Learning Business Skills Not Taught in the Classroom

Camp BizSmart is constantly challenging itself to design and create cutting edge business cases, exercises and content to give students the latest in entrepreneurship skills and knowledge.

So we are proud to announce a top to bottom redesign of our Camp BizSmart website.  Designed for viewing on all smart devices, and ease of use, here are just a few of the new features:

• a fresh and modern look
• easy to navigate
• a showcase of photos and student business case designs
• an integrated blog
• a streamlined application process
• on demand document download for current students
• what’s hot section

Be sure to check out Ekso Bionics and mOasis the hot new business project company sponsors for 2013.  Feel free to share the new Camp BizSmart website with your friends and family.

We will continue to posts new blogs – but they will now be integrated on our new website.

If you know a young person who is 11-15 and would love to solve some really cool business problems this summer with cutting edge award winning entrepreneurs, have them check us out. Camp BizSmart was named one of the 5 most unique camps in the United States by CNN Money.

Come and innovate with us this summer and create real solutions for real world challenges that can make a big difference in the world!

A special thanks and shout out to our web developer, David Maloney.

Bionic Suit Propels Human Grit

Anyone who grew up watching the 6 Million Dollar Man or has seen the recent Iron Man movies knows that it is pretty cool to make the human body capable of more than it is able to do on its own.   Steve Austin if you remember,  is severely injured when his aircraft crashes and is “rebuilt” in a title-giving operation that costs at least six million dollars. His right arm, both legs and the left eye are replaced by “bionic” implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms.  Iron Man, a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man.

Most of us aren’t trying to be a super hero, and we often take for granted the simple act of movement to walk wherever and whenever we want. But for many, this is not possible. Imagine you could not stand or walk on your own.  Now imagine that a robotic device  allowed you to regain command and movement of your body making it possible to stand up and walk once again. Science fiction you may think, but such devices are available today and becoming more futuristic in capability as you read this.

Camp BizSmart students will have the opportunity to create innovative business product solutions in this futuristic space with the generous support of Ekso Bionics as a 2013 Business Project Sponsor.

Ekso Bionics has developed a robotic device that does in fact augment physical ability and individuals who could not stand or walk on their own and are indeed standing and walking in rehabilitation centers all across the nation. Super human ability made practical but still amazing!  Ekso is a ready-to-wear, battery operated bionic suit – or exoskeleton – that is strapped over the user’s clothing. The device transfers its 45lbs load directly to the ground, so the individual doesn’t bear the weight. Each Ekso can be adjusted in a few minutes to fit most people weighing 220 pounds or less, and between 5’2” and 6’2”, with at least partial upper body strength.  The individual provides the balance and proper body positioning, and Ekso facilitates walking over ground.  But this is what is currently possible, Camp BizSmart students will create something that does not yet exist on the market – are you intrigued?

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Camp BizSmart operates sessions at premiere locations such as  Stanford University and Silicon Valley Community Foundation in San Mateo, with the product design and business plan competition for all sessions held at Microsoft in Mountain View, Ca.

The EKSO bionics business project requirements will be provided to all students who are enrolled prior to coming to camp. Students  are mentored throughout the 10 days by industry experts who  inspire and  share business tips from their entrepreneurial journey. Camp BizSmart faculty coach the students through a project based experiential curriculum to acquire the knowledge and develop the essential skills necessary to create, support and defend their team’s solution.  The top winning team for the summer sessions will appear at the Keiretsu Forum Angel Capital Expo.

For more information go to: Camp BizSmart or call us at 800.475.0869

Grow more with less

The Economist posted an article which said: “The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage.” Did you know that most people may drink only two liters of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account.   So as the world’s population grows farmers will need more water just to keep everyone fed,  Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer. But this is not the only way that we use water of course, in addition to drinking water and water to grow commercial crops, we bathe in it, flush it, wash dishes and clothes and many more items with it, grow gardens, trees and lawns to name just a few.  In cities, water rationing has become a common occurrence at the same time the cost of water continues to rise. Something has to give.

Matt Damon, well known actor and humanitarian, co-founded water.org and puts it this way: “Looking ahead, I think access to water will be one of the most critical challenges of our time.  There are alot of ways to tackle it.  I am convinced that we can overcome the global water crises in our lifetime.”

