|
May, 2007 |
Venture Capitalists,
mark your calendars for the next
Capital
Access Network Breakfast, June 27.
If you missed the Entrepreneur Magazine Radio Show
interviews on The China Business Show, read
about the interviews and commentaries below from the
experts. Also, be sure not
to miss the many Dingman partner events like the
Renewable
Fuels Conference,
Capital Connection,
HCIL's
Annual Symposium, and
Early Stage East.
Entrepreneurs,
Be sure to
read about successful portfolio companies
Kailen's Candy,
Geocentric and Goozex. Also, don't forget
to take advantage of our Mentor Program. Dingman Center staff and experienced mentors are
available on Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Contact
Melissa Carrier for an appointment.
Students,
be sure to read up on
our
Cupid's Cup Business Competition event summary.
Goozex took home the cup and
$15,000. Sunscreen Mist took second place and
$7,500. Read more about these fun and exciting
companies!
Dingman Center
News:
-
Dingman Center
Portfolio Companies,
Kailen's Candy,
Geocentric and
Goozex, make headlines!
-
The 2007 Cupid's Cup
winner takes center stage
-
Pitch Dingman
-
MUSE launches
Terrapin Clothiers: Custom Business Attire
& Accessories
Other interesting
links:
Upcoming Events
Upcoming April Events
Capital Access
Network Review Day
Students and faculty are invited to hear start-up
companies present to our
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Dingman staff as they
prepare for Capital Access Network angel investor
presentations. Listen to feedback by our experts,
give some advice of your own, and learn about some
of the new businesses being started today. It's a
great experience for everyone!
Presentations begin
at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Contact
Melissa Carrier
.
Please arrive promptly for the time slots you wish
to attend.
Friday,
June 1st, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., 3570 Van
Munching Hall
CAN Breakfast
(invitation only)
The CAN Breakfasts are by invitation
only to angel investors who are qualified investors
in the CAN network. Investors will have an
opportunity to hear a 10-minute presentation from
approximately four start-up entrepreneurs who are
seeking funding for their business. For more
information on the CAN Program and to participate,
contact
Melissa Carrier. The
next CAN Breakfast will be held June 27th.
Pitch Dingman & Pitch Dingman Competitions
We are open for business during the summer, so
contact
Melissa Carrier
to
set up your pitch time.
Your next opportunity to present your
business idea in five minutes to a panel of judges from
the Dingman Center and win
$500 in an exciting competition will
resume in September.
For
information about the weekly Pitch Dingman sessions
on Fridays or the monthly Pitch Dingman
competitions, e-mail
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu
or see our website
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman/programs/pitch/index.html.
▲ Back to
the top
Dingman Portfolio
Companies,
Kailen's Candy Catering, Geocentric & Goozex make the headlines!
Kailen's
Candy Catering
Kailyn’s Candy Catering was proudly featured in last
month’s issue of the Washington Post and here’s her
story.
Kailyn Cage was the kind of kid who loved candy and
always had some with her. "Everyone called me Candy
Girl," she says. So it made sense to the financially
savvy Kailyn to bring a book bag full of treats to
sell to fellow students at Kettering Middle School
in Prince George's County. Kailyn had no idea that
operating a business at school wasn't allowed, she
says. "I was just running all over the place selling
candy. Even my teachers bought candy."
While at Largo High
School, Kailyn continued to expand her company and
her knowledge. She bought a soda machine and snack
machine and installed them at Cathedral of Christ
Baptist Church in Chapel Oaks, where her father is
pastor. She took entrepreneurship classes and
entered several competitions, becoming the D.C.
region's Ernst & Young/Junior Achievement Youth
Entrepreneur of 2006. She also maintained a 3.94
GPA, ran championship track and netted a $10,000
profit last year. "She does everything to the
fullest," Donna Cage, a Prince George's County
Schools resource teacher, says.
Kailyn, now a 19 year old freshman and
middle-distance runner at the University of
Maryland, takes business and engineering courses to
fulfill her goal of designing vending machines.
Asher Epstein, director of the university's Dingman
Center for Entrepreneurship, where Kailyn just set
up a candy machine, says she's unusual because she
is already running a profitable business. "She's
really figured this out on her own and is quite an
impressive young lady," he says. This
story about the candy girl was in the Washington
Post Magazine,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401723.html
▲ Back to the top
Geocentric
Jim
Blakeslee, MBA graduate and founder and president of
Geocentric developed software, known as Citylight,
to provide travelers and local residents an
interactive method to get the information they need,
whether it is a place to get a haircut or a beer or
a book. Blakeslee, a former sales rep for a
geographic information systems software company,
traveled often and always wanted to find out what
was interesting about each town he visited. “I’d
walk around with this laptop with $50,000 of
geographic data on it, but I couldn’t find out which
hotel had the best location for me to stay in,” he
said.
