As many of you know, I am a believer in the power of entrepreneurship. It is the engine that keeps our economy growing, and it is the well from which innovation flows. Our nation would be a much different place without entrepreneurs and all the good things they do. As SAIC grew in the years following its founding in 1969, I tried to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in our employee-owners. I think it worked for the most part. Today I continue to look for new ways to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, particularly among the young people who are our future.
UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge
I am particularly pleased with the work that the Foundation for Enterprise Development is doing in this area. One of the programs that the FED participates in is the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge. We are a platinum sponsor of the Challenge, and my daughter Mary Ann Beyster served as a judge for the past two years. Other judges include biotech entrepreneur Larry Bock, CONNECT CEO Duane Roth, UCSD Rady School Dean Robert Sullivan, and others.
The Challenge is student run, and now in its third year. The mission of the Challenge is to foster technological innovation through entrepreneurship, and this year’s competition offered $80,000 in cash prizes to the winners. Last fall, 70 different teams presented their business concepts to the judges, and then they participated in an executive summary competition during the winter. It is my understanding that each team was required to have at least one member who is either a UCSD student or recent graduate.
Last Monday the teams presented their business plans live, in front of the judges and an audience of more than 300 students and business professionals. The judging was done live and the results were announced shortly after the last business plan was presented.
The first-prize award of $40,000 went to Biological Dynamics, a biotech company that develops early cancer screening tools. The company’s test can detect almost every kind of cancer, even early stage cancers, within 30 minutes. The second-prize award of $20,000 went to Tritonics for its novel approach to preventing and treating clogged tubing. The third-prize award of $10,000 was given to RADIOFAST, which presented a plan to commercialize high frequency imaging microsystems for the medical and security industries. The remaining $10,000 in prize money was split into five $2,000 awards given to winners in the subcategories of biotech/life sciences, high tech/IT, social entrepreneurism, clean tech, and undergraduate.
These results tell me that both entrepreneurship and innovation are very much alive and well here in San Diego. Given the current state of the economy, that is a message we should all be very happy to hear.
If you are aware of similar programs in your area that I should know about, I hope you’ll take a minute and post the details here on this blog so I can follow up on them.
San Diego Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
The most notable event last week was the annual San Diego Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year reception, banquet, and presentation of awards at the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla on Wednesday. The winners were arranged into a number of categories, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Turnaround Entrepreneur (Mary Ann Beyster and I presented the award for that one), High Tech Entrepreneur, and several others.
About 600 people attended the event. Ernest Rady received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Malin Burnham, Walter Zable, and I were asked to stand to be recognized for our work. I feel that this year’s showing of entrepreneurs was very strong and the people recognized were obviously leaders. Those who received awards at the San Diego event will be asked to participate in the national award event in Palm Desert in November.
On a Personal Note
On Friday we drove Solutions to Oceanside to have lunch at the Jolly Roger, as is our tradition. Robert Craig, my financial advisor, accompanied us, as did Ron Arnold. No pirates were spotted, but we did see a whale or two and plenty of dolphins.
— Bob
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