Raising Entrepreneurs

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Archive for July, 2009

Young Entrepreneurs – S Tarek al Zubair And Hamad bin Sulaiman

July 13, 2009 By: Jenny Category: Young Entrepreneurs 2 Comments →

Welcome back!

Young entrepreneur, S Tarak al Zubair, with his solar-powered car.

Young entrepreneur, S Tarak al Zubair, with his solar-powered car.

It can carry six passengers at speeds of more than 40kph without ever having to fill up at a petrol station, or even plug into an electric socket.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about this solar-powered, fibreglass car, which went on display at Dubai Mall in April, is the age of the brains behind it: S Tarek al Zubair is just 16, while his cousin, Hamad bin Sulaiman, is two years younger.

The boys, both students at the International School of Arts and Sciences, built the futuristic vehicle for this year’s Young Entrepreneurs Competition.

They and 1,200 other high school and university pupils from across the country have put their business savvy and innovation on display for the past four days, selling everything from cars and custom-made handbags to Braille designs embroidered on coffee mugs and T-shirts.

“God has blessed our country with oil, but we also have sand, hot water, energy from the sun,” said Tarek, who won last year’s competition with a solar-powered mobile phone charger. “We as a country need to become sustainable.”

With his sun-powered car, made with solar panels shipped from Germany, Tarek said he wanted to serve as an example for the country’s leadership.

“Think what that means if two teenagers can make a car run on solar power,” he said.

He plans on giving the prototype vehicle as a gift to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Read the full story in The National.

Young Entrepreneur – Jonathan Fischer

July 10, 2009 By: Jenny Category: Young Entrepreneurs 2 Comments →

Young entrepreneur, Jonathan Fischer, demonstrates the Speed Demon.

Young entrepreneur, Jonathan Fischer, demonstrates the Speed Demon.

Jonathan Fischer is just 20, but he’s been working on this gadget since he was 16. Inspired by the tragic death of a Lunenburg teenager in a high-speed auto wreck, he wanted to create a machine that would alert parents whenever a child became too careless behind the wheel.

Speed Demon combines a GPS navigation unit with a cellular data modem and some very smart software. The prototype earned Fischer an honorable mention at the Massachusetts State Science Fair in 2005. His proposal for turning Speed Demon into a moneymaker took first prize in a couple of business plan competitions, earning him $20,000. That helped Fischer polish up the software and form an alliance with a manufacturer in Finland that builds the box. Now, Fischer is a sophomore business student at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. He’s also a budding entrepreneur, with dozens of Speed Demon units stacked up in the basement of his parents’ Lunenburg home, waiting for orders to roll in.

The Speed Demon is available at Fischer’s aptly named website, www.livefastdriveslow.com. At $250, plus a monthly $15 service fee, it isn’t exactly cheap. But the device does deliver exactly what it promises – a simple, powerful, yet nonintrusive way to discourage young drivers from speeding.

After you buy a Speed Demon, you register it at the company’s website, and start programming speed limits for the car. Perhaps Speed Demon’s coolest feature is its ability to distinguish between high-speed highways and slower surface roads. It can be set to send a warning when the car exceeds 70 miles per hour on Interstate 93 or 40 miles per hour on Massachusetts Avenue. That’s made possible by some fancy programming that compares the device’s GPS coordinates with detailed maps of every street in the country. Fischer came up with the software, and he’s filed a patent on it.

Read the full story in The Boston Globe.

Impact Entrepreneurship Group Supporting Young Entrepreneurs

July 08, 2009 By: Jenny Category: Mindset, Young Entrepreneurs 1 Comment →

Young entrepreneur, Kunal Gupta, founded Impact in 2004

Young entrepreneur, Kunal Gupta, founded Impact in 2004

The Impact Entrepreneurship Group is flourishing since the economy soured. Its programs target university and high school students and include a national annual conference, an entrepreneurship week campaign, a leadership summit and a Microcredit Competition that gets underway later this month for which teams of students from 200 high schools receive $100 to launch a business idea and make as much money for charity as possible within a week.

“There’s been a significant increase in interest,” says Kunal Gupta, who founded Impact in 2004 while attending Ontario’s University of Waterloo. “There are opportunities in the market for young entrepreneurs that would not be seen in a good economy.”

Mr. Gupta, who launched Polar Mobile after he graduated, a company that develops a proprietary content and advertising platform for mobile devices, still serves as chairman of Impact’s board and says the breadth of students participating has grown to include those from arts and other studies outside business.

