Santa Clara University

Congratulations to the CTE Class of 2007. Alumni from the CIE's inaugural Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship program recently received high praise from 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush. The President recognized the CTE alumni during a round table discussion on Italian Entrepreneurs, while on a recent visit to Italy.

In the photograph above, sitting next to the President are Valentina Coccoli '07 (left) and Micol Macellari '07 (center). At the President's request, Macellari addressed the crowd and shared her experiences in the program. Emanuele Orgiu '07, Abramo Barbaresi '07, and Elisabetta Capezio '07 were also in attendance, as were three students in the entering Class of '09.

The U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Ronald Spogli has been a strong advocate for advancing entrepreneurship in Italy. Among his efforts to promote entrepreneurship education was the establishment of the Fulbright BEST program, with which he intends to send many more students to Silicon Valley to study entrepreneurship in the future.

A White House press release covers the event, with SCU and CIE mentioned in the 8th paragraph.

Continue reading - Jun. 16, 2008 3:58 PM

Please join us for One-Day MBA for Film Entrepreneurs on June 7th. The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is sponsoring this intensive workshop that features SCU Trustee Dr. Frank Greene.

In addition to his experience as a film financier, Dr. Greene is a venture capitalist, start-up entrepreneur, operating business executive, engineer and technologist with over 40 years of experience. His education includes a PhD in Electrical Engineering (EE) from Santa Clara University, an MS in EE from Purdue University, and a BS in EE from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

The full-day event is produced by the Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF). Student tickets are available at a significant discount. Visit the event website for more information and to register.

Continue reading - Jun. 5, 2008 10:37 PM

The 2008 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit & Business Plan Competition will be held on June 17 at Santa Clara University.

America's 78 million boomers mean business - the aging of the boomer market is one of the top trends to follow. This exciting one-day event brings together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, marketers, and thought leaders in a unique, rich forum that focuses on innovation and investment in the 40+ market. Learn more about the demographics and market-leading ideas. Co-produced by Santa Clara University's Executive Development Center and Mary Furlong & Associates, go to www.SCUboomerventure.com for more information and to register.

Highlights:

• Keynote: Ladan Manteghi, President, Global AARP Network
• The top VCs investing in this market including: Intel Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Mohr Davidow, Johnson and Johnson Corporate Development, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Leaders from the largest U.S. non-profit organizations in aging, including AARP; ASA; Council on Aging Silicon Valley
• Finalist pitches in the 2008 Silicon Valley Boomer Business Business Plan Competition and awarding of two $10,000 grand prizes
• Enjoy lunch with authors, VC and other 'influentials', including Dr Sandra Timmerman of Met Life Mature Market Institute, and Jeff Zimman, CEO of Posit Science

Register early and save! www.SCUBoomerVenture.com

Summit Sponsors: AARP, Southwest Airlines, Health Trust, Met Life Mature Market Institute, Microsoft Health Vault, Posit Science, Robert Half Inc., Silicon Valley Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Silicon Valley Council on Aging

Continue reading - Jun. 5, 2008 5:45 PM

Jon "Max" Osbon '10 spoke at the SD Forum's 2nd Annual Teens in Tech Conference at HP earlier this week. Max sat on a panel of area university students who shared insights into their "always connected" way of life.

Max was the winner of the 2008 SCU entrepreneur competition, the grand prize winner of the Best Buy Geek Squad What's Your Big Idea Competition and will be competing in the DFJ Venture Challenge later this month with teammates Viktor Peterson '08 and Alexander Shalavi '08. All three students are completing the entrepreneurship certificate this quarter.

Continue reading - May. 16, 2008 9:10 PM

Journalist Michael S. Malone '75, MBA '77, looks back on Silicon Valley history and takes stock of where we find ourselves on history’s trajectory—and how a new society is emerging in 21st-century America that has no real precedent in history.

Malone's lecture "The Significance of the Entrepreneur in American History" will be held Tuesday, May 6th at 7:30 pm in Mayer Theater. The event is co-sponsored by the President's Speaker Series and by Barbara and Dan Mount '74, J.D.'77. Continue reading - Apr. 30, 2008 9:53 PM

Applications are currently being accepted for the Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship (CTE). The program's main components - rigorous academic curriculum, extensive Silicon Valley networking, and real world experience - combine to equip students with everything necessary to launch successful ventures.

