Our 2012 Grand Prize winning team, Hydrovolts, Team 5, “Ebb N Flow” demonstrated their innovative product solution to the audience of investors with their business savvy and energy at the Keiretsu Forum’s Angel Capital Expo, held November 15th, 2012 in San Francisco. Ebb N Flow team members included Jackson Barrett,  Karla Jurado, Rene Siakkhasone, Emmit Tactac and Valerie Woo.

The winning team Hydrovolts 5 participated in the Camp BizSmart summer entrepreneur academy held at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Conference Center in San Mateo.  Peggy Gibbs, COO, Cofounder of Camp BizSmart, introduced the team and shared the stage with Randy Williams, CEO and Founder of Keiretsu talking about the importance of entrepreneurial training.

Randy Williams and Peggy Gibbs share a deep commitment to inspiring and supporting entrepreneurs of all ages and providing mentors to sharpen the essential skills required to be a successful entrepreneurs

The students were then honored onstage by both Randy Williams, CEO and Founder of Keiretsu, and Sonja Markova, Managing Director, who asked them questions about their winning business product design and what they learned at the Camp BizSmart entrepreneur academy.

Sonja Markova, Managing Director, Keiretsu Forum, after presenting students with certificates honoring their achievement as the Camp BizSmart Most Valued Team of the Business Plan Competition 2012.

Jackson Barrett, Team CEO, acknowledges the tremendous effort put forth by his teammates to earn the top honor and thanks Randy and the Keiretsu Forum for their long standing support of Camp BizSmart.

The students were privileged to observe 12 entrepreneurs make presentations about their ventures to the more than 400 angel investors. It was valuable to observe and to hear each entrepreneur describe their company.

Keiretsu Angel Capital Expo November 15, 2012 - photo courtesy of Keiretsu Forum

The culmination of the day is the naming of the Most Valued Company as voted by those attending. Congratulations to Sword Diagnostics for winning first place in the “Most Valued Company” competition and to BR Liquid Adventures (bucha) and First Sense Medical for being the runner-ups.

Fashion Show by LALY Designs - and example of a successful fashion designer entrepreneur

LALY Designs is a San Francisco based fashion design company. Laura Moreno, an entrepreneur and founder of LALY Designs, is known for her exuberant, eclectic, and unconventional designs. Showing her designs at the Angel Capital Event provided an update on the company’s successful growth. She has become a resource for undiscovered fashion designers and a catalyst for their success.

As the Keiretsu Forum’s Angel Capital Expo came to an end, Valerie Woo, picture below, one of the Hydrovolts 5  Ebb N Flow team members, paused at the Camp BizSmart exhibit to show interested attendees the teams rendering up close.  Hydrovolts CEO, Founder Burt Hamner, worked with the Camp BizSmart Founders, Dr. Mike Gibbs and Peggy Gibbs to provide the students a real world business case to work to solve during Camp BizSmart. The students in several teams selected between this business case by Hydrovolts and another provided by d.light design.  The teams worked to create their product solution, support it with a business plan and then defend it to a panel of angel investors in the product design and business plan competition.   The renderings created are by industrial design firm WAGIC, who work with the students to take their sketches, and vision to a full color dimensional rendering that is used in the competition.

Valerie Woo, Chief Innovation Officer, Team Ebb N Flow, holding rendering and initial prototype mock-up.

Want to be a business case sponsor or biz mentor? Contact: Peggy Gibbs, at peggy.gibbs@bizsmartglobal.com. Camp BizSmart holds summer business academies at premiere facilities such as Stanford University, Microsoft Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conference Center in San Mateo in the bay area, as well as private school, Punahou School in Hawaii, and more.  At Camp BizSmart, students 11-15 are mentored by industry experts and work hands-on to solve a real business case provided by award winning companies.  At BizSmart Global, a sister organization, students’ 12-18 gain design and entrepreneur skill based learning for 12-18 year olds.

Keiretsu Forum is the largest global community of angel investors with over 850 members on 3 continents and 21 chapters. This was the Sixth Keiretsu Forum Angel Capital Expo, where angel investors participate and collaborate on supporting the entrepreneurial community.

Keiretsu Forum has been a special partner of Camp BizSmart and BizSmart Global since 2008. Our organizations complement one another in mission – while Keiretsu has continuously provided great learning opportunities for our students to see real entrepreneurs work hard to increase the value propositions of their companies, seasoned entrepreneurs are also inspired by the joy and passion our young students bring to solving the problems we currently face. Our students continue to demonstrate what is possible even at a young age, when teams are mentored through best practice business skills and apply innovative mindsets and determination.

