Changes

The University of Nevada has a strong suite of entrepreneurial resources and programs dedicated to giving entrepreneurs and hopeful entrepreneurs the tools they need to flesh out their ideas and shore up their business acumen. Many of these resources are presented in the context of the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition, a $50,000 annual business plan contest, but they are given with the subtext that even unsuccessful bids for the Sontag can be developed into sustainable businesses after the competition’s end. Nevada also maintains an active Technology Transfer Office with a proven track record of vetting viable research projects and successfully developing plans to commercialize them. Both of the two winners so far in the Sontag were TTO spin-out projects.

Link to Prezi overview of campus ecosystem:

Informational Session (come hear plans, offer feedback and help expand opportunities for all students)

*When: [Date, Time]

*RSVP: [your email address, google form, eventbrite or meetup link]

Reno will eventually need a critical mass of startups to ignite its reputation as an innovative/entrepreneurial hotbed. To develop that critical mass, the University has to fuel a culture of entrepreneurship over the next 2-3 years.

<span style="font-size: 12px;">The best way to change culture is by example: Reno and Nevada have to show, not tell, that they have an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship and a culture that encourages it. To this end, publicized guest lectures that drive home entrepreneurial lessons, ambitions, and successes would start to put innovative thoughts in students’ heads—especially if these thoughts came from the entrepreneurs behind new, relevant, and important businesses.&nbsp;</span>A hard-hitting series of entrepreneurial guest lectures would be the ideal way to pull this off. It’d require exceptional, national-level connections: local entrepreneurs, though directly relevant, might not have the kind of pull that this plan needs. Reaching out to Vegas and Silicon Valley is probably the best way to balance locality with notoriety; ideally, executives from companies like Google and Zappos would be able to contribute their wisdom and celebrity to the effort.&nbsp;

*Milestones: Reach Out and Plan Connections, 12/2013-1/2014; First Speaker, 2/2014 - and onward

Nobody is better at changing students’ perspectives than fellow students—and, if students don’t yet have the wherewithal to start their own successful businesses, then the next best thing is to give them a day in the life. Mentorship and shadowing are invaluable tools for entrepreneurs: they give students a chance to view, concretely, the inner workings of an inspirational company.

*Milestones: Connections, 1/2014-2/2014; Application Process, 3/2014-4/2014; First Program Summer or Fall 2014?

Even without specific experiences or examples, constant visual reminders and examples of entrepreneurship in action—probably in the form of inspirational quotes from entrepreneurs—can help implant the ideas of innovation and entrepreneurship into students’ minds and get them excited, even without advertising any particular project. This is a long-term endeavor: rather than try to drum up hype for anyone event, it tries to change overall mindsets until people come to start thinking entrepreneurially.

*Milestones: Collect Examples, 12/2013; Design, 2/2014; Start Disseminating, 4/2014

An excess of promising startups at Nevada are stopped in the development stage: either they abandon viable efforts once they fail to win a business plan competition, they stop their efforts at the legal and logistical barriers to incorporation, or they find more lucrative job opportunities right after college.

The Nevada Small Business Development Center is already working on an incubator for student ventures; this effort would benefit from redoubled effort and student involvement. A Venture Support Center, a dedicated space where vetted ideas can go to receive legal assistance and licensure, would help immensely with students’ indecisions about taking the step toward incorporation. This resource would put wind in wantrepreneurs’ sails—especially those who are more inclined toward engineering innovation and have less experience with legal hurdles.

*Milestones: Research, 1/2014 - 2/2014. Subsequent timeline depends on determined extent of facelift/resources required

The Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition is a windfall for Nevada’s current innovation/entrepreneurship ecosystem, but Rick Sontag and others only meant for it to be a first step—not a central pillar. The Sontag, despite the lure of its massive size, is limited in its impact. For one, it’s nearly all-or-nothing: aside from the $50,000 winner and a $5,000 second prize, nobody who enters the Sontag sees any return on their work or noticeable incentive to continue. For another, even though entrants are often told that their ventures will receive the attention of investors, this has not actually happened to any meaningful extent yet.

*Milestones: Solicit Fund Members, 2-3/2014; Gather Funds, 4-5/2014; Start Accepting Applications, 8/2014

In the absence or complement of a dedicated, student-run venture fund, the University would still do well to develop connections with local venture capitalists, funds, and angel investors. This way, local investment figures can still be brought into the fold and given the chance to evaluate student businesses.