For more information on academics, student life, financial aid and admissions please visit the CTE website.

Continue reading - Apr. 22, 2008 10:41 PM

The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship will welcome Rocky Pimentel '77 at the Winter CIE Speakers Series on Tuesday, February 26th. Mr. Pimentel is the Executive Vice President and CFO of Glu Mobile, a leading mobile gaming company.

Doors open at 6:30 PM for a networking reception. The speaking event will begin promptly at 7:00 PM. Read more about the speech topic and RSVP here. Continue reading - Feb. 7, 2008 7:10 PM

Santa Clara is offering an innovative course that immerses students in the entrepreneurial opportunities of New Zealand. IDIS 695, Global Entrepreneurial Leadership 2008, is an opportunity for graduate students in the Leavey School of Business to study and experience the New Zealand economy.

The course will include a busy schedule of case discussions, readings, lecturers, speakers, and a one-week immersion trip from March 22nd to the 29th. Students travel throughout the country, learning competitive advantages in such industries as media, technology and biotech, fashion, sustainable agriculture, natural products, and venture capital.

The program was a major success when held in 2007. The sign-up deadline is January 31st.

Continue reading - Jan. 29, 2008 10:49 PM

When Pat Condon '97 realized he wasn't ready to go back to grad school, he reconnected with two old friends from Trinity University. They ran an IT consulting practice in San Antonio, Texas taking any work that came their way. After realizing that their generalist consulting practice wasn’t going to make it, they took a hard look at where most of their business came from.

Mostly they built web apps. Eventually their customers needed managed hosting. Up went Rackspace.com. Within 30 days they had 30 customers, half of whom were located outside the United States. The founders quickly realized there were a lot of businesses all over the world that needed a reliable managed hosting service.

In '99 and '00 the company raised more than $30M in venture financing from Sequoia Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. In July of '00, after a failed IPO of one of its competitors, it became clear that the Internet bubble was bursting. This dashed Rackspace’s hopes of an IPO. With dwindling resources and a large burn rate, Rackspace had to focus on what mattered: turning a profit and serving its customers with Fanatical Support. The company quickly closed a Hong Kong office and laid off about 10% of its workforce in an effort to survive.

By 2001 Rackspace was profitable. In Q3 '07 they acquired Webmail.us and posted quarterly revenue of $96.2M. Today, Rackspace has over 2000 employees and serves over 15,000 customers with 8 data centers located in Texas, Virginia and the UK.

Pat had these three lessons to share with aspiring Bronco entrepreneurs:

1. Serve your customers really, really well. Happy customers mean repeat and referral business. At Rackspace they call it 'Fanatical Support' which translates roughly into delivering a pleasurable experience for customers.

2. Stay focused. You can’t be all things to all customers. They learned this in their consulting practice. They didn’t specialize. Focus takes sacrifice which means saying “no” to some customers and some business. If you’re getting started, start with a niche and serve it really well with your product or service.

3. Be honest with yourself about what you're good at and not good at. Focus on your strengths. Spend time practicing the things you’re naturally talented at and you have a much higher chance of achieving world-class success in that area.

Continue reading - Jan. 17, 2008 10:35 PM

Katie and Jeremy Bencken (both '97; pictured below) recently updated the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the successful sale of their startup, ApartmentRatings.com, to Internet Brands, Inc. a leading operator of media and e-commerce websites.

The husband-wife duo co-founded ApartmentRatings.com in 2000 to help renters make an informed renting decision. They managed the company while attending graduate business school in Austin, Texas and eventually found a scalable business model through Google AdSense in 2003. In April of 2007 Internet Brands approached the couple with an offer and by May 31st the transaction was complete (Internet Brands IPO features ApartmentRatings.com logo below). Remarkably, the couple never spent a single dollar on advertising during the company's nearly seven year existence.

Jeremy and Katie have elected to stay on with Internet Brands as consultants and are currently focused on solving a new problem: helping landlords fill vacancies through TenantMarket.com.

