A post I wrote for CruzBusiness…
The first ever UCSC Business Plan Competition is well on its way to meeting its goals of fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, creating lasting relationships between the campus community and entrepreneurs, and educating the student body for global entrepreneurship.
The competition had a very successful Semi Final Judging. Forty three teams submitted plans, which were narrowed down to the top sixteen. Those teams were then paired up with mentors that included industry veterans, entrepreneurs and executives.
Semifinals took place May 17th. A panel of experienced judges witnessed presentations from the sixteen semifinalists. Considering both the business plans and presentations, judges narrowed the field down to the top seven teams.
The final event will take place May 29th on the UCSC campus.
The competition would like to thank all the judges and mentors who helped make the competition a success. The mentors are very involved in industry and also actively participate in the Santa Cruz community. All mentors and judges are acknowledged below.
Judges evaluated student plans. From left to right: Bill Richter, Lafe Vittitoe, Shai Goldman, Doug Brackbill, Eric Mendelson, Michael Meara. Not pictured: Michael Gardner and David Smith
Finalists (Student Teams)
AskOurTechs.com
Lingua Earth
Pherica
Route Me 2
Sky is the Limit
Sustainabites Baby Food
XpertLinx
For more information click here
Keynote Speaker for May 29th Final Event
Philippe Kahn, Fullpower
Finals Judges for the May 29th Presentations
David Heald – Santa Cruz County Bank
Cliff Warren – RayTek
Judy Owen, Calumet Ventures
Mir Imran, Incube
Narinder Kapany, Famous Entrepreneur
Laura Bushnell, Latham & Watkins (IP Attorney)
Kittu Kolluri – New Enterprise Associates
Kumar Malavalli – Inmage
Chester Wang – Acorn Campus
Chirag Sharma of Sky is the Limit presents to judges during semifinals.
Semi Finals Judges
Shai Goldman, SVB
Lafe Vittitoe, SVB
Teresa Tomei, SBDC
Michael Gardner, Ketera
Eric Mendelson, Lighthouse Bank
Michael Meara, Pacific Mountain Advisors
David Smith, “Startup to IPO”
Doug Brackbill, Visto
Bill Richter, IP Lawyer
Teams mingle at NextSpace while waiting for their presentation time slot.
Mentors
Eric Ornas, Satori Labs, Mentored Sky is the Limit
Bill Jordan, SBM2G, Mentored Eco Diamond
Claire Schneeberger, Monarch Media, Mentored ACR
Jim Brock, Attributor, Mentored Xpert Linx
Jerry Sadin, Independent, Mentored Magic Hat
Marty Picco, Self, Mentored 33Link
Steven Olson, New Venture Support, Mentored Siris
Robert Blumberg, Soquel Group, Mentored EZAxes
Jim Graham, Jim Graham Public Relations, Mentored MacroHard
Doug Erickson, SugarCRM, Mentored Ask Our Techs
Matt Guerrieri, Opus, Mentored Tri Solar
Kai Pommerenke, UCSC, Mentored Pherica
Tom McKay, Tidal microWave LLC, Mentored Route Me 2
Robert Siegel, X/Seed Capital Management, Mentored Gallant
David Britton, SBN Association, Mentored Sustainabites
Nirvikar Singh, UCSC, Mentored Lingua Earth
Michael Gardner (right) and other judges watch the last of Semi Finalist presentations.
Other Mentors Who Volunteered Time
Reesa Abrams, Techno-Coach
Caleb Baskin, Baskin & Grant
Donna Fedor, The Arden Technology Group
Thomas Leavitt, Godmoma’s Forge
John Marshall, Market Motive
Andrew Mueller, Sagas
Margaret Rosas, Quiddities
Anil Sahai, AndesITUSA
Ian Stock, EntrepreLaw
