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NewsvineNine thousand Post-it notes fluttered about campus last weekend, a side product of an Entrepreneurship Week in full swing.
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The series of events, which drew over one thousand students, industry professionals, and professors, included an entrepreneur mixer, a technology showcase, and even a venture capitalist speed dating session. It culminated with the Saturday judging of a competition called the Innovation Challenge. Ninety teams had to take an everyday object — here, a pad of one hundred 3” by 3” Post-it notes — and attempt to create as much “value” as possible. The catch? Teams only had four days — and no funding.
The competition was aimed at testing entrepreneurial qualities like innovation, creativity, and presentation skills. One team, called “Pigs Might Fly,” created a collaborative musical work by having people around campus write a sequence of musical notes on a Post-it, and then combining these compositions into a computer program. Another group, “Idealicious,” won the Health Award for using pink colored Post-its to promote a healthy heart campaign. Group members handed out best-practice information about cardiac care, and gave Post-its to passers-by who signed an agreement to take care of their heart. The recipients would then wear their post-its on their chest like an AIDS ribbon.
But the grand prize went to the students who came up with some cash on the fly. Team “Gumball Capital” used their Post-its to solicit donations for a micro-lending organization called Kiva. Canvassing the campus with their Post-it notes, they were able to raise over three-thousand dollars.
Organizers were thrilled at how the week worked out.
“It was unbelievable,” said Management Science and Engineering Prof. Tina Seelig, the event’s coordinator. “It blew my socks off. Participation was amazing, energy level was amazing, everyone was so creative.”
The event was held in conjunction with Entrepreneurship Week USA, an initiative created by the Kauffman Foundation and sponsored by companies such as the New York Times and the business magazine Inc. The organization’s goal is to “to ignite the nation’s consciousness around the importance of being entrepreneurial,” according to its website. A Hollywood film crew was at hand on campus shooting footage for a planned feature-length documentary on the initiative, which should be released later this year.
Since the organization is brand-new, last week marked the first time that Stanford has played host to Entrepreneurship Week. Though Seelig says the campus activities were a success, she is planning many improvements.
What will they be?
“You’ll just have to wait to next year to see,” laughed Seelig.