Continue reading - Jan. 2, 2008 11:18 PM

A career in entrepreneurship has never held greater promise. Technology is driving globalization at an unprecedented rate. The pace of innovation is accelerating. Advancements in IT, biotech, cleantech and other sectors are creating opportunities for visionary entrepreneurs to solve problems on a global scale.

Today more than ever, entrepreneurs enabled by technology hold the potential of changing the world for the benefit of humanity. Read more...

Continue reading - Dec. 10, 2007 8:08 PM

Santa Clara University welcomed Siamak Sani and Viktor Petersson to present at the November eCouncil, a venue for SCU alumni entrepreneurs to network and present their business plan.

Siamak Sani (MS Engineering '92) founded World Hearing Organization WHO, a high-technology medical start-up specializing in hearing aid solutions. The healthcare firm develops high performance solar powered hearing aids based on proprietary technology. WHO was also the winning company in the 2007 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit Business Plan Competition.

Founder Viktor Petersson ('08) presented Wireload LLC, his internet services venture. The Company is developing YippieMail, a web based email aggregator service catering to the teenage and young adult demographic.

Learn more about the eCouncil and the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Continue reading - Dec. 3, 2007 4:57 PM

Dr. Phil Kesten, Associate Professor of Physics, spoke to the Santa Clara Entrepreneurs Organization (SCEO) at their Fall Quarterly Dinner in the Adobe Lodge. Professor Kesten shared his start-up story, lessons and advice from his experience founding Docutek.

SCU students are familiar with Docutek through their use of ERes. Attendees were interested to learn that Docutek products developed in Santa Clara are used around the globe, in major University systems, libraries and governments.

SCEO holds quarterly dinners featuring guest speakers on entrepreneurship. The club also participates in local conference and speaker events and will participate in a business plan competition this Spring. Contact SCEO for more information.

Continue reading - Nov. 14, 2007 7:25 PM

On Tuesday, November 6th the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will co-host "Analyze This! : The 700 MHz Auctions" with the Wireless Communications Alliance (WCA) Mobile SIG. The event will be held from 6:30pm-8:00pm at the SCU Recital Hall. Registration and a networking social starts at 5:30pm.

The 700 MHz auctions are just around the corner and both cellular operators and Internet companies are getting ramped up to bid for "beach-front spectrum." An expert panel of analysts will be on-hand to discuss the auctions, including:

- Quentin Hardy, Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, Forbes
- Andy Seybold, Founder & Principal, Andy Seybold Inc.
- Mike Thelander, Chief Executive Officer, Signals Research
- Clint McClellan, Sr. Director of Market Intelligence, QUALCOMM (moderator)

The panel will examine such questions as: How might this auction proceed, and what might the US broadband landscape look like when the dust settles? Who are the likely winners & losers of this auction, and are there any dark-horses? Is there enough spectrum available in this auction to provide a new player with enough spectrum to build a new nationwide network? How will Open Access really play out? Will anyone bid on the shared commercial/first responder portion of the spectrum? What (if any) are the possible unintended consequences to these auctions?

Continue reading - Oct. 25, 2007 12:26 AM

The Leavey School of Business will host a special alumni panel event on October 25th. The event will feature leading investment bankers, consultants and venture capitalists speaking about their careers. Panelists include:

• John Paul Ditty - Vice President, Revolution Partners
• Steven Foster - General Partner, TPG Ventures
• Paul Johnson - CFO, EORM
• Thomas Lenk - Senior Director, Calera
• Kevin Melia - Controller, Storm Ventures
• Geoffrey Winkler - President, Palomar Enterprises
  

This event is open to undergraduate and graduate business students and alumni. The panel will be held from 6-8pm in Kennedy 108. To RSVP graduate students: login to U-Connect, alumni: email gbpcareers@scu.edu, undergraduates: contact the Career Center at (408) 554-4421 Continue reading - Oct. 18, 2007 6:18 PM

The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship celebrated the start of the academic year at the 2nd Annual Founder's Club Banquet. The evening was highlighted by the keynote presentation from Carl Guardino, President & CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Carl Guardino spoke about the major challenges and opportunities facing the Silicon Valley business community. He cited four major threats to the Silicon Valley economy: housing costs, K-12 education, transportation issues, and climate change. Carl delivered inspirational stories about how Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are helping to solve these major issues.