Thank you Keiretsu Forum, for making this special opportunity possible, and congratulations again, Team Hydrovolts 5!

Keiretsu Forum, the world’s largest angel investment community, will hold its upcoming Angel Capital Expo on November 15, 2012 from 7:30am to 3:00pm at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. At this premier gathering of angel investors and entrepreneurs, will be five young people aged 14 and 15, who will be honored for their achievement in winning the Camp BizSmart business plan competition 2012 with their own innovative product solution. This team captured this award besting more than 25 teams who competed for this honor. The week of November 12-16, 2012 is Global Entrepreneurship Week when more than 30,000 events focused on entrepreneurship will occur around the world.  It seems only fitting to honor these students for their entrepreneurial grit at the Angel Capital Expo among other entrepreneurs during Global Entrepreneurship Week..

The Hydrovolts Team 5 as they are known, created Ebb N’ Flow, a revolutionary hydrokinetic system. The Ebb N’ Flow system consists of 16 Flip Wing micro turbines  that would be placed in waste water pipes to harness the power of flowing water to generate electricity.  The students’ product solution concept was created to address the business opportunity given to them by Burt Hamner, Founder and CEO of Hydrovlots. The students conceived and drew by hand all components of the design, industrial engineers from WAGIC, met with the students, went over their sketches and product details, then discussed what the final illustration should look like. The result is the product rendering below:

Burt Hamner appeared at the Keiretsu Forum Angel Capital Expo in 2011 and took home the Most Valued Company Award. It was at this event that Peggy Gibbs, COO, Cofounder, Camp BizSmart and BizSmart Global, sought out Mr. Hamner and pitched the idea of working together to provide a business case for Camp BizSmart students to solve during the 10 day entrepreneur sessions that would benefit the students and his company by gathering innovative ideas on a promising market solution they had only begun to explore.

Camp BizSmart Hydrovolts Ebb N’ Flow Team Members are: Jackson Barrett, CEO & CFO, Valerie Woo, CIO, Emmit Tactac, CMO, Rene Siakkhasone, CTO and Karla Jurado, CSO pictured below with Crystal Chang, Session Curriculum Director. This session was conducted at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation  Executive Conference Center.

The Camp BizSmart Top Team for 2012 will have the opportunity to spend the day observing other entrepreneurs pitch their best ideas and compete for recognition for the most valued team and to network with other entrepreneurs during the exhibit portion of the day. And perhaps, another company founder will decide to sponsor a business case for students to create innovative solutions that explore market opportunity and provide examples of might may just be the next winning idea. To discuss being a business case sponsor for 2013, contact Peggy Gibbs at peggy.gibbs@campbizsmart.org.

“What better place to honor Camp BizSmart’s young entrepreneurs, who have the potential to create great value and address the challenging problems in our ever-changing world, then at our Angel Capital Expo,”  said Sonja Markova, Managing Director of Keiretsu Forum. “We are pleased to be a strategic partner of Camp BizSmart and to continue to inspire and nurture their entrepreneurial spirit.”

Register to Attend

The Keiretsu Angel Capital Expo will feature a dozen presentations from early stage companies in technology, life sciences, consumer products, real estate, financial services, social ventures, and other segments with high growth potential. All presenters will be pre-screened by a select committee of Keiretsu Forum members. Each entrepreneur will make a 15-minute presentation and will be available for additional discussion and due diligence at their exhibitor booth throughout the day. Following the presentations, the attendees will vote and award the top three presenting companies the “Most Valued Company” award.

Hosted by Keiretsu Forum, the Angel Capital Expo is the premier gathering of the angel capital community. Invitation to attend is extended only to accredited investors. Accredited investors wishing to attend the Angel Capital Expo please contact Nina Quasebarth, Associate, Investor/Member Services, at nina@keiretsuforum.com or call +1 (415) 573-0753.

