Event Summary for the Duke Start-up Challenge - Kickoff Event and Match Night

Event Summary for the Duke Start-up Challenge - Kickoff Event and Match Night

Thurs, October 1, 2009, 6:30-9pm

Co-marketed by the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series

www.dukestartupchallenge.org

www.dukeDEES.com

Executive Summary:

The Duke Start-up Challenge (DSC) had a fantastic start to the 2009-2010 academic year. With 140 registered on facebook and over 160 attending (estimate) it was an energetic, lively crowd. After a solid overview by Shalav Gupta, co-president of the DSC, there was a welcome by Adam Mangone, co-president of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, www.dukeEVCC.com.

Sponsors include Intersouth Partners, Wyrick Robbins, Hutchison Law Group, Hughes Pittman & Gupton, Square 1 Bank, iContact, and Palo Alto Software.

The main part of the night were the startup pitches, run by Katherine Ryzhaya, Team development lead for the DSC. There were 31 startups that pitched, which ranged from:

-a few undergraduates including a freshmen at Duke who wanted to start a website that guided high school students on how to get into college.

-several Fuqua MBA students pitching startups based on technologies and innovations, including a medical device for to treat urinary incontincence , as well as a nanotechnology innovation that has created the world's longest carbon nanotubes

-a Master of Engineering Management student located in the DUhatch Student Business Incubator

-a few Duke PhD students wanting to bring their technologies out of their lab, including one prosthetic arm innovation recently profiled on 60 Minutes

-a few members of Research Triangle Park community with innovations looking for students to help them launch.

The formal part of the Kickoff Event was closed by Steve Pal, co-president of the Duke Start-Up Challenge.

Though it was late in the night, a surprising number of people (estimate of 75) stayed afterwards for the matching event. Color coded dots on the name badges helped people with similar interests connect with one another. Several of the presenters reported making good connections at the networking session.

The Kickoff event has been a part of the Duke Start-up Challenge in various forms, depending on the year, sometimes including pitches, sometimes not. I think tonight's formula, with the mix of introduction, pitches, and networking, was a solid formula and is worth repeating in future years.

The Duke Start-Up Challenge was conceived of in 1999 and the first academic year of the competition was 2000-2001.

Photos and videos of the event will be available at www.picasaweb.google.com/eshipatduke and www.youtube.com/eshipatduke.

Additional thanks to the great volunteers that are part of the Duke Start-Up Challenge who helped last night, including (but not limited to) Daniel Weinstein, Peter Brown, Jason Henderson, Jason Begleiter, Vatsala Kabra, Michelle Marais, Jozef Krakora, Vignesh Loganthan, Danni Lin, Lalith Devulapalli, Kwame Johnson, Justin Healy, and Nick Donowitz. And thanks to Cate Smith at Meriwe-ther-Godsey and to the BMO (Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Sturkey, Scott Plueddeman, Chuck Roberson). Thanks to advisors and supporters Barry Myers, Jon Fjeld, and Larry Boyd. Apologies to any names left off accidentally.

Written by Howie Rhee, Co-advisor to the Duke Start-Up Challenge
--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-617-1123 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- A Duke Resource for Entrepreneurs: www.dukeVEN.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

Wanna start a company at Duke? Join us for Entrepreneurship 101 with serial entrepreneurs Jesse Lipson '00 and Brooks Bell '02

 

Interested in web marketing, software programming, or starting your own company?  Wondering when is a good time to start your own company? Meet two former Duke students who became entrepreneurs as undergraduates. 
 
Join us this Thursday, September 17th, for a talk on the basics of entrepreneurship with two Duke Alumni: Jesse Lipson, CEO of ShareFile, and Brooks Bell, CEO of Brooks Bell Interactive.  A self-taught software programmer and entrepreneur, Jesse Lipson '00 has been involved in several successful startups including Rapidata.net, Brooks Bell Interactive, and ShareFile.  As CEO, Jesse has overseen the growth of ShareFile to over 7,000 customers in less than four years.   Brooks Bell '02 co-founded novelProjects, a web design and development firm, when she was a senior at Duke.  After graduating, she founded Brooks Bell Interactive, which is now one of the top five marketing firms in the Raleigh-Durham area.