One solution many contend is more efficient use of water, as the solganeers put it, more crop, per drop, or as mOasis likes to say – grow more with less. Students at Camp BizSmart 2013 will have the opportunity to create business product solutions to address this critical challenge that can have enormous impact.

mOasis has created a soil amendment mOasisgel that increases crop yields while simultaneously reducing the need doe fertilizer, water and water-related energy use.  This technology has the potential to eliminate critical shortages in food and water so that people in any part of the world can live in abundance, impacting just about every person on the planet.    Hydrogels are highly absorbent natural or synthetic polymers. They can contain over 99% water, which when adsorbed looks like a gel.  Hydrogels can be used pretty much everywhere, from food processing to diaper absorbents, to cleaning up oil spills.

Graphic from Soil Meets Hydrogels by Assen Batchvarov

There are many different types of hydrogels; one such being agricultural hydrogel. Agricultural hydrogels have a unique property; they do not just trap the moisture in, but also let it out very slowly. This means that when inserted in the soil, it kind of acts like a sponge, slowly giving out moisture to the soil over time.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Camp BizSmart operates sessions at premiere locations such as  Stanford University and Silicon Valley Community Foundation in San Mateo, with the product design and business plan competition for all sessions held at Microsoft in Mountain View, Ca.

Students will create a business product solution to address water shortages according to the mOasis business project requirements provided to all students who are enrolled prior to coming to camp. Students  are mentored throughout the 10 days by industry experts who  inspire and  share business tips from their entrepreneurial journey. Camp BizSmart faculty coach the students through a project based experiential curriculum to acquire the knowledge and develop the essential skills necessary to create, support and defend their team’s solution.  The top winning team for the summer sessions will appear at the Keiretsu Forum Angel Capital Expo.

For more information go to: Camp BizSmart or call us at 800.475.0869

Are you ready to swim with Sharks?

Much has been written about the success and popularity of the Shark Tank.  What makes Shark Tank fun to watch, and a hit among its approximately 5 million viewers, is the quick-paced give-and-take, that occurs among five very different personalities who are standing in judgement of the entrepreneurs business pitch. But it can also be very instructive as well for those aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages who are watching intently. Keep in mind that if you are to survive swimming with the sharks, you will need a big dose of true grit. John Wayne knew a thing or two about grit.  This is the stuff that pioneers who settled unknown territory and inventors who no one understood had in full measure. Today, we need a full dose of grit for our young generation to take on the big challenges and come up with innovative solutions that are valued and therefore will succeed in the marketplace.

It isn’t good enough to have an idea – lots of people have ideas.  Ideas may be born out of frustration, a desire to find a better way,  to solve a problem, or to create something that didn’t exist before.  Whatever the impetus the entrepreneur will need to draw upon their best critical thinking, problem solving, competitive analysis, and finance models to predict and manage cash flow as well determine the most effective go to market sales strategies and any possible manufacturing and distribution channels that might be needed.  No matter what your idea might be – it will be rare that you can do it all alone at least for long if it is to grow.  You will need the help of a great team that must be selected with complementary skills to help your dream succeed. Here again is where grit comes in. It is hard work to be an entrepreneur.

Shark Tank Star Sharks

Selected tips for entrepreneurs from a few of the Sharks made famous on the NBC hit show as quoted in Success Magazine: Shark Robert Herjavec, “The harsh reality is instead of just money, what they really need is advice. The key to success in business is execution,” he says. “A bad business with money is still a bad business.” Barabara Corcoran, “When they’re no good under pressure, I’m out.” On the other hand, she says, “assertiveness is a beautiful thing to watch. You believe in yourself, you have a right to be there and a right to ask. Those are beautiful qualities in an entrepreneur.” Finally, Mark Cuban who said: “We romanticize entrepreneurship so much that people don’t do the work…. It’s not just a dream, not just a goal; it’s a lot of hard work. A lot of people are wantrepreneurs, not entrepreneurs. I use that line a lot.”

Just as the Shark Tank is watched to learn tips and insight into how to create, support and defend an innovative idea – young people (who are 11-15 years of age) come to Camp BizSmart to learn, practice and develop the skills that will help to solve problems, seize opportunity and acquire entrepreneurial muscle and grit that will help them go the distance when they do swim with sharks or enter the Shark Tank to pitch their own idea.

Howard Charney shares wisdom and inspires Camp BizSmart students

“What makes a successful entrepreneur?” I was asked, and “how does Camp BizSmart encourage and develop an entrepreneurial mindset, in the young people who participate in our  business and entrepreneurship academy?”