The CIE Founders Club consists of individuals who have contributed to the growth and success of the Center. The event was sponsored by EA, Silicon Valley Bank and Fenwick & West.

Continue reading - Oct. 10, 2007 7:21 PM

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group will present "Clean and Green," a major community forum on the response to climate change by regional employers, communities and individuals at Santa Clara University on September 26th, 2007. Speakers and panelists will include notable Silicon Valley CEOs, other distinguished public figures and environmental leaders, including:

• John Garamendi; California Lt. Governor
  
• Jerry Brown; California State Attorney General
• Bill Lockyer; California State Treasurer
  
• Chuck Reed; Mayor, San Jose
• Mary Nichols; Chair, California Air Resources Board
• John Doerr; Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Tom Hayse; ETM CEO

You can sign up here. Continue reading - Sep. 25, 2007 4:25 PM

The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship will welcome Tim Westergren at the Fall CIE Speakers Series on Tuesday, October 9th. Westergren is the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pandora, a leading internet radio company.


Westergren will speak on the development of Pandora, including the Company's successes and challenges that have been so highly publicized. The event will be co-sponsored by the High Tech Law Institute.

RSVP is required. Visit the CIE Speakers Series to sign-up today. Continue reading - Sep. 20, 2007 12:49 AM

The Keynote Speaker at the 2nd Annual Founder's Club Banquet will be Carl Guardino, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Guardino is one of Silicon Valley’s most distinguished business and community leaders.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) organizes Silicon Valley businesses with government officials to address major public policy issues affecting the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley.

The 2nd Annual Founder's Club will be held at the Adobe Lodge on September 26th at 6pm. Learn more about the event here. Continue reading - Aug. 21, 2007 10:51 PM

We’re pleased to welcome Irwin Federman to the CIE Advisory Board. Irwin Federman has served as General Partner of U.S. Venture Partners since 1990.

Federman brings a wealth of experience to the Board. Prior to USVP, Federman has held numerous high-level positions, including Vice Chairman of AMD, CEO of Monolithic Memories, Chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association and board member of the National Venture Capital Association.

To learn more about Irwin Federman, see his bio on the Advisory Board webpage.

Continue reading - Aug. 20, 2007 4:29 PM

We're happy to report a CIE success story. Amit Nanda (MBA '00), cofounder of SchoolParentNet, found his lead investor within three weeks of connecting with the Center: "You will always hear – 'use your network'. Well, I can vouch for this and am very pleased to share how invaluable your school network can be...". Learn more of Amit's story here.

SchoolParentNet is building a syndicate of investors to close the round. If you are interested in connecting with Amit you can do so through the CIE team.

Continue reading - Aug. 6, 2007 4:18 PM

Larry Nally, start-up CFO of Chevy's, and growth CFO of Gordon Biersch and Insulair, spoke about “Business Plan Basics” at the July Bet group meeting. Larry's experience helping to lead these companies through growth stages emphasized why keeping your business plan relevant is important.

The Bronco Entrepreneur Team (Bet) convenes monthly to discuss issues pertinent to entrepreneurial ventures. Continue reading - Jul. 19, 2007 5:45 PM

The CIE held its first graduation reception on 6/27 in the Adobe Lodge, awarding Entrepreneurship Certificates to John Barnidge, Justin Gwerder, Mike Neilson and David Freddolino. Additionally, the CIE graduated five Italian Fulbright scholars who completed the Silicon Valley Immersion program consisting of business courses, startup internships and countless networking events.

Continue reading - Jul. 16, 2007 9:46 PM

Our final installment of the speaker series for 2006 - 2007 was a huge success with over 275 RSVPs to see "Silicon Valley Top Attorney" Jim Chapman moderate a panel of web 2.0 startup CEO's (BookRenter; Egnyte; Mobio; OpenBottles).



Continue reading - May. 25, 2007 6:02 PM