What: Entrepreneurship 101, Part of the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series 

 

When: Thursday, September 17th, from 6pm-8:30pm       
6pm-7pm - Food and Networking
7pm-8pm - Entrepreneurship 101 Talk by Jesse Lipson '00 and Brooks Bell '02
8pm-8:30pm - Speed Networking (optional)

 

Where: Teer 203 and Lobby

 

Who for: Open to any Duke University student

 

Please register for this event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=162783901200&ref=ts

 

Visit our website at http://www.dukedees.com/ to check for the latest schedule and for more information.  All events subject to change.

 

And mark your calendars for the Duke Start-Up Challenge Finals Event on Friday, November 20th with Google Ventures co-founder, Bill Maris, and the Elevator Pitch Competition / Entrepreneurship Week starting November 16th, 2009!

 

About Jesse Lipson '00

A self-taught software programmer and entrepreneur, Jesse has been involved in internet technologies since 1999, when he co-founded a software company focused on the personalization of online advertising.  In 2001, he became President of Rapidata.net, a pharmaceutical marketing research company. In just two years, he helped grow revenues at Rapidata.net by over 500% and laid the foundation for the company's acquisition by Greenfield Online (SRVY).  Subsequent to Rapidata.net, Jesse co-founded the internet services firm novelProjects and served as the company's CEO. Over the years, novelProjects has evolved into Brooks Bell Interactive and ShareFile. Jesse serves as the Vice President of Brooks Bell Interactive, an online advertising services company with clients such as AOL, AARP, and Nickelodeon and 20 employees.  He currently serves as President and CEO for ShareFile, an inte rnet software company.  In less than 4 years, ShareFile has grown from zero to over 7,000 customers and 17 full-time employees.  In September 2006, ShareFile registered its 10,000th user after introducing their services to the international market less than a year before.  Jesse graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University degree in philosophy in 2000.

About Brooks Bell '02  
Prior to founding Brooks Bell Interactive in 2003, Brooks Bell co-founded web design and development firm, novelProjects, during her senior year at Duke. She is founder and president of Brooks Bell Interactiveand a self-taught designer and marketer.  Now in its sixth year, the company has grown to a team of 19, with growth fueled by word of mouth, great service and high quality standards.  The company has gained national clients such as AOL, The Wall Street Journal, Nickelodeon and XM Radio adding its newest clients, Chase, ServiceMaster, and the Washington Post within the last year.  Brooks Bell Interactive is now a top five interactive marketing firm in the Raleigh-Durham area.  Brooks' frequent speaking engagements include presentations at the 2009 MarketingSherpa Email Summit and 2009 DM Days Conference, the 2008 Internet Summit in Chapel Hill, HOW Magazine's "Mind Your Own Business" for agency principals in 2008, and Duke University Entrepre neurship classes for several years. Additionally, Brooks has been published as an expert in the fields of direct marketing and conversion path optimization in iMedia Connection, Tech Journal South, and Duke Magazine. She is an active member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO).  She graduated with a degree in psychology as part of Duke University's class of 2002.

Hosts
Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, www.dukeevcc.com
Duke Start-Up Challenge, www.dukestartupchallenge.org
Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei
Duke's Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, http://cerc.duke.edu
DUHatch Student Business Incubator

 

Sponsors and Supporters
Intersouth Partners, a leading venture capital firm - http://www.intersouth.com

Hughes Pittman & Gupton, an accounting firm for startups - http://www.hpg.com

Hutchison Law Group, a law firm for startups – http://www.hutchlaw.com

iContact, email marketing software - http://www.icontact.com

Square 1 Bank, a venture bank for startups - http://www.square1bank.com

Wyrick Robbins, a law firm for startups – http://www.wyrick.com

 

To see the full Fall 2009 schedule, go to http://www.dukedees.com/schedule

To review past presentations, go to http://www.dukedees.com/session-downloads

 

Questions?  Contact Howie Rhee, hwr2@duke.edu
 
==============================

About the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series
The Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series (DEES) is a comprehensive program designed to introduce all Duke students – from graduate, professional and undergraduate schools – to the key concepts necessary for a future in entrepreneurship or venture capital.

