreneurs. We certainly wish him all of the best and look forward to continuing to work together on initiatives in the future.
Dave is a strong supporter of making Penn State and the Centre Region more entrepreneurial. His help in 2007 was key in getting the Lion Launch Pad started, and he should be recognized for his significant financial support and time commitment to the Lion Launch Pad.
The Lion Launch Pad has initiated a search for alternative space and we are currently exploring our options. Additionally, Liz Kisenwether and Robert Macy have begun open mentoring sessions on-campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are also in the process of launching a new web site.
If you are interested in the mentoring sessions, please contact Liz or Robert for an appointment during the following time blocks:
Liz - Kunkle Lounge Tuesdays 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Robert - 429 Business Building Thursdays 1:30-3:30
We certainly appreciate the strong interest in entrepreneurial programs related to Penn State and look forward to continuing to support aspiring entrepreneurs.
Updates
February 7, 2008
Daehee Park asked the question that needed to be asked. What’s happening around here?
Apologies for the lack of updates on the blog - this is my fault. It’s incredible what an intense life consulting is, especially when you’re on a project with compressed timelines. That’s left me little time to blog, though it does not mean that there have not been changes.
Thanks to Dave Barton, the Lion Launch Pad Entrepreneur “Cafe” space is now open for business. We converted the back space into an area that’s perfect for drop-in student entrepreneurs working between classes. Outfitted with Wi-Fi, here’s what it looks like:
With this space, we’re aiming to support any serious student entrepreneurs. If you applied in December, we’ll be getting in touch with information. If you haven’t applied yet, but are interested, please contact me at sheddr (at) sheddtech (dot) com.
Advertise Your Company on Google for Free
December 11, 2007
Here is an opportunity for businesses in State College (startups and established alike) to take advantage of free advertising on Google.
I am participating in the Google Online Marketing Challenge, which is an academic event that will take place this coming spring. This is an international competition where academic teams like ours at PSU compete to create a successful online advertising campaign over a span of 3 weeks. A team can choose a business to work with, and Google is giving each team $200 to use for free on Google’s advertising network.
There are 4 teams at Penn State competing in the Google Online Marketing Challenge, and they are seeking business clients to collaborate with. Are you a startup company that does not have a huge marketing budget and could use some free exposure on Google? Or maybe you are an established local business who would like to explore the possible use of search engine marketing.
If you haven’t tried promoting your business on the search engines, it’s definitely something to look into as more potential customers get online everyday. Advertising on Google allows you to get laser targeted traffic, since you get to specify exactly which search terms trigger your advertisements. Plus, you only pay for an ad when a customer shows interest (by clicking), which is totally unheard of in traditional advertising.
Try out Google Adwords today for free with one of our competing teams at Penn State University. Email Daehee at dap5100 (at) psu (dot) edu if your company is interested.
Time to open the dialogue
December 10, 2007
I’ve finally gotten this blog mostly setup now, so now it’s time to invite some guest authors to participate in the dialog. If you’re interested in writing, please leave a comment on this post.
