Past Events 2007
Entrepreneurship Week USA : Feb 25th - March 3rd
Entrepreneurship Week USA: Feb 25th - March 3rd
A series of eminent speakers and workshops have been scheduled this semester to inform and assist those who plan to participate in the Neat Ideas Fair and Business Plan Competition.
Seminars Gina Poole is Vice President, Innovation and University Relations for IBM. She has worldwide responsibility for developing and executing internal programs that drive IBM's strategic imperative for innovation further into IBM's culture; and external programs for collaborating with clients, partners, governments and academia to foster innovation. She leads IBM's worldwide collaboration with universities, which are the wellspring of the research needed to foster an innovation economy. In her previous role she was vice president of Developer Relations for IBM. She had worldwide responsibility for IBM's developer programs that attract early adopters of technology, individual developers, and independent software vendors to IBM with tools, technical information, education, and interactive on-line resources that help developers build their skills and deliver successful IT projects. In addition, Gina led IBM's Academic Initiative working with universities worldwide to train IT students on open standards and prepare them for the "on demand" jobs of the future. Gina began her career with IBM in 1984 as a programmer in the personal computer division. She has held a number of management positions in IBM's software and hardware divisions including: strategy and operations, technology and industry relationships, product management, and software development. Gina is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds degrees in computer science, business management, and economics. (www.ibm.com) Speaker: Kevin Nix, Co-Founder of Siebel Systems and currently EVM & CMO of Roamware Topic: "Starting a Global Start-Up - The Strategic Issues" Kevin Nix is the EVP and CMO responsible for corporate marketing, product marketing and strategic alliances at Roamware. He has been with the company for 6 months now. Prior to joining Roamware, he spent over 11 years at Siebel Systems as one of the founders of the company, growing its call center business from $0 to over $1.6B in revenue. While at Siebel, he has spoken to both Haas and Wharton MBA classes about entrepreneurial excellence. Nix also successfully managed the evolution of Siebel's industry verticals, and next generation web service components. Prior to joining Siebel, Nix worked at Rational Software (now part of IBM), running the Rational Apex development environment products and the Rational Rose object modeling tools. Nix has a B.A in Computer Image Processing/Remote Sensing from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Roamware serves 12 of the 16 global GSM alliances servicing more than 200 networks across 83 countries. (www.roamware.com) The speaker event will be followed by a networking reception. This event is co-hosted by SDForum (www.sdforum.org) Debbie Hall is a Graduate of Duke University (BA '78) and Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA '81). She has twenty years of consulting and marketing experience with Boston Consulting Group and several high tech companies (Metaphor Computer Systems - bought by IBM; Banner Blue Software - bought by Broderbunde; consulting to VCs and their start ups). She is currently the Chair of Board of Directors for Village Enterprise Fund. She has been on the board for 10 years, and is heading a 4-year fund raising campaign (now in year 3). Since 1987, Village Enterprise Fund (VEF) has been providing small business grants to impoverished men and women in Africa and Asia. VEF's efforts capitalize on the powerful wealth creation of the private enterprise system. Currently, VEF is active in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. To date, VEF has funded the development of more than 12,000 small businesses. In addition, each business that VEF funds directly improves the lives of at least 15 people. An Open House for aspiring entrepreneurs, to seek advice on different aspects of starting your own venture. Attend panel discussions on what it takes to be an entrepreneur, how to find customers and sell your product, what San Jose can offer, what you need to ask your lawyer, and fundraising for starting up a company. Network with experts and professionals from industry and the university Patti Wilson, Career Company Karen Kang, Karen Kang Consulting Experts from the San Jose community will be here- The city, the incubators (Software Business Cluster, US Market Access Center), the University, and SDForum. Ian Stock, Entreprelaw David Dioli, Ravix Come hear Randall Pinkett, successful entrepreneur, winner of NBC's The Apprentice, and author of Campus CEO share insights on starting and running a successful business while still at school. Dr. Pinkett has partnered with Kaplan to put together "The Most Promising Campus CEO Contest" where participants have the chance to win $22,000. See kaptest.com/campusceo. This event is co-hosted by the Entrepreneurial Society and sponsored by Kaplan.
