Entrepreneurship Day a Hit!

The BEST Institute and the Rutgers University School of Business held the university's first Rutgers Entrepreneurship Day on May 13th, 2009 at the Rutgers Student Center. Students, Faculty, Alumni, Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, and Angel Investors joined us for this unique event designed to educate, motivate and inspire those interested in start-up ventures. The event was a complete success featuring keynote speakers William "Bill" Joy, CEO of Sun Microsystems; Greg Olsen, one of an extremely limited number of private citizens to board the International Space Station; and Dr. Randall Pinkett, winner of season 4 of "The Apprentice" and CEO of BCT Partners. Following an enlightening address from these titans of success, aspiring entrepreneurs had the opportunity to network and showcase their business ideas at the Elevator Pitch Forum. BEST has received volumes of positive feedback and greatly anticipates hosting a similar event this October.

Rutgers Entrepreneurship Day included a seasoned panel who spoke candidly on how aspiring entrepreneurs can leverage their talents and resources to get ahead in today’s economic climate. Panel members included: David Edwab, Director of Men's Wearhouse, Inc.; Lexy Funk, CEO and co-founder of Brooklyn Industries; Dan Hoffman, President and CEO of M5; Tomasz Imielinski, Executive VP of Technology for Ask.com; and Dr. Randall Pinkett, Chairman and CEO of BCT Partners.

Click the link to learn more of what visionary entrepreneur, inventor and humanitarian, William “Bill” Joy has to say about the road to success and why he's called the “Edison of the Internet.” Also find out about Greg Olsen who delivered an inspiring talk on how he went from entrepreneurship to spaceship as the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip into space.

In addition, the Rutgers Business School’s Ninth Annual Business Plan Competition finalists, who competed for a chance to win prizes totaling $35,000, generously contributed by the New Jersey Sales Executive Foundation, were announced. First place winners Rohan Mathew and Joe Shore founded The Intersect Fund, a non-profit organization specializing in microfinance provides seed capital and consulting services to disadvantaged entrepreneurs in the New Brunswick area. They received prize money summing to $25,000 to help with the expansion of their enterprise. Second place, and a prize of $10,000, went to Trainlogic.net which is a mobile application technology start-up company that provides real time transit information and schedules available by subscription.

Lastly, winners of the Campus CEO Challenge, a statewide business plan competition open to high school and college students, were also crowned at the event. Contestants competed for cash prizes, one-on-one consultation with Dr. Randall Pinkett, and a series of books and CDs designed to aid them on their entrepreneurial path. First place went to Babatunde Busari of NJIT for his web-based interactive media design platform ContestDesigns.com. Runners-up included Marcus Crews of Rutgers University for Fleet Delivery Services LLC and Mikhail Naumov of Rutgers University for Opportunity.com.

See our special Entrepreneurship Day section here, or register FREE below