ECE 292: Sophomore Seminar

1
ECE 292 Sophomore Seminar

• Planning a New Business
• An Overview of Entrepreneurship
• Tom Liesz
• College of Business Economics

2
Favorite Quotes

• "Every successful enterprise requires three
  people - a dreamer, a businessman, and a
  son-of-a-bitch." - Peter McArthur
• "The greatest lie ever told Build a better
  mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your
  door." - Yale Hirsch
• Successful innovation is not a feat of intellect,
  but of will. Joseph Schumpeter

3
Do you have a Genuine Business Opportunity?

• An unsatisfied need exists for the proposed
  product or service in sufficient volume
• At a high enough price
• And a low enough cost
• To allow the owner to operate at a profit
• Profit is NOT a dirty word in the B-School!

4
Typical Methods

1. Idea Generation what business best utilizes the
   skills and expertise of the entrepreneur (i.e.
   you!)
2. Opportunity Recognition what type of business
   best responds to currently unmet needs
3. Serendipity lucky enough to be at the right
   place at the right time

5
Synergy Between Business and Engineering

• Its not about business people or engineers its
  about the way enterprises conduct business in the
  21st Century
• Not everyone is an entrepreneur, but most of you
  will be on an entrepreneurial team or interact
  with entrepreneurial people in your career
• Entrepreneurship drives the global economy (99
  of firms existing today have between 1 and 500
  employees)

6
What is Entrepreneurship?

• Entrepreneurship is the process of identifying,
  developing, and bringing a vision to life
• The vision may be an innovative idea, an
  opportunity, or simply a better way to do
  something
• The end result of this process is the creation of
  a new venture, formed under conditions of risk
  and considerable uncertainty

7
How Might This Impact You?

• Many (if not most) new technologies and/or new
  uses for existing technologies come from science
  and engineering
• Many (if not most) scientists and engineers have
  little or no clue how to get these ideas to the
  marketplace
• Knowing how to do this gives you a decided edge
  over others in the same boat

8
Think About These Options

• Certificate in Entrepreneurship
• Business Minor (Im the advisor!)
• Business Plan Competitions
• VIEW (BUS 415 is a tech elective for you!)
• Idaho Research Foundation
• Kickstart (Idaho Techconnect)
• National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators
  Alliance

9
Questions?