Saturday March 10 - Business Plan Prep Workshop
SVCE Eminent Speaker Series, Spring 2007
Session One: "Fostering an Innovation Economy in the Global Context"
Speaker: San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed followed by Gina Poole, VP, Innovation & University Relations of IBM
When: February 28th, Wednesday
Where: Room 225, 229 King Library
Time: 6pm to 8pm
***Free and open to the public***
Session Two: "Social Entrepreneurship and Starting Microenterprises in Developing Countries"
Speaker: Debbie Hall, Board Chair, Village Enterprise Fund
When: March 1st, Thursday
Where: Room 225, King Library
Time: 6pm to 8pm
***Free and open to the public***
Session Three: "Start-up University"
When: March 2nd, Friday
Where: Room 225, King Library
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Speaker:
What does it take to be an entrepreneur and build an organization that can scale?
Rick Schaeffer, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Netline
Sandy Sanderson, Meridian Executive Resources,
SJSU Professor Anu Basu
SJSU Professor David Mills
SJSU Professor Steve Bennet
***Free and open to the public***
Session Four:
Speaker: Randall Pinkett
When: March 6th, Tuesday
Where: Student Union / Ron Barrett Ballroom
Time: 7:00 pm
Session Five: "Raising External Finance - the current trends and challenges in Venture Capital"
Speaker: Howard Zeprun, Chief Administrative Officer and General
Counsel, Trident Capital.
When: April 4th, Wednesday
Where: BBC Room 004
Time: 6pm to 7:15pm
The keynote speaker is Howard Zeprun, Chief Administrative Officer and
General Counsel, Trident Capital. Howard is responsible for managing
Trident’s internal processes, internal legal affairs, limited partner
relations, and the processes of investment and investment liquidity. Howard
was previously a corporate and securities partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich
& Rosati, the leading law firm serving the technology community, where he
worked closely with Trident on investments and other fund matters from the
inception of Trident’s first fund. Howard's experience also includes three
years as Corporate Counsel at Apple Computer, Inc., where he was Apple’s
principal counsel for public reporting requirements, investor relations,
treasury matters, strategic acquisitions and investments, and other board-
and officer-level corporate issues.
Howard holds a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the University
of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science, a bachelor’s
degree in finance from the Wharton School of Commerce and Finance, and a law
degree from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the California Bar.
***Free and open to the public***
Workshop Session One: "Business Plan Prep Workshop"
When: March 10th, Saturday
Where: Martin Luther King Library / Room 225
Time: 9:00am - 12:00pm
This Workshop will offer tips on how to conduct effective market research and create a successful marketing plan that maximizes sales resources. It has been organized specifically to help all those planning to enter the Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition being held in May, with confirmed cash prizes of $15,000 (see www.cob.sjsu.edu/svbpc for details). The Competition is open to ALL SJSU students, alumni, faculty and staff. Many thanks to Joel West for organizing this workshop.
The Workshop will be presented by Bob Goedjen and Mark Levi, counselors and instructors for Silicon Valley SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives).
Workshop Session Two: "Business Plan Prep Workshop"
When: April 28th, Saturday
Where: Martin Luther King Library / Room 225
Time: 9:00am - 12:00pm
Attend this workshop to get a competitive advantage in winning the prize money in the 2007 Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition. This Finance Workshop will offer the opportunity to learn how to build a compelling financing model. It will help you understand what investors are looking for in the projections and validate the assumptions behind the business model. It will also help you get hands-on assistance in completing your financial plan.
The workshop will be presented by Prof. Steve Bennet, SJSU, David Dioli and Morgan Dioli of Ravix Group
Fall 2007 Events
November 7th, Wednesday
| Where | College of Engineering - Room 189 |
| Time | 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. |
| Speakers |
- Fred Greguras, Of Counsel, Fenwick & West LLP - Thomas Schneck, Managing Partner, Schneck & Schneck - Monica Zent, President & Managing Attorney, Zent Law Group |
| Moderator | Jeff Gordon, Senior Director, Program Development and External Partnership, SJSU Research Foundation |
| Topic | "How to protect your business idea" |
Fred Greguras focuses on strategic legal issues for software, semiconductor-related and life sciences companies. His practice includes start-up issues and financing in both domestic and international transactions. He has represented a wide range of companies in financing, M&A, licensing and other commercial transactions, from privately held start-ups to publicly traded companies. He has also been a venture capitalist and a general counsel and CFO for a startup. His current employment position is "Of Counsel". He also served in the United States Marine Corps as a Captain from 1969 to 1970.
