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Dec 18 2013
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Inside the Cupid’s Cup Semifinals

Typically, when you hear Cupid’s Cup you think of a big stage, cash prizes, 1,000 people in the audience, and five student entrepreneurs pitching to Under Armour Founder & CEO, Kevin Plank. Yes, the final competition is grand. But what often gets overlooked is the day-long semifinal round at the Under Armour headquarters. According to the semifinalists themselves, this is one of the most valuable aspects of the Cupid’s Cup experience, even for those who don’t advance to the final round.

In February, 12 of the country’s top student entrepreneurs will be flown to Baltimore, MD to participate in the semifinals at the Under Armour headquarters. During this rigorous competition at the legendary Under Armour campus, semifinalists will hear an exciting address from Plank and pitch their business to judges from Under Armour and the Dingman Center. At the end of the day, Plank will announce the five student entrepreneurs who will take the big stage on April 4.

Does you have what it takes to compete in Cupid’s Cup? Would you like to join us at the semifinal round at the Under Armour headquarters? Submit an application by the January 6 deadline by visiting www.cupidscup.com.

Questions about Cupid’s Cup? Contact Holly DeArmond at hdearmond@rhsmith.umd.edu

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Dec 13 2013
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Look Who’s Talking About Cupid’s Cup

As we approach the application deadline, people from all over the country have been talking about Cupid’s Cup! A special thank you to everyone who has continued to support and promote this amazing opportunity for student entrepreneurs to win a total of $115K in prizes from Kevin Plank, Founder & CEO of Under Armour. Did we mention the semifinals are the the Under Armour headquarters? How does access to Kevin Plank’s professional network sound? The application deadline isn’t until January 6, so keep spreading the word! Everything you need to know is at www.cupidscup.com

https://twitter.com/RozCMoore/status/408946794333102080

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Nov 25 2013
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Global Entrepreneurship Week Roundup

Global Entrepreneurship Week at the Dingman Center was a huge success! With at least one event every day of the week, we contributed to a global movement of more than 112,000 events with 25 million participants worldwide.

  • Monday: We kicked off the week with movie night as we screened the documentary “Extreme by Design.”  The screening lead to an interesting discussion on using design thinking to create businesses that solve global problems. The same day, the Dingman Center Angels saw three-minute pitches at the Fast Pitch session during TEDCO’s Entrepreneur Expo.
  • Tuesday: Elana Fine participated in a panel on technology commercialization during Bioscience Day. In the evening, we hosted an Entrepreneurship Connector that brought together students from across campus who are interested in sharing their ideas and passions.
  • Wednesday: Terp Marketplace was buzzing with more than 20 student vendors testing the market and selling their products.
  • Thursday:  It was standing room only at the Pitch Dingman Competition which drew more than 260 attendees. Timothy Chi, Founder & CEO of WeddingWire delivered an inspiring keynote and lead the judges in choosing the winners. Harrison Baum took home top prize winning $2,000 for SellMyOldTech.com. Sam Feldman took home $1,500 winning both 2nd place and the Audience Choice award.
  • Friday: We wrapped up the week with a record number of students at Innovation Fridays and six DC startups presenting at Dingman Center Angels Review Day.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week! For more photos, go to the Dingman Center Facebook page.

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Nov 05 2013
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Pitch Dingman Competition Finalists Announced

A better job search system. Destroyed iPhones. Email without boundaries. Bacon. Those are just some of the business ideas submitted for the fall Pitch Dingman Competition set for Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. The Dingman Center is hosting the competition as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. For those of you in the know, this will be no ordinary Pitch Dingman Competition. We have secured an all-start line-up of judges lead by Timothy Chi, CEO of WeddingWire. Chi will deliver a keynote address before the finalists take the stage to pitch. Joining Chi on the judge’s panel are Alex Triantis, Dean of the Smith School; Tari Cash, Under Armour; Amy Millman, Springboard Enterprises; and Smith School alumnus Lane Wiggers, Cordam Group.

