DukeGEN Blog: April 2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

Duke Start-Up Challenge videos and audio

Below is the full set of video and audio files from the Duke Start-Up Challenge finals event. Click on the link to start viewing the video/listening to the audio.

You can watch the entire event at: http://stream.fuqua.duke.edu/Content/Groups/CEI/2009/SUC/SUC20090418.qtl

Or you can watch individual videos below.

Entogenetics has solved a puzzle that has been at the center of fabric science for more than 20+ years, the ability to produce ‘spider silk’ in a scalable form. Spider silk is an organic fabric which is light, incredibly elastic, and tougher than Kevlar. Entogenetics has discovered how to transfer the spider’s production gene into the common silk worm, creating the means for large scale, inexpensive spider silk production and creating multiple new market opportunities based on the application of this remarkable fiber.

GrowthTree is a self-development website. The mission of GrowthTree is to help individuals to create fulfilling lives, drawing on psychological frameworks of goal pursuit. Specifically, GrowthTree (1) helps users to identify goals in various domains of their lives, (2) helps identify concrete behaviors that are markers of movement towards goals, and (3) provides metrics for monitoring progress towards goals. GrowthTree achieves its objective through sophisticated features like automated reminders, smart phone applications and a community aspect to the website. GrowthTree – create a fulfilling life!

Trace-Aid is an educational toy designed to help children with Autism develop their fine-motor coordination skills through practicing handwriting. The device is fully customizable by a parent or a teacher as to the figure or design to be traced by the student, and music plays during correct tracing activity providing positive reinforcement in a manner proven especially effective in children with Autism. Ultimately, Trace-Aid will diversify to find its way into schools and homes of all children learning to write, as well as individuals looking to practice during drawing foreign characters.

Kaibo Investment Ltd. specializes in the design and construction of full-featured, environment-friendly expressway service areas (ESA) in China. Our team has extensive experience in highway construction project planning and execution.

Smart Billiards is a consumer electronics product that helps pool players get better and have more fun at the same time.

Wimzii is an online search engine for apparel (think Google for clothes) which combines elements of search and social shopping to allow consumers to make the most informed products.

Catchafire is a for-profit social venture that will bridge the divide between the social sector and the business sector, renew corporations with a purpose and a place in their communities, and ignite a movement of pro bono service to increase the power that nonprofits and social entrepreneurs have in serving our communities.

Evolve is a comprehensive culinary job training program focused targeting transitionally homeless individuals in the Durham community and providing them with the necessary skills to thrive in the restaurant and food service industry.

Plato’s Republic—As parents become seriously concerned about childhood obesity and their child’s academic solution, Plato’s Republic provides a unique solution to these concerns—interactive physical fitness via exergaming (a new and innovative way to provide exercise using video games and electronics) coupled with academic support and enrichment. Daily after school sessions include one hours of exergaming coupled with one hour of enrichment, as well as a nutritious snack and beverage.

Knoesis seeks to develop bio-analytical hardware and reagents enabling cost-effective clinical diagnostics. The vision of the company is to allow everyone affordable access to rapid and specific diagnostic healthcare knowledge. Knoesis’ first application is an immunosensor for the detection of latent tuberculosis infection.

Mimetix Pharmaceuticals—Free Radical Scavengers developed from Duke’s BME Department for treating and preventing diseases from occurring.

Vaxaboost--Many diseases lack vaccines or have poor vaccines requiring multiple doses due to insufficient immune responses. VaxaBoost’s proprietary adjuvant platforms will enable the development of novel vaccines (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) as well as the improvement of existing vaccines (Anthrax). VaxaBoost’s lead products are currently in pre-clinipartnerships cal development. It seeks financing to ready its assets for licensing and/or with major pharmaceutical companies.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

DUKE START-UP CHALLENGE SHOWCASES UNIQUE BUSINESS VENTURES

DUKE START-UP CHALLENGE SHOWCASES UNIQUE BUSINESS VENTURES

April 18, 2009 | DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Start-Up Challenge was held at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Saturday, April 18^th. The Duke Start-up Challenge is a competition that encompasses all aspects of building a business, including assembling a management team, formulating a business plan, and developing core product technology.