Blakeslee first developed a prototype of Citylight
for Bethesda. The Website, www.downtownbethesda.com,
is still online. “Bethesda is a classic example of
a dense downtown area that locals know about but can
be hard for other people to navigate,” said
Blakeslee. “There’s a hunger for accurate,
up-to-date, local information.” Blakeslee’s
entrepreneurial effort expanded with the assistance
of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
This article about
Geocentric was featured in the May issue of
Corridor, Inc., the Baltimore-Washington corridor
business and political news magazine,
http://www.corridorinc.com/content/view/320/1. The company’s
portfolio now has 15 clients in the Maryland,
Washington, DC and Philadelphia markets. Potential
clients include the downtown areas across the United
States and Canada.
Goozex
Goozex, a video
trading website connects gamers with other users who
have requested your games; you can then accept or
decline to mail your game to the other user. Goozex
provides a 100 percent guarantee policy on all
transactions, as well, so there’s no risk to the
participants. The company was launched in July 2006
and was the first trading platform for video games
based on an automatic point system. Today it offers
the largest inventory of titles and the most active
user base.
Goozex has recently
experienced several media milestones and accolades -
to name a few: First place winners in the 2007
Cupid’s Cup business competition. The contest looks
to help spark up-and-coming entrepreneurs to reach
their dreams. Started a year ago, the cup places
University students against one another to win a
part of $22,500 that Kevin Plank, Chief Executive of
Under Armour, has donated to help grow their
business.
The leading
international honor for the Web, the Webby Awards
named Goozex as an Official Honoree; a distinction
that recognizes work exhibiting remarkable
achievement. The Webby Awards is often hailed as
the “Oscars of the Internet”.
Recent media
coverage includes articles in Mac World where the
CEO of Goozex, Valero Zanini stated, “Being a
long-time supporter of Mac, I really welcomed this
addition. Not only Mac users can now save money by
getting games for only $1, but also they get access
to a potentially vast inventory of used Mac games
throughout North America,”
▲ Back to
the top
Mentor
Program
The Mentor Program at
the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is an
innovative consulting service for entrepreneurs and
small-medium businesses that assists companies in
identifying solutions to business problems with the
support of experienced, senior management
professionals. Office hours run on
Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Contact
Melissa Carrier
for an appointment or for more details.
Additionally, consultative services will be
available for select companies looking for
longer-term support from mentors at $250/hour
payable to the Dingman Center.
Tuesdays, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., 3570 Van
Munching Hall
▲ Back to
the top
MUSE launches
Terrapin Clothiers
Smith School students in
the Maryland Undergraduate Society of Entrepreneurs
(MUSE) are excited to launch a new club-run venture
called "Terrapin Clothiers." The service will
provide University of Maryland students with the
opportunity to purchase leading professional brand
suits and business accessories at introductory
prices. "Through our partnership with Kendericks,
students can take advantage of special discounted
pricing on all of our product lines," says Nick
Singer, MUSE's vice president of operations.
Terrapin Clothiers
offers attire for men and accessories for both men
and women. "It is one of our goals for next fall to
expand our line to include women’s clothing," says
Singer. Current discounted labels include Jos. A
Bank, Semanco Custom Made Suits, Tumi Luggage, and
Allen-Edmonds Shoes & Accessories. Discounts range
from 20-30 percent off of retail prices.
To find out more about
Terrapin Clothiers e-mail
sales@terrapinclothiers.com or visit
http://www.terrapinclothiers.com.
▲ Back to
the top
2nd
Annual Cupid’s Cup Business Competition – May 4
Cupid's Cup got its name from one
of Kevin Plank's early entrepreneurial ventures, a
rose sale business called Cupid's Valentine that
sold roses to University of Maryland students on
Valentine's Day. This small business earned him over
$20,000 during his four years at UM and helped fund
his ultimate entrepreneurial venture, Under Armour.
The annual Cupid’s Cup
competition is held at the Robert H. Smith School of
Business in College Park, MD. The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship hosts the business competition for
student- and alumni-run startups and Under Armour
Chief Executive Kevin Plank, a 1996 Smith graduate,
put up $22,500 in prize money to help grow their
businesses. The competition looks to help
spark up-and-coming entrepreneurs to reach their
dreams.
