The final edition of Entrepreneurs Unplugged in 2009 saw Tin Enwall, founder, President and COO of Tendril, interviewed by Brad Feld. Enwall described Boulder-based Tendril, which raised a $30 million round of financing in June, as “the residential side of the smart grid.” Before founding Tendril, Enwall’s career had taken him from Apple to a variety of startups to founding his own company focused on electronic commerce. Enwall shared several of his beliefs about entrepreneurship throughout the evening.
Read More »
Friday’s Entrepreneurs Unplugged with Ted Turner did not disappoint the capacity crowd at CU Law School. To begin the event, Turner was awarded the inaugural “Entrepreneurs for Good” prize by CU Law Dean David Getches. Following this award, Turner took center stage to describe both his business and philanthropic ventures in a 90 minute session moderated by Associate Law Professor Brad Bernthal. Turner was not shy in sharing his opinions on business or the world in general leading to an engaging if slightly random discussion. Among Turner’s more memorable comments were:
Read More »
Last evening CU Boulder held its kick-off event for the New Venture Challenge, the campus wide business plan competition. Brad Bernthal, Associate Law Professor and Director of Entrepreneurial Ventures at Silicon Flatirons, began the evening by citing the importance of the Challenge, which he deemed as “fundamental in creating an entrepreneurial launch pad” at the University. Among the benefits the contest brings to students and faculty across campus are making entrepreneurial resources accessible to those seeking guidance, connecting the campus to the external business community, and “collapsing the campus,” or creating a venue that encourages the mixing of talent from the different academic verticals.
Read More »
University Events
Tue, Oct 27: Open Source Crash Course, 6:00, Wolf Law Rm 207, CU Boulder
Mon, Nov 2: Entrepreneurs Unplugged: Steve Halstedt, 6:15, ATLAS Auditorium, CU Boulder
Miscellaneous Events
Tue, Oct 27: Boulder Open Coffee Club, 8:00 AM, The Cup, Boulder
Thu, Oct 28: TiE Rockies Business Exchange, 5:30, PPA Event Center, Denver
Tue, Nov 3: Colorado Inventor Showcase, 3:00, Cable Center, Denver
University Events
Mon, Oct 19: Entrepreneurs Unplugged with David Cohen, 6:15, Wolf Law Rm 204, CU Boulder
Miscellaneous Events
Tue, Oct 20: Mile High Tech ‘09 Meetup, 6:30, Tivoli Turnhalle Rm # 250, Denver
Silicon Flatirons hosted a lecture by Fred Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation entitled “Digital Copyright and Innovation Online: A Little Dose of Optimism.” Von Lohmann framed the challenge of digital copyright as “encouraging innovation and market entry while protecting copyright.” Specifically, the key issue is whether internet intermediaries can be held liable for copyright violations committed by their users. Without more legal clarity almost any entity somehow involved in the infringement of copyrights – from YouTube hosting a pirated video to the ISP transmitting this data to the maker a DVD burner used by an individual to make a copy of this material – could be found liable of violating copyrights. These entities contributing to copyright infringement are much more attractive targets from a copyright holder perspective than the millions of different users directly infringing because they are much easier to find and are likely to have deeper pockets.
Read More »
University Events
Tue, Oct 13: Digital Copyright and Innovation Online, 12:00, Wittemeyer Courtroom, CU Boulder Law School
Mon, Oct 19: Entrepreneurs Unplugged with David Cohen, 6:15, Wolf Law Rm 204, CU Boulder
Miscellaneous Events
Mon, Oct 12: Startup Junkie Underground: Living an Extraordinary Life, 6:30, MADCAP Theater, Westminster
Tue, Oct 13: Boulder Open Coffee Club, 8:00 am, The Cup, Boulder
Tue, Oct 13: Realistic Financing Options Before Venture Capital, 5:00, Denver Athletic Club
Thu, Oct 15: Innovation After Hours: RMI2, 4:00, Stone House Grille, Fort Collins
Sat, Oct 17: Inventor Boot Camp Day, 8:30 am, Wolf Law Building, CU Boulder
University
Mon, Sep 28: Entrepreneurs Unplugged, 6:15, ATLAS Building CU Boulder
Miscellaneous
Mon, Sep 24: N CO Inventor’s Round Table, 6:00 pm, Loveland
Mon, Sep 28: Start Up Junkie Underground, 6:30, MADCAP Theater, Westminster
Ryan Broshar acknowledges “some of our clients are a little hesitant about working with consultants.” This fact is not surprising given that Entrepreneurial Solutions (ES) is a far from the typical consulting firm and attracts a non-typical clientele. ES is run by a team of graduate students at CU’s Leeds School of Business who forego a more traditional summer internship experience to instead pursue consulting projects throughout Colorado. The consultancy, which was founded by a group of five MBA students in 1998, primarily works with small-to-midsized businesses across a variety of project types, all with an entrepreneurial undertone. According to Broshar, who is one of the company’s members this year, this unique firm offers benefits both to the companies it serves along with the students it employs.
Read More »
On Tuesday, the Silicon Flatirons Center and the University of Colorado Law School hosted an event to honor the service of Professor Phil Weiser, who will depart the school in July to join the Obama Justice Department as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division. The event kicked off with a well-received monologue from emcee Ray Gifford, Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow and Partner at Kamlet Reichert. Gifford was followed by Law School Dean David Getches, who reminded the audience that Weiser will likely return to Law School after service in Washington, so the event “is not about ‘goodbye’ to Phil, but ‘until later’.” Next up was Associate Professor Brad Bernthal, who successfully nominated Weiser for a teaching award when Bernthal was a law student in 2001. Calling Weiser a “teacher, mentor, and coach,” Bernthal offered Weiser a framed version of the eight-year-old award application. Associate Professor Paul Ohm followed, imparting to the crowd that among his many accomplishments, Weiser is “a phenomenal scholar…the impression he has made on the academy and legal thought is profound.” To support his claim Ohm produced a slide that tracked the 520,000 words Weiser has printed in twenty-nine legal articles since he began at Colorado in 1999 – which does not count the two books he also published in the same time. Sue Wyman of the Jivaro Group spoke next, and praised Weiser’s business instincts: “Phil recognizes those organizations that have a strategy or just a story.” Silicon Flatirons Program Director Anna Nochese then took the podium and recounted the success of the Center, which has seen a doubling in the number of financial supporters and a nearly five-fold increase in its mailing list over the last three years. The last speaker – before Weiser himself – was Dale Hatfield, the incoming Executive Director. Described by Gifford as “a living legend,” Hatfield was effusive in his praise for Weiser, noting that the younger departing Professor “has been very much my mentor over the last ten years.” Hatfield summed up his remarks by saying, “in a personal sense I feel a loss, but in a public sense I feel elation,” referring to Weiser’s imminent service at the Justice Department.
Read More »
