Past Events - Fall 2005

Event summaries -- Fall 2005

1. Speaker Event -- Hugh Panero
2. Back-2-Basics -- October 18
3. Back-2-Basic -- December 1
4. Dingman Day Lunch
5. Women's Entrepreneur Event
6. Open House

Hugh Panero, Founder and CEO of XM Satellite Radio Talks to Alumni, Entrepreneurs and Students -- November 9

Mr. Panero began his speech discussing his early background in cable and satellite television, encouraging the audience to excel when given a task, take risks, be competent, and to form opinions. Equally important, Mr. Panero provided an example from his past to illustrate the importance of not burning bridges. Early in his career Mr. Panero was offered the opportunity to take on the role of CEO of a distressed Pay Per View television network in Denver. He accepted the leadership role, eventually taking the company through a merger with Liberty Media in order to better compete with DirecTV. Mr. Panero was informed during the merger that he would be let go after the deal closed. As difficult as the situation was, Mr. Panero chose to approach his exit in a professional manner to preserve the value of his relationship with the company. Mr. Panero's impressive handling of this situation proved vital to the capitalization of XM Radio when Liberty Media company purchased one million XM shares based on their confidence in the start-up lead by Mr. Panero.

XM began as American Mobile Radio Corporation. Dr. Stelios Patsiokas was hired from Motorola to help develop XM Radio's satellite technology and brought 10 of the top engineers from Motorola. Dr. Patsiokas' involvement was a critical factor in XM beating competitor Sirius to the market with a functional chip technology. Mr. Panero cited the following as key events and milestones of the company:

• Satellite radio service was to launch September 12, 2001. The September 11th terrorist attacks delayed the company's market launch, and advertisements were hastily pulled from the air and plans were reshuffled.
• The target market was initially thought to be 18-25 year old males who purchase aftermarket car stereos. The actual target customer ended up being men and women, 25-55 years of age.
• XM was the first to develop plug-and-play satellite radios.
• XM reached 4 million subscribers faster than the internet and cable television.
• XM simultaneously matched affordable technology with a wide range of unique content.
• Users could purchase both the service and hardware at retail outlets.
• XM was first to partner with automotive manufacturers such as General Motors and Honda, including a three-month trial with new vehicle purchase. Six out of ten trial users will continue service on a monthly subscription basis.

Additionally, Mr. Panero offered the following advice to the audience:

• Be selective on when to engage a competitor
• Believe in your business model
• Bring in new blood and infrastructure to support growth, and
• Don't lose sight of your family friends, and health during your career pursuits.
• Finally, don't burn your bridges behind you. Without the investment and confidence in Hugh from one of his former employers, XM might not have gotten off the ground.

Mr. Panero's speech offered a great balance between business and life perspectives and was well received by the audience. The response from those who attended was positive with many undergraduate and graduate students enjoying the opportunity to meet faculty and alumni. For part-time and full-time MBA students who infrequently cross paths, the event provided an occasion to intermingle.

Back-2-Basics ("Financing Your Business") -- October 18

About 45 students and local entrepreneurs came to the campus of the Universities at Shady Grove on October 18 for the first of our Back-2-Basics series for this academic year.  The topic was "Financing Your Business", and the panel consisted of Smith Senior Fellow Mark Walsh, Silicon Valley Bank Vice President Megan Scheffel, and Oblicore CEO Yuval Boger.  Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center was also on the panel and helped to guide the Q&A discussion.  Representing the banking industry, Megan Scheffel talked about what they most want to see when a small business comes to them for financing, which is customers and revenue.   Mark Walsh talked about his many experiences financing different ventures over the years, and what he currently looks for in businesses in which he now makes investments.  Yuval Boger talked about the challenges he has had with a variety of start-up experiences.

The next Back-2-Basics will take place in Van Munching Hall on Thursday, December 1 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Bill Cole, a Partner with Ernst and Young, Roger Hebden, CEO of Blueprint Technologies, and Associate Professor Bob Baum will talk about "Exiting Your Business".  This event is open to the public, and all are welcome; light refreshments will be served.  RSVP to Carol Cron.

