UrbaNet: Leveling the Playing Field

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UrbaNet Leveling the Playing Field

• An Internet Destination for Disadvantaged Youth

University of California, Berkeley
Che Mott MBA Candidate, Class of 2000
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Disadvantaged youth are being underserved on the
Internet

• Black and Hispanic households are one-third as
  likely to have home Internet access compared to
  Asian/Pacific and Caucasian households
• 8 percent of 150 respondents in Oakland felt
  there was a site with all the features they need
• The Digital Economy requires everyone have access
  to information tools and to develop skills
• Government and private initiatives to Bridge the
  Digital Divide provide 100s of millions for
  infrastructure and Internet access
• The UrbaNet Vision is to develop the most
  well-targeted, powerful and highly trafficked
  destination site on the Internet developed for
  disadvantaged youth

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Background

• USWeb/CKS, Internet Strategist, 1999. Projects
  Sun Intranet and infoUSA.com Small Business
  Portal.
• IBM, Internet Researcher, 1999-2000. Project
  Impact of Internet on the Supply Chain.
• Independent Internet Projects, 1998-2000 eBay,
  HP, Cybershop.com, China Telecoms Investment
  Group, Educationtalk.com
• Price Waterhouse Coopers, 1994 to 1998. Projects
  Peoplesoft
• Education
• MBA, Haas School of Business, 2000
• DC Institute, Certificate in Computer
  Programming, 1997
• UCLA, English Literature, 1993
• Urbanet Team
• Five Haas MBAs have entered UrbaNet in the
  Social Venture Business Plan Competition

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Features sited in surveys with 150 Oakland high
schoolers are categorized below

• General Category  
• ENTERTAINMENT
• EDUCATION
• ADVICE/SUPPORT
• INFORMATION
• SOCIALIZING

• Features
• Video Games, MP3s, Music Artists, Music Lyrics,
  Books, Celebrities, Sports
• College Info, Scholarships, Tutoring, PSAT
• Goal Planning, Growing Up, Guns, Health, Peer
  Pressure, Relationships, Romance, Sex, Drugs,
• Jobs, Mapping Your Future, Events, Teen News,
  Fashion/Style, Shopping, Social Issues, Surveys,
  Horoscope
• Chat Rooms, Email, Instant Messaging, Message
  Boards, Friendships, Pen Pals, Social Clubs

Goal to build a prototype using cool technology
tools.