UGA Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship

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2009-08-12T13:33:00.003-04:00

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Terry Entrepreneurship

Terry Entrepreneurship hosts "Communications Skills for Better Business" seminar on July 9 in Atl

2009-06-30T10:46:00.012-04:00

Location: Terry College of Business Executive Education Center in Buckhead, Lobby Level
When: 6p-8p on July 9

RSVP to Chris Hanks at hanks@terry.uga.edu

Who Should Attend: Entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals in any field who are seeking to enhance their communications awareness and speaking skills as a competitive business advantage.

Whether you’re working with your boss, your customers, your employees, your peers, or another organization, the way you communicate will largely determine your success. To improve your personal and business results, dedicate yourself to becoming a better communicator. This seminar will help you do just that, with tips and techniques from three leading experts.

Presenters include:

Larry Warnick is the Founder and President of PassKey Strategies, a business coaching consultancy designed to help business owners and executives of emerging and mid-sized companies achieve improved and sustainable results through business lifecycle transitions. Passkey provides individual coaching and facilitated group workshops for strategic thinking and planning, leadership and communications skills, team building and performance, and time management. He has over 25 years of business leadership experience in strategic planning, marketing and product management, and sales and business development with technology and service firms ranging from start-ups to Fortune-level in numerous industries. His clients achieve sustainable results that include accelerated revenue, improved corporate culture and team performance, sustainable growth, smooth transitions through the business lifecycle, and profitable exit strategies and succession plans.

Bob Schwerzel is the Founder and President of Technology Guidance Services, LLC (TGS), a consulting and advisory business that focuses on helping companies of all sizes become more profitable by improving their product development and commercialization processes. TGS works with companies ranging from startups to multi-nationals to leverage their core capabilities for maximum impact in the marketplace. Dr. Schwerzel has a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry, and has over 30 years of experience in contract research and R&D management for corporate clients worldwide. His consulting clients consistently achieve markedly improved results in tailoring their product concepts to the marketplace and accelerating their path to enhanced revenue.

Sharon P. Foote is the Founder and Principal Instructor for Foote Communications, a corporate training company which provides individual and workshop training to business executives, companies, educational and government organizations. She has over twenty years experience in the communications field as an instructor, actress and lecturer in corporate, collegiate and performing arts environments with emphasis on public speaking and drama. The workshops she delivers employ the secrets professional actors use to improve presentation and public speaking, skills whether one-on-one or in front of a group. She is a professional actor and a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA, the professional acting unions, and has extensive acting experience in New York, Los Angeles and the Southeast. Her experience includes professional theater, television and film as well as TV commercials, soap operas, narration and convention spokesperson.

RSVP to Chris Hanks at hanks@terry.uga.edu!

UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur: There can be only one?

2009-05-01T20:35:00.019-04:00

Nope! UGA's Terry Entrepreneurship has no interest in picking winners, even though Krasidy.com won it all at recently at UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur. Terry Entrepreneurship is the only MBA entrepreneurship program solely devoted to launching businesses. Top Entrepreneur merely put these ventures on steroids (so to speak) and threw in some competitiveness, to boot. The results were astounding. (See the recent story about Top Entrepreneur in the Athens Banner Herald! click here)

As noted in UGA's official release, eight finalists with a combined revenue of $212,000 competed. Anofit by Adam Balkcom came in a close 2nd, a company that coordinates personal training and group fitness instructors for multi-family communities. Ultimately, it was team Krasidy LLC that took the prize, with members Hayden Kramer and Wesley Miller (shown at left, with check writer and Terry Entrepreneur-in-Residence Rob Bearden of Benchmark Capital). Krasidy plays on the team's belief that "everyone is a musician." Their product, StudioApp, lets users record their voices over instrumentals and mute, delete, or layer vocals in a single song. The app is ranked #6 on the iTunes' "Top Music Application' with over 3,000 downloads at $7.99 a pop, contributing to over 30k in revenue already.

Both a competition and seminar series, UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur is hosted by the Terry College of Business and is open to all UGA students. Modeled after the popular TV show American Idol, it began in October with 114 students participating in a series of interactive seminars and individual coaching sessions. The field was eventually narrowed to eight teams that presented their business plans before a panel of experts. (Balkcom, right, still a winner - recently closing 50k in angel funding)

"So many people have an idea or the desire to be an entrepreneur, but they just don't know how," said Bearden, who led the series. "We showed them how to research an idea, develop a business plan, and pitch it to potential investors. I'm impressed with the results, and more importantly, with the future potential of this competition."

