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August, 2007 |
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Upcoming Events
Pitch Dingman
Schedule summer Pitch Dingman sessions directly with
Melissa
Carrier. Your next opportunity to win $500 at
the Pitch Dingman Competition resumes in September.
For more information, e-mail
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu.
Mentor Day
The Mentor Program at
the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is an
innovative consulting service for entrepreneurs and
small-medium businesses that assists companies in
identifying solutions to business problems with the
support of experienced, senior management
professionals. Office hours are every Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00
a.m. Contact
Melissa
Carrier for an appointment, to set up a session, or for more details.
Additionally, consultative services will be
available for select companies looking for
longer-term support from mentors at $250/hour
payable to the Dingman Center.
Dingman Center's Open
House
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship is opening its doors to all
those interested in learning more about
entrepreneurship and the Dingman Center’s
resources. Did you know the Dingman Center can
help launch a business idea into a successful
venture? Did you know the Dingman Center has a
Mentor Program to assist in every phase of
development? Did you know there is a Smith
E-Fund that makes investments from $500 -
$10,000 in student developed business ideas?
These are just a few of the offerings of the Dingman Center. Stop by and meet the full time
staff of the Dingman Center, Dingman
Scholars who have started and
launched their very own businesses, and
our exceptional Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
Learn about our many programs
and opportunities the center offers to
undergrads, grads, and alumni alike. Come and
enjoy good food, networking and a chance to win
a $100 gift card!
For more information please
contact
Melissa Carrier
Entrepreneur Invitational Golf
Tournament
Wednesday, October 10th
P.B. Dye Golf Club, Ijamsville, MD
Get ready for the 2007 Entrepreneur Invitational, the fifteenth golf
tournament to support entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, benefiting the Lamone Entrepreneur Scholars Program. Recognizing the popularity of golf and the benefits of
doing business on the golf course, this exclusive event will take place
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at the beautiful P.B. Dye Golf Club in
Ijamsville, Maryland with close proximity to the Greater Baltimore and
Washington, D.C. area. As the name implies, invitations to the
Entrepreneur Invitational are extended to presidents and CEO's of
high-growth venture businesses, as well as principals of firms that
provide services to entrepreneurs.
An incredible day of golf and corporate hospitality has
been planned for sponsors and guests, including an exhilarating 18 holes
of championship golf, cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. Participants
will enjoy the opportunity to gather at a beautiful golf setting, while
creating and enhancing business and social associations with each other.
All guests will be provided with a memorable golfing and corporate
entertainment experience, while benefiting the Lamone Entrepreneur
Scholars Program.
The event begins at 11:30 AM and concludes with
Dinner and Awards program. More
information forthcoming!
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TiE-Smith Fellows in
Entrepreneurship Program
A
Partnership Between TiE-DC and the Dingman Center
for Entrepreneurship
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship and TiE-DC invite Emerging
Entrepreneur and Professional members to apply for
this fall's TiE-Smith Fellowship program. Details of
the program can be found below.
The goal of the TiE-Smith Fellows
in Entrepreneurship Program is to help promising
entrepreneurs significantly improve the odds of
success for their early stage ventures. This program
was launched in Fall 2005 as a partnership between
TiE-DC and the Smith School of Business, The
University of Maryland at College Park. After very
successful runs in Fall 2005 and Fall 2006, we will
now repeat this program for a new set of
entrepreneurs. In this third round, scheduled for
September-December 2007, the program will be limited
to only 15 to 20 budding entrepreneurs who have
already launched their ventures but not yet received
Venture Capital funding.
Program Co-Directors: Prashanth
Boccasam, CEO, Approva Corporation and Board Member,
TiE-DC Anil K. Gupta, Professor, Smith Business
School and Board Member, TiE-DC Adam Lehman,
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship Asher Epstein, Director, Dingman
Center for Entrepreneurship
Structure: Each TiE-Smith Fellow
gets the following value added services from the
program:
- Participate in 11
once/week workshops (Friday mornings, 8.30-12:00):
Each workshop will include:
(a) a
lecture/presentation by faculty
(b) a
presentation/sharing of perspective by a guest
speaker
(c) discussion
of the Fellows’ issues, including deeper “case
analysis” of ventures from within the group.
- Up to 4 small group
mentoring meetings (3-4 Fellows/Mentor) with veteran
VCs/Entrepreneurs who agree to serve as TiE-Smith
Mentors.
