Duke Start-Up Challenge Blog

2010-03-04T04:43:00.000-05:00

Entrepreneurs: Startup Accelerator...I mean “Excelerator”...in Chicago this Summer!
· Who: Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Startups and High-Growth Businesses that want to build better businesses faster

· What:
o 10+ Week Startup Incubator/Accelerator similar to TechStars/Y Combinator
o plus up to $20k in funding/stipend and
o (probably most importantly) access to elite mentors, advisors and professional investors/angels

· When:
o Applications Due (4/2/10) http://www.exceleratelabs.com/apply/
o Program/Mentorship/Incubator June-September

· Where: Chicago, IL

About Excelerate:
Excelerate is a bootcamp for start-ups that is driven by proven entrepreneurs and investors . We are located in Chicago, IL, and target founders with innovative ideas/early stage ventures that are looking to take the next leap forward in their business.

2010 - 2011 Duke Start-Up Challenge Co-President Application

2010-02-03T22:31:00.001-05:00

Passionate about inspiring entrepreneurship at Duke? We're looking for a few good leaders to take the reins for next year's competition.

The Duke Start-Up Challenge is a 100% student-led organization. The team that organizes the competition is composed of students from around campus -- undergrads, grad students, post-docs, part-time students -- that are dedicated to providing a world-class entrepreneurial experience for the students of Duke University. It's our job to find and work with sponsors to raise money for prizes, to recruit judges, to help teams form on campus, to provide forums for teams to get feedback on their ideas, and to market the competition within both the Duke and broader RTP communities. It's a lot of work and we're looking for leaders that are passionate about making the 11th Annual challenge the best ever!

The selection of next year's club Co-Presidents will happen via an interview process as follows:

Applications DUE: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 11:59pm
Interviews with eligible applicants: Thursday, February 18 - Thursday, March 4:
Selection of next year's Co-Presidents: Friday, March 5, 2010

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact steven.pal@fuqua.duke.edu.

APPLY HERE - http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/who-we-are/co-president-application

February 15 - Wake Forest Elevator Pitch Competition open to all Duke Students - win $10k

2010-01-24T15:27:00.004-05:00

If you're working on your Executive Summary for the Duke Start-Up Challenge, might as well double-down and submit it to The Wake Forest University Elevator Competition. The competition is open to all Duke students (undergrad and grad) and is here in North Carolina. You can win up to $10k cash. Deadline to register and submit your Executive Summary is February 15 (which is just a few days after the Duke Start-Up Challenge Executive Summaries are due).

More info:

Join us for the 11th annual
Wake Forest University
Elevator Competition
March 26 & 27, 2010

Total awards up to $350,000 in Cash and Services!

Traditional Business Plan Winner Receives $10,000 cash!
Social Competition Winner Receives $5,000 cash!
Highest placing team with an MBA student will receive automatic paid entry into the Global Moot Corp Competition!
Winning team from the Traditional Business Plan Competition will have the opportunity to present to the Piedmont Angel Network for a potential investment of $250,000 or more!

Executive Summary Due: February 15, 2010 Midnight EST

Open to Undergraduate and Graduate Students!

Be a part of an exciting weekend of events!

Give your Two-Minute Pitch on an ELEVATOR to Venture Capitalists
Mix and Mingle with Entrepreneurs from Across the Country
Exciting Keynote Speakers
Informative Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Panels
For more information or to register visit www.elevatorcompetition.com

Questions or concerns?
Please email elevator.competition@mba.wfu.edu
Now you can be a part of our business plan network.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=20292154232
http://twitter.com/WFUElevatorComp

January 27 @ 11pm PST - UC Berkeley Exec Summary Contest Open to Duke (w/ Berkeley Team Member)

2010-01-23T17:18:00.003-05:00

If you're working on your Executive Summary for the Duke Start-Up Challenge and have a team member related to UC Berkeley (alum, faculty, student), can't hurt to submit your Executive Summary to the UC Berkeley business plan competition as well. They're giving away $50k.

From our friends at UC Berkeley:

Dear Vatsala, Shalav and Steven:

I represent the executive committee of the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition at the Haas School of Business. I would like to ask for your help in co-marketing our competition to your students.

The deadline for entrants is Wednesday, Jan 27 and students should apply here. Entry is free and winning teams will take home cash prizes of more than $50,000. We have only two rules governing entry.
teams must have one team member somehow related to UC Berkeley; this can be faculty, alumni or current students
business plans cannot have received any VC funding or funding more than $250k from non-VC sources

We have a teammate-matching spreadsheet available to help facilitate 1) above that can be found here. Please let me know if you can distribute to your peers on our behalf. Attached below is the marketing email calling for entrants that you may circulate as appropriate. Thank you.

Kind regards,

Everett Leonidas

MBA Candidate 2011

Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

e: everett_leonidas@mba.berkeley.edu

More info:

3-Page Executive Summaries for the 2010 UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition are due Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 by 11pm PST. Join the BPlan YouNoodle group and apply soon!

Entrant requirements

At least one team member must be a current student, faculty, staff or an alumnus/a of either the University of California at Berkeley or the University of California at San Francisco. Teams or team members that have received any form of venture capital financing or more than $250k of non-VC funding for their business plan may not participate in the competition.