More than $45,000 in cash and prizes were awarded in four categories this year: health care/life sciences; high tech; consumer products and services; and social enterprise. Overall open category winners were also selected, with the overall winner taking home $25,000.

Of the more than 55 teams that entered the competition, 12 finalist teams were selected to pitch their ideas to judges, present to the public at the Duke Start-Up Challenge Tradeshow, and deliver their 2-minute “elevator pitches” to an enthusiastic crowd at the awards ceremony.

The winner of this year’s Duke Start-Up Challenge was EntoGenetics, a company that has developed a process to produce ‘spider silk’ in a scalable form. Spider silk is an organic fabric which is light, incredibly elastic, and tougher than Kevlar. EntoGenetics also won the Consumer Products and Services category. The runner-up, and winner of $10,000, was Knoesis, which also won the Healthcare category.

Other winners included Catchafire, winner for Social Enterprise; Wimzii, winner for High Tech; and Plato’s Republic, winner for Best Tradeshow Performance.

About the Duke Start-up Challenge

The Duke Start-Up Challenge (DSC) is a competition that lasts throughout the academic year which awards $25,000 to the winning team. The DSC provides a unique outlet for students to gain valuable experience in the world of entrepreneurship. Teams spend more than six months building business plans that include everything from marketing and finance, to product development and sales. The DSC taps into the strong venture capital and executive network within the Research Triangle region for expertise and judging. For more information, please visit http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org.

About EntoGenetics

EntoGenetics has solved a puzzle that has been at the center of fabric science for more than 20+ years, the ability to produce ‘spider silk’ in a scalable form. Spider silk is an organic fabric which is light, incredibly elastic, and tougher than Kevlar. EntoGenetics has discovered how to transfer the spider’s production gene into the common silk worm, creating the means for large scale, inexpensive spider silk production and creating multiple new market opportunities based on the application of this remarkable fiber.

About Knoesis

Knoesis seeks to develop bio-analytical hardware and reagents enabling cost-effective clinical diagnostics. The vision of the company is to allow everyone affordable access to rapid and specific diagnostic healthcare knowledge. Knoesis’ first application is an immunosensor for the detection of latent tuberculosis infection.

About Catchafire

Catchafire is a for-profit social venture that will bridge the divide between the social sector and the business sector, renew corporations with a purpose and a place in their communities, and ignite a movement of pro bono service to increase the power that nonprofits and social entrepreneurs have in serving our communities.

About Wimzii

Wimzii is an online search engine for apparel (think Google for clothes) which combines elements of search and social shopping to allow consumers to make the most informed product choices.

About Plato’s Republic

As parents become seriously concerned about childhood obesity and their child’s academic situation, Plato’s Republic provides a unique solution to these concerns—interactive physical fitness via exergaming (a new and innovative way to provide exercise using video games and electronics) coupled with academic support and enrichment. Daily after school sessions include one hour of exergaming coupled with one hour of enrichment, as well as a nutritious snack and beverage.

Below is the full set of video and audio files from the Duke Start-Up Challenge finals event. Click on the link to start viewing the video/listening to the audio.

You can watch the entire event at: http://stream.fuqua.duke.edu/Content/Groups/CEI/2009/SUC/SUC20090418.qtl

Or you can watch individual videos below.

Smart Billiards is a consumer electronics product that helps pool players get better and have more fun at the same time.

Wimzii is an online search engine for apparel (think Google for clothes) which combines elements of search and social shopping to allow consumers to make the most informed products.

Mimetix Pharmaceuticals—Free Radical Scavengers developed from Duke’s BME Department for treating and preventing diseases from occurring.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Congratulations to one of the winners of Five Ventures

Mark Smallwood, Jonathan Gibbs, and Guatham Pandiyan won their section of the Five Ventures Competition http://www.fiveventures.com/ with their work on Entogenetics which is currently in our Program for Entrepreneurs.

