Mission

The Neat Ideas Fair is an annual forum to promote creativity and entrepreneurship at SJSU by generating and highlighting Neat Business Ideas.

• Competition open to anyone affiliated with SJSU (students, alumni, faculty, and staff)

• A chance for students from different disciplines to interact and build entrepreneurial teams

• An opportunity for participants to get feedback from many sources on their ideas

• A venue for participants to explain and market their ideas to industry professionals

• Competition areas: Best Neat Idea, Best Elevator Pitch, Best Executive Summary & People’s choice

Goal

The goal of the NIF is to promote creativity and entrepreneurship at SJSU and to strengthen the connective fabric of innovation and entrepreneurship within SJSU and between the University and the local community.

To provide the following benefits to key constituents:

Benefits for Competitors:

• Discovering the entrepreneurial value of their talents and ideas

• Providing opportunities for interdisciplinary feedback from many sources

• Creating interdisciplinary relationships with other participants

• Showcasing and promoting their talents and ideas

• Learning to sell their ideas and become entrepreneurs

• Networking with industry professionals who are interested in entrepreneurial ideas

• Possibility of winning accolades and prizes

• Potentially meeting course requirements

• Engaging in an activity that can enhance their resumes

Benefits for Faculty:

• Broadening curriculum to include practical applications of concepts

• Providing venue to showcase student projects

• Increasing marketability of degree programs

• Motivating students to follow-through with ideas

• Demonstrating the impact of subject-specific knowledge within a societal context

• Increasing opportunities for interdisciplinary relationships

• Improving prestige of SJSU in the community

• Attracting companies to hire our students

Benefits for Community Partners:

• Increasing exposure and building relationship with SJSU and its 30,000 students

• Enhancing public image and promoting name recognition

• Creating a better entrepreneurial infrastructure for the Silicon Valley

• Finding talented students and good ideas to help fill their “talent pipeline”

• Tapping into the entrepreneurship expertise at SJSU

• Identifying potential interns, employees and business partners

• Benefiting from enriched education process at SJSU

• Participating in the growth of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community