 

The series intends to connect students from all parts of the Duke community, including liberal arts, business, law, engineering, public policy, medical and science fields, with the goal of increasing the likelihood that exciting developments in the lab will find the key collaborators needed to translate innovations into full-fledged companies.
 
The sessions alternate between Fuqua and Teer.  The events run as follows:

1) Each session will begin with a social hour at 6pm, including food and drink.

2) The speaker will go on at 7pm, and will talk for 40-60 minutes, followed by a Q&A.

3) Finally, after the speaker there will be an additional opportunity for networking with classmates and speakers.

 

Tonight! Duke Start-Up Challenge Info Session - Tuesday (9/8) 7pm

 

The Duke Startup Challenge will be holding an Information Session for all interested members of the Duke community on Tuesday September 8^th.  Organizers will provide an overview of the competition and opportunities to get involved as both a competitor and organizer.  

 

Where: Fuqua School of Business, Mosler Classroom

http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/documents/programs/campus_map.pdf

 

When: Tuesday, September 8^th

We will hold two identical sessions

    o   Session 1 – 7:05 – 7:35

    o   Session 2 – 7:40 – 8:10

 

Who Should Attend: All Duke students interested in entrepreneurship or individuals interested in supporting the DSC as an Organizing Committee member. 

 

For those interested, we will be taking applications for Organizing Committee positions starting September 9th. 

 

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

 

Best,

The Duke Start-Up Challenge Team

 

---

Duke Start-Up Challenge is a year-long entrepreneurship competition that encourages students to plan and launch their own businesses, receive feedback from experienced professionals, and have the chance to win seed capital up to $25,000.

 

http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/

 

Follow us on Twitter: @dukestartupchal

Fan us on Facebook: DSC Facebook Page

 

This message was sent from Duke Start-Up Challenge to hwr2@duke.edu. It was sent from: Duke University, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Fuqua School of Business Duke University 1 Towerview Drive, Durham, NC 27708. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by

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--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-617-1123 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- A Duke Resource for Entrepreneurs: www.dukeVEN.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

Great DukeGEN Happy Hour

We had a great DukeGEN Happy Hour. We hosted events in 8 cities on the same night, and we had over 300 people attend.

Pictures are available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/eshipatduke/DukeGENHappyHour#

--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-617-1123 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

DukeGEN Happy Hour - Wednesday, August 12th in 8 cities/regions

Join us if there is a Happy Hour near where you live!

-Howie

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DukeGEN - The Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network - Main Group <groups-noreply@linkedin.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Subject: DukeGEN Happy Hour - Wednesday, August 12th in 8 cities/regions

To: Howie Rhee <hwr2@duke.edu>

LinkedIn Groups

Group: DukeGEN - The Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network - Main Group Subject: DukeGEN Happy Hour - Wednesday, August 12th in 8 cities/regions You're invited to attend our first DukeGEN Happy Hour, which is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, August 12th. We'll be hosting the event in 8 cities/regions: Atlanta, NYC, Washington DC, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, London, Boston, and Research Triangle Park. We already have over 100 people registered to attend this inaugural event. For more information, go to http://www.dukegen.com/events . You can RSVP from the links on that page. -Atlanta, at Ecco (organized by Matthew Yung '08, '09) -Boston, at The Bar at the Liberty Hotel (organized by Jamie Claar '96, '04 and Dan Costello '10) -London, at the Old Bank of England (organized by Sarah Ryan '99) -Los Angeles, at Monsoon Cafe in Santa Monica (organized by Wes King '96) -New York City, at the Law offices of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal for a Panel Discussion, then a bar afterwards (organized by Michael Cann '95 and Tom Powell '09) -Research Triangle Park, at The Speakeasy at Tyler's Taproom (organized by Steve DeVrieze '09, Jennifer Artabane '08, Howie Rhee '04, and Erin Gasch '95, '03) -Silicon Valley, at the Old Pro in Palo Alto (organized by Bobby Brenman '09, Mike Pisetsky '08, Aiko Fushida '88, Steve Allan '08, Liz Reaves '05, and Josh Felser '86, '90 -Washington, DC, at Sette Bello Restaurant, organized by T. Reid Lewis '84 and Norissa Giangola '92) RSVP now at http://www.dukegen.com/events and we'll see you on August 12th! The Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network (DukeGEN) provides a connection for Duke alumni interested in entrepreneurship. Go to http://www.dukegen.com to see more resources and opportunities for Duke entrepreneurs including: -Maureen Farrell '01 of Forbes - looking for breakout ideas, mfarrell@forbes.com -Job listings with startups - several dozen on the site now -White papers and discussions on entrepreneurship topics (check out the Cooley Godward white paper). -A listing of startups with a connection to the Duke community Thanks for your support and participation. -Howie Rhee Co-chair of DukeGEN, on behalf of the other co-chairs hwr2@duke.edu Posted By Howie Rhee