Congratulations guys!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Congratulations to the winners of Cerebration 2009 in Singapore

We received the following note.

Congratulations to:

Anupam Bhandari

Bobby Brenman

Kyle Gardner

Vishal Patel

They beat out 450 teams to take first place!

-Howie

I wanted to give you the good news that my team won 1st place in the Cerebration 2009 Global Business Plan competition (http://www2.bschool.nus.edu/Cerebration/2009/overview.htm) this past weekend in Singapore. There were a total of 450+ MBA teams from 20 countries around the world in this competition.

We had been participating in this competition since the middle of November and were invited to Singapore as one of 6 teams based on our business plan. In Singapore, we competed in a semi-final and final round of presentations (against NYU Stern, Chinese University of Hong Kong, HEC Montreal, Indian School of Business and IIT Bombay) and were selected as the overall 1^st place winner. It was an amazing experience!

Interim Report on Wits-Duke Grow Your Business (GYB) programme

An update from Professor Will Mitchell:

This is a quick report on the Grow Your Business (GYB) programme that John Lynch and I taught at last week (with great support from Keisha Cutright, a marketing PhD student), in Johannesburg, along with two members of the Wits faculty, Sean Temlett and Rasoava Rijamampianina. This was the first module of the pilot GYB programme (the module focused on strategy, marketing, and leadership), which will be followed by a second module in April (with an emphasis on finance and pan-African business) and then an applied project. David Robinson and I will be teaching in module 2, along with several Wits faculty members.

I have attached a brief overview of the GYB programme, which lists the faculty and has some background about the students.

Module 1 was a strong success. We had 29 students from varied business backgrounds -- mainly from South Africa, with one from Mozambique. Some students were from the "entrepreneurship" sector and others from "social entrepreneurship", though frankly I am not sure that distinction is meaningful in an emerging market. Half of the students were fee-paying, while half were on fellowships (though one of the fellowship students came to class on day 2 with a cheque book, and said that she wanted to pay because the course was worth the value to her). In addition, two faculty members from Wits sat in to pick up ideas about teaching and research. The students were motivated and enthusiastic -- an absolute delight to teach. Strikingly, all but one were there on the last day, at the end of an intense four-day module in which they were trying to balance class, work, and family obligations. Sean Temlett from Wits circulated the course evaluations, which were outstanding. More importantly, we all came away from the session with a deep sense of excitement and enthusiasm, both from the students and among ourselves. I am very much looking forward to module 2.

We hope to launch a second offering of the GYB programme in July. Wits is engaged in seeking fee-paying students, with the help of Sasfin Bank, which supported marketing efforts for the first programme. One of the learnings of the pilot is the need for relationship-based marketing in this sector, rather than media-based efforts. We had dinner with the executive director of Sasfin, Malcom Segal, who was excited about the progress and will lend support for seeking delegates for the next offering of the programme.

We have three goals for building capabilities via this programme and the other programmes we are engaged in: (1) developing our students' capabilities to manage their organizations, (2) developing our own capabilities, both to understand business in emerging markets and to create scalable educational programmes in those markets, and (3) developing our partners' capabilities to create scalable educational programmes (over time, we plan to reduce Duke direct engagement in teaching, with the partner taking the lead in managing and delivering the programme). I believe that the GYB program is helping us make strong progress towards all three goals.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

cheers!

will

--  Will Mitchell J. Rex Fuqua Professor of International Management   Watch our video at www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

We did it!!! Club of the Year!

Congrats to Bobby Brenman and Amy Laverdiere - amazing year!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bobby Brenman <bobby.brenman@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Subject: We did it!!!
To: Howie Rhee <howrhee@gmail.com>
Cc: Amy Laverdiere <Amy.Laverdiere@fuqua.duke.edu>

Club of the year!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Blue Devil Weekend - Entrepreneurship - Handouts and Powerpoints

Hey everyone,

I know a lot of you were not able to attend Blue Devil Weekend. For those of you unable to come - here are the handouts/powerpoints we had related to our entrepreneurship activities.

