Becoming an entrepeneur is possible for anybody. Learn more about how to hone your interests into something profitable and be a force for change
By Greg Machado
It is a new year and it is filled with many new opportunities. Don't settle for ordinary; be extraordinary. It is time to look to the future.
People should not be sitting back and expecting change to come to them. Change comes about from the people who have ambition and passion to make things happen. All of you have the capacity to facilitate change and find your inner entrepreneurial spirit.
Myth: You have to be a business major to be an entrepreneur. Wrong.
Entrepreneurs look for ways to grow, evolve and move forward. They drive change and relentlessly look to innovate.
Through good times and through bad, there are people who ignite the spark.
People like you, all of you, have what it takes to become and do something great.
If you're passionate about an idea, hone that thought, find a way to design and plan it, and follow through with success. Turn creative ideas into amazing careers. Look to the future and show us the way.
Students, staff and faculty, come one, come all, to the Invention to Venture (I2V) workshop hosted by the University of Portland, Feb. 5-6, 2010.
Invention to Venture workshops have been held all around the country since 2003, and in a week the University has the privilege of hosting one of the first workshops of 2010. Invention to Venture is a program and resource of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
The NCIIA is an organization supporting technology innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education to create experiential learning opportunities for students and successful, socially beneficial businesses.
There are nearly 200 college and university members around the United States.
Within these institutions, the NCIIA funds courses and programs and "E-Team" projects resulting into businesses and patents.
The I2V workshops, through the NCIIA, engage student entrepreneurs by leveraging their campuses as working laboratories and incubators for businesses to eventually bring concepts to commercialization.
I2V workshops help to teach the basics of technology entrepreneurship, to build networks, and to keep ideas moving forward. The workshops look to find the entrepreneurial spirit of students, staff and faculty in colleges and universities around the U.S. focusing on technological innovation.
Workshops complement the extensive grant program that NCIIA already provides for student investors and faculty courses in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Invention to Venture workshops are directed to:
•Students/faculty interested in technology entrepreneurship and how to commercialize research;
Members of the university community who are entrepreneurially ambitious;
•Business people seeking connections with university students and faculty;
•Investors seeking high growth potential companies; and
•Businesses seeking to identify new technology opportunities.
Beginning on Feb. 5, there is going to be a student social networking event at the TeaZone/Camellia Lounge starting at 6:30 p.m. and lasting until 8 p.m.
The lounge is located at 510 NW 11 Ave. in the Pearl District, between Glisan and Hoyt.
On Feb. 6, the I2V workshop will last from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are going to be three multi-track sessions focusing on start-up basics, financing, marketing, start-up grants and loans, and working in an entrepreneurial community.
The speakers at the sessions come from a variety of businesses comprising of partners, consultants, presidents, fund managers, directors and CEOs.
There will be breakfast with an opening session, lunch around noon and a closing session to end the workshop.
It is going to be a great workshop/conference.
To register for the event, go to www.invention2venture.org/portland10, and click the link to register.
I urge all of you to attend this event and learn some pretty cool stuff from some pretty successful people.
Greg Machado is a senior global business and finance major
