Students from many disciplines will be reporting for a week of duty beginning Monday.
The only obstacle thrown in the paths of these 35 enlistees is acquiring working knowledge on topics such as intellectual property law, competitive analysis and venture capital financing in a short but intense assignment.
Organizers of the University of Washington Business School’s Center for Technology Entrepreneurship’s inaugural boot camp say their goal is to arm the graduates with the fundamental information needed to start and run a business.
Christopher Klemm, the center’s director, believes attendees accustomed to such things as constitutional law and computer science and engineering will boost their odds of launching their own businesses by homing in on a subject unfamiliar to them: entrepreneurship.
“In just a week, students with no background in free enterprise will immerse themselves in the fundamentals of new business creation and be capable of turning their existing creative ideas into real-world, for-profit businesses,” he said.
On the first day, students will learn how new companies are created and marketed and how to write a business plan and shop it around to venture capitalists.
Students will spend the remainder of the week learning about competitive analysis, how to protect and exploit intellectual property and how to raise capital.
Presenters include faculty members from the Business School, College of Engineering and School of Law, as well as local venture capitalists from Voyager Capital and consultants representing Paladin Partners.
A day trip to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland will give students the chance to talk with researchers and explore current technologies that make the commercialization of new products possible.
Amy Asawachaicharn, a graduate student studying molecular and cellular biology, says the idea of starting her own business is a very appealing option, made possible through this course.
“I have devoted my undergraduate college career mainly to science, so it would be very interesting to learn the various aspects of free enterprise,” she said. “While I’m in love with science and working at the bench, my dream is that one day my scientific discovery will become practical and commercially available so that people can truly benefit from it. It is that satisfaction that I am yearning for as a scientist.”
The impact on the regional economy and the state’s reputation as a national leader in entrepreneurialism by UW-related startup companies has been detailed in a recent study by Ken Walters, professor of business at the UW’s Bothell campus. According to Walters, between 1974 and 2003, 195 companies grew from seed to maturity by UW faculty, staff and students. The majority of these businesses germinated after 1990. Additionally, more than 40 UW-related companies have been founded by UW students based on work stemming from their UW research.
Despite recent economic downturns, Walters says, UW-related company formations have continued at the rate of one company per month.
Klemm says that by arming graduates with entrepreneurial skills used to supplement their core studies, the university will continue to produce startup businesses.
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For more information, contact Klemm at (206) 616-2450 or rcklemm@u.washington.edu or visit http://depts.washington.edu/cte/