About the competition

The 12th Annual UC Berkeley Plan Competition is an exciting opportunity to showcase your business venture to prominent Silicon Valley venture capital investors. Teams from all academic disciplines are encouraged to participate and win up to $30,000.

Click http://bplan.berkeley.edu for more details.

January 27 @ 5pm - DUKE INTERNAL Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge

2010-01-10T01:52:00.005-05:00

From our friends in the Duke Net Impact Club:

---

Hi Steven, Shalav,

I'm the Net Impact Case Competitions manager and I'm writing because I think Duke Startup members might be interested in an upcoming business plan competition sponsored by Walmart. It calls for sustainable business plans and offers a prize of $20k to the winning team to invest in their idea. We're thinking of holding an internal competition to select a Duke team on the 27th of January. I'm pasting a blurb advertising the competition.

Thanks a lot!

Anand

===

2010 WALMART BETTER LIVING BUSINESS PLAN CHALLENGE

The Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge is a business plan or product competition that invites viable, sustainable business plans or solutions. If you have an idea for a sustainable business this competition provides an opportunity to present to a panel of Walmart executives and environmental organizations. Winners receive $20,000 to invest in their plan or product.

Duke has been pre-selected and we're holding an internal competition on Wednesday, the 27th of January at 5.00pm to pick a team to represent us. You're free to team up with any Duke students, even outside of Fuqua. There is no restriction on the number of team members.

For more information, contact Anand Kanoria and anand.kanoria@duke.edu and visit this website: http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=2315

10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge Announces Winners of Elevator Pitch Competition

2009-12-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

Watch the video of the entire event at www.dukestartupchallenge.org

December 8, 2009 (Durham, NC.) - The 10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge, the premiere entrepreneurship competition at Duke University, announced today that Biogenic Medical Devices, led by Garrett Muramoto (MBA’11), took home the Judge’s Choice award of $1000 and The Produce Purity Project, led by Stephanie Fruth (MBA’11), won the Audience Choice award of $250 and a special gift of $500 from lead judge Bill Maris, Co-Founder of Google Ventures. A standing room only crowd of more than 500 packed Geneen Auditorium for the Elevator Pitch Competition Final showdown on Friday November 20 where 14 teams pitched and the winners took home the prize money. The event was broadcast live on the Internet and is now available on the Duke Start-Up Challenge website at www.dukestartupchallenge.org ;

Lead judge Bill Maris, of Google Ventures, summarized the night well when he said, “I go to a lot of these, mostly in Silicon Valley. This is probably the single best one that I’ve ever participated in.”
The 10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge Elevator Pitch Competition, part of Dukes celebration of Entrepreneurship Week from November 16 to 20, brought together students from many of Duke University’s schools to deliver two-minute pitches to panels of judges and live audience members. The judges determined a Judge's Choice winner, while the audience, voting via SMS text messaging on their mobile phones (similar to American Idol), determined an Audience Choice winner from each of seven competition tracks.

Throughout the week, there were 7 semi-finals pitch competitions with 74 Duke start-up teams competing for one of 14 spots in the Finals Event. A total of 38 undergraduate startup teams competed in the competition. The Fuqua School of Business entered 20 student startup teams, and other teams represented the Pratt Master of Engineering Management Program, the Duke School of Law, the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, the Graduate School, and the Divinity School. Even the Duke Blue Devil made a cameo appearance at the Finals event to make his pitch – “Free Duke Start-Up Challenge T-Shirts”. Two new competition tracks were added this year – Women Entrepreneurs and Energy & Environment – to address the growing diversity of interests and participation across Duke. Close to $6,000 in cash and prizes were awarded at the competition this year.

Win or lose, every student who participated learned a tremendous amount about how to start a business and attract investors, skills that will serve them well when they leave school for the real world. "The Duke Start-Up Challenge has been a great way to gain valuable feedback on our business idea, and meet contacts who will be great resources in the future. Especially for us undergraduates who don't receive as much business exposure, the Elevator Pitch Competition has provided us experience presenting to potential investors, and will prove invaluable to our entrepreneurial education" said Daniel Certner '10, an undergraduate who participated in the competition.

Duke’s participation in its third Entrepreneurship Week was a tremendous success, a reflection of the rising interest in entrepreneurship within the greater Duke community. Led by the Kauffman Foundation, Global Entrepreneurship Week is a world-wide initiative during which millions of young people around the world participate in activities aimed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. The week included thousands of events in over 70 countries around the world.

Duke’s strong alumni network also had a role in celebrating Entrepreneurship Week. The Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network (DukeGEN) hosted entrepreneur networking happy hour events for alumni in cities around the world, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco. Local alumni from Research Triangle Park (RTP) combined their entrepreneur networking happy hour with the Finals event on November 20.

To see a video recording of the finals of the Duke Start-Up Challenge Elevator Pitch Competition, visit www.dukestartupchallenge.org. If you were inspired in some way during the week to explore your potential as an entrepreneur or if you’re looking for ways to get involved at Duke, please explore www.dukestartupchallenge.org and www.dukegen.com
Finally, keep an eye out for the Duke Start-Up Challenge events coming up next year – the Executive Summary Competition in January and the Final Business Plan Competition in April – as teams compete for the $25,000 grand prize.