-Howie

1) Top Entrepreneurship Activities at Duke - There are many different activities to possibly be involved in at Duke, and this powerpoint goes over some of the top entrepreneurship activities that you can choose from.

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dfpdp4cw_215dtx8s842

2) Academic Preview of Entrepreneurship - Professor Ronnie Chatterji talks through the Research Advantage and how it applies to entrepreneurship.

Powerpoint from Ronnie: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dfpdp4cw_258fkxmfgf2

3) Introduction to the Program for Entrepreneurs - The Program for Entrepreneurs is an intensive entrepreneurship program where students receive course credit for working on starting a company. Students must apply for this program in advance. We accept 8 projects a year. The kickoff event is July 20th and the final selection of projects is October 28th.
Document describing the Program: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfpdp4cw_264gz43fghb

Apply for the Program here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=ppsyYrbTfJQq4iakTu01zIg&hl=en

4) Career Panel for Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and Private Equity - We had a nice panel discussing entrepreneurship, venture capital and private equity. Below is the link to the document we handed out, which includes the bios of the panlists, some recent startups that have come out of Fuqua, and a list of the many venture capital and private equity firms that have connections to Duke and North Carolina.

Handout from the Career Panel: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfpdp4cw_267hkhs7dcd

------------

Let me know if you have any questions.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Ronnie Chatterji giving Academic Preview on Entrepreneurship at Blue Devil Weekend

sent from my treo

Friday, April 3, 2009

EVCC and Program for Entrepreneurs Table at Blue Devil Weekend Activities Fair

sent from my treo

Entrepreneurship & Innovation during Blue Devil Weekend

Well, Blue Devil Weekend 2009 is here.

Here's the schedule for those of you that are flying in. Look forward to meeting everyone.

-Howie

Entrepreneurship & Innovation during Blue Devil Weekend
Friday, April 3, 2009
Office Hours – Kirby Reading Room
• 3:00 - 4:00pm - A chance to informally meet us and some students. Location: Kirby Reading Room. We'll have office hours jointly with the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Corporate Sustainability Initiative
Program for Entrepreneurs Workshop – Lilly Classroom
• 4:00 – 4:30pm – Information session on the Program for Entrepreneurs. Chat with Jon, Howie and others about the Program for Entrepreneurs. Note: Admitted students that specified an interest in Entrepreneurship and Innovation have received information about this program.
• 4:30pm - 6:15pm - Entrepreneurship Workshop for Program for Entrepreneurs applicants. Present your analysis of the case study for students wanting to apply for our Program. By invitation. Note: All slots are currently taken
Activities Fair - Tables for the EVCC and Program for Entrepreneurs
• 7:15pm-9:15pm - The Duke MBA Activities Fair - Location: Kirby Winter Gardens
• Table 1: For the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club (EVCC) - (our fantastic student club, nominated for Club of the Year 2009)
• Table 2: For the Program for Entrepreneurs – special program for students intending to start a company upon graduation - a chance to meet students in the Program for Entrepreneurs. Note: Admitted students that specified an interest in Entrepreneurship and Innovation have received information about this program.

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Academic Preview – Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Rand Classroom
Do a Case Study with Prof. Aaron (Ronnie) Chatterji. We’ll also take questions about the courses in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
• 10:05-11:05 – Location: Rand Classroom – Academic Preview 1
• 11:10-12:10 – Location: Rand Classroom – Academic Preview 2
Career Panels – Entrepreneurship, VC & PE - Rand Classroom
Two sessions, same career panel each time. They will be preceded by a general CMC overview in Geneen Auditorium from 1:15pm - 1:45pm.
• 1:50 - 2:45pm – Location: Rand Classroom - Entrepreneurship, VC & PE - Career Panel A (a mix of students and alums)
• 2:50 - 3:45pm – Location: Rand Classroom - Entrepreneurship, VC & PE - Career Panel B (a mix of students and alums)
Open House–Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation–Leaman Classroom
The Open House is a chance to meet the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - see an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation activities at Fuqua and Duke, and chat informally with some current students.
• 4:35 - 5:15pm – Location: Leaman Classroom - Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Open House slot 1
• 5:20 - 6:00pm – Location: Leaman Classroom - Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Open House slot 2

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Announcing - Duke Summer Residency in Entrepreneurship (SRIE)

Thanks to the efforts of John Miles (with the help of Chris DeFilippo and Luke Smith), we have the following program now. Good stuff!