As part of the expanded competition, applicants participated in an additional round of screening. Last week, ten semifinalists pitched Dingman Center staff and entrepreneur-in-residence, Harry Geller. The pitches were strong and the decision was tough. Take a look below to learn about the five startups competing for $3,500 in prize money in the final round. Attendees also get a say–register today to make sure you get a seat and vote for your favorite startup to win the $500 Audience Choice Prize.  Congratulations to the finalists!

THE FINALISTS

Bacon Barbell / Toni Zhang:  Bacon Barbell makes tank tops for gym bros. The founder has designed tank tops that accentuate the muscles lifters work so hard to gain.

Kivvik /  Leon Nwankwo: Kivvik plans to revolutionize the job search industry by establishing a user friendly system that improves compatibility between employers and professionals.

Pride Shorts / Ian Moritz:  Pride Shorts combine classic khaki shorts with college pride patterned embroideries creating clothing that incorporates college spirit with everyday lifestyle.

Quickmailcheck / Sam Feldman:  This service allows “dumb phone” owners to access email without Internet. The service works 100% through text and picture messages.

SellMyOldTech.com / Harrison Baum:  This startup provides the fastest and easiest way to sell old or broken smartphones. The team erases the phone and disassembles it to use the parts in another device.

About Timothy Chi

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Timothy Chi
Chief Executive Officer, WeddingWire

Timothy founded WeddingWire with the vision of infusing technology into the wedding and event industry. In less than five years, WeddingWire has become the largest online marketplace connecting local merchants with engaged couples. For over 100,000 local merchants, WeddingWire provides a marketing platform to reach prospective clients, to manage multi-media assets, and to network with other merchants. For engaged couples, WeddingWire provides vendor recommendations, local business reviews, personal website creation, and a suite of online planning tools.
Previously, Timothy co-founded Blackboard Inc. in 1998. While at Blackboard, Timothy pioneered many of Blackboard’s product and strategic initiatives, helping the company grow to over 600 employees and a valuation of over $750 Million.
Timothy holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and a Master’s of Science degree in Engineering Management from Tufts University.

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Oct 30 2013
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Dingman Center Angels Named Top 5 Most Active Groups in the Country

The Dingman Center Angels has experienced its most active investment season to date with more than $3M in invested capital in 18 deals. Adding to an impressive year, the Angel Resource Institute’s Halo Report named the Dingman Center Angels among the top five most active angel groups in the country.

Joel Marquis (@jymarq), Assistant Director of Venture Programs, leads the Dingman Center Angels and has watched the group thrive over the past year. “What sets our group apart is not only that we funded new companies but also provided follow up funding to a number of existing portfolio companies which are experiencing significant growth,” said Marquis.

He is pleased that the Dingman Center Angels are recognized as one of the most active groups in the country and hopes to continue to make new investments and support existing portfolio of companies in the next 12 months.

Read here to see highlights of the full report and the list of the most active angel groups for Q2 2013. For more information on presenting to the group or joining as an investor, visit the Dingman Center Angels website.

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Oct 23 2013
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Cupid’s Cup Past Winners: Where are they now?

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The Dingman Center is now receiving applications for Cupid’s Cup, the nation’s toughest student business competition, chaired by Founder & CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. Unlike business plan competitions, Cupid’s Cup awards student entrepreneurs running a legal business entity that is generating revenue or that has proven traction. For the full criteria and to see last year’s finalists, visit www.cupidscup.com.

This year marks the competition’s ninth year. Over the course of the previous eight years, the Cupid’s Cup winners have not only stayed in business, but have continued to thrive. Let’s take a look back at our past winners.

Earth Starter (2013)EarthStarter-Logo
Earth Starter is the creator of the Nourishmat, a product built to accelerate plant growth yields and simplify the growing process. Since winning Cupid’s Cup this past year, Earth Starter has been featured all over mainstream media in publications such as Fast Company, NPR, Yahoo! and Venture Beat. The company has received more than $130K in additional revenue and has sales across 30 states and 15 countries worldwide.