About Camp BizSmart

Camp BizSmart inspires young entrepreneurs with hands-on education and expert mentors.  Instilling in students 11-15 entrepreneurial “thrival skills” for the global competitive marketplace, Camp BizSmart draws upon real world business experts from companies like Serious Energy, Cisco, Apple and Google and “hot topic” business cases from innovative companies award winning companies such as Hydrovolts, d.light design, NeuroSky, etc. to practice and gain mastery in essential 21st century skills.  At world renowned Organizations such as Stanford University at the Landau Center and Fisher Conference Center, in partnership with the Precourt Center for Energy Efficiency; the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Executive Conference Center, and Punahou School in Hawaii, and more, our graduates are inspired to be courageous, dream big and work hard, play by the rules, and challenge themselves to create priceless value for their customers, communities, their country and the world. Microsoft,  is host to the business plan competition and WAGIC, an industrial design firm, creates the renderings of the students’ product designs. For more information, please visit, www.campbizsmart.org To learn about our global programs for 12-18 year olds visit: www.bizsmartglobal.com and www.bizsmartglobal.com/india/

The final results are now in – the judges and our company sponsors have reviewed the 4 business plan competitions’ first place winners and have made a decision.  Camp BizSmart ran 2 sessions at Stanford University, 1 session at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conference Center in San Mateo, and 1 at the Punahou School in Hawaii. There were two business cases from two companies, d.light design sponsored by Founder Ned Tozun and Hydrovolts sponsored by founder, CEO Burt Hamner, that student teams chose from and ultimately created their best effort for an innovative and compelling business product solution that addressed the business case requirements.  But before we name the top team let’s review the criteria that was used to select the top winner for 2012:

Completeness: Did they include the Elevator Pitch, Business Problem, Business Solution, Customer Profile, Value Proposition, Competition, Market Plan, Team and Financials?

Organization: Did they organize the information in both the business plan and business plan competition presentation so that the reader or judges/investors find it easy and makes sense?

Persuasion: Did they convince the judges and most importantly the company business problem sponsor that they have a good idea and there is a good reason to follow up with them?

The top 4 teams, from the 4 business plan competitions, vying to be named the top 2012 team were carefully reviewed using this criteria and the top 3 are listed in order below:

2012 Top Grand Finale Team: Hydrovolts team 5  -  ” Ebb and Flow”, won first place at the Camp BizSmart Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Conference Center San Mateo,  July 9-20, 2012 session, and also had their business plan competition held at the  Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conference Center, San Mateo. HydroVolts 5, Ebb and Flow Team members are: CEO- Jackson Barrett, CIO- Valerie Woo, CMO – Emit Tactac, CTO – Rene Siakkasone, and CSO – Karla Jurado. Congratulations  to each of you!  The grand finale prize is to be honored guests at the Keiretsu Angel Capital Expo on November 20, 2012 at Microsoft SV, in Mountain View, CA. and to be honored on stage at this event.

Camp BizSmart's Top Team for 2012 is HydroVolts team 5 - Ebb and Flow.

What the judges and company sponsor said: This team ranked the top in all categories with the most complete, organized, best presentation of a business plan and had an excellent presentation deck and product design that when taken all together was also deemed to be  the most persuasive.

Hydrovolts team 5 CEO Jackson Barrett points out features of the product design during the business plan competition

Valerie Woo, Chief Innovation Officer for Team Hydrovolts 5, created the ingenious prototype to demonstrate how their turbine would work and look which impressed judge Bill Reichert

For those other teams who were in contention for the top team grand finale award,  we know you want to know who came in 2nd and 3rd at least – so here they are as well:

2nd place grand finale ranking in 2012 is:

HydroVolts team 8 – “HydroSustain”, won 1st place at the Camp BizSmart Stanford University July 23-Aug 3 session held at the Alumni Center, which had the business plan competition held at Microsoft Corporation, Mountain View. Hydrovolts Team 8 HydroSustain members are: CEO – Luke Kenworthy, CIO/CTO – Marcus Adolf, CFO – Madelyn Whittaker, CMO – Meagan Benensohn, CSO – Daniel Wang.

Hydrovolts Team 8 - Hydrosustain - 2nd place finale winner for 201

3rd place grand finale ranking  in 2012 is:

HydroVolts team 3 – won first place at the Camp BizSmart Stanford University June 18-29, 2012 session held at the Landau Center, which had the business plan competition held at Microsoft Corporation, Mountain View. Hydrovolts Team 3 members are: CEO – Dheer Bhatt, CFO – Nikita Takru, CTO/CIO – Alex Fine, CSO – Alexis Gauba, CMO – Kim Do.

