A Talk with Micah Solomon: "Building a powerful business from scratch with the help of your customers"

Posted January 26, 2010, 10:48:27 PM

Building a powerful business from scratch with the help of your customers:
How to achieve entrepreneurial success by attending to the folks who pay the bills.

When: February 4th, 5pm
Where: Smith-Buonanno Hall, Room 106

Who: MICAH SOLOMON '87 is President of Oasis Disc Manufacturing, the company he famously built up from a one-room operation into a leader in the entertainment and technology industries. His techniques and achievements have been featured in Success magazine, Seth Godin's bestseller Purple Cow, and in other case studies and profiles in the business press. The founder of the College of The Customer website (www.collegeofthecustomer.com), Micah is a sought-after business advisor and speaker.

Micah is co-author of the upcoming-April-release Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization, with Leonardo Inghilleri of The Ritz-Carlton and West Paces Consulting, foreword by Horst Schulze, Founding President and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Publication is by AMACOM Books (The American Management Association imprint) and it is distributed internationally by McGraw-Hill Books. Micah's personal website is www.micahsolomon.com and he'll be happy to hear from you by email at micah@micahsolomon.com

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Show Your Support for EP

Posted December 14, 2009, 12:35:46 AM

If you would like to assist us in our effort, please follow these instructions to ensure that your contribution is properly routed.

1. Go to https://gifts.development.brown.edu

2. To begin, log in with your Brown Alumni Online account. If you don't have an account, select the "Give Now" button on the right.

3. Scroll down and find the section listed as "Other Current-Use Priorities." Select the check box for "Other" and enter "Entrepreneurship Program" in the text box. Select "Continue" at the bottom of the page to move on.

4. Complete the following form listing your gift amount and associated preferences. Under "Gift Instructions," please be sure to write, "For current-use support of the Entrepreneurship Program (Account 38501)." Failure to put this information in the Gift Instructions will result in the misplacement or loss of your gift!

5. Complete the remaining steps, filling in your contact and payment information as directed. That's it

If you have questions instead about how else to assist us, please contact Brian_Alexander@brown University.

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Office Hours with Deborah Schimberg and Max Winograd

Posted December 02, 2009, 04:43:37 PM

We are back with office hours, and this time you get two mentors for the price of one (free). Mentorship office hours are opportunies for anyone with a business plan or just an idea to meet with an experienced entrepreneur or business professional for a 30 minute session. You will get valuable feedback and a sense of direction for what to do with you idea next.

This Week, we will be having Deborah Schimberg, an EP board member, and Max Winograd, a recent Brown Grad, holding sessions (bios listed below). Ms. Schimberg will be at the EP office on Thursday, 12/3, 1-4pm and Mr. Winograd hold hours on Friday, 12/4 4-7pm. The EP office is located at 130 Hope street, near Perkins dorm. These office hours are by appointment only, so please e-mail Mike Perchonok at michael_perchonok@brown.edu if you are interested for any of the time slots. Time will be given on a first come, first serve basis.

Deborah Schimberg is a serial social entrepreneur. After graduating from Brown in 1979, she started the Southside Community Land Trust, a nonprofit urban environmental organization in Providence, and subsequently, founded the International Charter School, a dual language immersion elementary public school in Pawtucket, RI. She's also founded and is the CEO of Verve, inc., makers of Glee all-natural chewing gum, and the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners of Rhode Island, an organization of private sector people who help nonprofit organizations to develop and grow earned income ventures. She is also an adjunct lecturer of social entrepreneurship at Brown. She holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University.