Thomas Schneck received a B. A. (Physics) degree in 1961 from the University of California (Berkeley) and a J. D. degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1971. He worked for several years as a patent engineer for the University of California Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. He has been in private practice as a patent attorney since 1971, working as an associate for Rosenblum, Parish & Bacigalupi of San Francisco/Palo Alto (1971 1974) and then in private practice. He served as the chairman of an ABA sub committee on automated patent information retrieval and also served as co-chair of the Santa Clara County Bar Association Education Committee. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer (1962 1966), a former trustee of Presentation High School in San Jose, and is on the Board of Visitors of Santa Clara University School of Law. He served for one year (2001) as the public member of the Santa Clara County Parole Commission under appointment by the presiding judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court. He has been on the faculty of Lincoln Law School of San Jose as adjunct professor of intellectual property law since 2000. His current employment position is Managing Partner at Schneck & Schneck.
Monica Zent is an experienced intellectual property and
business attorney specializing in software, Internet and
technology law and licensing, music, entertainment and media
law, commercial law, and data security. She is a highly
effective drafter and negotiator, closing up to $3.4 Billion in
outbound client licensing transactions in software, technology,
media and product-based industries, and closing up to $1.9
Billion in inbound licensing transactions and over $2 Billion in
commercial transactions over the past few years alone. She is
also a versatile manager capable of maximizing resources,
minimizing costs and achieving successful results. In addition
to her effective communication she also has exemplary legal
drafting skills in any context.
***Free and open to the public***
November 29th, Thursday
- Where
- Barrett Ballroom, Student Union Building
- Time
- 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Event
-
- 4th Annual Silicon Valley Neat Ideas Fair http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/svnif
- Topic
- "PRESENT YOUR IDEAS IN THIS FAIR"
***Free and open to the public***
October 8th, Monday
- Where
- MLK Library Room 225 & 229
- Time
- 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Speakers
-
- Vivek Ranadive, Founder, Chairman & CEO, TIBCO Software Inc. (Co-Sponsored by the Lucas Graduate School of Business)
- Topic
- "How to sell your business idea: Lessons for becoming a successful entrepreneur"
Vivek Ranadivé, President, Chairman, and CEO of TIBCO
Software, founded TIBCO in 1985 with the vision of bringing
real-time technology into the mainstream. His acclaimed New York
Times business bestseller 'The Power of Now: How Winning
Companies Sense and Respond to Change Using Real-time
Technology' (McGraw-Hill, 1999) has been widely used in academia
and been the subject of numerous interviews. Mr. Ranadivé has
appeared as a featured expert on real-time computing on CNBC and
in publications such as the Economist, Fast Company and Red
Herring. Mr. Ranadivé has consistently been recognized as a
visionary for the future of business integration, securing him a
place in InfoWorld's 2002 Top Ten Technology Innovators. He was
also recognized by Ernst & Young as a 2002 Software Entrepreneur
of the Year.
Prior to founding TIBCO, Mr. Ranadivé was president and founder
of Teknekron Software Systems, Inc., a UNIX consulting company.
Previously, he held management and engineering positions with
Ford Motor Company, M/A-Com Linkabit and Fortune Systems. Mr.
Ranadivé is a frequent presenter on such topics as the future
of integration, enabling real-time business, and unleashing the
power of information across enterprises to become more
competitive. Mr. Ranadivé earned an MBA from Harvard Business
School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He received both a
Master's and Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
***Free and open to the public***
September 18th, Tuesday
- Where
- MLK Library Room 225 & 229
- Time
- 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Speakers
-
- Stuart Skorman, Founder and former Chairman & CEO, Elephant Pharmacy, HungryMinds.com, Reel.com, & Empire Video
- Topic
- "How to choose the right business idea"
Stuart Skorman is a self-described "serial entrepreneur". He has 35 years of retail industry experience and is a pioneer in information-rich retailing. His first book, Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur, was published in the Spring 2007 by Jossey-Bass/Wiley. He was founder and CEO of Elephant Pharmacy, which takes an innovative approach to pharmacy retailing. He served as CEO of Hungry Minds, Inc., an online education site that he sold to IDG Books nearly three years ago. He also founded and served as CEO of Reel.com, an e-commerce retailer, based in Berkeley, CA, which was sold to Hollywood Video for 100 million dollars in 1998. Skorman pioneered his movie recommendation system as founder and CEO of Empire Video, which he sold to Blockbuster Video. Prior to working in the retail video industry, Skorman served at Bread & Circus in a variety of operating and board roles.
This event is co-hosted by the Lucas Graduate School of Business
***Free and open to the public***