The Wall Street Journal report on  “The Entrepreneur’s DNA” , highlights excerpts of Hal Gregersen’s (Professor of innovation and leadership, Insead graduate business school), discussion on this topic at the Unleashing Innovation conference. I am going to pull out a couple of statements from the article and use them to make a point but I encourage you to read the entire report.

What researchers say: One-third of our creative capacity is DNA – the other two-thirds is the world we grow up in and work in. So if you start with the one-third  advantage as mentioned above, the other two-thirds is influenced and developed by others around you as well as  your environment and experiences.  This has significance for both those who are both born with creative DNA and those who were not.

Let’s say you were born with the creative DNA. That is only just the beginning, as the article goes on to say the opportunities we give our children to observe, to network and experiment and hang out with people who don’t look, think or act just like you  is important to developing this entrepreneurial DNA .  Zeroing in on what each innovator that was interviewed for the study had in common: they had adults in their lives who paid attention to and encouraged development of their skills when they were growing up, and they believe it made all the difference.

Remember the old saying, “You are known by the company you keep? Well, this takes it further to say, and I will paraphrase, “The  innovators that were interviewed had individuals in their lives while growing up that encouraged the development of their abilities, skills and knowledge and they credit them for making all the difference!”

The article states that there is a link between the early development and encouragement of creative spark and the innovative chief executives who lead innovative companies. What is the constant thread throughout?  These innovative executives spend their time asking provocative questions, observing the world like anthropologists, networking with people who don’t think, act or talk like them.  They are willing to experiment and try new things.  And not a surprise, they  say – you have to live it – the innovative CEO puts into practice these behaviors and an environment that sets the stage for others to do the same sorts of things.

To solve the big challenges in the world today we must encourage the provocative questions that will lead to disruptive innovations.  At Camp BizSmart students are mentored by successful entrepreneurs like Howard Charney, Kevin Surace, Ned Tozun, Maigread Eichten, and more, who are role models.  We create an environment where students will gain the knowledge they need to take on the challenge that they are asked to solve, and in doing so they will  develop the skills and  abilities that help top develop and nurture innovation and entrepreneurial DNA. We invite you to see the innovative solutions students have designed and supported to address the real business case challenges they were given by the companies that work with us on the Camp BizSmart blog.

If you know a student who is 11-15 years of age and you see in them that creative spark, tell them about Camp BizSmart where our objective is to develop their entrepreneurial spirit further.

2013 summer sessions are held in executive conference space in Silicon Valley, CA: June 17-28 at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in San Mateo, CA and July 8-19 or July 29-Aug 9 at Stanford University.  All are 10 day sessions, 8:30am – 4:30pm daily. Please see our Camp BizSmart website for more details and on-line applications.

Bill Reichert, Garage Technology Ventures, at Camp BizSmart

“There is a reason why all of these innovators go to the San Jose metro area or to San Francisco” says UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti, “and that’s because they are already innovating there.” This is just an excerpt from a recent article written by Mike Cassidy of the San Jose Mercury News, I encourage you to read the entire article.

The year Camp BizSmart launched, 2008, Mike Cassidy wrote a story about our business and entrepreneur camp.  He was delighted to find that young people 11-15, especially in Silicon Valley, would jump at the chance to spend 10 days of their summer to compete to create the next big thing! Well, here we are 6 years later, having expanded to meet the demand and being named by CNN in 2012, as one of the most unique camps in the US! Why?

• Camp BizSmart partners with successful entrepreneurs of award winning companies to provide current, in the news, real world problems for our students to solve; creating and competing to be named the most valued business product innovation.
• Camp BizSmart specializes in unique entrepreneur and business skills development so that aspiring students can create the next great product innovations and companies.
• Through fast, fun, hands-on work in teams, students acquire the skills necessary to solve business problems, design new products and defend their solution to successful executives and angel investors.