Chris Hanks (@ChrisHanks), Director of Entrepreneurship at Terry, sums it up: "This competition is one of the reasons why there is no better place to be than the University of Georgia for those interested in entrepreneurship."

To stay in the loop of all things Terry Entrepreneurship, join our Official Communications Channel and our "Campus Beat" channel for occasional updates from your friends at Terry. Use the "Campus Beat" channel to stay informed about what's happening when and where on campus. To know what's up now not later: follow @UGAentrepreneur on twitter.

Check out what Terry Entrepreneurship is up to by reading our post- Terry Entrepreneurship: Bigger Than You Think.

Top Entrepreneur is around the corner!

2009-04-04T18:13:00.003-04:00

Competition night is at 5pm on Thursday, April 16 in Sanford 313. Join the Campus Beat group (on right, below Terry TV) to get more info!

Two Upcoming Events with Terry Entrepreneurship

2009-03-11T11:19:00.008-04:00

Entrepreneurs Lounge - March 21

Gwinnett-based & UGA-affiliated Entrepreneurs Lounge invites you to join in welcoming Ricky Steele on Saturday, March 21 from 10a-12n at the Terry Executive Center in Buckhead.

Steele has a long history of developing new business, expanding the brand, marketing, public relations, and community engagement for clients across many industries. Through his firm, Richard E.Steele, Jr., & Associates, Inc., Steele focuses on driving revenue, mentoring business development executives and opening doors into tier one prospects. Ricky is also a published author with the release of his first book, The Heart of Networking. He frequently conducts seminars and speaks on the subject of his book, “successful networking through servant leadership and living the Golden Rule.”

Find more information about and register for this FREE event here.

UGA Startups - March 31
Terry Entrepreneurship partners with the Inventor's Association of GA on: From Idea to the Retail Shelf - Getting Your Business off the Ground

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to get their invention or business off the ground. To address this, Terry Entrepreneurship has assembled a panel of experts led by Chris Hanks, Director of the Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program and Dave Savage, President of the Inventors Association of Georgia. The event will take place from 5:30p - 8:30p on Tuesday, March 31 at the Terry Executive Center in Buckhead. Find more information and register here.
5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

The Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program designed the UGA STARTUPS series as an interactive, informal and safe program open to anyone with a serious interest in launching a business. No brokers, consultants or persons soliciting business are invited to attend if they wish to gain clientele. We wish for attendees to feel comfortable discussing fears and concerns about starting a business without pressure to become a client of the persons giving advice.

We hope to see you at both these great events!

Terry Entrepreneurship: Bigger Than You Think

2009-02-19T22:18:00.025-05:00

#StartupRiot backnoise declared Athens "not a startup hub." We may not be Atlanta, but we're indisputably a startup town. Over 100 students working on around 70 companies in UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur tell a different story.

But what else is Terry Entrepreneurship doing?

The Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club gathered Thursday evening to chart its own future. After a spirited debate, the Club decided to create a think tank-like organization designed to help local businesses meet their goals in these difficult times. In our "beta" stage we'll focus on one company (chosen from multiple candidates), with more to come. The "think tank" will grow into cross-functional teams that possess finance, marketing, tech, etc. skills. These student entrepreneurs fully expect to receive compensation for their services. Lot's of people want these type of jobs, but Terry Entrepreneurship is making them!

"Wow. That's cool." You're right!

But what ELSE?

Aside from our monthly UGA Startups events in Atl (see coverage of last event in previous post), we've also got
VentureEAT, an every-other-Thursday lunch meetup with Mr. Chris Hanks, Director of Entrepreneurship at Terry. Occasional special guests like Melanie Brandt spice up discussions about entrepreneurship. Students come with questions about their own companies or just to soak up and contribute to the conversation. The next VentureEat will be held the Thursday after Spring Break, at noon on March 19.

"So you've got some ambitious students and a neat little lunch meetup, but what is Terry Entrepreneurship doing to actually put students in the path of cool opportunities?"

Good question!

The Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program participates in the most significant venture capital and angel investment forums in the southeast. Due to our relationship, the Southeast Venture Capital Conference (SEVC) has offered a special opportunity for our students to participate, including a private reception with influential attendees.

The third annual Southeast Venture Conference will feature market relevant investor and executive panels, exclusive networking opportunities, featured speakers and approximately 40 of the region's top private technology firms presenting to a national audience of venture capitalists, investment bankers and private equity investors. This event will be March 11-12th, 2009 at the Intercontinental Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia. Students will apply for a limited number of spots; details on that soon.

Chances are you now realize why Terry Entrepreneurship is Bigger Than You Think.

Don't miss out!

Join Terry Entrepreneurship's Official Communications Channel to receive occasional announcements (UGA Startups, special events in Atl, etc.).

Join our "Campus Beat" channel to receive occasional updates about Terry Entrepreneurship events (Entrepreneurship Club, VentureEAT, etc.) around Athens.

UGA’s “Entrepreneurs and Innovation” Summit Provides Insights into Economic Growth

2009-02-15T21:22:00.006-05:00

“Ultimately, we can't bail our way out of this crisis. We can only grow our way out - with more innovation and entrepreneurship.” - Thomas Friedman

Organizer Keith Herndon, President of Internet Decisions, LLC and author of Entrepreneurs and Innovation: Creating Value With Emerging Technology, kicked off Thursday’s event with an apt quote. The half-day summit, held at UGA’s Alumni Society’s Buckhead location, focused on the role that innovation plays in restoring economic growth, one entrepreneur at a time. UGA alums Karen Lennon, CEO, Beyond Z Interactive media and Alan Koenning, Fund Manager, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund joined Chris Hanks, Director of the Entrepreneurship program at UGA’s Terry College of Business on a panel of experts. Attendees of the standing-room only event had an opportunity to listen to the panel’s insight into the innovation process, as well as hear general information about raising capital and leveraging existing resources. Ms. Lennon spoke of the need to keep employees motivated and offered tips on how to listen to your market. Mr. Koenning noted promising new trends in co-working, like the Advanced Technology Development Center’s (ATDC) “seed space” initiative, to provide entrepreneurs an affordable location to work that is in close proximity to available resources. Mr. Koenning also shared information about exciting opportunities like Shotput Ventures, a technology startup accelerator fund. Mr. Hanks focused on the importance of resonating with a target market so a firm is so closely aligned with that market’s needs it becomes “like a fingerprint.” After a Q&A session, John R. Harris, Partner at the Technology/Intellectual Property Group of Morris, Manning and Martin, LLC, gave a presentation on realizing value through legal services like patents. After a delicious lunch, Steven Stice, Ph.D., Director of the UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center and Chief Scientific Officer of Aruna Biomedical, literally wowed the crowd (“wows” quite audibly emanated from the peanut gallery) with his presentation of his work commercializing breakthroughs in ethically-sound stem cell research. A highlight of Dr. Stice’s presentation was footage of spontaneously uniting cells beating like a heart. Innovation was on display in more ways than one at UGA’s “Entrepreneurs and Innovation” Summit.

Stephen Rosenberg
@smrosenberg

If Terry Entrepreneurship had a cousin, it would be Techdrawl.com. Check out Techdrawl's coverage of the Innovations Summit here.

UGA Startups Event #2 - this Thursday!

2009-02-08T20:52:00.003-05:00

Check out the event registration here.

Fostering innovation among entrepreneurs is one of the keys to restoring economic growth. This summit is aimed at providing attendees with insight into the innovation process as well as practical advice about raising capital, protecting intellectual property and creating a culture that promotes innovative thinking.

This is a half day event, Thursday February 12th from 8:30 to 1:30 featuring an all-star panel of experts including Dr. Steven Stice, Karen Lennon, Alan Koenning, Chris Hanks, John R. Harris, and Keith Herndon. All attendees will receive a copy of Herndon’s,“Entrepreneurs and Innovation: Creating Value with Emerging Technologies.”

Check out the event registration here.

VentureEAT!

2009-02-05T14:29:00.005-05:00

Great turnout today for the first session of VentureEat. Participants volunteered their interests, what they are working on, and what type of help they may need. Terry Entrepreneurship director Mr. Hanks along with special guest Melanie Brandt (Technology Facilitator for Gwinnett County) were on hand to offer advice. Fellow students brought their areas of experience to the table, as well.