Reed Street Productions (2012)
Reed Street Logo FINALRead Street Productions aims to create events that blend genres, blur the lines of reality, and are simply fun. The company’s signature event, ‘Run For Your Lives’ is a 5K obstacle course race that tests your speed, strength and endurance through miles of man-made and natural obstacles—all while being chased by hungry, merciless zombies. This year, zombie runs are planned in 25 cities across the United States. The company has also successfully secured sponsorships with Microsoft, Subaru, Project Sole, and XIOS.
http://reedstreetproductions.com/
http://www.runforyourlives.com/

MyFridgeRental.com (2011) MFR-template-2
MyFridgeRental provides college students in the Mid-Atlantic region with convenient and affordable refrigeration rental services. During the two years since winning Cupid’s Cup, the company has made stellar growth in sales volumes by more than 30% each year. Now, the company provides more than 2,500 rental services in more than 15 colleges.
http://myfridgerental.com/

Social Growth Technologies (2010)Social-Growth
Social Growth Technologies is the single channel that delivers high performance online advertising and virtual currency monetization in the social gaming and ecommerce environments. Since Cupid’s Cup, the business won the CJYou Rookie of the Year Award for Performance Marketing Excellence and was named HCEDA’s business of the year. Major clients include Coca-Cola, eBay, and DELL.
http://www.socialgrowthtechnologies.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SocialGrowthTechnologies
https://twitter.com/socialingot

College Media Group (2009) CollegeMagazine_Logo-FIN
The company publshes College Magazine, an online uncensored source for everything that college students want to know. The site features articles ranging from academic advice, student life, NCAA sports news, sex questions and celebrity news. In 2011, the magazine reached 200,000 students at 14 universities in Washington D.C., Maryland, Philadelphia and Florida. Today, the company has more than 4,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/collegemag
http://www.collegemagazine.com/
https://twitter.com/CollegeMag

Anaptyx (2008)
anaptyx_logoAnaptyx provides WiFi internet access to apartment communities and municipalities through energy efficient technology. Since 2011, the company has expanded its services to Boston, covering areas such as Boston Common and Greenway Parks.
http://anaptyx.com/

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Goozex (2007)
Goozex is an online trading company that allows customers to trade video games and movies in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The business idea came from Robert H. Smith MBA Alumnus, Jon Dugan, who was unsatisfied with the low price for exchanging second hand video games. Since the business was established, the company has grown rapidly. In 2008, more than 160,000 games were being traded on the site. In 2012, Goozex was privately acquired by a holding company, Bay Acquisition Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Goozex is the first Cupid’s winner to be acquired by another company.
http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/welcome.asp
https://www.facebook.com/goozex
https://twitter.com/goozex

North Star Games (2006)
NSG_pink_and_blue_logo_squareNorth Start Games is an innovative board games designed by former Smith MBA Alumnus, Dominic Crapuchettes. Since winning Cupid’s Cup, the company has won a series of awards, including Wits & Wagers being included on many ‘Best Games of Year’ lists in 2007. The game was also awarded as the ‘Best New Party Game’ by Games Magazine. Time Magazine profiled Wits & Wagers as a “Lively trivia game” and highlighted it as a board game ”beyond Monopoly”.
http://northstargames.com/North_Star_Games/Home.html
https://www.facebook.com/northstargames
https://twitter.com/NorthStarGames

Do you think your company has what it takes to join this elite group of Cupid’s Cup winners? Submit your application by January 6, 2014 and we’ll see you on Game Day.

Oct 14 2013
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Introducing The Fearless Founders

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The Fearless Founders program helps prepare student entrepreneurs from idea generation to business launch. The program demystifies the venture creation process by dividing it into three stages: Idea Shell, Hatch, and Terp Startup, each of which with its own deliverables. Powered by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), the program will offer students with necessary resources to meet their business requirements.

In this first Idea Shell cohort, the goal for the teams is to identify the value proposition through market research and the customer discovery process. They will participate in a series of workshops over the course of seven weeks and learn the necessary skills to refine their business and better understand their customers. In the final week, each team will be required to present on their progress and will receive $500 dollars in seed funding.

This fall, we were impressed by the quality and number of applications, but ultimately selected 22 teams for the first Idea Shell cohort. Congratulations to all the teams!

