Success Stories in University-based Entrepreneurial Encouragement

University of Buffalo Entrepreneurial Awards 

An in-depth look at the one-year success of a student company to win last year's first Panasci Entrepreneurial Awards at the University of Buffalo recently was highlighted in the Buffalo News. 



The three students who comprise Student Voice received $25,000 in seed capital as first prize in a competition administered by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) in the School of Management. Student Voice, a market research firm specializing in data on college-age consumers, uses personal digital assistants and peer-to-peer, in-person interviews for data collection. 



The students' award was provided through a $1 million endowment donated to the university by UB alumna Henry Panasci, a pharmacist/business executive turned venture capitalist. Second prize recipients received $15,000. Seventeen new student teams have entered this year's competition, a field which will be narrowed to five finalists for presentations in January. 



To compete for the awards, UB students submit a business plan outlining the need for a product or service and its target market, including a description of the methods for bringing it to market. Entries are judged based on the soundness of the proposed product or service, marketability and chances for success. 



More information on the Panasci Entrepreneurial Awards, modeled after a successful Massachusetts Institute of Technology program (see below), is available at: http://www.mgt.buffalo.edu/cel/panasci.shtm

The MIT Programs

The MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, now in its 13th year, also holds a $1K Warm-up Business Plan Competition. For the 2001-02 cycle, 79 teams have submitted proposals in an effort to capture a $1,000 prize in one of 10 categories. According to the program's website, "the Competition has facilitated the birth of over 60 companies with an aggregate value of over $10.5 billion. These companies have generated over 1,800 jobs and received $175 million in Venture Capital funding." 



MIT also has launched the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS), offering free, no-strings-attached, mentoring assistance to all interested MIT students, alumni, faculty and staff. Run through the Provost's office, the initial years of VMS operation have been funded by two MIT alumni donations and by MIT itself. 



Prospective entrepreneurs submit brief descriptions of their proposed ventures to the program for screening. After an interview with the program director, each VMS entrepreneurial team is guided through the mentoring process by a co-director who identifies appropriate potential mentors — typically one or more — and arranges matches with the entrepreneur. All relationships are voluntary. The program has a stipulation that mentoring volunteers may not invest in, or receive compensation from, ventures they are currently advising. 



More information about the VMS program is available at its website: http://web.mit.edu/vms/index.html 

The student-launched e-MIT is a web portal for all of the entrepreneurial activities underway in the MIT community. Started in 1997, the site offers links to many different programs, employment opportunities and events designed to encourage entrepreneurship. 



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