###

Contact:

Steven Pal (MBA’10)
Co-President of the Duke Start-Up Challenge and Student Co-Chair of Duke Entrepreneurship Week
steven.pal@fuqua.duke.edu

Howie Rhee
Co-Advisor
10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge
919-617-1123 or media@dukegen.com

About the 10th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge

The Duke Start-Up Challenge entrepreneurship competition runs throughout the academic year, from November to April. The competition includes an Elevator Pitch Competition in November, an Executive Summary Competition in January, and a live Finals Event in April, with multiple teams winning cash and prizes throughout the competition for the best submissions. The prizes are awarded to overall best plan/presentation and best submission in each of several categories (e.g. Energy & Environment, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Products & Services, and Social Entrepreneurship). Additionally, teams are provided with feedback from knowledgeable judges along the way to help with further development of the business concept into the next part of the Duke Start-Up Challenge and beyond. Founded in 1999 by an ambitious group of Duke students, the competition is now celebrating its 10th year of operation. More information at www.dukestartupchallenge.org <http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org> and follow @dukestartupchal on Twitter.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week will encourage youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality, and make their mark. During the week of November 16 - 22, 2009, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities are being planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign. For more information, visit www.unleashingideas.org <http://www.unleashingideas.org>.

About DukeGEN

DukeGEN is a sophisticated and active network that helps create debate, dialogue, and lucky encounters between Duke entrepreneurs. We provide the energy and coordination to encourage Duke entrepreneurs, around the globe, to connect and increase their chances of success. More information at www.dukegen.com <http://www.dukegen.com> and follow @DukeGEN on Twitter.

EPC Energy & Environment Track Results

2009-11-18T15:46:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the 15 teams that competed last night (Tuesday) in the Energy & Environment Track event of the Elevator Pitch Competition. Congratulations to the winners - Token Energy and CarBone - who will both advance to the EPC Finals on Friday.

More info: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC/2009/energy-and-environment-track

Results:

Audience Choice Award: Token Energy
Judges Choice Award: Token Energy

Judges Runner Up: CarBone - Also advances to final

More about the EPC: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC

EPC Healthcare & Life Sciences Track Results

2009-11-18T15:41:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the 12 teams that competed Tuesday night in the Healthcare & Life Sciences Track of the Elevator Pitch Competition. Congratulations to the winners Medici Medical Technologies and Biogenic who will advance to the Finals on Friday.

More info: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC/2009/healthcare-and-life-sciences-track

Results:

Audience Choice Award: Biogenic
Judges Choice Award: Medici

Judges Runner Up: ImmunoDispense Pro

More info on the EPC: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC

EPC Undergrad Track Results

2009-11-18T15:36:00.003-05:00

Thank you again to all the 38 teams that competed in the Undergraduate Track of the Elevator Pitch Competition this Monday. Congratulations to the judges choice winners that will be advancing to the finals - Wasabi and Know It, Win It.

More detail here - http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC/2009/undergraduate-track.

For participants in Von Canon Room B
Peoples Choice Award: CarBone
Judges Choice Award: Know It, Win It - Advances to Finals

Judges Runner Up: SmartLet

For participants in Von Canon Room C
Peoples Choice Award: Wasabi
Judges Choice Award: Wasabi - Advances to Finals

Judges Runner Up: ImmunoDispense Pro

More information on the Elevator Pitch Competition: http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/EPC

Announcing the judges for the Duke Start-Up Challenge

2009-11-02T23:29:00.007-05:00

Elevator Pitch Finals
Bill Maris co-founder of Google Ventures
Bill Maris is a Managing Partner of Google Ventures. Bill brings more than a decade of diverse operational, entrepreneurial and leadership experience to Google Ventures. Bill's past successes include founding Web hosting pioneer Burlee.com, which he subsequently sold to Interland, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW), now known as Web.com. Prior to that, Bill was a portfolio manager for Stockholm, Sweden-based Investor AB, one of the world's largest industrial holding companies, where he co-managed the biotechnology and health care portfolios. Bill’s background also includes scientific research into cholinergic visual pathways, cell membrane patch clamping techniques and in-vivo neuronal cell injection at Duke University Medical Center, Department of Neurobiology. Bill is based in Mountain View, CA and received an A.B. with honors in Neuroscience from Middlebury College.

Undergraduate-led Startups Track:

Rich West '77, CEO of Advanced Liquid Logic

Mr. West is CEO of Advanced Liquid Logic, his third early stage company as CEO. Advanced Liquid Logic is a fast-growing Duke technology spinout exploiting a novel microfluidics technology that the company will apply to medical diagnostics and other markets.

Prior to joining Advanced Liquid Logic, Mr. West was founder and CEO of TriVirix, a medical equipment contract manufacturer. Mr. West managed the growth of TriVirix from inception in 1998 to over $70M in revenue, winning #1 in the 2004 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 in North Carolina. At TriVirix Mr. West raised over $40M in private capital and completed three acquisitions.

After earning an engineering degree from Duke University Mr. West spent fifteen years in the aerospace industry in program, sales, marketing, and engineering management, including four years as a commissio ned officer in the US Air Force. In 1996 he joined Tecstar as a general manager of their electronic systems division and left there to found TriVirix.