In the past year, Impact — which bills itself as Canada’s largest, non-profit student-run organization — opened offices in Calgary and Vancouver.

The organization has acquired the support and sponsorship of corporate leaders and entrepreneurs who pioneered successful businesses in Canada.

Alex Shipillo of Vancouver, heads Impact’s Microcredit Competition and co-founded Youth Canada to help high school students navigate university scholarship programs. The two groups amalgamated in 2006 to promote entrepreneurship to young Canadians.

“This is the first recession of my lifetime,” says Mr. Shipillo, who plans to start a business after graduating from university. “There’s no longer any guarantee we’ll get a good job after university.”

Ray Cao started EightyTwenty Group, a software company that is poised to double its staff in the coming months. He served a term as president of Impact while studying at University of Waterloo and remembers a survey of high school students Impact conducted to assess their perception of entrepreneurship; 70% responded it was a path of last resort for those who had dropped out of school or failed to find jobs.

“When you’re in high school, a small business does look like the last resort but one of the key reasons is because of the way it’s taught,” Mr. Cao says. “Most teachers have not been entrepreneurs.”

Impact has focused on how it communicates its message to enhance their interest in entrepreneurship and provide hands-on experience. “It’s really about making a paradigm shift,” he says.

Read the full story in The Vancouver Sun.

Young Entrepreneur Devon Zielinski Wins Scholarship

July 06, 2009 By: Jenny Category: Young Entrepreneurs 1 Comment →

devon-zielinskiAnother in an encouraging series, young entrepreneur Devon Zielinski, has won a $40,000 college scholarship as a result of his business activities.

Devon Zielinski was one of 60 high school seniors nationwide who received the McKelvey Foundation Entrepreneurial Scholarship last week. The scholars receive $10,000 a year over four years to attend a U.S. college or university.

The New York-based program offers financial aid to young entrepreneurs and first-generation college students.

Zielinski, who has owned Cutting Edge Opportunities Lawn Care for about two years, was one of five Texas seniors to receive the McKelvey award.

“I went numb. I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I was in shock … and then I was super excited.”

The Argyle senior said he will graduate June 3 and will attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where another $40,000 scholarship is waiting for him. He plans to study business. Earlier this year, he was one of 21 state finalists for TCU’s Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

McKelvey scholarship interviewer Paul Camara called Zielinski “a business-savvy young man who has a very well-defined business plan for growth.”

“For an applicant to have a lawn care business, they must have extraordinary qualities as an entrepreneur and show us that they have taken their business to the next level from mowing lawns in the neighborhood,” Camara wrote in a prepared statement. “Devon was able to show us in the interview that he has very strong entrepreneurial qualities and shows great potential for future success as a business owner.”

Christine McKelvey, foundation president, said more than 1,200 students applied for the award. Of the four years the scholarship has been offered, this was the most competitive, she said, adding that the selected students proved to be lifelong entrepreneurs.

“We’re really looking for people that show that they have the drive and passion to be entrepreneurs,” McKelvey said. “It’s really the individual that we’re looking at.”

Read the full story in the Denton Record-Chronicle

Altwood School Students Win Entrepreneur Prize

July 03, 2009 By: Jenny Category: Young Entrepreneurs No Comments →

Young entrepreneurs from Altwood School with their prize-winning jewellery.

Young entrepreneurs from Altwood School with their prize-winning jewellery.

Young entrepreneurs from the Royal Borough showed the future is bright for business in the area at the town hall on Wednesday night.

Enterprising students from Altwood School, in Altwood Road, Maidenhead, walked off with the headline gong at the 2009 Young Enterprise North Berkshire Area Final.

They scooped the North Berkshire Award for Best Company, overcoming intense competition from four other schools in the area to win the accolade.

Their Like a Star jewellery business, was considered to be the best overall by three scrutinising judges, who ruled the roost over there business plans, products, trade stands and presentations.

Seven schools and 120 students in the Royal Borough had run 11 companies throughout the year, which was whittled down to five finalists.

Also making the final were Brigidine School, Windsor Boys School, Charters School and Eton College with the range of businesses including tailoring, film screenings, jewellery, accessories and books.

Eddie Pearce, president of Maidenhead District Chamber of Commerce, who was one of the three judges, said he was impressed by all five businesses.

“All the ideas and innovative ideas were fantastic. The standard was better than in previous years and really encouraging to see.”

Source: Maidenhead Advertiser