We all win if you can suggest local or nearby companies, particularly new companies, that illustrate some point that has come up in class. What are some interesting startups? Please use the comments area here to make suggestions, intersting new companies or recent failures. Xenon, for example (or was it Zenon), the restaurant at Broadway and Pearl that shut down a few months ago… why?

Please use the comments area here to add suggestions for additional resources you might run into: blogs, specific posts on blogs, books … guest speakers available locally? Anything else? I hope you can tell that I try to keep this class current, but that’s hard. Your help is really appreciated.

Use this discussion for questions about the main course content. Use the comments area here.

Every June for several years now the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship runs its undergrad venture quest event, a venture competition. It involves submitting a business plan for acceptance into the contest, then presenting for judges on a Friday morning in early June. There’s always been $500 in prize money. You can click here for the web page about last year’s contest, with pictures of two winners. It’s unusual that both of them were single-person entries last year; usually the better teams have three people on them.

The non-business-major entrants to this competition have always come exclusively from this class. They are open to anybody from the university, but I don’t think they’ve ever had an entrant except from this class.

The process starts with getting yourselves set up with a group — although you can do it individually as well — and agreeing on a business to develop. In early may, you submit a summary to enter the contest. As I’m writing this they haven’t yet set up the necessary web page, or submission deadline, so we’ll watch for that as spring quarter goes on. Groups are chosen from the summary, which is a lot like your assignment 4 for this class. Then a couple of weeks after they announce the finalists,usually four or five groups. The finalists submit written business plans — the same thing you do as the business plan for this class — and then present their idea in a 10 minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers, on the day of the event. Judges are volunteers from the local business community. By lunch time, winners are chosen and checks are distributed.

You’re welcome to use the comments are here to suggest ideas, open your ideas up for team members, and ask questions about the contest.

Please do me and your classmates and yourself a favor. Use this discussion forum — add comments below — to make suggestions, complaints, compliments, comments, or whatever. If you don’t want anybody but me to see it, say so in the comment. I read all of them, of course, but they don’t become available for anybody else until after I read and approve them. And, the other side of the same coin, If I don’t want the rest of the class to see them I won’t post them up here either, but I will see them.

Here are some of the areas you might want to comment on:

• The classes: my style, content, slides, speed, class discussions. Are there topics you’d like to see more of that we already covered, or topics you’d like to see that aren’t on the schedule? Am I boring? Add some comments here.
• The readings: too much, too little, something I’ve missed?
• Guest speakers: somebody you’d like to suggest?
• Assignments: too much, too little.
• Grading: does it creep you out that you don’t really know until the end? I figure you can’t complain about grading directly, because I don’t do it until the end; but maybe you don’t like that. Or maybe you do like it.

Or anything else … although you might look at the other discussions first, because you might find one that fits the “something else” better than this one.

Summary: comments welcome! Bring it on.

Here are some of the ideas that came with the first assignment. There are no names on them, on purpose; better to discuss the ideas without mixing it with their authors:

Fine copper looms. An existing business, a real business. Click here for full-size.
Import/Export
Knowing which political party. A website to help young people figure this out.
Seattle Nanny Service
Mi Amor Coffee Shop
Men’s Underwear Retail
Foul Smell Detector

Later: Some additional submissions:

• Social Media Cleaning
• Green events
• Specialty retail
• The Glover System
• DVD place

Do you want to suggest business ideas, or ask for feedback on an idea? Use the comments area here to add suggestions, or express interest — maybe joining into a group? .