Tag Archives: worth reading

Worth Reading 3/21/14

screenshot-by-nimbus-www-cupidscup-com

This week, UMD students are enjoying their Spring Break and the Dingman Center is on the countdown to Cupid’s Cup! Only 14 days left until Game Day. Have you reserved your ticket yet? Visit http://www.cupidscup.com to get a ticket while they last. Now, here’s what is worth reading.

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

Tagged ,

Worth Reading 9/20/13

This week we attended the First Look Fair, one of the longest running involvement traditions at UMD, to introduce new students to the Dingman Center. We were lucky to have a booth next to our friends at the Academy of Innovation & Entrepreneurship who joined is in celebrating the new campus-wide Innovation Fridays!

8681_10151864787396692_132564222_n

Now, check out what we think is worth reading this week.

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

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 9/6/13

As UMD undergrads started the new semester this week, the Dingman Center saw many old and new students coming to visit. During the summer, we worked diligently to make quite a few changes, one of which is Innovation Fridays, formerly known as Pitch Dingman. The experience is the same, only the name has changed. Students can pitch their ideas and receive feedback from experienced Entrepreneurs in Residence. We are excited to kick off Innovation Fridays today and expect to see more students this year! Now, enjoy this edition of worth reading.

Screen Shot 2013-09-05 at 11.30.21 AM

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

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 8/30/13

It was an exciting week for The Dingman Center. We are thrilled to see MBA students coming back to campus for the start of another great academic year. A highlight from the week was Wednesday when the first year MBA students hosted MBA Marketplace, a fundraising competition to test out students’ creativity. Staff had fun using monopoly money to shop at the Marketplace. We also welcomed a new Dingman team member, Adam Van Wagner. Adam is our Community and Venture Programs Coordinator so many of you hear from him via email. When you’re in the office stop by and say hello.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Let’s check out what’s worth reading for this week:

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

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 8/23/13

Today we close out a week of Dingman Jumpstart. We’ve hosted some talented entrepreneurs with creative ideas. Check out this post on some of the entrepreneurs who have shared their stories with our students this week. We also continued our summer redecoration project. Stop by to see if you made the History of Dingman wall.

Office

Now, check out what we think is worth reading this week.

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

Tagged , , , ,

Worth Reading 8/2/13

The summer has flown by – it’s officially August! This week we welcomed our newest team member, Alyse Carter. If you stop by the Dingman Center, say hello! She’ll be sitting at our front desk. Now, let’s get into what’s worth reading this week.

A lot of college students and recent graduates think they have it all figure out, but there are a lot valuable lessons young people can be learning. Here are 20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don’t Get. Are you in your twenties and disagree with this list? Leave us a comment and tell us why!

We all know how painful it can be managing multiple schedules for work, school, sports, doctors appointments and more. Check out this impressive 14-year-old entrepreneur that got funding for his startup that simplifies the way parents can coordinate calendars for all of their children’s activities.

A controversial topic on the startup scene is the comparison of successful male entrepreneurs vs female. Entrepreneur.com tells us why Lack of Confidence, Fear of Failure Hold Women Back From Being Entrepreneurs

Why are celebrities drawn to investing in travel startups? Actors, athletes and singers are becoming investors or brought in as brand ambassadors for companies such as Airbnb, Skype and Trippy.

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

Tagged , , ,

Worth Reading 7/26/13

This week at the Dingman Center, board member and successful entrepreneur Andrea Keating was in the office mentoring students with business ideas. We also released a must-read post by Elana Fine, managing director, about the importance of being a global entrepreneur. Now, let’s end our week with what’s worth reading.

Entrepreneur Matt Garrison and his startup Energy.me are contracted to make $180 million in revenue over the next 18 months by buying and selling wholesale electricity. Find out the secret to the company’s technology in Lightning In A Bottle: Starting Up In A $190 Billion Market.

Investors in other cities may have more money to spend, but they don’t have the experience you’ll get from a DC investor. Tech Cocktail shows us why Angel Funding Opportunities Are Soaring in Washington, DC.

VCs don’t want to hear entrepreneurs pitch ten different ideas hoping one will sound good enough to invest in. Instead, they look for entrepreneurs that are passionate and convicted. Here’s why Successful Entrepreneurship Is Not About Winning A Popularity Contest With Venture Capitalists.

Is your startup having trouble pushing people to your website? Take a look at How PolicyMic, A Startup With A Handful Of Employees, Gets 6 Million People To Read It Every Month.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 7/12/13

This week at the Dingman Center we got some great news about one of our portfolio companies, CirrusWorks, who recently received funding from CIT GAP Funds. We’re also excited to host a group of Chinese MBAs from Peking University next week! We will be introducing them to entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and in the Washington D.C. region. Now, let’s end the week with some news worth reading.