417 App Studios
Ghedalia, Gold-Pastor Major: Mechanical Engineering
Zach Matz Major: Kinesiology
Ed Luo Major: Finance

Advanced Heliostats
Andrew Oles Major: Mechanical Engineering

Amlith
Carson, Myers Major: Computer Engineering
Daniel Bolton Major: Mechanical Engineering
Manjur Ahmed Major: Electrical Engineering

Bacon Barbell
Toni, Zhang Major: Marketing and Neurobiology

Casco Tech
Pedro Henrique, Santos Carvalho Major: Civil Engineering
Felipe Israel, Camargo Pereira Major: Computer Science

Color Changing Soap
Erica, Long Major: MBA
Laura, Long Major: MBA

Ethical Clothing
Chetan, Singh Major: Economics

Food Recovery Network
Ben Simon Major: Government and Politics
Evan Lutz Major: Business

Grid-Works-Inc
Thomas, Luginbill Major: Entrepreneurship

GYM SUPREME LLC
Obidi, Orakwusi Major: Government and politics
Kachi Ilochonowu Major: Economics

Imaginex
Eric, Mintzer Major: Business Management
Anthony, Ingelido

Leagueflow
Aaron, Schwartz Major: Economics

Live Unchained
Kathryn, Buford Major: Sociology
Gary Fong

MyLevelLearning
Meir, Snyder Major: Entrepreneurial Operations

Parallel Tracks
Daniel, Noskin Major: Business Management and Marketing

PoliRoots
Mohsen, Farshneshani Major: Government and Politics
Mohsen Farshneshani, Lamar Rogers

Prasidiux, LLC
Kevin, Diehn Major: Chemical Engineering
Bani Cipriano Major: Chemical Engineering

Rafiki Beads
Kikanae, Punyua Major: Economics
Mackenzie Burnett Major: Government and Politics

Sweet Buds
Allan, Nicholas Major: Engineering and Business
Erica Yingling Major: Biology
Ningwei Li Major: Finance and Economics
Peter Weng Major: Biology

The Island Pop Shop
Tenaj, Ferguson Major: Nutrition and Food Science

VentureBoard
Scott, Block Major: Information Systems
Justin, Searles

We wish all the participating teams good luck. We will keep our readers updated on their progress in future blog posts. Stay tuned!

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Oct 04 2013
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Worth Reading 10/4/13

The Dingman Center always embraces new and different perspectives. This week we had an old friend hang out in our office. Sean Virgile, a current PhD student at UMD, used to come to the Dingman for advising. This week he began to mentoring a group of MBA students. Sean successfully founded Diagnostic anSERS and competed in a series of business competitions including Cupid’s Cup. Thank you for paying it forward, Sean!

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Now, let`s check out this week’s Worth Reading.

Stay connected with the Dingman Center FB-f-Logo__blue_1024 twitter-bird-white-on-blue

Sep 12 2013
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Dog Days Are Over: Part 2

Always iterate. Pivot when needed. Listen to your customers. At the Dingman Center, we teach these principles every day to students. And, we practice what we preach. In Elana Fine’s latest blog post, she let you know that we spent the summer examining our signature programs to make sure we’re delivering the strongest portfolio of programs, services and products possible. Some programs got a name change, some a curriculum change but all were examined to make sure we’re delivering on our mission to build a remarkable community of entrepreneurs.

Innovation Fridays – For years, the Dingman Center has been dedicated to inspiring Fearless Ideas through our weekly Pitch Dingman sessions. Over the past year, we have been collaborating with several campus groups to transition Pitch Dingman to campus-wide Innovation Fridays sessions. Only the name has changed–the process remains the same. By joining our colleagues we are able to reach more students. Read here for all the details of this expanded commitment to student entrepreneurs. http://ter.ps/39w.

Fearless Founders – As we continue our movement to focus more on the people in our community we’re offering V 2.0 of our EnTERPreneur Academy. A cohort approach to guiding students from idea to launch that leverages tenets of the lean startup methodology, including customer discovery and developing an MVP. The new curriculum focuses more on equipping the founders and more closely resonates with the students we serve.

