Another month, another series of fun entrepreneurial events!

See below for a list for February 2010 from CBET.

Friday February 26
Breakfast with Peter Braid: Building the Economy of the Future
Hosted by Waterloo Region’s Premier Networking Speaker Series
7:30 – 9 a.m
Delta Hotel, 105 King St. E., Kitchener
Members $20; Non-Members $40
Minister Peter Braid provides an update on the implementation of the Economic Action Plan; results for Kitchener-Waterloo; planning for phase II; our region’s contribution to the innovation agenda and supporting a greener economy. More Info or Register Now!

Wednesday March 3
The Quantum World: From Weird to Wired
Hosted by The Perimeter Institute
7 p.m
Waterloo Collegiate Institute, 300 Hazel St., Waterloo
No Charge
Discover how the “weirdness” of the quantum world is now being harnessed for a quantum information revolution.  Tickets sell out fast so save your spot and register now!

Business Plan | Case Study Competitions
______________________________________________

Friday March 26
Tech Valley Business Plan Competition
Hosted by The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University of Albany
Applications [Idea, Team and Business Plan] due March 26,5 P.M
Finalists will be notified by April 16
Be part of this region’s first business plan competition focused on energy technology.  Submit your business plan and compete for a chance to win $10,000! More Info.

Received this in my inbox today:

ATTN Innovative Undergraduate Student!

Due to an increase in interest and demand for the RISE Competition, we will be extending the deadline for the first round and for the final time until Wednesday February 3, 4:00 P.M EST!

This means that your Executive Summary (max. 2 pages ) and Elevator Pitch (90 seconds) must be properly submitted by the extended deadline.  I encourage you to consider this opportunity as only a University of Waterloo student may qualify for the grand prize of $5,000 and entry for the Wes Nicol Entrepreneurial Award.

If you are interested, create a YouNoodle account and join RISE today! Carefully review the attached protocol document in submitting material through YouNoodle for the RISE Competition – failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in disqualification from the RISE Competition and/or entry for the Wes Nicol Entrepreneurial Award.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that judges and RISE administrative staff will be signing a confidentiality/nondisclosure agreement to ensure that the highest security and regard is given to your ideas.  If you want to inquire further about confidentiality measure please feel free to contact me by telephone or e-mail address [below].

Thanks!

Yael Magid, Marketing and Communications Assistant
Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, University of Waterloo
Ph: 519.888.4567 x38381 | ysmagid@artsmail.uwaterloo.ca | cbet.uwaterloo.ca     

I attended a seminar by Langdon Morris in Taiwan this September. Langdon Morris’ work involves developing “innovation, strategy, and collaboration methodologies to solve problems with very high levels of creativity and innovation.” He is also an author of several books, the recent one being “Permanent Innovation.”

The presentation talks about creating a work culture of permanent innovation, which is a bit of an oxymoron if you ask me, since the word ‘innovation’ is regularly used within the context of change. But Morris argues that it is, in fact, possible to have continuous innovation within any company. It just takes a lot of work and requires a few elements to exist first. The details though, Morris points to his book.

Nonetheless, here are a few notes I had written during the seminar:

1) Innovation is a company’s only sustainable competitive advantage.

1a) Failure is very costly and it doesn’t always produce results that translate into profit for companies

2) Starbucks is a good example of a brand that can sustain selling high-cost products because they provide something extra to your drinks: A unique cafe experience, and the guarantee that your drink will be perfect the way you want it.

3) There must exist three roles for developing an innovative culture:

- creative genius (sees what others do not see)

- innovation leader (sees the future and engages society in the quest to achieve this)

- innovation champion (holds everyone up, makes everyone successful, can break existing rules)

4) Three types of innovation:

- business model innovation (change the way profit is made)

- incremental innovation (change the product/service)

- internal innovation (organizational reform)

All in all, it was an alright seminar – definitely not the better ones I’ve attended. One major reason was the attitude of the speaker, Langdon Morris. He must have been irritated before coming to his presentation since he was pretty rude to the volunteers of the event, and questioned the reaction of the audience at certain times. I understand that the event could have gone more smoothly, but there is no need to talk to people (the same people helping your event!) the way he did. And whenever you are doing a presentation, never ever question the intelligence of your audience!