Mr. West has an MBA from the University of West Florida and has completed all requirements except dissertation for a PhD in management from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. Mr. West serves on the Board for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and is past Board Chairman for both Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abuse, a non-profit that serves recovering substance abusers, and NCMD, the North Carolina medical device trade association.

Will Pearson '01, Co-founder and President of mental_floss magazine

Will Pearson co-founded mental_floss with Mangesh Hattikudur while both were still students at Duke. mental_floss, “Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix” is a successful magazine and blog site focusing on humorous facts and trivia. Will Pearson graduated from Duke with a BA in 2001.

Jon Fjeld '90, Professor of the Practice and Executive Director, Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Jon Fjeld has spent over twenty years in marketing, engineering and general management in start-ups and public companies, as well as five years in academia.

From December, 2000, until July, 2004, he served as vice president of engineering for Align Technology in Santa Clara, CA. Between 1995 and 2000, he served as CEO of two RTP venture backed firms: Geomagic, a 3D software company and NetEdge Systems, a data networking equipment company. Prior to that, Fjeld spent 13 years at IBM, where he served in a number of management and executive positions within the networking and software business units. He began his professional career as an assistant professor in the philosophy department at Duke University.

Fjeld holds a Ph.D. and MA in philosophy from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Duke University, an MS in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BA in mathematics and philosophy from Bishop's University.

'90, Professor of the Practice and Executive Director, Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Healthcare & Life Sciences Track

Ralph Snyderman ‘67, Chancellor Emeritus, Duke University, Past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine, Venture Partner at NEA Associates, and founder and Chairman of Proventys, Inc.

Ralph Snyderman, MD, is Chancellor Emeritus for Health Affairs at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine. He served as Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine from 1989 to July 2004. During this period, he oversaw the development of the Duke University Health System, one of the most successful integrated academic health systems in the country, and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer.

During his tenure as Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, the medical school and hospital were ranked among the nations best. A graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Md. (1961), Snyderman received his MD, magna cum laude, in 1965 from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York. He served his internship and residency in medicine at Duke and later worked as a Public Health Officer doing research in immunology at the NIH (1967-72).

Jonathan Gindes ‘03, Co-founder and CFO of Affinergy, Inc

Jonathan and Affinergy's scientific co-founders (M. Grinstaff, D. Kenan) began working together in 2002 to form Affinergy while Jonathan pursued his M.B.A. at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Jonathan developed Affinergy's initial business strategy, negotiated the technology license from Duke University, and recruited a senior management team along with other scientific staff and business advisors. Jonathan now focuses his time at Affinergy building, strengthening, and managing relationships with Affinergy's corporate partners, as well as overseeing all of Affinergy's financial activities.

Prior to attending Fuqua, Jonathan spent several years working in the corporate strategy group at Deutsche Bank with the firm's senior management team. His work focused on merger integration, IT/Operations consolidation strategies, and business plan development for potential spinouts and involved significant periods of time working overseas, including extensive commitments to projects in London and Frankfort. Jonathan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Rutgers University, and is also certified in Regulatory Affairs.

B. Jefferson Clark ’78, Co-founder and Managing General Partner, Aurora Funds

Jeff Clark co-founded The Aurora Funds with Scott Albert in 1994. He works primarily with Aurora's life sciences portfolio. He pulls from his strategic planning and operational experience to help these companies create or refine business plans, build solid management teams, develop strategic partnerships and secure key customers.

Prior to forming Aurora, Jeff spent thirteen years working in development and external affairs for Duke University (including Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duke Medical Center and the School of Engineering). Through Aurora, he hoped to close the gap between local universities and the venture capital community to facilitate the growth of life science companies.

Jeff maintains strong ties to the RTP community, serving as past Chairman of the Board of North Carolina's Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the Board of Overseers of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Board of Directors for TROSA and the Choral Society of Durham. Jeff is also Founding Chair of NC EntrePAC and associated entities.

Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Energy & Environment Track

Van Morris ‘78, CEO of US Microgrid

Stacy Glass ‘99, President of CaraGreen

Stacy Glass has her BA from the University of Minnesota and MBA from Duke University. She began consulting with CaraGreen in its formative stage, and then decided she couldn’t leave. Her consulting years, pre-CaraGreen, provided development of expertise in all aspects of operationalizing a business, including financial modeling, business development and fundraising for the non-profit sector, private industry and government. And Stacy has worked on an international level developing and executing start-up strategies for businesses and social enterprises, as well as contributing to rapid growth and expansion by developing new markets and managing multi-million dollar projects. She also serves as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Triangle USGBC.

Jeff Keller External Technology Initiatives at GE

Jeff leads External Technology Initiatives from GE Global Research where he is responsible for leveraging the vast technical resources of GE Global Research in support of GE Energy Financial Services’ venture investment activities, as well monitoring the external technology landscape in the energy space. Jeff’s areas of interest and expertise include grid scale energy storage, biofuels, distributed generation, and waste heat recovery. In 2010, Jeff will serve as a Department of Energy Entrepreneur-in-Residence in the national lab system.

