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== Overview<br/> ==
{{= Strategy #Widget1:Prezis|idSow a Widespread Entrepreneurial Culture<br/> =_sto8qf_0vcs}}
== Calling all students ==Reno will need a critical mass of startups to really ignite its reputation as an innovative/entrepreneurial hotbed. To develop that community, the University has to fuel a culture of entrepreneurship over the next 2-3 years.
Informational Session (come hear plans, offer feedback and help expand opportunities for all students)== Tactic #1: Local Entrepreneurial Guest Speakers<br/> ==
*Where: [Google Hangout On Air <a href="<a hrefspan style="[httpfont-size://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html]12px">[httpThe best way to change culture is by example://wwwReno and Nevada have to show, not tell, that they have an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship and a culture that encourages it.googleTo 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.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html]<nbsp;</a>"span>[1]</a> or other existing meeting A hard-hitting series of students interested in I&E in Engineeringentrepreneurial guest lectures would be the ideal way to pull this off.]*When: [DateIt’d require exceptional, Time]*RSVPnational-level connections: [your email addresslocal entrepreneurs, google formthough directly relevant, eventbrite or meetup link]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.
== Strategy #*Team Leader: Nolan Nicholson*Milestones: Reach Out and Plan Connections, 12/2013-1: ________<br/> ==2014; First Speaker, 2/2014 - and onward
Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap == Tactic #1 over a 2-3 year period:Mentorship Programs ==
Tactic #1Nobody 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: [Name they give students a chance to view, concretely, the inner workings of tactic]an inspirational company.
*Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve The idea here is this gap on your campus]*Team Leader:: [Either your nameStudents compete for a chance to shadow high-profile, TBD entrepreneurial companies. They visit the company for a day or create more, learn everything they can about the work role there, and then return to—most importantly—give a speech on their experiences and impressions. This could work for a title assigned to couple of reasons. First, it encourages connections between high-tech companies and the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize University by showing these companies the work best and brightest that would likely need Nevada has to offer. Second, it helps develop of hopeful entrepreneurs by giving them visceral examples to be executedshoot for. Third, along with mm/yy]it gives these students a chance to help share entrepreneurial lessons by putting them in front of an audience.
Tactic #*Team Leader: TBD*Milestones: Connections, 1/2014-2: [Name of tactic]/2014; Application Process, 3/2014-4/2014; First Program Summer or Fall 2014?
*Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]*Team Leader== Tactic #3:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mmInspirational/yy]Entrepreneurial Campus Marketing ==
Tactic #3Even 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: [Name of tactic]rather than try to drum up hype for anyone event, it tries to change overall mindsets until people come to start thinking entrepreneurially.
*Description [250 words The hope is twofold. One, by making innovation and entrepreneurship look good on why campus, this strategy effort will solve reframe Nevada as a campus with entrepreneurship as part of its culture. Second, by increasing entrepreneurial sentiment among students, this gap campaign will increase the demand for and popularity of existing entrepreneurial efforts on your campus]*Team Leader:: [Either your namecampus—including the Sontag Competition, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize engineering labs and machine shops, local makerspaces, the work that would likely need to be executedSmall Business Development Center, along with mm/yy]and more.
== Strategy #*Team Leader: TBD; ideally someone well-connected to PRSSA, AMA, or graphic design talent*Milestones: Collect Examples, 12/2013; Design, 2: ________<br/> ==2014; Start Disseminating, 4/2014
Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap = Strategy #2 over a 2-3 year period:Pushing Commitment<br/> =
Tactic #1An excess of promising startups at Nevada are stopped in the development stage: [Name of tactic]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.
*Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]*Team Leader== Tactic #1:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]Venture Support Center ==
Tactic #2: [Name of tactic]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.
*Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]*Team LeaderThis space does not need to be an entirely new creation:: [Either your name, TBD it could instead be an expansion or rebranding of the NSBDC or create the Tech Transfer Office. As preparation for developing such a title assigned center, interested groups will have to conduct research into the existing facilities (namely, NSBDC and TTO) and figure out what they already offer in the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set way of bullets that characterize legal and logistical assistance. If their offering is already substantial, then expanding its availability and publicity to students is the work that would likely need to only needed leap; if there are significant shortcomings or unassisted hurdles, more resources will be executed, along with mm/yy]needed.
Tactic #3*Team Leader: [Name TBD from TTO or NSBDC*Milestones: Research, 1/2014 - 2/2014. Subsequent timeline depends on determined extent of tactic]facelift/resources required
*Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]*Team Leader== Tactic #2: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]*Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]Student Venture Fund ==
no edit summary
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.
The second strategy in setting a cultural precedent for entrepreneurship is to ensure that the people who do get involved are given every resource to actually commit to their ventures. The students who enter business plan competitions today are too easily dispelled from taking their projects to market, either by attractive job prospects or by inability to take the final steps toward incorporation. Therefore, bodies that help bridge the gap between academic exercise and functioning company—functioning incubators, student venture funds, legal assistance groups—could result in more startups and in more student examples.
[http://prezi.com/-0p-nk3qgcnk/fanning-the-flames/ Link to Prezi overview of campus ecosystem:]
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. A student-run venture fund would address this problem head-on. First, a venture fund could disburse its money freely and proportionately instead of prescribing the single lump sum found in business plan competitions. Second, it could more closely simulate the investment climate of post-collegiate entrepreneurship. Third, it would professionally develop the students serving as fund members by teaching them to critically evaluate businesses’ viability, which would also inform their ability to plan successful businesses later on. Finally and critically, highlighting recently invested ventures would publicize the fund, the University's endorsement of student entrepreneurship, and the ventures themselves. *Team Leader: TBD*Milestones: Solicit Fund Members, 2-3/2014; Gather Funds, 4-5/2014; Start Accepting Applications, 8/2014 == Tactic #3: Angel Investment Pipeline == Other<br 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. Having angel investors in on student ventures is an easy endeavor: most of the work would be in forging connections that should already exist. Their initial involvement could be investment in competition winners or contribution to the Student Venture Fund; it could also be as simple as agreeing to speak or provide advice on courting investors like themselves. This option also has many direct benefits. First, it legitimizes the University as a venture space. Second, it connects students and their projects with the constant opportunity for endorsement and funding from external sources—even if they miss the timeline for the Sontag or another competition. Third, it connects the University’s entrepreneurship resources with those of storied and experienced investors, who could then be brought on as advisors, guest speakers, or competition judges. *Team Leader: Nolan Nicholson*Milestones: Connect, 12/2013-1/2014; Plan Events, 2-3/> 2014 = Impact = {{#widget:Google Spreadsheet|key=0AgHBY23xvE2CdC0tRWNBSDd5QTlMVHhTSGhTbkFsNmc|width=800|height=250}} {{#widget:Google Form|key=1zkdvDV_POUGd8AKoZxzNo5NN81ePx4YYrEEKPNW0Vnk|width=1400|height=1400}} =Related Links = [[University of Nevada, Reno]] [[Nolan Nicholson]] [[Category:Student Priorities|u]][[Category:Student Priorities]][[Category:Student Priorities]][[Category:University_of_Nevada_Reno]][[Category:Student_Priorities]]{{CatTree|University_of_Nevada_Reno}}