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--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-617-1123 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-617-1123 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

Free Duke student help for your startup idea

Do you have an idea for a startup? Or an innovative technology that might be the foundation for a startup? We'd like to invite you to consider entering your startup idea or technology for consideration in our Program for Entrepreneurs.

 

What is the Program for Entrepreneurs

The Program for Entrepreneurs is a program that let's Duke students receive course credit for their work on starting a company.  Students can receive credit for up to two years, and work through a sequence of courses that takes them through the business planning process. The "lead students" tend to be Duke MBA students, and the rest of the team is comprised of other MBA students, graduate students, and undergraduate students. This spring, we have approximately 50 students that have applied to be considered for this program.

 

What role is there for us?

This email serves as a Call for Startup Ideas. Hopefully you are someone that has developed a technology or startup idea and are in need of business help. The students in the Program for Entrepreneurs can be matched with an idea (they can also select their own idea).

 

In addition to a general Call for Startup Ideas, you may have received this email from one of our partners: Duke's Office of Licensing and Ventures, NC State's Office of Technology Transfer, UNC's Office of Technology and Development, the NC Biotechnology Center, Square 1 Bank, Southeast TechInventures, and other sources of startup ideas have offered to help find ideas for the program.

 

How to Participate

If you participate, a description of your technology/innovation would be made available to students and, starting July 1st, they will evaluate it along with the others that are submitted. Last year we had approximately 30 ideas submitted, and we expect a similar number this year.

 

From July 1 to July 24, the interested students will let us know which ideas they are interested in, and we will setup informational calls for them to be in touch with you.  On July 24th, they will select their ideas and will pitch their startup concept to our Advisory group.

 

From August to October, they will continue to refine the business case for the startup idea, and in mid-October, they will present a pitch for our Advisory group.  We will select the top 8 startup teams, who will then enroll in the course.

 

Criteria: 

We are looking for specific situations that will lend themselves well to this program.

1) We are looking for situations where there is a strong need for the development of a business case and business model, but the technology/idea has achieved some amount of proof of concept. Often this looks like technical co-founders who are experts in the industry, but may not be experts on the business side of things.

2) In addition, we are looking for situations where the founders are open to the possibility of having some of the Duke students join the team, assuming everything goes well.  In the ideal situation, after two years of working on the project, the Duke students will be able to join the company and receive equity participation that is a win-win for all parties.

 

Next steps:

If interested, please apply here by June 30th: 

http://spreadsheets.google. com/viewform?hl=en&formkey= cnN4dnhwcW13NndCdEE3eDBTdjVidU E6MA..

 

-Howie Rhee

REVENGE OF THE NERDS - Duke Chronicle Article

From: http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/04/22/Features/Revenge.Of.The.Nerds-3720946.shtml

REVENGE OF THE NERDS

Sam Iglesias is really into tea. Not bubble tea, not sweet tea, not any Lipton tea bag dipped into water. He offers it to me, a bitter green, made from loose leaf and poured through an ingenious filter into a transparent glass teapot. Iglesias, a senior,

By: Leslie Griffith

Posted: 4/22/09

Over the next hour, Iglesias and his roommate, junior Andrew First, mention the tea several times, commenting on the mechanics of their various steeping systems or the merits of red versus green tea. And soon it's clear that these two Web mavens, members of Duke's small but skilled community of Internet programmers and entrepreneurs, don't just drink tea, just like they don't just read e-mails or check NYTimes.com for headlines. They discuss tea, tinker with it, see how they can improve it. And while the next pot is brewing, Iglesias and First are doing the same to the Web.