Prior to joining GE in 2007, Dr. Keller worked previously at Harris Williams & Co., the nation’s leading middle market investment banking firm providing transactional advisory services to the private equity community. Jeff has previously served a Visiting Scientist at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. Jeff holds an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management where he was an Emmet Scholar, a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Cell Biology, and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Women-led Startups Track

Kimberly Jenkins’76

Dr. Jenkins, a graduate of Duke University (BS 1976, PhD 1980), is the former President of the Internet Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit research and educational institute that examines global Internet policy issues. She was also the Founder, Chairman, and President of Highway 1, a nonprofit corporation focused on helping the federal government operate more effectively through the use of information technologies.

During her career in management Dr. Jenkins created Microsoft’s Education Division, ran market development at NeXT, and worked as a technical analyst for Control Data Corporation. She has also served as a consultant to companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Sun, Oracle, and Cisco.

Dr. Jenkins has served as a part-time faculty member and mentor to students in the Masters in Engineering Management Program in the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. Her teaching and speaking engagements focus primarily on issues related to increasing the number and effectiveness of women and minorities in entrepreneurial careers. She currently teaches courses in entrepreneurship and leadership to faculty and students at both Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

Catherine Massey’71, Co-Founder of LawDocsXpress

Catherine E. Massey is the co-founder of LawDocsXpress. She has more than 15 years experience as Owner & President of Legal Resources, Inc., a legal temporary and placement service based in Atlanta, Georgia, with clients all over the United States. In addition, she has more than 10 years experience in corporate management with emphasis in human resources. She has a BA from Duke University and an MS from Georgia State University.

Brooks Bell ’02, Founder and CEO of Brooks Bell Interactive

As President of Brooks Bell Interactive, Brooks leads her team to develop effective conversion strategies and creative solutions. She is a graduate of Duke University with a degree in Psychology. Prior to founding Brooks Bell Interactive in 2003, she co-founded web design and development firm, novelProjects, as a undergraduate in college. Brooks' frequent speaking engagements include presentations at the 2009 Marketing Sherpa 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 Entrepreneurship 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. Brooks is an active member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO).

Katrin Burt ’04, Partner, Intersouth Partners

Katrin joined Intersouth Partners in 2004, serving as an analyst for two years before joining the information technology investment team. As an analyst, she worked across the firm to aid in both the analysis of potential new investments as well as the growth of Intersouth’s existing portfolio companies.

Katrin joined Intersouth from London-based HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. At HSBC she moved through a series of roles, starting as a foreign exchange trader in London, managing portfolios of treasury products and equities in Tokyo and eventually moving to a business development role managing the annual operating plan for the bank’s billion-dollar Global Markets Europe Division.

Katrin has served on the selection committees for CED’s Venture and Tech conferences and lectures at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. She holds a B.A. from Oxford University. She received an M.B.A. from Duke University and an M.S. in Microsystems and Nanotechnology from Cranfield University.

IT & Media Track

David Samuel, Founder of Freestyle Capital

David Samuel is a founding general partner at Freestyle Capital. A serial entrepreneur, David is the co-founder of Spinner Networks, Grouper, and Brondell. David is a graduate of MIT.

Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO of ShareFile ‘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.

Sue Harnett, Founder and CEO of Replay Photos ‘90

Sue Harnett, originally a native of Staten, Island, NY, joined the Duke Women's basketball team in 1988 and graduated a 4 year letter winner and All-America selection in 1991. During her time at Duke University, she became a charter inductee into the Duke Basketball Hall of Honor, as she led the Blue Devils in scoring in both her junior and senior seasons. Harnett became the 4th all-time leading scorer in Duke Basketball history with a career point total of 1,785 points.

After retiring from professional basketball in Europe and healthcare administration at Duke University, Harnett turned Replay Photos into her full time passion in 2005. The original idea for Replay Photos sparked Harnett's mind during her college days playing on the hardwood of Cameron Indoor Stadium. While at Duke, Harnett came across an old closet of Duke athletic photos and was inspired to preserve and share these priceless memories with those around her. The Replay Photos model began with one school, Duke, in 2003 and has since grown to over 100 Universities in 2009. Harnett devotes her passion and energy to forming relationships with universities to provide unmatched service and dedication.

When not working with Replay Photos, Harnett can be found spending time with her four kids and husband Rich. Sue also enjoys college basketball, cycling, great food and anything to do with New York City.

Joe Velk, Founder of Contender Capital ‘85

Joe Velk is a seasoned venture capitalist with 20 years of investment and company building experience. From 1990 to 2003, Joe served as one of two investing partners at The North Carolina Enterprise Fund (NCEF), a $20 million evergreen venture capital fund based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park area. At NCEF, Joe led information technology investing and sourced, executed, and managed investments that generated substantial gains to investors. Representative investments include: Broadband Technologies (BBTK), Orologic (acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor for $450 million), RF Micro Devices (RFMD), and SELEE Corporation (acquired by Porvair, Plc).