Hydrovolts Team 3 - 3rd place grand finale winner for 2012

This year we had fierce competition and the students’ really gave it their all!  Congratulations to the top 3 teams for 2012 and especially to the Grand Finale 1st place winner – Ebb and Flow Hydrovolts Team 5!  A very special thank you to the business sponsors – Burt Hamner of Hydrovolts and Ned Tozun of d.light designs.  You guys were inspirational, and challenged the students to create products that would have great value in the world and they did!

A special thanks to all of the judges, and entrepreneurs who inspired our students with your wisdom and expertise: Jim Sweeney, Bill Reichert, Dr. Cristina Banks, Paul Witkay, Maigread Eichten, Mythili Sankaran, Bret Cameto, Don Sanders, Dhaval Ajmera, Bob Fullerton, Sharran Deora, Kevin Surace, Ken Johnson, and Shamini Dhana. Our stellar staff provided great mentoring to the students as they practiced and gained essential skills.  Thanks to Microsoft, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Punahou School and a special shout out to James Sweeney of the Precourt Energy Center for sponsoring Camp BizSmart so that we can use the  Stanford University Alumni Center and Landau Center for partnering with us so we were able to use your great facilities!  Finally, thank you to the Keiretsu Forum for partnering with Camp BizSmart to make entrepreneurial education available to our students.  We can’t wait to have our 2012 grand finale team attend the Keiretsu Angel Capital Expo on November 20th!

Please view previous blogs to read about each of the 2012 Camp BizSmart Business and Entrepreneur Academy Business Plan Competition Sessions which were held this year at the following locations:

• Stanford University: June 18-29, 2012
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation, San Mateo: July 9-20, 2012
• Stanford University: July 23-Aug 3, 2012
• Punahou School, Hawaii: July 23-Aug 3, 2012

You may also visit the Camp BizSmart You Tube to watch slide shows and videos from various camps.

For additional programs on entrepreneurship, business skills, innovation and design see: BizSmart Global at www.bizsmartglobal.com and BizSmart Global India at www.bizsmartglobal.com/india/

By popular demand Camp BizSmart operated two business and entrepreneur academies at Stanford University this summer 2012.  After having a full session on June 18-29, in the Landau Center on campus, Camp BizSmart’s second session was held in the Alumni Center’s Fisher Conference Center on July 23-Aug 3, 2012, also with a capacity student body.

Camp BizSmart Students and Staff outside Microsoft SV

Once again Bill Reichert, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures provided the kick off address to the students which challenged them to think about the particular skills that are essential to cultivate to be successful in school and in a career and the differences between the two.

Kevin Surace, Founder of Serious Energy and serial entrepreneur came to talk about innovation, renewable energy and energy efficiency and effective presentations all of which were valuable to the business problems the students were working on and the presentations that they would be making to the judges.  Following his conversation with the students as a group each team met with him to pitch their business solution and receive his feedback.

1st place went to – Hydrosustain – Hydrovolts team 8. Team members are: CEO – Luke Kenworthy, CIO/CTO – Marcus Adolf, CFO – Madelynn Whittaker, CMO – Meagan Benensohn, CSO – Daniel Wang.

Camp BizSmart 1st place team, Hydrosustain Hydrovolts Team 8

Team drawing of Hydrosustain product ideas

2nd place went to d.light design team 5 “simpa.light” . Team members were: CEO- Rahul Shukla, CFO- West Whittaker, CTO- Sergio Jimenez, CMO-Annalise Stevenson, CIO- Jonathan Vazquez.

Camp BizSmart 2nd place team, d.light design 5 "simpa light"

Showcasing simpa light prototype made by team mate Annalise Stevenson

Also Announcing the July 23-Aug 3, 2012  Session were two “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards:

Annalise Stevenson was awarded this honor our of Camp Director Crystal Chang’s group of students.

Annalise Stevenson "Entrepreneur of the Year" with Camp BizSmart Camp Director Crystal Chang

Viba Sharma was awarded this honor from Bryan Cockel’s group of students.

Viba Sharma, "Entrepreneur of the Year" with Bryan Cockel, Camp BizSmart Camp Director

Surprise Presentation of the 1st Walt Disney Animation Award was given to David Sun – for creating an imaginative animated marketing message to create buzz for their product design.  Camp BizSmart founders, Dr. Mike and Peggy Gibbs created this award to honor David’s highly creative initiative and look forward to giving this award again in the future to other deserving students.

