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CSUF Team at Regional Business Plan Contest
On Saturday April 28th Chapman University hosted the 1st annual California Dreamin’ Business Plan Competition. Students from 17 universities participated for prize money totaling $100,000. The competing schools included Chapman, UCLA, CalTech, USC, UC Irvine, Claremont McKenna, Loyola Marymount University, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, U of Utah, U of Houston, U…
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Business Plan Competition Finalist: Astral Infiniti, LLC
Even though the 2012 Business Plan Competition is now over I think it is important for you to know about the second place finisher, Astral Infiniti, LLC. Here’s some information about this impressive startup: Astral Infiniti, LLC was founded in response to the growing demand for clean, renewable energy products due to rising fuel costs.…
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Focus on your core competencies
by: Atul Teckchandani Years ago, the most successful firms were vertically integrated. If you go way back – to the 1930s – there was Ford’s River Rouge plant, which made everything that went into the automobiles it ultimately manufactured. The plant had a steel furnace, a tool and die plant, a tire-making facility, and a…
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Business Plan Competition Finalist: SP ZAP, LLC
Yesterday, we did a post revealing some information about one of our Business Plan Competition Finalists. And, as you may know we will be holding our first Business Plan Competition Finals this Friday, April 13th, at 1:30pm in SGMH 1502 (details). There will be some great prizes given away like an iPad and a Xbox…
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Business Plan Competition Finalist: Tank Skinz
As you may know we will be holding our first Business Plan Competition Finals this Friday, April 13th, at 1:30pm in SGMH 1502 (details). There will be some great prizes given away like an iPad and a Xbox 360. But the real draw should be the presentations that our finalists will be giving. To whet…
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Why Do Start-Ups Fail So Often?
It is common knowledge that many start-up companies are like;y to fail. If you’d like your start-up to beat the odds, there are a few things to keep in mind. Bill Davidow, once the senior vice president of Intel, wrote a book called “Marketing High Technology.” In his book, Davidow talks about what he calls…
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Looking for ideas up and down the Value Chain
There is quite a bit of academic research that says entrepreneurs start companies in industries in which they have work experience. They can leverage their deep knowledge of the industry to come up with a way to add value. A great way to brainstorm business ideas within an industry is to use the value chain.…
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Business Model Generation
The most important part of the planning process in starting a new venture is putting together the business model. A business model communicates all of the activities that affect how the firm competes in the marketplace. Investors want to know how the business will deliver value – to customers, partners, employees, and shareholders. Articulating a…
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Different Ways to Expand Your Business
Sooner or later growing businesses will reach a point where they have saturated their current market. After all, there are only so many people who are willing to rent movies from a kiosk. But that did not stop Redbox from figuring out a different way to grow. According to Inc. Redbox and Verizon are now…
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Fund a New Business Concept with Kickstarter
Got a great new idea for a venture and need some money to get it going? Consider Kickstarter. Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/) is a web based funding platform focused on a broad spectrum of creative projects. The hope is to fund projects like albums, films, and specific works of art, science or business with real business models.…