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  • Edinburgh E-club

    19 January 2009
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  • Table of contents:

    1. Welcome to the January 2009 Newsletter!
    2. Club Member Ben Hosaka Wins Grant Management Business Plan competition
    3. The Silicon Valley Speaker Series Continues!
    4. More Great Talks Hosted by the Entrepreneurship Club
    5. Upcoming Competitions
    6. Special News from E-Club Members

  • 1. Welcome to the January 2009 Newsletter!

    Dear Entrepreneur,

    Happy New Year!

    There are myriad events and announcements included below. Please find more details on the web sites, e-club and younoodle, from Tuesday (tomorrow) on.

    Upcoming EIR sessions with George Macintosh on Wednesday, January 28.

    George is a serial entrepreneur with much practical advice to offer about building and selling businesses, in particular how to ‘make a noise’ through marketing and how to punch above your weight in sales. Register for EIR Sessions


    E-club members raise $1.2 Million!

    Michael Clouser introduced part of HubDub's core team at drinks after an e-club talk.
    Congratulations to Nigel Eccles, Tom Griffiths and Rob Jones (and their lucky investors).


  • 2. Club Member Ben Hosaka Wins Grant Management Business Plan competition

    Ben Hosaka, who completed his Full Time MBA at the Business School in September was the winner of this year's Grant Management Business Plan competition, winning the £3000 cash prize.

    Ben's Business Plan involved the recycling of vintage kimonos. Having been brought up in the part of Japan that manufactures kimonos Ben has always had a love of the traditional Japanese dress. His plan involved the purchase of vintage kimonos and recycling the material into hand bags and other fashion accessories. Ben is already trading with some success, under the name of Petit Japon, which which established last year. Over the past year, while studying for his MBA, Ben has also been involved in a couple of other initiatives, including contributing to an exhibition of Japanese art at Perth Museum and Art Gallery entitled ‘A glimpse of the floating world’.

    The Entrepreneurship club wishes Ben all the best and looks forward to hearing about his future success. Petit Japon

  • 3. The Silicon Valley Speaker Series Continues!

    Tuesday 27 January
    "How to Manage a Venture Capital Fund in the Midst of a Recession" by Trevor Loy, Founder, Flywheel Ventures
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    It is official now that the United States has been in a recession since December of 2007, according to the The National Bureau of Economic Research. The Venture Capital industry has been feeling the pain of this unfortunate occurance since the summer of 2008. The question is, what can you do as a manager of a fund in order to succeed in this tough environment? Trevor Loy, the Founder of Flywheel Ventures and a Director of the National Venture Capital Association, will share his insights and actions with us.

    Subsequent Talks:

    Wednesday 18 February
    "Drinking the Kool-Aid in Silicon Valley" by Alison Von Diggelen, Journalist and Blogger, Silicon Mom
    6.30pm in LT3, Bristo Square

    Tuesday 10 March
    "What makes Silicon Valley Silicon Valley?" by Mike Masnick, Founder, Floor 64, blog platform development
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    Wednesday 18 March
    "The Art of Pitching" by Bill Joos, The "Pitch Doctor" and Venture Consultant
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    Wednesday 25 March
    "Designing for the Future" by David Law, Founder, Speck Design, California
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    Further details on these talks

  • 4. More Great Talks Hosted by the Entrepreneurship Club

    Next Talk: Thursday 5 February
    "Opportunity Landscapes for Entrepreneurs in a Down Economy"
    Michael Clouser, Edinburgh Stanford Link Associate, School of Informatics
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    Tonight Michael will discuss the current state of the global economy and how it got there, as well as offer insight into where it might be going over the next 5-10 years. From here he will present a unique perspective on the opportunity landscape facing entrepreneurs today. Is now a better time than ever to start a new company? If so, in what industries or sectors? What markets might be ripe for exploitation? He will both draw from historical examples as well as offer up new ideas for today in answering these questions. This talk promises to be straight and sobering yet upbeat at the same time.


    Tuesday 24 February
    "How to Make PR Work for You"
    Michelle Brown of Beattie Communications
    6.30pm in LT1, Bristo Square

    Further details on these talks

  • 5. Upcoming Competitions

    Pitch for Change Competition

    Pitch for Change is an "elevator pitch" competition that is open to individuals and teams with an idea for a new social enterprise venture. Unlike traditional business plan competitions, participants do NOT need to submit a completed business plan; entrants need only submit a two-page proposal for initial consideration and be prepared to pitch their ideas to a large audience and panel of judges during the 2009 Harvard Social Enterprise Conference if selected as a semi-finalist! For more information, please visit http://www.pitchforchange.org

    Start your Venture with $50,000 in Cash and Services.....and Float in Zero-Gravity!

    The competition is being organized by the 8th Continent Project at the Colorado School of Mines and submissions are due in February 2009. For more information visit: http://www.8cproject.com/BusinessPlanCompetition.html or you can contact the Burke Forte at info@8cproject.com.

    Nesta Starter for 6

    This programme is open to both pre-start and start-up companies and the deadline is 26 January with
    interested candidates being interviewed in February. Those who are offered a place on the programme will then receive a tailored business support package including enterprise training; peer mentoring and the
    opportunity to pitch for up to £10,000.
    How to enter and what to expect.

    New Ventures Competition Closes Monday January 26, 2009

    Are you a Edinburgh University student or recent alumni with a recently established business or social enterprise? If so, the LAUNCH.ed New Ventures Competition is perfect for you. Entrants can win a MacBook Air, in kind support from lawyers, patent attorneys, accountants, business strategy specialists and up to £6000. More Information:

  • 6. Special News from E-Club Members

    Beta Testers Needed for Seven Things

    The new Seven Things site is now fully functional - you can go anywhere, listen to anything, buy anything, download it, or get it delivered (oh yes, we now also sell CDs, and shortly books and merch, too). Email us at info@seventhings.co.uk with your thoughts on things small and large. Tell us things you like on the site, things you don't, and things that maybe don't work as well as they should.

    Special Offer from HoodEasy

    E-club members can get £1 off each hoodie they order through hoodeasy (on orders of 20 or more). We make it really easy for societies and groups to order customised hoodies (or other garb for that matter) by creating an online shop for each order that can accept all the sizes, names, colours, and, most importantly, payments.
    Shop Now!

    Do you need beta testers or want to offer special deals to E-club members?
    Please email entrepreneurship@ed.ac.uk for more information.

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