Before NCEF, he was a partner at Intersouth Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm also located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park area. Joe currently serves as a board member or an advisor to several high technology companies that are positioned to become market leaders. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Social Enterprises Track

Bill Stevenson ‘96, Founder of The Elevator, Formerly Director of Social Investments at Lenovo

Bill Stevenson manages Corporate Social Investments for Lenovo, which is a 21st century way of saying he directs philanthropy programs. Bill’s job is to help create a culture of giving in Lenovo that not only has an impact on society, but also aligns with Lenovo’s corporate strategy. Bill has been working in marketing for Lenovo and IBM’s Personal Computing Division for a total of six years, with a few years off chasing his dotcom dream in the early 2000’s. He has also served on several nonprofit boards and is the creator of the Carolina Hope Festival, a music and arts celebration that benefits women and children in Africa affected by HIV / AIDS.

Bill has a bachelor’s degree in theology from Grove City College, an MBA from Duke University, and a certificate in International Business Management from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Products & Services Track

Jay Mebane CEO of Snaptotes.com ’90, 99

Michael Olander President and CEO of Apple Gold Group

Michael D. Olander is the president and owner of the Apple Gold Group, which he founded in 1979 after graduating from law school. The Apple Gold Group currently owns and operates a total of 80 restaurants in four states. Over the years the Apple Gold Group has also divested itself of another thirty restaurants in two states.

Peter Heffring President of Futures, Inc

Peter joined Futures Inc. as President and equity partner in 2008 and plans to bring the Future Talent Management Platform to Fortune 1000 companies and regional economic development projects. Prior to Futures, Peter was the co-founder and CEO of Ceres Integrated Solutions, which quickly became a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software and analytical services with clients such as Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Lowes Home Improvement, Wells Fargo, and Travelocity. Ceres was acquired by NCR for $90M in 2000. As President of Teradata CRM Division, Peter led his CRM solution to remarkable revenue growth and industry acclaim. Prior to founding Ceres, Peter rose through the IBM organization, taking on a series of leadership roles in marketing, manufacturing, corporate finance, forecasting and international management.

Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch

2009-11-01T14:50:00.009-05:00

Thanks for joining the Duke Start-Up Challenge at the DEES Elevator Pitch Practice Run with Live Judging event this past Thursday, October 29. It was a great opportunity for the DSC organizing committee to do a rehearsal of the pitch event. More importantly, though, it was a great opportunity for those planning to pitch to get a sense for what makes a winning 2 minute elevator pitch.

A summary of the event is available on the DEES website - "Summary of the Elevator Pitch Practice Run with Live Judging - 2009". A video of the event is available on YouTube here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMDA-D0GF00.

Many participants commented afterwards that the most valuable part of the night was the summary the judges provided at the end of the event on what elements they expect in a winning elevator pitch. For the benefit of those that were not able to attend, we thought we would summarize those elements here.

Here's what David Pierson of Intersouth Partners, Jed Carslon of Reverbnation.com, and Jonathan Gindes of Affinergy commented on what makes a winning 2 min elevator pitch (thanks to Joe Knight for taking detailed notes):

Introduce yourself
Explain how you are related to the project
Provide a high level overview of the concept (50,000 foot perspective)
Consider using a metaphor that serves to help the listener visualize what you are talking about (something memorable)
Describe the problem you're addressing
Describe the solution/technology to that problem and how it's unique (relative to other solutions)
If you have any proof of traction (proof of concept results, test results, pilot results, customer contracts, etc.), highlight those as third-party acceptance of your solution adds credibility to your claims.
Describe the team – it is great to have someone who is really credible in your space that is willing to risk their name on this; venture capital is about investing in people.
Explain why you are making this pitch - what do you need from those you're pitching to help you move forward with the project?
Make a call to action; get the investors involved

Another key insight the judges provided was to not deviate too much from the standard elements of a pitch. There are many resources on the web that provide guidance on what to put in an elevator pitch, so please leverage those! As an example, here's a nifty interactive Elevator Pitch Builder provided by Harvard Business School.

Keep practicing! And we'll see you all at the Elevator Pitch Competition!

Win Cash and Prizes at the Duke Start-Up Challenge - Elevator Pitch Competition

2009-10-21T14:44:00.003-04:00

Do you have an idea for a startup? Can you explain it in two minutes?

If so, you can win cash and prizes at the Elevator Pitch Competition, part of the Duke Start-Up Challenge, from November 16th to November 20th.

Here's how it works

The Elevator Pitch Competition runs for from November 16th through 20th. Any Duke student (undergrad or grad), faculty, or post-doc can participate.

Everybody gets two minutes and can have one powerpoint slide (no animations). Each night there are different tracks that you can compete in.

Winners will be selected from each of the following tracks:

Monday, Nov 16 @ Bryan Center, Von Canon Rooms, 7pm

Undergraduate-led Startups Track (must be led and pitched by an undergraduate)

Tuesday, Nov 17 @ CIEMAS, Schiciano Auditorium, 7pm

Healthcare & Life Sciences Track
Energy & Environment Track

Wednesday, Nov 18 @ Fuqua, Lilly and Dansby Classrooms, 7pm

Women-led Startups Track (must be led and pitched by a woman)
IT & Media Track

Thursday, Nov 19 @ Fuqua, Lilly and Dansby Classrooms, 7pm

Social Enterprises Track
Products & Services Track (for startup ideas that don't fit in other functional categories)

Those winners will advance to the Finals on November 20th

Friday, Nov 20 @ Fuqua, Geneen Auditorium, 5:30pm Networking Event, 7pm Finals

Elevator Pitch Finals with special guest Bill Maris, co-founder of Google Ventures

Next steps: To compete, register here by November 11th at 5pm:

http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/how-to-get-involved/register-to-pitch

And send your powerpoint slide (no animations) to hwr2@duke.edu at the same time.

