Abu Dhabi Invests in Learning

Gulf News quoted an entrepreneurship expert who stated that sharing a clear vision for the future by bringing different ideas together and learning from different countries is the recipe for economic and social prosperity and peace across the world.

Abu Dhabi is doing just that, having recently hosted the Festival of Thinkers as well as beginning a partnership between the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, a private education provider based in Abu Dhabi, and the Wharton School. MORE

America's Best Young Entrepreneurs: 2009

BusinessWeek recently named their 25 finalists for the top U.S. entrepreneurs ages 25 and under. These 25 most promising young businesses range from specialty mushroom growers to renewable energy consulting to an online advertising buying platform Invite Media, a Wharton alumni company. Check out the other finalists here, place a vote for the most promising and on November 9th, BusinessWeek will be announcing these top vote-getters.

Innovational Food for Thought

Harvard Business Blog recently discussed the age-old dilemma of predicting the next big idea - but with twist. Authors of Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities, Wharton professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich, say that instead of attempting to predict the success of early ideas, make sure there are enough of them and the pool is diverse. Check out the four guidelines to consider when launching your next innovation initiative or considering who to hire in your research department here.

Finding the Balance

Knowledge@Wharton asked Wharton professor and author Stewart Friedman how to integrate a personal life and a professional life for a comfortable balance. Friedman responded with three steps: describe your legacy, learn what people expect of you, and talk with trusted friends. Read more here.

What to Know about Merchant Cash Advances

Knowledge@Wharton discusses the advantages and disadvantages of merchant cash advances, also known as business cash advances, for small-business owners on OPEN Forum. Featuring quotes from Wharton School lecturer and former entrepreneur Lawrence Gelburd, the post claims that such advances can "ease the crunch, but are costly and can be risky." Read more here.

Winning Innovation

Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich, Operations and Information Management professors at The Wharton School, are co-authors of new book Innovation Tournaments, a "great read for anyone who is looking to develop a process to manage innovation... filled with real-world case studies and examples of approaches that will be beneficial to any practitioners who have the task of driving successful innovation..." Find out more here.

"Get It Started!"

This month's stories focus on the Wharton Business Plan Competition, with a feature on winner NIR Diagnostics and a video on the Venture Finals 2009, and an interview with the co-authors, Wharton professor of innovation and entrepreneurship Ian MacMillan and Columbia Business School professor Rita Gunther McGrath, of their new book Discovery-Driven Growth: A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity. Check out the newsletter here.

What Elon Musk Thinks

Paypal founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk speaks about electric cars, hybrids, the Tesla and the mysterious ways of Detroit in the first of a two-part Knowledge@Wharton and Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs podcast series "Great Companies Are Built on Great Products". Listen to the podcast here.

Micro-financing, On Stage?

"Mamma Mia!" producer Phylidda Lloyd is developing a feature project inspired by Wharton MBA Commencement speaker Muhammad Yunus' revolutionary concept of micro-financing. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, Yunus' pioneered the use of micro-loans to people in poor countries. Read more about the project here.

TechnicallyPhilly Tells All

TechnicallyPhilly has filled the Philadelphia technology community gap with a recently launched blog that publishes daily with updates, profiles, reviews, and listings. Read their play-by-play account of the Venture Finals of the Wharton Business Plan Competition where NIR Diagnostics, one of eight competing groups, came away with the Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award here.

Wharton Business Plan Competition Winners Announced

Student team NIR Diagnostics, whose patented “InfraVue” device detects wound healing problems faster and more accurately than current approaches, won the $20,000 Michelson Grand Prize of the 2009 Wharton Business Plan Competition at this year’s Venture Finals, the culminating event of the year-long Competition, which attracted nearly three hundred venture capitalists, business leaders, faculty and students. Read more here.

"Get It Started!" Gets You Started

"Get It Started!" is the Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs' newsletter of entrepreneurial highlights and insights. Every month the newsletter is updated with new articles, video clips from experts discussing pertinent issues, and interviews with successful entrepreneurs.

This month's stories include "Reaching Beyond the Case Study," a look into the experiences gained by student consultants at the Wharton Small Business Center, and a video interview with Wharton MBA alumna Anne-Marie Corner, founder of Biosyn. Check out the newsletter and subscribe here.

The 2009 Wharton Business Plan Competition Venture Finals

On Wednesday, April 29, eight finalists will compete for $70,000 in prizes at the annual Venture Finals, an event sponsored by MentorTech Ventures which attracts over 200 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers, alumni, faculty and students. A few of the competing plans include the next generation artificial eye, programmable robotic toys, and diabetes monitoring "jewelry". Find out more and register to attend here.

A Look Back at Google Ventures

Last August, Google announced plans to open a venture-capital arm. Wharton Associate Professor of Management, Gary Dushnitsky, discusses the issues Google faces and warns "cautious optimism" as a guest blogger for Robert Salmon, Associate Professor of Management at NYU. Read more here.

Women in Entrepreneurship on the Rise

The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently graduated the first cohort of students in the Women's Entrepreneurship and Leadership Certificate Program in Cairo. The program, delivered through collaboration with the American University in Cairo (AUC), is part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative, a global project to provide women with business and management education. Read more here.

President Obama's Small Business Plan Shared With Wharton's Own

Wharton MBA alumnus entrepreneur, Marco Lentini, founder and CEO of restaurant Gia Pronto, was selected as one of the small business owners selected to participate in a round table discussion with President Obama regarding his small business plan. Read more here.

Spring Cleaning: Pixily Style

Pixily, the self described "interactive document management service," founded by Wharton graduate Prasad Thammineni, can help you clear your desk clutter. For a monthly fee ranging from $4.95 to $59.95, Pixily will take any paper documents you send by prepaid envelope and "digitize" them into a private Web account. Check out the BusinessWeek product review here.

WEP Co-Director Talks Risk

A YouTube posted video of WEP co-director Prof. Raffi Amit highlights his lecture on risks facing start-up companies during the economic crisis. He argues that, in addition to affecting funding for new ventures, the credit crisis is removing lifelines for established startups in this segment of his lecture for Wharton's new course, "The Economic & Financial Crisis: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Options." Watch it here.

Give Water: One of the Coolest College Start-Ups

Sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Ben Lewis, CEO of Give Water, has landed on Inc.com's list of the Coolest College Start-Ups.

Give Water donates 10 cents per bottle sold to four different types of local charities: children's causes, breast cancer research, environmental causes, and muscular-disorders research. As Lewis says, "Consumers... want to choose how they give back, and they want to give back locally." First sold in a few stores around Lewis' hometown Pittsburgh, Give Water has since donated more than $50,000 and garnered interest from producers in Canada, in the Midwest, and along the East Coast, including Whole Foods. Read more here.

All About the Business Plan

You've got an unbelievable idea for a new business. But before you do anything, you need to have a detailed business plan in place. It's your blueprint for success. Bloomberg TV gives us some tips in "Writing a Business Plan", a segment featuring Wharton lecturer Lawrence Gelburd, Quaker BioVentures' Adele Oliva, and the VIP member company Henry Davidsen Suits.