Our first topic has been buzzing all over the news headlines this week. As part of the JOBS Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released the ban that prevented hedge funds and private firms from advertising investment opportunities; originally established to protect small investors. Now, firms can advertise publicly via email, billboards or even Facebook, making it easier for startups to raise capital. Check out coverage of this popular topic from The Washington Post and Forbes.

Typically, people only think of their accountants during tax season, but if given the right amount of financial data, accountants can be extremely valuable to a startup. Forbes tells us How Entrepreneurs Should Use Their Accountants.

Startups sometimes overcompensate when pitching to investors. According to a nationwide survey of investors representing all sectors, the worst thing you can do is be a liar, a rambler, or a drama queen. The Huffington Post tell us the Top 8 Things That Make Investors Cringe.

The Seattle Times is addressing the question; can a multi-billion dollar company with 98,000 employees act like a startup? See how Startup culture is stirring at Microsoft.

Some people say the most successful entrepreneurs are brown-nosing over achievers. Others say they lack self-control and make impulsive risky decisions. No matter what your involvement is in the startup world, it’s easy to fall for some of these stereotypes. Here are Six Whopping Lies Told About Entrepreneurs … Sometimes By Entrepreneurs Themselves.

The Washington Post released its annual list of summer reading recommendations from experts at the Smith School of Business. Check out what Elana Fine, Ken White, Brent Goldfarb and more in Summer reads for business leaders.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 7/3/13

With the 4th of July holiday just one day away, we’re sending you Worth Reading a little early this week. Enjoy your vacation with some good reads.

The goal of many entrepreneurs is to have a successful exit and sell their startup for hundreds of millions of dollars. But, is this the smartest approach? Business Insider tells us Why It’s Better To Sell A Startup For $20 Million Instead Of $200 Million.

There is much to be learned about entrepreneurship from the legendary Superman! Although he never started a business, he embodies many of the principles of entrepreneurship. Here are 7 Entrepreneurship Lessons From ‘Man Of Steel’

Millions in funding doesn’t always equal long-lasting success. Better Place founder, Shai Agassi, knows this all too well. Check out these Lessons From a Startup That Scored $836 Million in VC — and Failed.

Venture Beat recently released an article on the startup tech scene in Las Vegas, including a harsh critique of the DC technology sector. Take a look at InTheCapital’s reaction to the article in Venture Beat Tales Unfounded Jab at the DC Tech Startup Scene.

Finally, we’re including an article on a topic that we’re all tackling—growing and strengthening our Twitter accounts. We talk about it a lot at Dingman. How can we get retweets? How can we get more followers? How is all this affecting our brand? Check out PR Daily’s recent infographic on how to get more re-tweets.

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

Tagged , , , , , ,

Worth Reading 5/10/13

Things are quietly winding down here at Van Munching Hall as the students prepare for their last finals of the year.  The Dingman Center has also been quietly rumbling along, preparing for our last batch of Pitch Dingman Sessions and our upcoming summer programs. How’re you all preparing for the summer?  Whether it’s taking a vacation, or finally putting together that business you’ve been meaning to start, the Dingman Center will be here to support you.

So let’s move on to what’s worth reading.

Let’s start by taking a look at the Dingman Center’s week in the news.  In case you missed it, this week’s Business RX column in the Washington Post featured Elana Fine giving advice to TouchdownSpace, a startup looking to enter the virtual office industry.  In addition, Terpiture, one the finalists from last Friday’s Pitch Dingman Competition was featured on the University of Maryland school newspapaer, the Diamondback.

Often times, entrepreneurs have brainstorms for a business, but can’t articulate the actual business problem that their business idea will solve.  Well never fear, this inc.com piece gives you 4 steps to approach understanding your business problem.

Many of you may know that Israel is also known as start-up nation. In fact the center has been building a relationship with the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) for years now, even sending MBA students to Technion over the summer for an immersive entrepreneurial fellowship.  This latest inc.com article articulates just some of the lessons we can learn from the entrepreneurial culture in Israel.

As we’ve often seen, many of the technological innovations in the past few decades have come from military and government research, but did you also know that a lot of what we see as everyday items now actually originated from space?  Tested.com takes a look at a few surprising inventions that were actually developed by NASA for use in space!

And finally, in the debate for the importance of higher education in entrepreneurship and career success, the side of education finds a champion in a local VC. In this Huffington Post editorial, Jonathan Aberman, venture capitalist and lecturer at the Smith School of Business, gives his impassioned take on the importance of education to entrepreneurship and our society as a whole.

Tagged , , , , , ,