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Event Summaries:
Fall 2006
Video Recaps
Dingman Center Travels to China for the China Business
Plan Competition - September 9 - 14
September 9 through September 14 the Dingman Center traveled to China to take
part in the 2nd Annual China Business Plan Competition and to learn about the
Chinese economy and business practices. Among sightseeing and a trip to the
magnificent Great Wall, the China delegation met with Chris Beede, Chief
Economic Officer for the US Embassy in Beijing. Mr. Beede's informative
presentation included insight into the growing concerns for domestic stability,
intellectual property rights, and job creation. Mr. Beede also informed the
delegation that China's banking sector is very fragile and that the rapid
economic growth of China has led to a rapid energy growth, causing a huge need
for importation of gas and fuel.
The Dingman Center delegation met with China Business Plan Competition
sponsor, DLA Piper Rudnick. At DLA the Center was introduced to Mark Williams
and Rocky Lee both head of the private equity and venture capital segment at
DLA. These gentlemen discussed the venture capital environment in China. They
informed the delegation that DLA had closed, in that week alone, 10 venture
capital deals—an
un- precedented number for the firm. Rocky Lee projected venture capital
investment in China to double in the coming year.
The Dingman Center also got the privilege to visit ZhongGuanCun Industrial
Park, one of the largest business incubators in China. The delegation met with
many Chinese entrepreneurs, including a internet protocol television company and
architecture firm, to learn about their companies and see their incubation
space.
Chris Ryan, CEO of ING Investment Management Asia Pacific, met with the
delegation and spoke on ING's business growth in China. Mr. Ryan reported that
ING has grown at a rate of 25% per annum for the past seven years and that the
Chinese saving rate is at 50%, up from 35% just last year. Ryan informed the
delegation that health care services are a large part of investment and that
China has an enormous consumer market.
The trip concluded with the 2nd Annual China Business Plan Competition in
which teams with the best presentation and business idea were awarded a total of
$50,000. The Dingman Center looks forward to next year's competition and the
opportunity to meet with more successful entrepreneurs.
Dingman Center Open House
- September 22
The Dingman Center hosted its first open house of the year September 22,
2006, welcoming those interested to learn more about the center and the
resources it has to offer. Students, staff, Dingman Scholars and members of the
Maryland Undergraduate Society of Entrepreneurs mingled over refreshments and
discussed business ideas as well as upcoming events at the center.
Shania Lin, a junior marketing and logistics major, attended the open house
because she plans to start her own small business. “I think the Dingman Center
is a great resource for students and I'm looking to get more involved in it this
semester,” Lin said. Entrepreneurs in residence were also on hand to help
further introduce students to the center and assist with development of business
ideas as well as Asher Epstein, Managing Director, who addressed the crowd and
emphasized that, at the Dingman Center, “students get access to a great amount
of knowledge with a group of people who want to share it.”
Dr. Charles O.
Heller Honorary Roast - September 26
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From left to right: Founder, Rudy Lamone, Charles Heller, and Asher
Epsteing
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The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship celebrated the contributions of long
time friend, mentor and former director Dr. Charles O. Heller on September 26,
2006 with a roast in his honor. Friends and family gathered for refreshments,
memories, and fun. Friends, employees, and former students all took the podium
to roast Charlie for his many accomplishments and endearing qualities.
Professor emeritus, founder of the Dingman Center, and former dean, Rudy
Lamone, reflected, “I may have planted the seeds for the Dingman Center, but
Charlie Heller made the flowers bloom. Charlie brought to the Center an
extraordinary form of leadership and mission. His vision and passion have had a
contagious quality for all of us who have worked with Charlie these past 20
years.” The Smith School wishes Charlie all the best in his future endeavors.
Women's Entrepreneurship Event and Networking Reception
- September 28
By Lisa Rassenti BA 2007
On September 28, 2006, the Smith School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
welcomed some of the region's most successful female entrepreneurs as well as
aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners to the Women's Entrepreneurship
Event, co-sponsored by the Smith Association of Women MBAs. Speakers included
business owners Amy Nichols, Gina Schaefer Penny Pompei and author Julie Lenzer
Kirk — all who discussed the do's and don'ts of starting your own business.
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From left to right: Gina Schaefer, Julie Lenzer Kirk, Amy Nichols,
Penny Pompei and Melissa Carrier
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Keynote speaker Julie Lenzer Kirk, entrepreneur and author of “Secrets of a
Mompreneur: What Raising Children Teaches You About Running a Business,” due out
fall 2007, spoke about how a “yes” from clients, advisors and others isn't
always a good thing. She compared these yeses to bobbleheads and warned that
nodding heads aren't helpful and every entrepreneur should surround themselves
with people who “tell you what you need to hear,” even if it's not what you want
to hear.
Amy Nichols, founder of Happy Tails Dog Spa™, recommended effective growth
strategies and advised that, simply, “to grow, you have to start.” She also
discussed the benefits of franchising and how it's helped her company grow from
one location to an expected 100 by 2008.
Gina Schaefer, a member of the Ace Hardware Cooperative, owns three Ace
Hardware stores in Washington, D.C., and has become an expert on how to use
other people's money to finance a business and help it grow. She advised that
“you have to have money to make money. Most people may be able to start a
business, but that doesn't mean they can start a cash flow.” Schaefer advised
that women need not be afraid of the financial aspect of a business. “Even if
you have to go to seven different banks, do it. You never know what's going to
happen,” she said.
Penny Pompei, a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, has founded three very
different companies and advised the audience that “becoming an entrepreneur is a
terminal decision.” She emphasized the need for an exit plan when starting a
business because it ensures goal committal and optimism, even in a downward
business cycle. Her main point, however, was that “in order to be a successful
entrepreneur, especially as a woman, you have to have passion.”