Questions? Contact Steve Pal, Duke Start-Up Challenge Co-President at steven.pal@duke.edu

More information on the Duke Start-Up Challenge at http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org

This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, http://www.unleashingideas.org

NC IDEA Grant Program Reminder

2009-10-04T15:56:00.004-04:00

Our friends over at NC IDEA reminded us of their grant program. Great opportunity for Duke start-ups to get funding.

===

www.ncidea.org

Grant Program Description

NC IDEA provides small grants to high-tech start-up companies to support business activities that validate potential markets, reduce risk of early failure, and advance projects to the point of self-sustainability at which time they are suitable for private equity investment.

NC IDEA considers awarding grants to technology based businesses with the potential to become high-growth companies. NC IDEA defines a high growth company as a fast growing startup with a significant market size that will consider equity financing as part of their growth strategy.

NC IDEA has awarded over $1.3M in grants to help thirty-seven start-up companies in NC since the program's inception. NC IDEA targets high-tech companies that need help crossing the chasm between initial product development and venture capital funding.

$ Amount of Grants

NC IDEA awards grants up to $50,000.

Grant Cycle Frequency

NC IDEA makes grant solications twice per year. The Spring cycle typically opens in early January with Pre-Proposal applications due in late January. The Fall cycle typically opens in late August with Pre-Proposal applications due in mid September. Please check the Grant Timeline for the current cycle schedule.

# of Grants Awarded

NC IDEA awards grants to 4-6 companies each cycle.

Presentation from DSC Kick Off Event And Match Night

2009-10-04T12:17:00.002-04:00

The presentation includes an overview of the Duke Start-Up Challenge and one slide summaries of business ideas pitched at the event.

Kickoff Event & Match Night Program

View more documents from DukeStartupChallenge.

Dsc Kick Off Event And Match Night 20091001

View more presentations from DukeStartupChallenge.

Kickoff & Match Night Recap

2009-10-03T10:02:00.002-04:00

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 over 30 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 Steven 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.

Join us for Kick-Off Event & Match Night - Thursday Oct 1st - 6:30pm

2009-09-29T01:25:00.001-04:00

You're invited to the Duke Start-Up Challenge Kickoff Event & Match Night on October 1st at 6:30pm. The purpose of this event is to give an overview of how to participate in the competition and to match entrepreneurially motivated people with business ideas.

Food and drinks will be provided. A FREE copy of Business Plan Pro will be given to all attendees.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
• Individuals who are passionate about entrepreneurship and looking for ideas that excite them. Please let us know you're coming by RSVP'ing for the Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145472127154
• Individuals with business ideas and are seeking teams. Please RSVP here and sign-up at our website:
http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/how-to-get-involved/find-a-team

WHERE: Fuqua School of Business, McClendon Auditorium
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/documents/programs/campus_map.pdf

Join us at the 2nd Annual OLV Day

2009-09-20T22:03:00.003-04:00

The Office of Licensing & Ventures is holding their 2nd Annual OLV Day this Tuesday, September 22 from 1:15 - 6:15pm in Love Auditorium. It's a great opportunity to learn how to successfully spin technologies out of Duke and to meet other folks interested in the same topic. There will be some panel discussions and presentations by Duke entrepreneurs sharing their stories. You don't have to attend the entire event. Feel free to join the portions of the event that fit your schedule and that interest you. Definitely take advantage of the opportunity if you can make it!

For more details and to register for the event, please visit the OLV event website:

http://olv.duke.edu/About/OLVDay/index

Here are some of the details of the event:

Linking Ideas to Impact

Date: September 22, 2009, 1:15 -6:15 pm

Location : Love Auditorium, Duke University
Levine Research Science Center,LSRC
450 Research Drive,Durham,NC 27708
Contact : Ms.Tamara Powers
Tel:(919) 681-7167 Email : Contact@OLV Day

OLV Day is an annual event hosted by the Duke Office of Licensing and Ventures.This year we start by showcasing the role of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in innovation at Duke.Then we shift to a discussion of the Challenges to university technology commercialization and strategies for redefining university interaction with industry

1:15 - 1:25	Welcome: Rose Ritts, Executive Director, Office of Licensing & Ventures
1:25 - 2:00	Keynote: Carl Weissman, Accelerator Corporation
2:00 - 2:40	Graduate Student and Postdoctorial Fellow presentations: Emerging Duke technologies Participants: Michael Angelo, Marina Dickens, Heather Himburg, Amanda Hoertz
2:40 - 2:50	Break
2:50 - 3:30	Duke University start-up Presentations Case Study 1: Trevena - Bridging the gap: From Innovation to Technology License Jonathan Violin, Co-founder and Research Scientist Erin Whalen, Co-founder and Senior Research Scientist Case Study 2: Precision Biosciences - Launching a company: From License to Startup Matthew Kane, CEO
3:30 - 4:30	Panel Discussion "Potential to Reality", moderated by Mr. Weissman(Accelerator Group). Participants: Victor Dzau(Chancellor, Duke University), Doug Fambrough (General Partner,Oxford Bioscience Partners), Eva Jack(Managing Director,Medimmune Ventures), and Shiv Krishnan(Director of Innovation and Partnership Sanofi-Aventis).
4:30 - 6:00	Networking Reception

DSC Information Session

2009-09-09T18:41:00.001-04:00

Presentation from DSC Info Session on Sept 8, 2009

DSC Information Session

View more presentations from DukeStartupChallenge.