VentureEat is a bi-monthly lunch-time meetup open to all.

Our next event is two weeks from today, from noon-1pm on Thursday, February 19th.

Huge turnout at UGA Startups event #1

2009-02-02T20:36:00.005-05:00

Overall a great evening last Thursday! Well over 60 attendees and a number more online via UGA Entrepreneurship's Terry TV were rewarded with great insight, excellent discussion, and overall tips for business success (not to mention a delicious cheese plate assembled by yours truly). Mark your calendars: We're looking forward to the next event in Atl on Thursday, February 12!

Great suggestions guys- we'll get a full schedule with details up asap!

Next event should have a much more interactive, webinar-like feel for our online viewers!

UGA STARTUPS

2009-01-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

click to enlarge

REGISTER (free for students)

Tuesday, January 12, 2009

Writer: Matt Waldman, 706/542-7253, mwaldman@terry.uga.edu
Contact: Chris Hanks, 706/542-3724, hanks@terry.uga.edu

UGA’s Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program to host “Franchising: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, the first UGA STARTUPS seminar in a monthly series, beginning Thursday, January 29

Athens, Ga. – The Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program will host its first UGA STARTUPS seminar entitled, “Franchising: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, on Thursday, January 29, at the Terry Executive Education Center in Buckhead.

The two-hour seminar, which starts at 6:30 p.m., will feature an expert panel to discuss how to find and evaluate appropriate franchising opportunities as a potential alternative in today’s job market.

“With the United States in a recession and in the midst of the highest unemployment rate since 1996, there are a lot of people who have lost jobs or are preparing for a layoff who may find better results by starting their own ventures,” said Terry Entrepreneurship Program Director Chris Hanks, who created the UGA STARTUPS seminar series to mentor and educate aspiring entrepreneurs and assist them in launching successful ventures. “If you have ever had the desire to launch your own business, this seminar series will be an invaluable resource.”

The Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program designed the series as an interactive, informal and safe program open to anyone with a serious interest in launching a business. No brokers, consultants or persons soliciting business are invited to attend and this helps attendees feel comfortable discussing fears and concerns about starting a business without pressure to become a client of the persons giving advice.

“I am very impressed by all of the efforts by the Terry College of Business to mentor and develop successful entrepreneurs, especially in times like these,” said seminar panelist, Thomas Gustoff, a regional developer for Massage Heights, a San Antonio-based franchise that began in 2004. “I am excited to be a part of this event.”

The UGA STARTUPS seminar series is free for UGA students and alumni, and $10 for the general public. “Franchising: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Future seminars will cover topics such as raising capital, purchasing existing businesses, secrets of successful startups and building wealth through business ownership.

The Terry College of Business Entrepreneurship Program was established by the University of Georgia to provide an outstanding entrepreneurship curriculum, mentorship by the most seasoned entrepreneurs in the southeast, networking opportunities, practical seminars and an array of other resources all in an effort to inspire, teach and serve aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.

Techdrawl.com features UGA Entrepreneurship on its blogroll!

2009-01-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

Our reach is spreading. Soon all of atl will look to the east in entrepreneurial envy! No other program so passionately devotes itself to making the dreams of student would-be-entrepreneurs come true. "We'll go as far with you as you want to go," noted ATL tech VC Rob Bearden at the last Top Entrepreneur contest event.

Three Cheers to Techdrawl (@techdrawl) for following our rise! Through its video-blog, Techdrawl works to bring national attention to entrepreneurs in the Southeast. Terry Entrepreneurship is a proud partner!

Top Entrepreneur

2009-01-15T09:46:00.001-05:00

Thank you for your patience. The date for the final Top Entrepreneur contest should be known and advertised soon.

Inc. Mag: How Would You Like to Make $6 Million Sitting on Your Couch?

2009-01-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

Recessions can be a great time to start your own business. Thanks to the Web and a variety of other resources, it's cheaper and easier than ever to start one at home.
By: Tamara Schweitzer

By his own admission, Paul Mann used to be a corporate stiff. Sure, he had a successful career, as CEO of Informative, a technology company that he co-founded in the late 1990s, but he hated putting on a suit and tie and trudging to the office every day.

All that changed -- almost by accident, Mann admits -- one day back in 2002...