The speakers were followed by an audience Q&A and networking reception where
questions ranged from how to pick a second-in-command to suggestions for helpful
books.
Click here to watch the event!
Dingman Day Field Trip to the Taxi Industry - October 18
On October 18th, a select group of Smith School students joined Managing
Director Asher Epstein on an educational field trip to the leading taxi cab
company in the Washington, D.C. area, District Cab Company. There students met
with President of the company, Jerry Schaeffer, and got to see an entrepreneur
at work.
President and Owner, Jerry Schaeffer, informed students that his father drove
taxis for a living all his life. He and his brothers took their knowledge and
experience and built an entire industry around the taxi cab business. Today,
Mr. Schaeffer owns several hundred taxi cabs that he rents or sells to
drivers, a body shop where drivers take their cars for repairs and an insurance
company that insures all the taxis in the area. The business has continued to
grow for over 35 years.
Students learned a great deal about the taxi service market and are now
working on evaluating opportunities for chauffeured car services in and around
campus.
Dingman Day Lunch featuring Hands On Toys - October
27
At the Dingman Day Lunch on October 27, Andy Farrar, CEO and founder of
HandsOnToys, Inc. spoke about entrepreneurship and his experiences in the toy
market. He shared his company's history, their struggle and what it took to get
his company to the next level. His passion and spirit for playfulness captivated
the crowd.
In 1993, Farrar teamed up with Arthur Gansor and Rustam T. Booz and developed
the idea of a toy company that would bring innovative and imaginative products
to the toy market. Gansor, a kinetic sculptor, came up with the idea for a toy
he called Toobers & Zots — a construction toy set which would include long foam
tubes with wires inside and foam shapes that connect to the tubes so children
could build their own structures. With the help of Farrar and Booz, the idea
came to life. The team soon realized they had designed a toy like no other on
the market and quit their jobs to focus on the product and budding company.
Farrar and his partners got $50,000 from family and friends which was mainly
spent on marketing materials for Toobers & Zots. They also took their idea on
the road. After attending a New York gift show, Farrar and his partners realized
the best way to get people interested would be to send out samples. In doing so,
they acquired big-time investor Randy Burton, former CEO of Parker Brothers and,
subsequently, $2 million in investments. Later, the team took Toobers & Zots to
the New York City Toy Fair and gave away a piece of the toy to everyone who
approached their booth. That year, they left the fair with an order for 50,000
units, spent their raised capital to make a proper factory, and won the Toy of
the Year award. But things went downhill quickly.
Customers began to realize that the wires inside the foam tubes didn't stay
put and production began to slow. After only 18 months on the market, sales were
up $10 million, but in 1997 they plummeted to $2 million. Farrar and his
partners were forced to cut back any where they could. To help alleviate some of
their problems, the team invented a new pet toy — Wiggly Giggly. It helped to
make HandsOnToys, Inc. profitable again, but in 2000, when one dog ate the toy
and died, Farrar and his team were forced to pull it from the market.
Their next invention was Floam, a craft instead of a toy, something the team
believed could profit with TV advertising. With the help of Nickelodeon they
sold 1.5 million in one month and realized that partnering with larger companies
was the key to success. They have now been in the toy business for 12 years and,
as of Sept. 30, 2006, are almost completely debt free even though they are
“always looking for ways to finance.”
HandsOnToys, Inc. has only five employees and, according to Farrar, is
structured so that if sales happen to drop again they can still remain
profitable. They have a passion for innovation, design, marketing and a strong
entrepreneurship spirit. “We're about building brands. We try to introduce a new
brand each year,” Farrar said.
Dingman Day Lunch featuring Freewebs.com - December 1
According to Freewebs CEO and UMD Alumni Haroon Mokhtarzada, “as an
entrepreneur, you control your own destiny,” and, for Mokhtarzada, it appears to
be shaping in to a very successful one.
At the Dingman Day Lunch on December 1, Mokhtarzada spoke about the
entrepreneurial spirit and his experience building and fostering Freewebs, the
Internet company he started with his brothers back in 2001. During his senior
year here at Maryland, Mokhtarzada and his brothers predicted that, considering
the rise in personal e-mail address, self-created Web sites surely weren't far
behind and they set out to create a site building service easy enough for their
mother to use.
At the time, dot coms everywhere were crashing and the brothers Mokhtarzada
were able to get cheap equipment and space online but, because advertisers were
skeptical of investing in the slowing market, Mokhtarzada and his brothers had
to charge users a small premium for the service. The company grew slowly while
Mokhtarzada attended law school, but upon getting his degree and turning down a
job at a prestigious D.C. firm, he decided to devote his energy and attention to
Freewebs.
As advertisers began returning to the Internet market in 2005 and demand
started to rise, the brothers decided to concentrate on raising money. They
scoured the area for venture capitalists interested in their company and, in
August 2006, ultimately partnered with Novak Biddle Venture Partners and
Columbia Capital—an $11 million deal!
“Having investors has put more pace into the company because suddenly there
are more people looking for big changes and a big return on their
investment,” Haroon said. He describes the pace as “rapid expansion”—a shift
that has transformed the company from having about nine employees, $2,000 and
only a few hundred members to having 35 employees, an advertising office in New
York City, two high-profile investors and over 12 million members.
Despite their rising success, Freewebs remains focused on their original
mission: to provide people with an easy way to create their own high-quality Web
site…for free. “We are just trying to help people market whatever they want,
whether it's marketing pictures to their family or marketing themselves for a
job,” Haroon says. However focused an optimistic he may be, Harron remains
humble. “I wouldn't say that we are an incredible success, but I hope we can
become an incredible success.”
Click here to watch the event!
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