Back-2-Basics ("Exiting Your Business") -- December 1

On December 1st the Dingman Center held its Back-to-Basics event at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Local entrepreneurs and investors from the DC and Maryland areas, as well as MBA students with interests spanning from entrepreneurship to finance attended the event. The topic for the day was "Exiting Your Business", the final step of a successful enterprise that entrepreneurs wish to accomplish. The panel consisted of: Bob Baum, Associate Professor in the Management and Organization Department at Smith School of Business, Tien Wong, Founder and CEO, Opus8, and Roger Hebden of Blueprint Technologies Inc. Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center was the moderator. The dream of every entrepreneur is to build a successful enterprise and choose the best exit strategy to capitalize on their investment and retire young and rich. Professor Baum opened the session with a short lecture on available options for entrepreneurs interested in exiting their businesses from a finance point-of-view. Professor Baum clearly and comprehensively discussed refinancing a business, selling equity, performing an IPO, and all other means entrepreneurs can use to capitalize their investment. The panel then presented some “war stories”. All panelists founded and built successful companies and were able to exit their businesses with great satisfaction. In particular, Mr. Wong sold the IT service company that he co-founded, and today is CEO of a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in technology.

Dingman Day Lunch (Overview of China Business Plan Competition) -- October 14

Just after noon on October 14, a crowd of over one hundred students, faculty, and staff converged on Van Munching Hall's Executive Dining Room. The smells of ginger, garlic and soy wafted past the long line of attendees who had registered for the Dingman Day Lunch. The Topic: Lessons Learned from the China Business Plan Competition.

Managing Director, Asher Epstein, and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Dan Goodman and John LaPides were joined by Dingman Scholars Sadia Ashgar, Derek Vlcko, and Valerio Zanini on their recent trip to Beijing. The trip was centered around the finals of the first China Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Robert H. Smith School of Business. The winning team, which produces an arthritis treatment based on extracts from Chinese herbs, was awarded $25,000 to continue developing their business. This monetary award represents many times the average annual salary of most Chinese and was presented with great emotion from all parties. The competition itself received tremendous media exposure. A report on the event was aired several times by a Pan – Asian English language television station.

The recap of the competition was merely a backdrop for the myriad of lessons learned by the Dingman team. Sadia, Derek, and Valerio made an excellent presentation while the attendees enjoyed a large Chinese food buffet from Hunan Treasure, a local Chinese restaurant in Greenbelt.

• After several harrowing highway experiences, Sadia realized the opportunities for infrastructure improvements -particularly the roads. Sadia was also impressed by the amount of service workers in every store due to the low cost of labor.
   

• After lunching with a local Venture Capitalist, Derek was struck by the lack of standardized accounting regulations and credit risk management.
   

• Valerio, who had visited soviet Russia, was surprised by the “softer” character of China's Regime. While there are very few political freedoms, Valerio noticed, along with the other scholars, an enormous entrepreneurial spirit among those he met.

This entrepreneurial power is not going unnoticed by the Chinese authorities. One of the many highlights of the trip was a visit to a massive Technology Park on the outskirts of Beijing. The park houses 439 R&D centers and covers 90 km². A mix of independent entrepreneurs aspiring to be the next Microsoft were housed next to researchers co-sponsored by Sony, BMW, and Ericcson.

All in all everybody was energized by what they learned during their China experience. The China Business Plan Competition was the first of what will become an annual event. The next competition will be in 2006, and the international companies of Siemens and ING Asia have expressed interest in sponsoring it.

WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEUR EVENT (September 28, 2005)
"Entrepreneurs Battling Stereotypes"

Do we look like CEOs? Do we lack negotiating skills? Can we juggle career and family? Do we help one another? On September 28, these were the questions that were dispelled when three successful local women entrepreneurs came to speak at the Smith School of Business in a joint event sponsored by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and the Smith Association of Women MBAs in a program entitled “Entrepreneurs Battling Stereotypes.”

Speakers included Zoey Rawlins, a 2005 Smith graduate and former Dingman Scholar who successfully started ShopDC (http://www.shopdcmagazine.com), with the vision of creating definitive retail shopping guides, with specific, guided itineraries for upscale shopping in Washington, D.C. Mary Moslander, a former Vice President at the Washington Post, is the president and founder of an online subscription business, LiveHealthier to help individuals maintain their health goals by leveraging social connections. Mary's online company will be up in mid-November. Kathy Korman Frey, is the managing director and founder of Vision Forward, a consulting firm that has partnered with the Hot Mommas Project; she is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the George Washington University and a Harvard Business Case author.