NYTimes: For Innovators, There Is Brainpower in Numbers

2008-12-25T17:39:00.000-05:00

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

— Japanese proverb

DESPITE the enduring myth of the lone genius, innovation does not take place in isolation. Truly productive invention requires the meeting of minds from myriad perspectives, even if the innovators themselves don’t always realize it...

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE

Athens Banner Herald story on Top Entrepreneur!

2008-12-11T12:41:00.001-05:00

Entrepreneur course offers options in tight job market

America's current recession is making job hunting tough on the University of Georgia's newest graduates, who might find better results by starting their own ventures, said UGA business professor Chris Hanks.

Using UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur, a contest and seminar series in its first year at the university, Hanks, a Terry College of Business professor and seasoned entrepreneur, wants to mentor students aspiring to own their own enterprises.

Hanks, along with Rob Bearden, a Georgia-based entrepreneurial expert...

All Top Entrepreneur Slides Posted

2008-12-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

Link to updated slides from Top Entrepreneur

Small Business Tip of the Week

2008-12-08T18:18:00.000-05:00

from The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp by Megan Dorn

More and more small businesses are relinquishing control over certain operations everyday. They are following in the footsteps of many larger companies and outsourcing work to allow them to focus on...

Terry's Entrepreneurship Director in the news!

2008-12-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

Univ. lecturer aids in Turkish relations
SARAH BRUMBLELOE for The Red & Black
Issue date: 12/8/08 Section: News

HANKS
HANKS

A Terry College instructor offered an opportunity for individuals at the University to get involved in a burgeoning trade relationship between Turkey and the state of Georgia.

Christopher Hanks, a management lecturer, began talks in summer 2008 with a representative from the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce to head a seminar about trade between the areas.

Hanks' participation in the seminar will allow the University to take part in the program and "expose students to new opportunities in entrepreneurship," he said.

The ongoing seminar was organized to inform small business owners of the ins and outs of Turkey's trading economy, as well as what relations with Turkey will entail. Because Hanks has a successful entrepreneurial career preceding him, the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce personally sought him out to participate in the seminar.

Hanks' section of the seminar deals with future business plans, but he said he frowns on using such mundane terms as "business plans."

"It is more like the road map to making whatever goals or dreams you have come true," he said.

"Mapping out your road to success helps to diminish your liability of making mistakes."

The goals and future projects of the trade plan are still in the works, but ideas are constantly being pitched. Hank said it is possible he will fly Georgia business owners to Turkey to give new entrepreneurs a firsthand account of the country and culture.

The instructor has also been asked to make separate sporadic trips to Turkey to lecture for Turkish businesses.

Hanks said he hopes to give University students a chance to play a role in the future of the state's economy as well.

"There are opportunities to participate in joint projects, to help with business plans," he said.

Students would be able to become more familiar with various international businesses and witness the efforts of small businesses willing to expand, he said.

On the more visionary side, the newly-founded organization of the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce could be a major helper in the state of Georgia's quest to turn its economic recession around, he said, because trade relations could provide businesses with more opportunities for exportation and investment.

Venture Capital advice from Businessweek

2008-12-03T17:04:00.000-05:00

From Advice for Startups Seeking Venture Capital Businessweek.com:

For entrepreneurs running startups, the game has changed. Speculative business models won't get funded, says Bob Ackerman, co-founder of Allegis Capital in Palo Alto, Calif. Companies need to demonstrate that their value proposition is real, and that they can hit measurable benchmarks toward generating revenue and positive cash flow, he says. In an environment where consumers and businesses are cutting spending, entrepreneurs need to ask, "Is this a company that absolutely must be started now? Or could this wait a couple years with no apparent penalty?" Ackerman says.

Read the full article here.

Lessons from the Dot-com era

2008-11-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

From The New York Times Business section: Lessons of Survival from the Dot-Com Attic

Many of the companies that survived the dot-com bust did so by ignoring the prevailing “Get Big Fast” business model, Mr. Kirsch explains. Get Big Fast said that an Internet company should identify a market early and grow as quickly as possible, to shut out all competitors.
Instead, many survivors pursued what Mr. Kirsch calls “micro niches”: markets that didn’t offer hundreds of millions in quick profits, but still presented viable Internet-based business opportunities.