And the winner is…Goozex, Inc.! An innovative
web-based video-game trading company took first
place and a $15,000 check to further grow their
business. Goozex designed and developed an
innovative online system that connects members and
builds a user community across North America,
allowing them to trade games with each other. Goozex
operates on a point-based system that allows its
users to retain the real market value of their used
video games when trading for other games. The
company is run by Smith MBA 2006 graduate Valerio
Zanini and features a team of recent Smith MBA and
undergraduate students.
The second place award went to another exciting new
venture called Sunscreen Mist, founded by 2006 MBA
graduate Jordan Lichman. Sunscreen Mist offers
convenient suncare access to potential users. It
virtually eliminates the risk of inadequate
application (through its spray-technology).
The Formulas used in the booth are FDA approved,
tears free, and are perfect for use by children and
adults. The $7,500 prize money will be used to
continue building the business.
After the business plan
presentations, Plank spoke about entrepreneurship
and his business endeavors, then presented an
over-sized checks and trophy cup to Goozex and
Sunscreen Mist. Spend wisely with that money,” Plank
joked before announcing the winners. “I’m telling
you, it’s a lot of money – what I would have given
for it when I was in your situation.”
Plank turned down a well-paying
job in the financial services industry when he
graduated from the Smith School in 1996 to follow
his dream of starting Under Armour. He founded his
athletic apparel company in his grandmother’s
basement and has grown it into a successful publicly
traded company.
▲ Back to the top
Entrpreneur Magazine Radio Interviews on the China
Business Show
Managing Director, Asher Epstein shares his views
on China Business
The April 24th
broadcast of Entrepreneur Magazine Radio Show
featured Managing Director Asher Epstein. Mr.
Epstein detailed the Smith School's Third Annual
China Business Plan Competition which gives teams of
entrepreneurs from around the world the chance to
compete for three grand prizes totaling $50,000. The
top three teams will also be awarded the opportunity
to participate in a custom workshop with the Smith
School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
Training will focus on entrepreneurship and will
include individual coaching, specialized courses and
presentations.
The competition's
organizers include the Dingman Center and CCTV's Win
in China television program. The Smith School is the
exclusive academic partner for CCTV's Win in China
reality television program, and has support and
sponsorship from CCTV to deliver the China Business
Plan Competition.
Teams of up to
four individuals are invited to submit business
ideas focused on the integration of business and
technology. Key competition dates are as follows:
For more information
about the Smith School's China Business Plan
Competition please contact Asher Epstein
aepstein@rhsmith.umd.edu, ph: (001)
301-405-9510.
▲ Back to the top
Buy
Your Smith-Branded Merchandise for Departmental
Speakers and Conferences at the Smith Store
 Your
VIP visitors and departmental guest speakers should
leave Smith with an elegant Smith-branded gift as a
thank you for their visit, and The Smith Store is
THE place to go for these items. The Smith Store has
been working hard to develop a selection of
high-quality merchandise that will be appreciated,
displayed and used back in your visitor's home or
office. A few of these items are shown below, and
others are available as well. With two weeks notice,
the "sky is the limit" in terms of item selection.
If you are short on time and only have a few days,
The Smith Store can help you out by providing one of
their items that is in stock.
There are a few great products in
stock this semester, ranging in price. For example, The Smith Store
has newly designed T-shirts,
sweatshirts, hats, coffee mugs, coffee thermoses,
wine openers and many more items to come.
Always available from The Smith Store is the
Smith polo shirt, available for $25.00, or brown
leather money clip wallets for $15.00.
Questions? Contact Chris Wu at
cwu38@rhsmith.umd.edu .The Smith Store is
located in 3570-U, in the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship. The hours of the Smith Store vary
and appointments are always available to meet
your needs.
▲ Back to the top
Advanced Technology Program
Competition Announcement
The
Commerce Departments Advanced
Technology Program (ATP) opened a
new competition for cost-sharing
awards to support high-risk
industrial research and development
projects. The program offers funding
for specific research projects by
individual companies or industry-led
joint ventures in order to
accelerate the development of
challenging, high-risk technologies.
The ATP expects to have
approximately $60 million for awards
from this competition. Projects are
selected in a competitive,
peer-reviewed process. Project
proposals must be submitted to the
ATP by 3 p.m. Eastern time, on
Monday, May 21, 2007.
ATP
projects typically are multiyear. A
single company can receive up to a
total of $2 million for R&D
activities for up to three years.
For single-company recipients ATP
funds may only be used to pay direct
costs. A joint venture can receive
funds for R&D activities for up to
five years with no funding
limitation other than available
funds.