Join the Organizing Committee

2009-09-09T18:24:00.005-04:00

The Duke Start-Up Challenge is a 100% student-led organization. The team that organizes the competition is composed of students from around campus -- undergrads, grad students, part-time students -- that are dedicated to providing a world-class entrepreneurial experience for the students of Duke University. It's our job to find and work with sponsors to raise money for prizes, to recruit judges, to help teams form on campus, to provide forums for teams to get feedback on their ideas, and to market the competition within both the Duke and broader RTP communities. It's a lot of work and we need your help to make the 11th Annual challenge the best ever!

If you're interested in joining the team, please take a few minutes to complete the application form (link below) letting us know who you are and why you're interested in joining us. We'll be conducting interviews between now and September 25th. We look forward to meeting you all in person!

For more information on the opportunities on the organizing committee, please review the slides from our info-session above.

LINK TO APPLICATION:
http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/how-to-get-involved/join-the-organizing-committee

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

2009-09-06T14:49:00.004-04:00

The Duke Start-Up 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!

EntoGenetics Featured in Forbes Breakout Video

2009-07-27T11:59:00.002-04:00

The grand prize winner of last year's Duke Start-Up Challenge, EntoGenetics, was recently featured in a video interview with Forbes in their Breakout series. See the full video here (also embedded below). Congrats EntoGenetics!

Considering Competing in the DSC? Get a FREE Copy of Business Plan Software!

2009-07-08T18:07:00.006-04:00

If you're a Duke University student that is considering competing in the Duke Start-Up Challenge next year, you can get a FREE copy of business plan software ($200 value) by completing a short Interest in Competing form.

Palo Alto Software, Inc is sponsoring the Duke Start-Up Challenge with a FREE download of Business Plan Pro Academic Premier Edition software for each participant of the competition. The software provides an SBA-approved format for you to write and manage your plan, allowing you to turn your focus from the mechanics behind the plan to other important aspects involved in the competition.

Whether you're working on your idea full-time over the summer, developing your idea in parallel to a summer internship, or just curious about what's involved in putting together a complete business plan, this is a great opportunity for Duke student entrepreneurs.

To receive your FREE copy, please complete the Interest in Competing in the Duke Start-Up Challenge form and we'll send you a FREE copy of Business Plan Pro in return!

Catchafire Takes 2nd Place at DFJ Gotham East Coast Venture Challenge

2009-06-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to DSC 2008 - 2009 Social Enterprise track winners Rachael Chong and the Catchafire team for taking 2nd place at the DFJ Gotham East Coast Venture Challenge!

On Wednesday May 27th, DFJ and DFJ Gotham hosted the 3rd Annual $250,000 East Coast Venture Challenge. The ECVC offers student entrepreneurs from top universities across the East Coast the chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of venture capital judges from DFJ and DFJ Gotham. The goal of the competition is to promote student involvement in entrepreneurial endeavors, and the winner receives a $250,000 investment.

The format of this year’s ECVC consisted of two rounds. The first round was an online voting process hosted at ecvc.studentbusinesses.com, and the final event was held at Columbia University. The final event was an exciting day, complete with two rounds of pitching and Q&A, which concluded when the judges selected a winner – Digiceipt from Cornell University. Digiceipt, launched by Keith Cowing and Aaron Nathan, is a service to manage your receipts on the web, providing peace of mind to consumers and targeting solutions to companies.

As a bonus prize, Digiceipt will also be entered into the DFJ-Cisco Global Business Plan Competition, where they will be competing for an additional prize of at least $250,000. Three other teams from the ECVC will be joining Digiceipt at the global competition: Catchafire (Duke), Everest Scientific (Columbia), and BizWiz (Johns Hopkins). We wish all of the teams the best of luck, especially those competing next month in the global competition.

This event is always one of the key highlights on the annual DFJ Gotham calendar, and we had a great time listening to enthusiastic student entrepreneurs share their ideas. Thank our sponsors the Columbia Alumni Association, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and StudentBusinesses.com for providing the venue, legal support, and online support necessary to make this year’s ECVC a success.

Congratulations again to Rachael Chong and the Catchafire team for taking 2nd place!

Welcome to the Duke Start-Up Challenge Blog

2009-06-28T22:34:00.001-04:00

The Duke Start-Up Challenge is an entrepreneurship competition that runs the course of the academic year, from November to April. The competition includes an Elevator Pitch Competition in November, a business plan submission in February, and a live finals event in April, with multiple teams winning cash and prizes throughout the competition for the best submissions. Founded in Fall 1999 by an ambitious group of Duke students, the competition is now celebrating its 10th year of operation. For more information, please visit us at http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/.