Max Winograd graduated from Brown in May 2009 with a degree in Political Science. Max turned down a consulting job offer to launch a startup company with two other Brown '09 graduates. The company, NuLabel Technologies (www.nulabeltechnologies.com), got its start in the COE capstone class ENGN 193G/H during the 2008-2009 school year. NuLabel is developing liner-free label technology to help companies cut costs and reduce waste in their logistics and distribution operations. Max serves as President of NuLabel Technologies, Inc. where he develops NuLabel's strategic and tactical plan, oversees the business and technological development teams and serves as the public face of the company to customers and investors. Currently he is raising money, negotiating strategic alliances, and recruiting Fortune 1000 companies for customer pilots.
Issues Max can help you out with:
-- How to start a company with $0 right after college (take it with a grain of salt - he's only been at it for 6 months)
-- How to build a network of advisors, investors, and connectors to improve your idea's chance of success
-- How to improve the business case (i.e. what kinds of questions - fastballs and curve balls - to expect from investors, customers, and others)

If you would like to sign up for a slot or have any questions, please e-mail Mike Perchonok, VP of Mentorship, at michael_perchonok@brown.edu with your name, the time that you want, and a very brief description of what your business/idea is and what you want to discuss.

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Congratulations to the Winners of this year's $1500 Elevator Pitch Competition!

Posted December 02, 2009, 04:29:10 PM

First Place: Brandon Kaufmann - "Greeting Card Kiosk"
Second Place: T Luke Sherwin - "Midtown Munch"
Third Place: Jamie Brim - "Needle-Pain Management"

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Mentorship Office Hours with Charles Kelley

Posted November 09, 2009, 09:30:39 PM

About once a month EP holds open office hours for ALL students and entrepreneurs on campus. These office hours are 30 minute slots where a mentor will sit down with you and give you advise on your business.

This week Charles Kelley will be coming in on Thursday, November 12 from 4pm to 8pm to meet with students.

Mr. Kelley has had years of experience in the business world and and is donating his time to meet with Brown students. His bio and experience is as follows:

Education:
Harvard MPA
URI BS accounting

CPA and CFA (certification for investment management)

Exec Director RI Student Loan Authority
Issues bonds to finance higher education
Technology services for higher education
Sponsor of the College Planning Center

Formerly manager of a marketing Coop that sold product to Japan, Spain, Italy and France as well as domestically.

Contacts that may be helpful for EP students:
Wall Street
US Congressional Delegation.
Other Colleges
Technology people and firms.

If you would like to sign up for a slot, please e-mail Mike Perchonok at michael_perchonok@brown.edu with your name, the time that you want, and a very brief description of what your business/idea is and what you want to discuss.

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EP's Annual $1500 Elevator Pitch Competition

Posted November 09, 2009, 09:15:20 PM

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COE Lecture Series: "Cleaning Up After a Fraud: Lessons Learned for Building an Ethical Culture"

Posted November 09, 2009, 08:42:41 PM

"Cleaning Up After a Fraud: Lessons Learned for Building an Ethical Culture"
Lecture by Lawrence Benjamin, Executive Vice President, Royal Ahold and Chief Operating Officer, Ahold USA

When? November 10, 2009, 2:30PM
Where? Metcalf Research Building, Room 129

How do you re-build trust after executives from your company have pled guilty to criminal charges?
How do you change your employees' perception that top executives are greedy, selfish and inherently unethical?
Did you know that the Justice Department sets guidelines for sentencing executives charged with ethics violations?
How do you ensure that an organization behaves ethically on a day-to-day basis?

Come to COE's Lecture prepared to learn, question, and ponder real world issues.

About Lawrence Benjamin: Mr. Benjamin is Executive Vice President of Royal Ahold and Chief Operating Officer of Ahold USA. Royal Ahold is a $40 billion Netherlands-based global food retailer. Ahold USA store brands include Stop & Shop, Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, Martin's, Giant of Landover and Peapod. Prior to his current position, Benjamin was Chief Executive Officer of Ahold's U.S. Foodservice unit. Before joining Ahold in 2003, Benjamin led the turnaround of several troubled food businesses, serving as President and/or CEO of Stella Foods, Specialty Foods Corporation, the Nutrasweet Company and the Budget Gourmet/Birdseye division of Kraft Foods. He has also served as an advisor for several private equity firms. Benjamin received his BA from Brown University and his MBA from Columbia University Business School.

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Brown at the MIT 100K's Elevator Pitch Contest

Posted November 09, 2009, 08:28:53 PM

During the week of October 27, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition hosted its annual Elevator Pitch Contest.

Brown's own Cody Simmons '10 and Max Winograd '09 were among the 12 finalists. For the complete list of winners, click here.

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