AdVENTURE Challenge: China – Amazing Race meets Shark Tank this May in Hong Kong and Beijing. A more immersive and impactful China Business Plan Competition where MBA students will earn points visiting startups, multinational corporations and cultural sites. The challenge will culminate with a final competition at Peking University. Students compete for cash prizes alongside peers from Smith, Peking, other Chinese business schools, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. In an expanded effort to teach the students the complexities of global business, they will work on cross-cultural teams to compete in the competition.

Dingman Center Angels  – the region’s most active angel network does it again. This year we will set up shop at partner incubators and workspaces like Uber Office, 1776, Acceleprise, Bethesda Green and ETC to increase access for regional companies.

The Pitch – We have developed a new communications vehicle, The Pitch. This email digest is sent bi-weekly on Tuesdays to communicate to our audience the Dingman Center’s breadth of activities and leadership throughout the region.

While it may seem much has changed, our commitment to discovering, equipping, connecting and celebrating entrepreneurs remains the same. If you’re interested in joining our community or participating in any of these programs, send us an email at dingman@rhsmith.umd.edu. To stay connected with the Dingman Center follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

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Sep 11 2013
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Dog Days are Over: Part 1

How is it that the first day of school always feels the same? No matter how old you are or where you are from, you know what I mean. You walk outside and the air feels a bit crisper than the day before. It might be 90 degrees, but the morning always brings a chill and a nostalgic reminder of the annual nervous excitement a new school year brings. And yet, despite new classes, new clothes, new friends and, if you are lucky a new Trapper Keeper, when you walk in the building the energy is familiar and reassuring.

At the Dingman Center, we too are greeting the new school year with nervous excitement.  We took advantage of the quiet dog days in Van Munching to revamp and reenergize our programs, team and brand. As we reopen our doors, our community will see an office space that reflects our warmth and creativity, experience programs that reflect our collaborative nature and entrepreneurial spirit and new team members that share our passion and commitment.

But, like the nostalgic feeling of the first day of school, the Dingman Center is always the Dingman Center. Entrepreneurship may come in and out of style like skinny jeans, but the Dingman Center and our commitment to entrepreneurs has remained constant for 27 years. Our players aren’t always the same, our programs grow and change over time, but last week, on our first day, the energy in the Dingman Center was familiar and reassuring.  It reminded me why we worked so hard all summer to bring you the new and improved Dingman Center we promised last spring.

So what did we do this summer?

New (ish) Office
Our office space reflects the culture of our community of remarkable entrepreneurs. Our walls represent quotes that move us and inspire us. Framed words reflect our vocabulary. Fresh whiteboard paint awaits your Fearless Ideas. Toys show our playfulness and sense of humor.

New Team Members
Two of this year’s key strategic initiatives are to strengthen our community and to position our programs at the intersection of curriculum, practice and research. To help us achieve this vision, we have made two key hires that will build stronger, ongoing relationships between our external community and our faculty partners.

Adam Van Wagner ‘11, Community & Venture Programs Coordinator –  Co-Founder of 2011 Cupid’s Cup winner MyFridgeRental.com who will facilitate connections between all of our constituencies.

Alyse Carter ‘11, Dingman Center & M&O Coordinator- a thoughtful and hardworking Terp who will support Center operations and coordinate efforts with entrepreneurship faculty.

Become part of our connected community of entrepreneurs.
Our team and our programs have always been half of our story. The spirit and success of the Dingman Center relies on you. Stop by our offices, follow us on Facebook, and Twitter, attend our events and refer your friends and colleagues.

The chill is in the air…don’t be nervous..be excited and Be Fearless.

-Elana

ElanaFineElana Fine (@elanafine) was appointed Managing Director of the Dingman Center in July 2012, after joining the team in 2010 as Director of Venture Investments. As Managing Director, Elana’s primary focus is leading the Dingman Center in support of its mission and strategic plan. Key responsibilities include oversight of our student venture incubator, Dingman Center Angels investor network, business competitions, and technology commercialization efforts. Elana also develops and maintains relationships with donors, board members, EIRs, the Smith School community and other campus and regional partners. She is also serving as co-chair of the Dean’s Task Force on Entrepreneurship and Innovation and will be working with our Academic Director to expand the Dingman Center’s research activities and curriculum development.

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