We think Camp BizSmart and Silicon Valley is a match made in heaven; -  but don’t take our word for it – read on and learn more including what a Brookings Institute Study found:

“Is it something in the water or the air?” Nope, the energy source is the amazing entrepreneurs and executives that can be found here, many who come to Camp BizSmart to inspire our students. These entrepreneurs are driven to solve problems and in so doing have created an amazing synergy of idea generation, innovation and talent. Entrepreneurs from Cisco, Microsoft, Apple and Google, are among the well known company executives who come to Camp BizSmart to share their stories and provide expert mentoring that makes the hands-on pre-college curriculum come alive. In addition to the well known companies, “in the news” entrepreneurs from early to mid stage companies like HopeLab, NeuroSky, d.light design, Hydrovolts and more share their unique personal story, illustrating that problems to solve are all around us.  Mike Gibbs, Ph.D., CEO of Camp BizSmart says, “If you have a great idea that solves a customers’ problem, and a sustainable way to monetize it, and are willing to apply the grit, persistence and work ethic needed, — well, then you too, might just be able to create a valued company and the next big thing. ”

“The future is in innovation,” Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley was quoted as saying.  Patents are one way to measure innovations – many say one of the best ways. The article also goes on to say that the secret lies in the critical mass of not only smart inventors, but also a great supporting network of venture capitalists, designers, manufactures, and others with the key skills that support business innovations. We would add, great mentors as a key ingredient who inspire and coach the next generation of problem solvers and innovators providing valuable insight.  Bill Reichert, Managing Partner at Garage Technology Ventures, is an example of this, not only is he an advisor to Camp BizSmart, but as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is one of these “great mentors”, who  inspire our students with current “what matters now” information and valuable lessons from experience.

Cassidy’s article goes on to say that, “here in Silicon Valley, the numbers (of patents) are impressive.” The San Jose metro area, “Silicon Valley”, averaged over 9,000 patent grants a year from 2007 to 2011, according to the Brookings Institution study, making it number 1 in the US. Next was San Francisco which includes Oakland and Fremont, with just over 7,000.  Think of it this way, A San Jose resident is 600 times more likely to come up with a patent-worthy idea than a resident of McAllen Texas, the Brookings study said.

So, if you are 11-15 and want to develop or hone your  business and entrepreneur skills – let me suggest you — “Go West young man and young woman”, – to Silicon Valley and attend Camp BizSmart this summer.

We fill up fast, so apply soon to have your preference of location and dates.  Here are the 2013 dates and locations, all in premiere executive conference space to provide students with a preview of executive life:

• June 17-28, 2013 – at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Conference Center, San Mateo, CA
• July 8-19, 2013 – at Stanford University, Landau Economics Building, Lucas Conference Center
• July 29-Aug 9, 2013 – at Stanford University, Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center

Finally, hats off to the great innovators! We celebrate the many entrepreneurs who share their personal stories and mentor and inspire Camp BizSmart students! An old saying that bears repeating here, ” you are known by the company you keep.”  Join us to hang out with some great role models this summer! Check out the Camp BizSmart website and blog to learn more.

Camp BizSmart is pleased to announce the 2013 dates for our  popular premiere 10 day summer business and entrepreneur academy. CNN named Camp BizSmart “one of the 5 most unique camps in the United States”. You can read the article written about us by CNN on our press and publications page on the Camp BizSmart website.

At Stanford University there are two, 10 day sessions to select from for Summer 2013 to meet your schedule needs:

• July 8-12 and 15-19, 2013 in the Landau Building, Lucas Conference Center
• July 29-Aug 3 and Aug 5-9, 2013 in the Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center

At the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in San Mateo there is one 10 day session for Summer 2013:

• June 17-21 and 24-28, 2013 in the Executive Conference Center

Camp BizSmart is for Tweenpreneurs 11-15 who want to work on “hot topic” real business problems sponsored by cool and award winning companies like Hydrovolts, d.light designs, NeuroSky, HopeLab, Zero Motorcycles, and many more. Executives from Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Serious Materials, Garage Technology Ventures, the Keiretsu Forum, WAGIC, the Alliance of Chief Executives and other top companies, mentor the students and provide insight into what makes a business idea successful and profitable.

Through fast, fun, hands-on work in teams, students acquire the skills necessary to solve business problems, design new products and defend their solution to successful executives and angel investors at the BizPlan and Product Design Challenge Competitions at Microsoft.

Camp BizSmart specializes in unique entrepreneur and business skill development programs so aspiring young entrepreneurs can create the next great product and the next great company.  The top student team that is awarded the distinction of most valued product design and business strategy in the grand finale of the business plan competition out of all the top teams for the summer season, receives the honor of presenting at the Keiretsu Angel Capital Expo in San Francisco to angel investors.

Space is limited.  Sign up now to be able to select the session dates you most prefer.

Fill out the application online on the Camp BizSmart website.   Imagine what new product innovation you might invent and the amazing entrepreneurs you will meet and gain insights from!