Students may know First better as "that guy who made the thing that makes a graphic of my schedule like the old ACES did." Even if his name recognition remains low, First, a dual major in electrical and computer engineering and computer science, is satisfied.

"The best thing is to see people use it and like it, to see their schedule taped onto their door," First says.

For both First and Iglesias, computers and the Internet have always been a source of fascination-and constant innovation.

"I just loved seeing this box I had be able to do more and more," Iglesias observes.

"I was always interested in this phenomenon of someone making a product and seeing it spread," First says, ticking off the success stories-YouTube, Google, Facebook-that have become part of Internet entrepreneurs' lore.

First and Iglesias are two of a couple dozen tech-minded students hoping to someday add to that lore with projects of their own. Too roughshod for a student organization and too goal-oriented for a social group, this community resembles alternately a professional guild and a fly-by-night venture.

"There's a huge community like this in Cambridge, but there it's mostly centered around MIT graduate students and patented technologies," Iglesias explains. "What we're talking about at Duke is dirtier-a couple of guys staying up all night coding and then launching a product. We're more rogue and renegade."

There's no executive committee or future_mark_zuckerbergs@duke.edu listserv, and you won't find this group tabling on the West Campus Plaza for new members. Instead there's a gaggle of computer science majors and self-schooled experts, a group whose only membership requirements are the necessary programming skills and an entrepreneurial spirit.

"It's hard to do this if you don't have the skills," says sophomore computer science major Sophia Cui, who is working with four others on a start-up called Quantios and plans to continue the project in Silicon Valley this summer.

Entry into the group is decentralized and personal, where those with skills and ideas seek out others-classmates, friends of friends, whoever has the chops-to join their project, she says.

"If people know that you're a good programmer they'll come to you for help-it's not just who you know but whether you're actually good."

A band of (mostly) brothers

There's an inadvertent truth to Iglesias' "a couple of guys staying up all night coding" characterization. When asked who they know and work with in the group, the guys almost invariably mention other guys. Their memories jog when asked specifically about girls, but they say the group is, for the most part, male.

Cui noted that the gender disparity parallels the mostly male computer science department from which many Internet entrepreneurs come.

"I can always count the girls in my classes on one hand. It's something I've gotten used to," she adds.

Junior Andrea Coravos is a blogger and Web designer who has worked on a start-up called UniTEE. As a female economics major, she is a minority two times over in the group, but in her experience the women don't feel disadvantaged.

"It's not a guy versus girl thing at all," Coravos says. "I think it's partly because this community is so based on referral, and I think guys tend to be friends with guys. If you had girls who are working in it more, maybe they would bring in more girls."

Jeremy Welch, a senior taking a leave of absence from Duke to work on a New York-based start-up, says it might be harder for women to break into the group, especially if they are just getting started.

"It's hard at first. You don't know what's going on, but you ask a lot of questions and eventually you're on the same level as the other guys," he says. "But maybe for a girl it's harder. Maybe if there were more girls involved they'd get others looped in."

It might be that girls are simply less likely to accept the "techie" label, Coravos suggests. And in a community where tech skill and reputation are the only currency, that could create a barrier.

"Guys are more assertive in saying 'I'm a tech person,' whereas girls might say 'Oh, I've done a few Web sites' or 'I've created a blog,'" she says. With such a small number of people involved, however, it's difficult to tell if the disparity is significant, Coravos adds.

Nerd 2.0

"It's important to distinguish a Web nerd from a computer science nerd," says Justin Wickett, a junior. "Knowing how the Web works, knowing how computers work is a valuable skill, so instead of looking down on them, people look up to nerds."