Program Fee: $2500 (a limited
number of Fellows may be provided with 50% support
from TiE-DC) •
Outline of Topics:
1. Defining And Clarifying Your
Business Model
2. Evaluating Your Business
Model: Demand-Side Assessment
3. Evaluating Your Business
Model: Competitive Advantage Assessment
4. Assembling, Leading and
Managing Your Team
5. Managing Innovation: Bringing
Your Products) to Market
6. Developing/Executing A Market
Awareness Strategy
7. Developing/Executing A
Customer Acquisition Strategy
8. Developing/Executing An
Alliance/Partnership Strategy
9. Strategies, Tools and
Resources to Finance Your Growth
10. Planning For And Managing
Business Transformations (Sales, Combinations, Etc.)
For more information
contact
aepstein@rhsmith.umd.edu
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Next Stop ...CHINA!
Students, here’s a
chance of a lifetime to visit Shanghai and Beijing
for only $500! Give a winning 5-minute pitch on why you
should be selected and you are on your way!
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship will be selecting students to visit
China and tour manufacturing centers around Shanghai
and Beijing. Here’s how you can get on board:
What: Trip to China
When: September 4 – 11,
2007
Cost: $500
How: Give a 5-minute
pitch on why you should be selected to go
For more information or
to pitch your case,
contact Asher Epstein at (301) 405-9510 or at
aepstein@rhsmith.umd.edu
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Gen Y exhibits entrepreneurial
ambitions
Many young people not risk-averse
when it comes to business
By Hanah Cho
So many folks in my
generation (Gen Y) are going out on their own after
college or after short stints in corporate America.
Instead of thinking about how to get along with the
boss, they're becoming their own boss, tackling all
sorts of issues associated with running a business.
So it's not entirely surprising that colleges and
universities are seeing the entrepreneurial
ambitions of their students and trying to help them
succeed. I spent a lot of time reporting on the
increase of entrepreneurship education, including in
Maryland where many colleges and universities are
offering courses and activities and expanding other
opportunities, such as providing internships at
start-up companies and providing seed money for new
businesses. The article about these opportunities
ran in Sunday's business section. What's interesting
is the changing attitude among young people
concerning work, the business world and taking
risks. I ran across a recent survey by OPEN from
American Express examining the attitudes among Baby
Boomer and Gen Y small business owners. They differ
on issues of career choices, risk-taking and serial
entrepreneurship. (The survey included 602 small
business owners, equally divided between Gen Y and
Baby Boomers.)
• Gen Y entrepreneurs (ages 18 to 29)
are more likely to have started their business right
out of school: 27 percent compared with 9 percent
for Baby Boomers (ages 42-64). About a quarter of
Baby Boomers started their businesses because they
were not financially able to retire.
• More Gen Y
owners say "having fun is a priority in my
business;" 75 percent Gen Y vs. 66 percent Baby
Boomers.
• Nearly three-quarters of Gen Y
entrepreneurs say they like to take risks compared
with 53 percent of Baby Boomers.
• Younger business
owners are nearly twice as likely to be or plan to
be serial entrepreneurs than their Baby Boomer
counterparts (59 percent vs. 33 percent).
Melissa
Carrier, Associate Director of University of
Maryland's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, says
business ambitions of young people will continue to
grow, especially in the area of social ventures.
"You'll see more and more innovation happening on
campuses as people focus on green and social
responsibilities and the role entrepreneurs play in
that," Carrier says. This article can be found at
www.baltimoresun.com
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Laura Koehne, Former
Dingman Scholar
Making Dreams Come True While Helping Others
Laura Koehne, founder of
Thrive Against the Grain, a coaching practice that
focuses on helping people facing difficult or
controversial decisions, was selected as a
semi-finalist for the $1000 Al Marks Inventive Mind
Grant from Idea Cafe! Laura was picked from
762 applicants as a semi-finalist for the small
business grant from IdeaCafe.com, a top-rated small
business website. "Winning would allow me to fulfill
a dream of mine. I will set up an eCommerce
store to sell my self-help audio and workbook
products with a portion of the proceeds going to the
Dream Foundation -- a national wish-granting
organization that enables terminally ill adults to
fulfill a final dream" states Laura. Thrive
against the grain will reach more people through its
products but, more importantly, help others that
don't have much time left to achieve their dreams.
For more information
visit
www.thriveagainstthegrain.com
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Monkey Business is good for Crooked Monkey!
The Baltimore Sun features one of
Dingman's portfolio companies, Crooked Monkey, in
high style.
