Saint Mary's student part of team that wins Bay Area competition
Sean Kent
Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: News
With graduation just a few short weeks away, departing seniors must face the cold, hard reality of finding a job in a struggling economy. In this atmosphere of gloom and anxiousness awaiting many of the graduating class there seems to be a small ray of hope for students looking to crack into the business world. A team of three Berkeley students and one Saint Mary's junior managed to beat a highly competitive field of teams in the Venture Capital Case Competition on April 29 at Stanford University.
The Venture Capital Case Competition has developed into an annual contest that began in 2005. The event is co-sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Psi fraternities at both UC Berkeley and Stanford, the Stanford Venture Capital Club, and the Santa Clara University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The competition's main objective is for each team to pick a real life start-up company and then develop a business proposal to attract new investors.
Initially, invitations were sent to students at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Santa Clara's business schools to join the competition. But it was not until Saint Mary's junior Andrei Ionescu talked with his friends Jay Bhatnagar, Siddath Satish, and Gopi Narra (all UC Berkeley students) that the four decided to form a team.
After they petitioned the competition committee to allow Ionescu to participate on their team, the group, named Ursa Solutions, began searching for a company.
Eventually they found a winner in a company called Verdiem, a corporation that specializes in software to reduce the energy used by idle computers in corporate offices. It is a fairly common problem in the business world and the Verdiem's research suggests that with their software companies could save $60 a year per computer and reduce millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
After talking with a professional in the field they were focusing on, the Ursa Solutions members developed a business presentation. Their work included background information on their company, a distribution strategy, business analysis, and other persuasive elements to attract prospective investors. Initially, the slideshow was submitted electronically, but after the team was chosen to advance to the finals they were asked to physically present their project in front of an audience, a panel of judges, and a handful of other finalists. When the contest winners were announced that night, Ursa Solutions somewhat unexpectedly walked away with the grand prize, beating out six other finalist teams.
"I felt inspired," explained Ionescu, the only Gael in the competition, "that all our hard work and dedication paid off." In this case, the competition paid off both figuratively and literally for the group as the team split $1,000 in prize money. But even more importantly than the monetary prize, the team earned praise among the professional business community and the most talented of their peers from around the Bay Area.
The Venture Capital Case Competition has developed into an annual contest that began in 2005. The event is co-sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Psi fraternities at both UC Berkeley and Stanford, the Stanford Venture Capital Club, and the Santa Clara University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The competition's main objective is for each team to pick a real life start-up company and then develop a business proposal to attract new investors.
Initially, invitations were sent to students at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Santa Clara's business schools to join the competition. But it was not until Saint Mary's junior Andrei Ionescu talked with his friends Jay Bhatnagar, Siddath Satish, and Gopi Narra (all UC Berkeley students) that the four decided to form a team.
After they petitioned the competition committee to allow Ionescu to participate on their team, the group, named Ursa Solutions, began searching for a company.
Eventually they found a winner in a company called Verdiem, a corporation that specializes in software to reduce the energy used by idle computers in corporate offices. It is a fairly common problem in the business world and the Verdiem's research suggests that with their software companies could save $60 a year per computer and reduce millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
After talking with a professional in the field they were focusing on, the Ursa Solutions members developed a business presentation. Their work included background information on their company, a distribution strategy, business analysis, and other persuasive elements to attract prospective investors. Initially, the slideshow was submitted electronically, but after the team was chosen to advance to the finals they were asked to physically present their project in front of an audience, a panel of judges, and a handful of other finalists. When the contest winners were announced that night, Ursa Solutions somewhat unexpectedly walked away with the grand prize, beating out six other finalist teams.
"I felt inspired," explained Ionescu, the only Gael in the competition, "that all our hard work and dedication paid off." In this case, the competition paid off both figuratively and literally for the group as the team split $1,000 in prize money. But even more importantly than the monetary prize, the team earned praise among the professional business community and the most talented of their peers from around the Bay Area.