It may have been that he’s not accustomed to Taiwan’s culture, but irregardless his attitude affected my perception of his character. Just because you are in a foreign country doesn’t mean you can be rude to others.

Ultimately, I came out of the seminar knowing more about his character than his speech.

Peter Kao

Another year, another Entrepreneur Week. And once again, I’m unable to attend but you can!

If you are in Waterloo, Canada (click for Google Maps location) or near it, you can participate in this year’s exciting “innovation festival.”

Here’s some more information (also available on their website):

“Entrepreneurs! start your engines: Entrepreneur Week, North America’s largest annual innovation festival dedicated to the entrepreneurial spirit, will be held in Waterloo November 16-22 and it promises to be another high-octane event to inspire innovation.

Entrepreneur Week is an invigorating week-long festival of events dedicated to celebrating the significant contributions of our greatest community asset – our entrepreneurs!

Waterloo Region is the best place in the world to do a tech startup. Just ask the 200 tech startups doing their thing here. And Entrepreneur Week is a festival unlike any other on the planet. Entrepreneur Week connects entrepreneurs, financiers, students, youth, mentors and the services that support them to success.

Entrepreneur Week 2009 will feature:

Startup Stories: Intimate speaking engagements profiling successful techy entrepreneur founders, including Chris Hughes, co-Founder, Facebook, Tim Bray, Father of XML and Internet Search, Razor Suleman, Founder and CEO, I Love Rewards Jim Estill, the CEO Blogger, Ali Asaria, founder of Well.ca, and more!

The Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Gala: A black tie formal gala event, celebrating local and international entrepreneurs.  Inductions are made into The Waterloo Way Hall of Fame.

The Leading Edge Youth Entrepreneurship Conference: This one is for the highschool students who dream of making it big with their own venture. A full day workshop and seminar to inspire young entrepreneurs.

StartupCamp Waterloo: the un-conference. An ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

Celebrating Entrepreneur Week with Andy Macaulay, President and CEO, ZiG, at the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship, Wilfrid Laurier University as part of their Innovation and Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.

The return of the Founders and Funders Dinner. Founders & Funders is a social event aimed at bringing together the people that start the next big successful company with the people that fund these companiesin their earliest stages. This ain’t a pitch fest.  It is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to meet funders, and each other.  By invitation only.

Strategic Partnering Day: Communitech connects budding entrepreneurs with some big guns in the Tech Industry (including RIM, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Celestica, Open Text, Sybase, Agfa HealthCare, Rogers and ON Semiconductor. Proposals to participate welcome. Now in its fifth year, Entrepreneur Week promises to be another huge success in sparking entrepreneurial innovation in the Waterloo Region. Save the date – and watch for more details coming soon.”

Peter Kao

Here’s a broadcast for all you fire-breathing entrepreneurs. I received an email from a representative for Cornell University regarding their upcoming online video contest.

Details for the contest:

“Now through November 30, eCornell is inviting entrepreneurs who are developing (or have already developed) a new product or service to submit a 30- to 60-second video that explains or demonstrates their process for understanding what customers want and satisfying their needs. The first-place winner will receive a full scholarship (a $3,500 value) for Cornell’s newest online certificate program, A Systems Approach to Product and Service Design, which arms entrepreneurs with a unique eight-step process for effective product development. Second- and third-place winners will have the opportunity to enroll in two eCornell product design courses each, free of charge ($1,250 value per course). Winners will be selected based on quality of response, creativity, and methodology, and will be announced on December 14, 2009.

This is a great opportunity for your readers to connect with the brightest minds in the startup community, generate brand awareness for their respective organizations, and claim their FREE opportunity to win a full scholarship to one of the top universities in the nation. Additional information about the contest can be found at http://www.ecornell.com/l-entrepreneur-video-contest/. “

Go get them, dragons!

Peter Kao