College Students - Make Your Own Jobs

[Guest guest]

(Don't let CMT stop you from entrepreneuership!)

Contests are a springboard for student entrepreneurs

Business-plan competitions give people a chance to start companies — or at least

make connections — while still in college.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-students-20101227,0,3851794.story

College students who want to start a company while still in school are getting a

jump on the process by competing in contests now held by several universities.

To play, they have to come up with a business idea or plan. Then they get the

chance to try it out, often in front of judges who are venture capitalists or

other types of investors.

The prizes, in many cases: funds to help turn it into an actual business.

USC senior Nick 's team entered an idea for a small sail that could be used

by skateboarders and skiers.

" We want to use the money to explore a more abrasion-resistant fabric for a pro

model, " said , 22, whose Sporting-Sails start-up was one of the three

entries to win a $12,500 top prize this month at a schoolwide competition for

new venture ideas.

The nylon sail is designed to help extreme skateboarders and skiers slow their

descents and increase their maneuverability. A version of the product is already

sold online, but the business needs funding to buy fabric for a new version,

said.

The contests are " an extremely safe-haven environment for students to get a real

glimmer of what it's going to take to start and launch a business, " said Bryce

, chief executive in residence at the Lloyd Greif Center for

Entrepreneurial Studies at USC's Marshall School of Business.

The Marshall School is working on a contest aimed at digital media applications,

with $50,000 to $100,000 in prize money, said. And the new Annenberg

Innovation Lab at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is

hosting new-media design competitions with $25,000 in prize money.

Also at USC, the Viterbi School of Engineering will host a contest with about

$50,000 in prizes.

Even those who don't win get something valuable: feedback from the investors who

serve as judges. And everyone gets to network.

" We made a lot of connections, although, honestly, over the past week we made so

many I can't remember them all, " said , 21, a senior at USC. He was

part of another team that won a top prize at the recent USC competition. The

idea: PlayOnSocial, which would let users log in to online games and websites

through their existing social-network accounts.

Rice University in Houston has one of the biggest business-plan competitions.

It's intercollegiate, and this year it got more than 420 applications, vying to

compete for a share of $1 million in prizes. In 2001 the prizes totaled only

$10,000.

" We have seen tremendous growth in interest in business-plan competitions from

students, " said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for

Technology and Entrepreneurship.

Not-for-profit support groups have been popping up to help competition-bound

students, both on campus and off. They include the Collegiate Entrepreneurs'

Organization, which has several local chapters, and IStart, which tracks student

business-plan competitions.

IStart itself was founded by students, and the Ewing n Kauffman Foundation,

which funds research and creates programs, helped it grow.

" We really want to make sure this leads to intentional firm creation, " said Nick

Seguin, manager of entrepreneurship programs at the Kauffman Foundation.

Crafting a real business was certainly a goal of the USC contest's third winning

team, made up of alumnus Radcliff, 28, and graduate student Natalia

Bogolasky, 29. They plan to create a website with travel information for people

with disabilities. It will include tips on what to expect at arrival points of

various locales.

The idea was inspired by the experiences of Radcliff, who has cerebral palsy.

" We know those judges aren't sitting there just to hear messages of social

change, " Radcliff said. " They want to hear if this is an actual business. "