The stereotypical nerd, programming alone in his basement, casts a long shadow over this community. He's held up as a model, but at the same time members strive to distance themselves from him. In keeping with the Internet's newest manifestation, one filled with new media and new business models, Duke's hopeful hotshots are a new kind of nerd.

"If there's anything that's great about Duke Web 2.0 entrepreneurship, we're all good at networking and find each other quickly-well, the ones we didn't find we don't know about," Iglesias says. "Before you know it, you're doing dinners, mixers, hackathons at the Link, working on projects, giving each other feedback."

Welch says as unstructured as the community is, the camaraderie it provides is a much-needed relief to the solitary work involved.

"The community is good because it's pretty lonely, and a lot of people don't understand the work. It's good to have a lot of people doing the same thing," he explains.

Within the community an unabashed nerdiness coexists, a little awkwardly, with mixers and networking and monetizing.

"To most people, yeah, we're a bunch of computer science kids. I wouldn't say we're the cream of the social crop," Cui said. "But there's a social aspect here, you're looking for investors, to network, whatever. You can't be totally socially inept."

'Hey, check out what I can do'

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the unacknowledged archetype for Duke's Web entrepreneurs. Zuckerberg's name seems, at times, shorthand for success, for reaching 200 million people, for the type of phenomenon they would like to create. They may not consider Zuckerberg the perfect nerd, or Facebook the perfect product, but Zuckerberg is nevertheless the nerd who made it big.

But though Welch and the others bring up Zuckerberg and his brainchild frequently, they rarely, if ever, mention the $1.5 billion the man is worth. Sure, money is a motive for the Zuckerbergs in training, but it's not the only motive. They know the low success rates for start-ups, and they've all lived through the bursting of the first tech bubble.

What drives many of these people, even in the ever-shifting world of the Web, is a desire to create something lasting that predates the most primitive version of the Internet.

"The thing about the Internet is, it's not going to go away, and it's an incredibly powerful tool if you know how to harness it," Coravos says.

Welch says money doesn't and shouldn't motivate most of the group, and it can even distract from the creation of a useful product.

"Everybody that does it is somehow a tinkerer or a hacker of sorts-they enjoy messing around with new programs, improving on them and building new ones," he observes. "If you look at how Facebook started, it all came out of being bored with classes and wanting to see what they could do. They wanted to build something."

The word "build" seems out of place when talking about something called both "a cloud" and "a series of tubes." But Welch returns to it again and again. The respect and reputation that comes with building a successful product-or even a failed but interesting product-outweighs any monetary motive, he says.

"They didn't do it for money, they did it just to see if they could build interest," Welch says of StrawPoll, an application Wickett created with friends. "The whole community of people who build those things is centered around respect, around getting points within the community for building something, even if it fails. Everyone wants to build something to show everyone else-there's a feeling of 'Hey, check out what I can do.'"

The instantaneous spread of information and the lack of need for a physical product makes building this reputation easier than ever, Wickett says.

"I can write code, release it and immediately I'm out there."

A DAY IN THE LIFE
"Even before the iPhone, I was always within three feet of the computer, and now I'm always within one foot-I don't know the health implications of that later on," says techie Justin Wickett. Here's Wickett's typical day caught in the Web.
1. Wake up, check iPhone for e-mails-"maybe one or two merit an immediate response," he says.
2. Hit snooze, sleep, repeat Step 1.
3. Start checking Twitter, blogs and the RSS feed reader-a mechanism that organizes and aggregates streams of content from online sources, letting people consume the data from different Web sites as they would read their e-mail. With about 15 feeds, some of which receive five or so articles a day, Wickett has a lot to process: "I'm just taking a quick snapshot, skimming so I can remember a few key words if I need to search for it later on," he says.
4. Check Twitter.
5. Repeat Step 4.
6. Ride C-2. See giant angry hornet causing panic throughout bus. Tweet about it.
7. Repeat Step 4.
More and more Wickett finds himself relying on Twitter and RSS feeds, where information is "pushed" to him and he doesn't need to manually type in a Web site or click a bookmark, he says.
"It's a little scary that the regular Web and HTML are no longer the right technology for me."