Peggy Gibbs presents David Sun with the "Walt Disney Animation Award"

Additional highlights from July 23-Aug 3 Stanford University Session:

Team building tinker toy exercise

Dr. Mike and Peggy Gibbs Camp BizSmart Founders at the Stanford Alumni Center

Camp BizSmart is sponsored by James Sweeney, Director of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University now for the third year which makes it possible for Camp BizSmart to use the facilities at both the Alumni Center and the Landau Center which are both executive conference facilities on campus.  Thanks, Jim!

Entrepreneur Bob Fullerton who designed the keyboard the Palm Pilot explains product designs

Bryan Cockel, Camp BizSmart Camp Director explains FAB's - features, benefits and advantages

discussing sticky note sorting of features, benefits, advantages

ice cream - the prize for winning the "egg drop" contest

Four of the six students who attended from China

Breaktime in the Beautiful Courtyard at Stanford Alumni Center

Crystal Chang, Camp BizSmart Camp Director, Checks Out Student Product Design

Be sure to watch for the grand finale final results for the top teams for 2012 out of the four business plan competitions!  And feel free to look over past blogs to read about other sessions and programs.

Camp BizSmart held it’s fourth session at Punahou School, Honolulu, Hawaii this summer and students once again worked on real business problems given to them by award winning companies and sponsored by their founders.  The July 23-Aug 3, 2012 session was pleased to have two great companies for the students to select from this year: d.light design, with founder Ned Tozun; and HydroVolts, with founder Burt Hamner.

For the second year, Rechung Fujihira a successful entrepreneur of Box Jelly and Camp BizSmart Hawaii Program Director, and Camp Director expertly guiding the students through the brainstorming, problem solving, critical thinking and team collaboration that is required to create their business product solution.  In addition students also learned about and gained skills in innovative product design, finance, marketing and pitching their ideas to others.

Rechung Fujihira, Camp BizSmart Hawaii Program Director

Announcing the 2012 1st place team: The winning team for this years’ camp was the d.light design student team called “BNTM”. Team members who earned this honor are: Nithya Chekuri, team Chief Executive Officer, Tehani Hart, team Chief Branding Officer, Mitchell Wong, team Chief Technology Officer, and Bailey Ogawa, team Chief Financial Officer. Congratulations students!

The prize for winning is the invitation to the Hawaii Angels where these students will attend an upcoming meeting as guests of honor.

The Punahou School multi-media program created a Punavision video about 2012 Camp BizSmart. Hats off to them for such a great training program for their students and for creating such a well produced product. View the video at the following link: http://youtu.be/GMJRWNkJntE

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation hosted Camp BizSmart at their San Mateo Conference Center on July 9-20, 2012.  Parents had been asking Camp BizSmart founders Dr. Mike Gibbs and Peggy Gibbs for a camp location in the San Mateo area and this site proved to be a perfect fit to provide aspiring young entrepreneurs the opportunity to gain real world business skills. We launched our first session at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation with 10 energized students ready to seize the opportunity!  We were honored to have Bill Reichert, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures and Paul Witkay, Founder and CEO of the Alliance for Chief Executive Officers as the judges for the business plan competition.

Camp BizSmart graduates with judges Bill Reichert and Paul Witkay

Bill Reichert also provided the key note kick off address on July 9th, providing the students with his thoughts about what it takes to be a great student and a great employee and the important differences to keep in mind.  Dr. Crystal Chang was the Camp Director for this session and drew upon her many experiences among them, working in venture capital, a firm in China, and also as a University professor. Through the Camp BizSmart curriculum students gained hands-on experience and essential business skills in effective brainstorming, critical thinking and problem solving, design thinking and fast cycle design, assets versus liabilities in the finance section and practice in communication that is clear and compelling.  The 2012 business cases from d.light design and Hydrovolts were used with one team of students selecting to solve the business problem for each of these companies.  Successful entrepreneurs provided students with real life examples from their business experience that illustrated key skills from the Camp BizSmart curriculum among them was:

Sharran Doria entrepreneur speaks on starting a company and marketing your self

As you will see in the picture that follows, the students successfully completed their business and entrepreneur course and received their graduation certificates.

Crystal Chang with successful Camp BizSmart Student graduates

Before they would achieve their graduation certificates they had to design their solutions for the d.light design and HydroVolts business problems.  And before they would solve these real world business cases for  these companies  they essential skills and business knowledge including, how design can solve important problems that customers have.