In February, hip chain store
Urban Outfitters started selling Crooked Monkey
tees, which Micha Weinblatt, Maryland Alumni, orders
from an outside manufacturer and then has
screen-printed in Columbia. In March, Nordstrom
ordered thousands of T-shirts - taking Weinblatt
from a small-business owner to a successful small
business owner, something many T-shirt makers would
sell a limb to say. "I'm living the dream," says
Weinblatt, a 2005 University of Maryland graduate,
making reference to the Crooked Monkey motto. "The
company is doing really well." Last month alone, the
company sold 10,000 to 12,000 T-shirts, he says.
That's quite a feat, considering how saturated the
T-shirt market is these days. Just about every
fashion label makes a T-shirt of some kind; you can
buy tees on the street, at aquarium gift shops or on
the Internet. Just about anyone with a computer and
$20 could, if they wanted to, make a T-shirt of
their own design. So, how has Crooked Monkey,
which launched in May 2005, become a tale of
T-shirts done right? Much of it has to do with
Weinblatt's crooked, if you will, sense of humor. "I
thought the sayings on the shirt were great," says
Benjamin Sperling, men's contemporary sportswear
buyer for Lord & Taylor. "They were over-the-top
without being something that can't be in a
department store." Sperling says he picked Crooked
Monkey out of a slew of new designers eager to get
into the T-shirt game. "I see a million T-shirt
lines a week," he says. T-shirts are a major part of
men's fashion right now, says Alison Schuch, owner
of Big Iguana in Fells Point, which sells Crooked
Monkey tees. "We carry a lot of funny T-shirt lines
in the store, especially for men," Schuch says. "And
sometimes, you start to see crossover, where some
things are similar. I like Crooked Monkey because
they come up with their own sayings. The sayings are
unique, and they're always funny." Crooked Monkey is
so well-received, last May the start-up was
nominated for an award in a small-business
competition held at Weinblatt's alma mater and
spearheaded by Under Armour Chief Executive Kevin
Plank. "We were 15 years younger than anyone in the
competition, which was kinda cool," Weinblatt says.
Weinblatt also enjoyed bending the ear of Plank, who
also is a UM graduate whose once-small business
selling athletic wear has become a multimillion
dollar success.
Read the full story at:
www.baltimoresun.com
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Fall
2007 Calendar
Open House
This annual event is open to all
students and regional
entrepreneurs. It is an opportunity
to hear about the programs and
events which the Dingman Center is
planning for the upcoming year, to
meet the Dingman Center staff, EIRs and
new Dingman Scholars, and to get
involved with our activities right
from the beginning.
Date: Friday, September 28
2:00 p.m. - 4:00
p.m.
Dingman
Process Workshop
This informative 75 - 90 minute
workshop explains the Dingman
Process, which consists of Ideation,
Assessment, Implementation, and
Iteration. The most successful
entrepreneurs are not necessarily
those with the most innovative
ideas, but those who can find gaps
in the market and develop products
to meet consumers' needs. The
Dingman Process helps entrepreneurs
systematically analyze and develop
businesses based on this concept.
This workshop is presented once each
academic year, and this year it will
be held at College Park as well as
at each of our satellite campuses
for our part-time MBA students.
Dates: September 18th –
22nd
Pitch Dingman
Students are invited to pitch their
ideas to the Dingman Center every
Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00
p.m. Each student will have 5-10
minutes to give an overview of their
business idea and Dingman Center
staff/EIRs will provide immediate
feedback. Business ideas found
viable will find further support in
the Dingman Center.
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Every Friday
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
Pitch Dingman
Competition
Similar to the Pitch Dingman
reviews. Business ideas found
viable will find further support in
the Dingman Center.
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Friday, September 28
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
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Friday, October 26
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
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Friday, November 30
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
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Friday, December 14
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
Dingman Day
Lunch
These catered luncheons are open to
all University of Maryland students. Successful entrepreneurs
will talk about their experiences
and answer questions from the
audience.
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Friday, October 12
12:00 - 2:00 p.m. |
Executive Dining Room |
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Friday, December 7
12:00 - 2:00 p.m. |
3rd Floor Atrium |
CAN Breakfast
(invitation only)
The CAN Breakfasts are by invitation
only to angel investors who are
qualified investors in the CAN
network. Investors will have an
opportunity to hear a 10 minute
presentation from approximately four start-up entrepreneurs who are
seeking funding for their business.
For more information on the CAN
Program and to participate, contact
Melissa Carrier.