Full
information on the 2007 Advanced
Technology Program competition and
the Proposers Conferences is
available at
www.atp.nist.gov/atp/helpful.htm.
A Proposers conference will be held
April 13 in Gaithersburg, MD. To
register, go to
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/atp2007.htm.
The Advanced Technology Program
(ATP) is Hiring Business Reviewers
ATP
business reviewers are individuals
with a wide range of business
training and experience, including
venture capitalists, entrepreneurs,
industrialists, corporate managers,
business educators and economists.
Selected reviewers are invited to
participate in the review process
held at ATP's facilities in
Gaithersburg, Maryland; located
within the National Institute of
Standards and Technology. We will
need Business Reviewers from early
June through mid-July.
ATP pays
a professional fee of $415 per day
for services. This All-Inclusive
daily compensation covers ALL of the
Business Reviewer’s expenses. ATP
will pay $200 for a ½ day of
services, when applicable. A
reviewer must be a U.S. citizen. For
more information about being a
Business Reviewer, contact Stephanie
Shipp,
sshipp@nist.gov at
301-975-8978 or Ann Marie King,
ann.king@nist.gov at
301-975-3104.
▲ Back to
the top
Partner Events
Renewable Fuels
Conference
May 20th and May
21, 2007, Aspen Wye River Conference Center
The
conference will explore ways that American industry
leaders— entrepreneurs, research and development
specialists, and government officials—can learn from the
world leader in biofuel production, Brazil, and examine
how energy independence makes America safer.
Capital Connection
Fair
May 29th and May 30th 2007, Baltimore Marriott
Waterfront Hotel
Capital Connection is
the region's top venue for
bringing entrepreneurs and
venture investors together.
Developed BY venture capitalists
FOR the venture community,
Capital Connection's proven
format provides multiple venues
for venture capitalists, service
providers, and other investors
to interact with entrepreneurs
and discover the region’s
premier emerging companies.
At Capital Connection,
presenting companies pitch their
business plans and exhibit to
some of the nation's most
prominent venture investors and
service providers. Registered
attendees may attend company
presentations, visit exhibit
booths, and conduct private
one-on-one meetings. This year's
fair is being co-chaired by Tim
Meyers (Updata Partners), Don
Rainey (Intersouth Partners) and
Joe Zell (Grotech Capital).
HCIL's 24th
Annual Symposium
May 31st and June 1st 2007
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the
University of Maryland
The HCIL's Annual
Symposium will highlight the cutting-edge research
being conducted in the Human-Computer Interaction
Laboratory at the University of Maryland. The
Symposium will take place Thursday, May 31st,
followed by a day of tutorials and workshops Friday,
June 1st. There will be a series of talks followed
by demonstrations of all of the lab projects with
time to meet and talk with researchers in an
informal setting.
For more information and
to register please visit their
website.
Early Stage East 2007
Tenth Annual Venture
Conference
June 13th and 14th 2007 DuPont Country Club,
Wilmington, DE
Early Stage East has remained
geographically the largest venture conference
focused on early stage companies from New England to
the Carolinas since 1998. More than 375 companies
have presented at Early Stage East conferences and
have gone on to raise more than $650 million in
venture funding. Some featured industries include
information technology, life sciences, enterprise
software, pharmaceutical industries, industrial bio
technology and many more. For more information on
Early Stage east visit
www.earlystageeast.org.
▲ Back to
the top
THE DINGMAN CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Founded by Rudy Lamone in 1986, the Dingman Center was one of
the first of its kind in the country and has emerged as a
top-ranked entrepreneurship center. Thanks to initial funding
with a generous grant from Michael D. Dingman, founder of the
Signal Corporation (now part of Honeywell International), the
Dingman Center continues to grow as a regional and national
catalyst in the field of entrepreneurship. The Center is now
aggressively evolving, and in some areas, is expanding its
services to further its role as a leader in the student,
regional, and academic entrepreneurial communities.
The Dingman Center is currently led by:
Asher Epstein, Managing Director
Melissa Carrier,
Associate Director
Mr. John LaPides, Chairman of the
Board and
Entrepreneur In Residence
Dr. Scott Koerwer, Associate Dean,
Professional Programs and Services
Please visit our website at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
Past
Newsletters:
-
April, 2007
-
March, 2007
-
February, 2007
-
January,
2007
-
December, 2006
-
November, 2006
-
October, 2006
-
September,
2006
-
August, 2006
-
July, 2006
-
June, 2006
-
May, 2006
-
April, 2006
-
March, 2006
-
February, 2006
-
January, 2006
▲ Back to
the top
|
|
|
|
