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Dear subscriber, |
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Welcome to the first CIE
newsletter for what promises to be a truly exciting
2010! In the last month, the CIE has transitioned the
daily operations leadership from Christopher Witt to
Martin Bliemel. Chris has done a great job building up
the CIE since 2007, and is now handing the reigns to
Martin to continue growing the CIE and launching several
new initiatives. Chris will remain on the CIE Advisory
Board, and in a big supporting role.
Martin Bliemel is a Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and
joined the School of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at
the Australian School of Business from Simon Fraser
University in Vancouver, Canada. His research is on
the use and development of entrepreneurial
networks. Prior to his PhD he worked as a mechanical
engineer in one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed companies,
completed his MBA at Queen’s University and started his
own business consulting company to help entrepreneurs
with market research, financial modelling, business
plans and raising capital. For 5 years, he was also a
mentor with New Ventures Business Competition and
a presentation room manager at the Angel
Forum.
The New Year has been a busy one
already; in this newsletter you will find:
- The Entrepreneurs Notebook – A
continuation of last year’s popular column
- Get Involved – An invitation
to join students and faculty in the classroom
- Upcoming events – Some dates
to pen into your diary
- Announcements – Keep yourself
up to date
- TSponsorship opportunities –
How you can help fund entrepreneurial development
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By Christopher Witt
This is a critical question for us all, and one I ask
entrepreneurs from time to time. In the conversation that
inevitably follows, it offers insight into not only one’s
understanding of “value” but also the elements of valuation.
Further, this informs most business manager’s priorities on
how to allocate people, time and capital. Several questions to
consider arise from this starting point.
The first question is, do you know what your business is
worth, and to whom? A realistic awareness of this value range
is crucial. An inflated concept of value is unhelpful – it can
result in problematic engagements with stakeholders, including
investors, when seeking to raise capital. But a value logic
based on operational metrics can generate constructive
measures for your business. These are frequently called Key
Performance Indicators, or KPIs. As your team improves these
KPIs, so will grow the value embedded in the business. A harsh reality of current times is the importance of
liquidity in every market. That an entity has a value is
predicated on a market of buyers for those assets. With no
buyers, there is no value. A useful baseline for value is
replacement costs. That another business could be built to
replicate your place in the market, will likely bound your
value. Of course we all think we are irreplaceable, that our
customers love us and would never leave! But a humble
reconsideration of this is useful. A second question is what is your timeframe for building
your business? Are you working towards an exit point – perhaps
a retirement point in time? Or are you taking a long term view
without a specific end in mind? Like a property developer who
builds units with a buyer-audience in mind from the start, it
is a positive approach to build the business to suit potential
buyers within the time frame in question. My final question for you is how do you allocate your
people, time and capital to be in alignment with your
identified operational metrics (value drivers), and timeframe
you are working to? An example of this is awareness that
entrepreneurs need to spend capital, allocate people and allow
time to pursue specific opportunities. As the Leader you
cannot be everywhere – the CEO must seek force multipliers,
where you can punch above your weight. A fragmented approach
to opportunity seeking will result in a grab-bag of customers
& products, and a scattering of your people and capital
resources across a thin landscape. Not a good result over the
longer term. As a Board member, I like to see from the CEO (even in
smaller businesses) a summary statement of the specific
opportunity, the capital to be spent, the manpower needed, the
financial impact expected and the timeframe for results to be
shown. The discipline associated with this approach works to
harmonise your strategy with the operational tasks needed to
produce more consistent results. And over time, your value – whatever that may be – will
grow with the results as measured in your KPIs.
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The School of Strategy &
Entrepreneurship is always looking for entrepreneurs to
participate in lectures and add a real story to our courses. At the undergraduate level,
entrepreneurs are invited to be guest speakers to talk about
how they launched their ventures, as well as jury panel
members to provide feedback to students’ business pitches (see
STRE2010 Fundamentals of Innovation and
Entrepreneurship for more).
At the postgraduate level,
entrepreneurs are invited to present their business pitch and
get feedback from exceptionally talented Executive MBA
students (see AGSM MBA Strategic Management Year for
details). If you are interested, please contact us. ................................................................................................ |
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This event is at capacity.
Registration requests will be handled pending availability and
no-shows. When: Thursday 20th May, 5:30 for 6pm start until
8pm
Where: 680 George Street, Ernst & Young
Sydney City Offices, Level 33
Moderator: Tim
Harcourt, Chief Economist of AusTrade. Topic: From concept to commercial reality
Are you
interested in starting up a technology business? If you want
it to be successful, learn from those who already are. Our
panel members are leaders in this field and will provide
guests an insight on their entrepreneurial approach and how to
navigate through the commercialisation process, including
securing funding and grants. Learn about their experiences of
commercialising early stage technology businesses and receive
practical advice, followed by a facilitated question and
answer session. Meet the panel
Damian Kay, Founder,
Telcoinabox. From a conversation in the lift, telcoinabox
has become a leader in the telecommunications industry, with
an annual growth rate of over 180%. Hamish Hawthorn, CEO, ATP Innovations. ATP is a
collaboration between four of Australia’s top universities,
providing value-added services to accelerate growth of early
stage technology businesses. ................................................................................................