Moderated by Zoey Rawlins, Mary and Kathy spoke of their experiences with battling stereotypes in building relationships and networking when first starting their businesses. Highlighting their battles with being their own cheerleader at times when there was no corporate affirmation of their small triumphs, all three cited their passion to pursue their endeavors as the goal for which they consistently put in long hours and made sacrifices.

All three women entrepreneurs also touched on the financial aspect of funding their own business. Zoey, through the help of the Dingman Center, was able to receive seed money. Through advertisements, she has recouped her investment in this upcoming second issue of ShopDC. Mary and Kathy both were self-financed, but did so in interesting ways. Kathy shared office space with her entrepreneurial husband as it was more cost-effective. She also used consultants on contracts, and paid them as her clients paid her. Mary used a variety of resources, including tapping into one of the State of Maryland's incubator centers to set up her business with office space that allowed her to gain new clients.

For many in the audience, both students and aspiring entrepreneurs, Mary offered resources that were helpful to her in starting LiveHealthier. These included a group called Ladies who Launch (www.ladieswholaunch.com), the Maryland Technology Development Center and the help available through the resources at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.

The insightful thoughts and comments from these women will help aspiring entrepreneurs to channel their passions into actionable business plans and transform their small businesses or business ideas into viable, money-making companies.

DINGMAN CENTER OPEN HOUSE (September 8, 2005)

The Dingman Center of Entrepreneurship kicked off its Fall calendar with their annual Open House on Thursday, September 8. The event was attended by more than 200 people, comprised of graduate and undergraduate students, faculty members, guests from the entrepreneurial community, and Dingman Center staff. The attendees mingled while enjoying FIFTY pizzas and sodas, compliments of the Dingman Center. Various Dingman Center businesses and services were on display, such as “SHOP DC”- the magazine launched by former scholar Zoey Rawlins, Hook & Ladder Brewing Company launched by former scholar Matt Fleischer, Crooked Monkey, a t-shirt company that designs t-shirts with slogans popular for the college crowd, and CAN - the Capital Access Network currently run by scholar Susannah Campbell.

Undergraduate Dingman Center representatives Ori Zohar and Josh Norris sold fun foods to raise money for hurricane victims and to promote their new UG student club, MUSE -- Maryland Undergraduate Student Entrepreneurs. Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center gave an overview presentation to the attendees, covering all the entrepreneurial resources available through the Dingman Center. He started by providing an overview of the vision, introducing all the staff members and communicating the dates for key events scheduled during the fall semester. He emphasized the international relationships being pursued by the Center, and the Center's involvement in the China Business Plan Competition.

Asher talked about the Center's close relationship with the Smith Entrepreneurship clubs (at the MBA level and now at the UG level as well) and the student-run businesses. The Dingman Center helped incubate as many as 11 student-run businesses in the last academic year. The Dingman Center has invested as much as $10,000 in some of these businesses and continues to support them with its Mentor and Capital Access Networks. Asher invited the student community to take advantage of the center's innovative “Pitch Dingman” program. Students can pitch their ideas every Friday between 11 a.m. and 12 noon at the Dingman Center. Asher highlighted the $500 award given out to participants at the “Pitch Dingman Competition”, held monthly on the third Friday of the month. This program has already entertained over 90 pitches from students, faculty and staff.

Next, Asher went through the “Dingman Process”, a structured process that takes an entrepreneur through four stages: Ideation, Assessment, Implementation, Iteration. The “nuts and bolts” of Dingman Center's operations, this insightful yet simple process helps in identifying a business idea, testing it for viability, launching it as a business, and verifying the constant need to change as the business flourishes. To conclude the program, Asher announced the launch of a new service “MBAFinder.net”, a unique service that will allow interactive communication between MBA students and third parties interested in hiring them while they are in school for short-term projects.

Summer 2005

Thursday, June 30, 2005  -- The Entrepreneurial Invitational