To demonstrate this and to provide hands-on opportunities to learn, then do and achieve a greater degree of understanding that would be needed when they worked on their selected business case, the students practiced using several product design mini cases, one being how to re-design prescription bottles, another to redesign shoe laces and then still another to redesign how to keep fragile babies warm where their is no electricity to rely on.  Each of these design cases had real companies that had dealt with and come up with their own solutions to these customer issues providing real world examples.  Here are  examples of two of the design solutions that the student teams came up with to address the customers needs:

“fantastic laces – team design solution to replace the tradition shoe lace”

"stretchy banz solution to replace the lace design challenge"

"pouch a roo" design a non-electric baby warmer

The students worked diligently in their teams and were mentored by experienced entrepreneurs who provided examples from their areas of expertise.  In addition, WAGIC industrial designers came in to listen to the student teams present their product design solutions and then provided to the teams renderings that were created from the teams’ hand drawings and detailed descriptions.  Here are the drawings from the teams:

Team Hydrovolts" Ebb and Flow" working on product drawings

Team d.light design working on their "Shine Werfer" product drawing

The business plan competition day was the day the teams had been waiting for where they could showcase their written business plan, their product design and their team presentation to the judges and make their case that they had created, supported and defended their product design most successfully according to the product case requirements and ultimately provided the most innovative solution according to the judges determination.

d.light design team shine wherfer presents to judges

Crystal Chang, Camp Director, with HydroVolts team, Ebb and Flow

Biz Plan Competition Judges, Paul Witkay and Bill Reichert with HydroVolts' team Ebb and Flow rendering and prototype in front of them

The next day was the graduation and awards ceremony where the parents and family members are urged to attend. Students once again do their presentations but this time so that their families are able to listen and learn what they have created and accomplished during the 10 day Camp BizSmart session.

Peggy Gibbs, COO, Co-Founder of Camp BizSmart greets students and families at graduation

Jackson Barret named, Entrepreneur of the year for CBS SVCF session

1st place team, HydroVolts team Ebb and Flow show product rendering, pictured with them are the WAGIC industrial designer

1st place HydroVolts team Ebb and Flow at Awards Ceremony

Dr. Mike Gibbs, CEO and Co-founder of Camp BizSmart and BizSmart Global created  BizMe: “Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will!” five day session to challenge students purposefully  gain essential skills that will help them to pursue and achieve their goals and therefore control their own destiny. The launch of the first session was held at John F. Kennedy University in San Jose, CA on July 9-13, 2012.

Why talk about about controlling your destiny?  Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi  (1869-1948) wrote the following:

Destiny

‘Your beliefs become your values,Your values become your thoughts,                                                                                                                                                                                     Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,                                                                                                                                                                                       Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your destiny.”

Students worked in teams of three as they gained skills in self awareness and goal setting and their own individual BizMe plan.  Students prepared their individual  BizMe Plan to be ready to present it to a panel of judges who listened for a thoughtful and compelling plan to achieve the goals the student was pursuing.

Read the full details of the launch of this exciting  BizMe! special session- visit the BizSmart Global blog. This program as well as other special programs are available to students to increase their skills to thrive in this increasingly competitive global marketplace.

BizMe Logo created by on of the students

Camp BizSmart June 18-29, 2012 Session Graduates at Microsoft with Staff

Summer 2012 Camp BizSmart is operating four business plan competitions at the end of each of the four 10 day entrepreneur business academy sessions.  The first one has now concluded, operating at Stanford University with 4o students coming from the Bay Area, across the United States and Globally including students from countries such as China and India.

To kick the session off on June 18, Bill Reichert, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures engaged and energized the students with discussing the difference between what is required in an academic setting and what is required in a career.

Bill Reichert with Camp BizSmart students outside Landau at Stanford Univ.