When: Wednesday 26 May, 2010, 4pm – 5.30pm, followed
by drinks and networking
Where: Tyree Room, John
Niland Scientia Building, University of New South
Wales
Moderator: Hamish Hawthorn, Chief Executive
Officer, ATP Innovations
Topic: Can Invention Capital save the world? Venture Capital, while still an important part of any
entrepreneurial ecosystem, will only help stimulate a small
fraction of the needed innovation. New models of technology
commercialisation are emerging. ‘Invention capital’ is a model
for addressing this challenge through cross-border open
innovation and global capital investment. Keynote address: Invention Capital, what it is and why the
world needs more of it.
Dr Patrick Ennis, Global Head of
Technology, Intellectual Ventures Panellists
Dr Patrick Ennis, Global Head
of Technology, Intellectual Ventures
Chris Somogyi,
Senior Strategist, Intellectual Ventures
UNSW Professor
Veena Sahajwalla, Director SMaRT Centre
Mark
Bennett, CEO NewSouth Innovations ................................................................................................
This year, PitchFest will be run as a double feature with
the iChallenge. iChallenge is a new event by the
ASB that is a business pitch competition for high-school
students. PitchFest is a business pitch competition, open to
any UNSW student. It is also the launch event for the Peter
Farrell Cup Challenge, UNSW’s signature business plan
competition. Details to be announced soon.
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Ernst & Young is
searching for outstanding entrepreneurs from around Australia
who embody the values and spirit of the Entrepreneur of the
Year program. Nominations can be submitted by anyone
associated with a successful entrepreneur, or you may
self-nominate. To find out more about the nomination process
and Entrepreneur of the Year program, please contact Sally
Collins on Tel: +61 2 8295 6424 or go to the website. View a short video of highlights from
the SEP at http://www.youtube.com/user/cieunsw
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Presented annually by
NewSouth Innovations, the UNSW Inventor of the Year Awards
recognise and reward inventors that are making the world a
better place. Boasting a total cash prize pool of $28,000, the
awards are open to UNSW academics and students who are
commercialising their research with NewSouth Innovations, the
university’s commercialisation company. This year’s awards
will introduce a new Student Inventor of the Year category and
a category to recognise the Best New Invention.
NewSouth Innovations annually receives
in the order of 100 new Intellectual Property Notifications
(IPNs). These are the starting point for commercialising new
inventions that can make a positive impact on the world. All
IPNs submitted in the 12 months to 30 June 2010 will
automatically be entered for the IPN award. For competition
details and to see 2009’s Inventor of the Year finalists and
winners visit: http://www.nsinnovations.com.au
Dell announced its call for entries for the
global 2010 Dell Small Business Excellence Award. In its
second year in Australia, the award gives small businesses
that apply technology in innovative ways to better serve
customers a chance to win up to US$50,000 in Dell solutions
and meeting time with Michael Dell. Enter the competition here.
The Social Endeavour Prize has been
moved to the Centre for Social Impact (CSI), located just
upstairs from the CIE. The competition involves team of
students and not-for-profit organisations outlining innovative
and creative strategies to raise funds. Students will benefit
from exposure to real organisations in the not-for-profit
sector. Organisations will benefit from fresh and energetic
students bringing their ideas and talents to their
institutions.
CSI is currently holding discussions with interested
organisations about the competition and its timing later this
year. If you have any input please contact Anne Measday on +61
(2) 9385 9897 or a.measday@unsw.edu.au.
A very successful third year of the EIP was
run this summer where 12 students in their penultimate year
partook in paid internships with fast-growing companies. These
included ATP innovations, Better Place Australia, BMDI
Healthcare, Heard Systems, News Limited, NICTA, Personal
Audio, ResMed and Roses Only.
The highly competitive program reduced 693 invited
students, to a short list of 22, who competed for 12
positions. As part of their internship students shadowed
proven entrepreneurs, gaining valuable insights to
salesmanship, opportunity analysis, financial literacy, and
personal leadership. A documentary about their experiences can
be found on the CIE website. In the coming weeks, the Academic Board at UNSW will make a
decision on our proposal to move the Undergraduate Diploma in
Innovation Management from the Entrepreneurs in Science unit
to the School of Strategy & Entrepreneurship. Once
re-launched, the students will be offered internship
opportunities for credit towards their diploma. In the
meanwhile, the CIE will continue the existing EIP in parallel
with a pilot internship program that will become the Diploma
version. New this year: There is no fee to participate in the
EIP, other than the intern’s wages. If your company is able to take an Intern for summer
2010/11, please contact us for more information.
................................................................................................ We are pleased to confirm
AusIndustry, Ernst & Young, NewSouth Innovations
and RosesOnly as sponsors of the CIE. Likewise, we
would like to thank Peter Farrell and Gary Zamel
for their generous donations. Their continued support
helps provide the means to host networking events, award
prizes, and reimburse our suppliers and service providers. In
exchange, our sponsors receive good karma and public
recognition as supporters of innovation and entrepreneurship.
If your firm is keen to engage with UNSW students, faculty and
alumni, and our members from industry, please contact
us.
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To join the CIE community and receive future updates about events and newsletters, please email us at cie@unsw.edu.au and type subscribe in the subject box |
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