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Wednesday, September 26
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 am |
3570 VMH |
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Wednesday, November 7
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
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Wednesday, December 12
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
CAN Review Day
Students and faculty are invited to hear start-up
companies present to our
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Dingman staff as they
prepare for Capital Access Network angel investor
presentations. Listen to feedback by our experts,
give some advice of your own, and learn about some
of the new businesses being started today. It's a
great experience for everyone!
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Wednesday, August 22
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm |
2511 VMH |
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Wednesday, October 17
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm |
2511 VMH |
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Wednesday, November 14
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm |
2511 VMH |
Tech Visionary
Panel (invitation only)
See what's on the horizon in the
world of technologies. These panel
discussions will look at some of the
cutting edge trends and innovations
to come to market. Learn how these
technologies are going to affect
healthcare, entertainment, financial
services, defense, media, and the
entire range of human interaction.
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Wednesday, October 24
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. |
3570 VMH |
Mentor Day
The Mentor Program is an
innovative consulting service for
entrepreneurs and small-medium
businesses that assists companies in
identifying solutions to business
problems with the support of
experienced, senior management
professionals.
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Every
Tuesday beginning September 18
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. |
3570 VMH |
Social Venturing
Advancing the social welfare of our
community is a critical component of
being a successful business leader
and students seek this experience
during their educational years. The
Social Venturing Program's focus is
on the nexus between businesses and
non-profit organizations.
Through this program, the Dingman
Center is offering an array of
programs that benefit the public and
private sectors, students and the
broader community.
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Learn more on
Monday, September 17
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm |
3570 VMH |
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Partner Events
25th Annual
National Association of Women MBAs
Conference
& Career Fair
November 2 & 3, 2007,
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Join us at the Smith School of Business for Take the
Lead: Globalization, Entrepreneurship, and
Technology (GET). Explore how GET shapes the
business place now and continues to change every
day. Discover how women are successfully taking the
lead in our global economy through innovation while
embracing emerging technologies.
2nd Annual
Small Business Resource Symposium
August 1, 2007,
Greater Washington Board of Trade
Please join us for a
gathering of regional experts focused on serving
small businesses. We’ll discuss current trends and
challenges faced by small companies and the
organizations that serve them. This yearly
luncheon’s goal is to understand how each regional
program assists entrepreneurs and to determine ways
in which we can leverage resources to enhance
business in the region.
For more information
contact
Nicole Tarnogursky
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Buy
Your Smith-Branded Merchandise for Departmental
Speakers and Conferences at the Smith Store
 Your
VIP visitors and departmental guest speakers should
leave Smith with an elegant Smith-branded gift as a
thank you for their visit, and The Smith Store is
THE place to go for these items. The Smith Store has
been working hard to develop a selection of
high-quality merchandise that will be appreciated,
displayed and used back in your visitor's home or
office. With two weeks notice, the "sky is the
limit" in terms of item selection. If you are
short on time the Smith Store has in stock.
There are a few great products in
stock now, ranging in price. The Smith Store
has newly designed T-shirts,
sweatshirts, hats, coffee mugs, coffee thermoses,
wine openers and many more items to come. Always available from The Smith Store is the
Smith polo shirt, available for $25.00, or brown
leather money clip wallets for $15.00.
Questions? Contact Tarak Dave at
tarakd@umd.edu.The Smith Store is
located in 3570-U, in the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship. The hours of the Smith Store vary
and appointments are always available to meet
your needs.
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THE DINGMAN CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Founded by Rudy Lamone in 1986, the Dingman Center was one of
the first of its kind in the country and has emerged as a
top-ranked entrepreneurship center. Thanks to initial funding
with a generous grant from Michael D. Dingman, founder of the
Signal Corporation (now part of Honeywell International), the
Dingman Center continues to grow as a regional and national
catalyst in the field of entrepreneurship. The Center is now
aggressively evolving, and in some areas, is expanding its
services to further its role as a leader in the student,
regional, and academic entrepreneurial communities.
The Dingman Center is currently led by:
Asher Epstein, Managing Director
Melissa Carrier,
Associate Director
Mr. John LaPides, Chairman of the
Board and
Entrepreneur In Residence
Dr. Scott Koerwer, Associate Dean,
Professional Programs and Services
Please visit our website at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
Past
Newsletters:
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July, 2007
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June, 2007
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May, 2007
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April, 2007
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March, 2007
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February, 2007
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January,
2007
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December, 2006
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November, 2006
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October, 2006
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September,
2006
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August, 2006
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July, 2006
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June, 2006
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May, 2006
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April, 2006
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March, 2006
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February, 2006
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January, 2006
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