-Howie

Dear Class of 2010:

In conjunction with The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), we are pleased to announce the first Summer Residency in Entrepreneurship, commencing this summer.

Program Overview

Similar to the current Program for Entrepreneurs, which selects high potential students in the field of entrepreneurship to participate in a formal support and development program with the objective of developing a business plan over the 2-year academic period, we have recognized a similar need for students who may be engaging in other areas of core study but who have an interest in researching business ideas in lieu of a more traditional, company-sponsored summer internship.

The Summer Residency in Entrepreneurship seeks to address this need, by offering selected students (7-10) a 10-week "residency" at Duke between their first and second academic years. Managed by Fuqua students, the Residency establishes a structure for those students interested in starting a venture (for-profit or non-profit), helping them increase the probability they successfully start a company during their summer residency or upon graduation. Attached is a brief overview of the program.

In terms of the Residency leadership team, fellow FYs, Chris DeFilippo and Luke Smith, will be leading this effort with me, and we look forward to addressing any questions you may have.

*If you are interested in applying, please complete this summer's application at the following address: Duke SRIE 2009 Application and forward a current resume to: dukesrie@gmail.com.

If you have any questions about the application process or the program, please contact any one of us. Along with the CEI, we look forward to working with you.

Thank you,

John

John D.C. Miles

Chairman, Duke Summer Residency in Entrepreneurship

John D.C. Miles

Candidate for MBA - Class of 2010 | Health Sector Management

Duke University | The Fuqua School of Business

E-Mail: jdm1@duke.edu

CASE Leadership Award Lecture with Acumen Fund CEO, Tues, April 7, 5:30pm

Our friends at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrpreneurship at Fuqua have put together the following award.

-Howie

CASE and the Fuqua Distinguished Speaker Series
invite you to attend the presentation of the

2009 CASE Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award

Presented to

Jacqueline Novogratz,
Founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund

Tuesday, April 7 – 5:30-6:30pm
Duke Fuqua School of Business, Geneen Auditorium
RSVP appreciated

More Information:

This spring, CASE will present its 2009 Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award to Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund and author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World (released March 2009). Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund using entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. They seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Acumen's investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches.

About the Award: As part of our efforts to promote entrepreneurial leadership in the social sector, CASE recognizes an individual each year who has made significant contributions to the field of social entrepreneurship. Honorees may be social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, researchers, writers, or academics whose work has had positive social impact by encouraging or demonstrating innovation and promoting effectiveness within the social sector. Past recipients include Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank and Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach for America.

This year, the CASE Leadership Award will be presented in conjunction with Fuqua's Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS). RSVP is appreciated. This event is free and open to the public.

Stay current with this and all CASE upcoming events at www.caseatduke.org/events. Presented by the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at The Duke Fuqua School of Business.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Distinguished Speaker Series: Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity

From Dean Blair Sheppard:

On behalf of the Executive Fellows, I am writing to invite you to the upcoming Distinguished Speaker Series event with Mr. Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, taking place on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 in Geneen Auditorium.

Mr. Reckford spent much of his career in the private sector, including roles in finance, strategic planning and operations at Goldman Sachs, Marriott, the Walt Disney Co., and Best Buy. Following a tenure as executive pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn., Mr. Reckford was appointed CEO of Habitat for Humanity International in 2005. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
I am truly excited about Mr. Reckford's visit, and I hope that you will join the Executive Fellows in welcoming him to Fuqua.

Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 4:00 to 5:00 pm
Location: Geneen Auditorium