The Winning Teams for the June 27, 2012 Camp BizSmart Business Plan Competition:

The HydroVolts team 3 were awarded the 1st place in the business plan competition for the best all around business product innovation, business plan and presentation to the judges. Here they are pictured during the competition and then after being announced the winners the next day – HydroVolts team 3 members are: Dheer Bhatt, CEO; Alex Fine, CTO & CIO; Nikita Takru, CFO; Alexis Gauba, CSO; and Kim Do, CMO:

Camp BizSmart HydroVolts Team 3 during the Biz Plan Competition June 27 at Microsoft

Camp BizSmart HydroVolts Team 3: front row:Alex FIne, Alexis Gauba, back row - Kim Do and Dheer Bhatt. (Nikita Takru was unavailable for picture) - Wins 1st place June 28, 2012

The Camp BizSmart d.light team 1 captured the 2nd place award at the June 27th, business plan competition.  While this was the second place in the competition, the judges noted was a very original business solution and included an innovative product design. d.light team 1 members are: Nick Young, CEO; Margaret Zhou, CTO; Anika Ramachandran, CFO; Angie Huang, CIO; Anders Zhou, CMO & CSO:

d.light design team 1 awarded 2nd place in the June 27, 2012 business plan competition at Microsoft back row: Nick Young, Angie Huang, Anders Zhou. front row: Mararget Zhou and Anika Ramachandran

Special thanks for our Judges for this first round: Dr. Cristina Banks, Harry Motro and Dhaval Ajmera.

Judges right to left: Dhaval Ajmera, Harry Motro, and Dr Cristina Banks

You have probably already noticed that we are not sharing the business solutions from these teams as there are 3 more business plan competitions to go.  The next Camp BizSmart 10 day business academies open with one on  July 9, 2012 and two on July 23, 2012.

All 1st place winners from each of the 4 competitions will view for the grand champion designation and will be  announced in the weeks following the completion of all four business plan competitions which end on Aug 3rd.  The grand champion team will appear at the Keiretsu Forum Angel Capitol Expo on November 20, 2012 at Microsoft.

Other winning teams from the various sessions will be invited to attend Keiretsu Jump Start events to further their entrepreneurial business skill development and understanding.

In addition the the 1st and end place team awards, at each Camp BizSmart session there is an opportunity for the faculty and staff to recognize a student who demonstrates particular attributes that are valuable in a future entrepreneur.  At this session, the student there were several students who stood out, but in the end, the student that was recognized as “Entrepreneur of the Year” June 18-29, 2012 session, was: Alex Fine.  Students who win this award demonstrate the values of Camp BizSmart, Character, Courage and Citizenship as well as a keep interest in entrepreneurship. Congratulations Alex!

Dr. Mike Gibbs recognizes Alex Fine, named Entrepreneur of the Year, June 18-29 session

For those of you wishing that you had known about Camp BizSmart in time to participate in this session, visit our website: www.campbizsmart.org to see the final sessions coming up.  July 9-20, at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conference Center, San Mateo; July 23-Aug 3, at Stanford University and another session also on July 23-Aug 3 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Punahou School.

In addition to the 10 day business plan competition entrepreneur academies, Camp BizSmart is launching a 5 day program to develop your entrepreneurial quotient and “can-do spirit”called: “Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will!” This program takes place on July 9-13, 2012 at John K. Kennedy University in San Jose, which is located by Santana Row.

Stay tuned for the next 3 competitions and the special report on the 5 day special session.

Camp BizSmart is pleased to unveil the 2012 business cases from our two award-winning companies: HydroVolts and d.light. Both of these companies are on the cutting edge of renewable energy.

Students who are participating in one of the four, 10 day business competition sessions of Camp BizSmart this summer are asked to review these two cases and visit the websites of these companies in order to come to Camp BizSmart ready to work with a team to solve one of these businesses cases. Students form a “management team of six, to work on solving, supporting and defending their business product solution.  Camp BizSmart Student Management Team roles are: CEO ( project manager), CFO ( finance), CTO ( technology), CSO (sales), CMO (marketing), and CIO (Innovation). Company executives, Burt Hamner, CEO, Founder of HydroVolts and Ned Tozun, President and Founder of d.light provide insight on the cases and additional entrepreneurs and executives mentor the students through the essential steps needed to accomplish their objectives during the 10 days of this unique youth entrepreneur business camp. WAGIC, an industrial design firm will work with the students to turn their product concepts into full color renderings that will be used in the business plan competition when the students present their product solutions to a panel of angel investors.

Both business cases are listed below:

Hydrovolts business case:

Problem statement: Thousands of gallons of water flow through tall buildings everyday.  Yet, this water’s force is not converted into renewable, affordable, clean and sustainable energy.

Business Case Objectives:

Create a new hydrokinetic energy generator that will be powered by the water flow in a skyscraper apartment building.  Select your appliance that uses water to function on a daily basis. Your innovative new HydroVolts power generator may be inserted to capture energy created by the flow of the water.  Examples: washing machine, dishwasher, toilet, shower, etc.  Create the most continuous benefit and leverage the product characteristics of the turbine design.

