1. VentureStart Competition Uniting Entrepreneurs at SDSU Orientation, Ideation, Trend Spotting September 21, 2009 connect. learn. grow.

2. Orientation VentureStart Competition – Uniting entrepreneurs at SDSU – Learning about ideation, innovation, start-up process – Learn more about competition at www.sdsu.edu/emc Competition Timeline: – September 21, Information and Ideation – October 20, Business Plan Elements – November 6, Business Plan summary submission (1-3 pages) – November 10, Powerful Presentation – November 13, Finalists announced – December 2, Finals competition Aztec Athletic Auditorium, awards presented to top three teams! 2www.sdsu.edu/emc

3. Be an Entrepreneur Read about company creation & entrepreneurship Set up RSS feeds and Goggle alerts on entrepreneurship, trends ( www.trendhunter.com ) Hang out with other people that want to be entrepreneurs Take job or internship with entrepreneur Entrepreneur “time”: – Quiet time once per week, 30-60 minutes – Write all thoughts and ideas in your journal Random thoughts, problems that you see or experience 3www.sdsu.edu/emc

4. What do You Look For? You look for Trends: Time: Trends don’t happen over-night. Roots: “Because a trend is developed in a wide variety of ways, it develops roots,” Trends won’t vanish even as they evolve, because their roots are deep and intricate. Everywhere: A trend will slowly sprout up in different places. After a while, you’ll see it all over the place. Nonstop growth: Trends keep building slowly, never stopping their growth. “A trend isn’t going anywhere--it will be there for a long time,”. In contrast, “A fad won’t last.” Durability: Trends are strong. Unlike fads, they don’t weaken as they become mainstream; they only become stronger. 4www.sdsu.edu/emc

5. Brainstorming To run a group brainstorming session effectively, do the following: Define the problem you want solved clearly. Keep the session focused on the problem. Ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas. Encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude. Let people have fun brainstorming. Welcome creativity. Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long. Encourage people to develop other people's ideas. Appoint one person to note down ideas. Evaluate the ideas, choose the best one to pursue further. 5www.sdsu.edu/emc

6. Ideation or Innovation IDEO Copyright Design thinking is an approach that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods for problem solving to meet people’s needs in a technologically feasible and commercially viable way. In other words, design thinking is human- centered innovation.” —Tim Brown Design Thinking 6www.sdsu.edu/emc www.ideo.com

7. Add on or Change the Game 7www.sdsu.edu/emc

8. Look at a Problem/Opportunity Brainstorm in Groups – Mix students up between colleges – 15 minutes of discussion/brainstorming – One person presents group solution in one minute “GPS has definitely entered our lives – first with navigation devices, then cell phones, now what? - Look at Trends, Industries, etc. - Identify Key Customer Segments - Customer Pain or Revolutionary Advance 8www.sdsu.edu/emc

9. Next Steps & Meeting October 20 th – Business Plan Development November 6 th – Business plan submission, 1-3 pages via EMC website 9www.sdsu.edu/emc