Outcomes:

Innovative design for the new skyscraper renewable energy generator powered by the flow of water.  Distribution model. Marketing education plan to demonstrate consumers benefits. Finance model that shows initial product pricing and then projects energy cost savings for ROI. Identify the primary market user and how to reach them with the features, benefits and advantages of a competitive analysis of use with the product, and without the product. Include an ROI for the product market you select.

Constraints/limits:

Apply the current HydroVolts technology to your solution. Design and build a working prototype for less than $50,000. Time to market: within one year of prototype testing.

d.light business case

Problem statement: For the 261,150 Amish that live in 28 US states and Canada without electricity, kerosene costs 10-20 percent of a family’s income.  It is hazardous, causes burns and serious injury every year.  Further, it provides dim light that is difficult for studying, working or reading and emits a considerable amount of greenhouse gases.

Business case objectives:

Select an indoor task all Amish families must do whether it is day or night, such as Mobility: buggy transportation; Livelihood: livestock tending and farming, quilt making, furniture making, barn raising and house building; Quality of life: studying and reading, cooking and other personal needs. Redesign/innovate a new version of one of d.light’s products to become a standard renewable light and energy solution for this important task.

Outcomes:

Create a social marketing campaign to leverage REI‘s user base and build product awareness for d.light. Come up with a unique distribution model that would appeal to the Amish community specifically as well as to REI customers who might purchase the products for their own use as well as donate a light. Show projected cost savings and potential income generation from increased productivity.

Constraints/limits:

Leverage d.light’s affordable solar and LED technology. Cost must be less than kerosene or other petroleum or grain products. Ensure the product conforms to Amish strict requirements for technology. Make sure that the product conforms to Amish norms of culture and practice. Build a working prototype by the end of 2012 for use in the REI campaign. Design and build the prototype for less than $5,000.
Not signed up yet for Camp BizSmart?  Think these business cases are really cool and would like to compete to some up with the best product solution? It’s not too late but spaces are very limited and the remaining spaces are going fast.

Check out the Camp BizSmart 10 day program dates and locations listed below.For more information and to signup go the  Camp BizSmart website: www.campbizsmart.org

• June 18-29, 2012 – Stanford University, CA
  
• July 9-20, 2012 – Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conference Center, San Mateo, CA
  
• July 23-Aug 3, 2012 – Stanford University, CA
  
• July 23-Aug 3, 2012 – Punahou School, Honolulu, Hawaii
  

Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs

Camp BizSmart  is known for inspiring young entrepreneurs with hands-on real world projects that develop essential skills.  If you are a student who is 11-15 years old, or if you know of one that age, you will want to check out the locations and dates that are available for this summer 2012.

Always a popular location, the first session of the summer is at Stanford University in the Landau Center on June 18-29, 2012.  This early session which was added this year, was so popular, it is now filled to capacity and the registration for this session is closed. Haven’t signed up yet?  Don’t despair, Camp BizSmart has grown each year due to popular demand and has additional sessions you can check out to see what might work for your schedule.

All session are in executive conference facilities and run 8:30am-4:30pm, Monday – Friday. There is drop off as early as 8:00am and pick-up as late as 5:00pm. For more details on the program visit the Camp BizSmart website. If you want to see video and photos from previous years read past blogs at: www.campbizsmartblog.org.  And, you can go to the Camp BizSmart YouTube Channel.

• There are 3 additional sessions in the Bay Area and 1 in Honolulu Hawaii that still have a few spaces in each.

First,  10 day premium business plan and product design competitions using the business cases from awards winning companies,  d.light design and Hydrovolts:

• July 9-20, 2012 – in San Mateo, CA, at the Conference Center of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
• July 23-Aug 3, 2012 – at Stanford University, CA – Alumni Center
• July 23-Aug 3, 2012 – at Punahou School, in Honolulu Hawaii

Second, a new 5 day entrepreneurial skill development program – learn the secrets of successful entrepreneurs and develop and deepen your skills using fun project based mini-cases and team exercises.

• July 5-13 – at JFK University, San Jose, CA  (by Santana Row)

Even these sessions will be full in the next few weeks, so if you want to be mentored by some really cool executives and entrepreneurs, learn essential skills that will help you in school, are thinking about future careers or working on your own biz idea, sign-up today on-line  at Camp BizSmart.