Startup Revolution?

BusinessWeek Viewpoint features the idea of giving visas to startup founders. As the writer argues, "instead of encouraging the first brain drain in U.S. history, the country should create a program to welcome funded startup entrepreneurs." Read more here.

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

Startups 101

Free online personal finance service, Mint.com aims to make managing and saving money online easy and secure. So Mint CEO Aaron Patzer, knows what he's talking about. Recently, Patzer gave a 45 minute presentation on building startups from the ground up, with his own candid disclosures and advice. Watch the video, and see the presentation deck, here.

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.

The New Business School Stats

BusinessWeek reported some recent findings of the annual applicant study of QS World MBA Tour, a group that holds global MBA fairs. Women now make up 46% of worldwide MBA candidates and there have been shifts in preferred program length (more opt for one-year programs) and post-MBA career plans (the No.1 goal is to start a business), as explained by Wharton MBA alumnus Quacquarelli. Read more here.

Wharton Business Plan Competition Winners Ring the NASDAQ Closing Bell

Lumina Diagnostics, winner of the 2009 Wharton Business Plan Competition, visited the New York City NASDAQ MarketSite accompanied by the Wharton School. In celebration, representatives of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs and Lumina Diagnostics rang the NASDAQ closing bell. Find out more here.

What Makes An Entrepreneur

The Kauffman Foundation recently released a new study entitled "The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur" that aims to discover the family backgrounds and motivations of American entrepreneurs. The study found that unlike the Bill Gates genius high-school dropout entrepreneur, most company founders tend to be middle-aged and well-educated from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds. Read more findings here.

Nurturing NYC VC

As Scott Denne reports for Wall Street Journal blog Venture Capital Dispatch,
"With fewer firms and no particular geographic nexus[in NYC], entrepreneurs rarely have the kinds of chance encounters that can jump-start a start-up." Enter First Growth Venture Network.

First Growth has launched a networking and mentoring program, providing advisors and opportunities, for New York City entrepreneurs. Also participating in the program are several venture firms. Find out more here.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009

Brett Hurt, Wharton alum and co-founder and CEO of customer review management service Bazaarvoice, has been named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Winner, the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. Read more about Hurt here.

Reinvention Success

Recently featured on Inc., Flocabulary, a study-guide publisher that aimed to teach history through hip-hop, had a great idea, but no business. Read their story about how UPenn graduate Harrison and Tufts graduate Rappaport reinvented themselves, began to grow, and now have their study-guides used in 100 school districts.

"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.

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.

America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs

Two Wharton alums, Alex Mittal, founder of Innova Materials, a company that makes antimicrobial products for private industry and uses those revenues to fund water purification systems for developing countries, and Felipe Vergara, co-founder of Lumni, a new investment system that uses private capital to fund higher education, were named among 25 of America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs in BusinessWeek.

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.

PlaceVine Ahead of the Curve

PlaceVine, a brand integration service founded by Wharton MBA alums who were members of the Venture Initiation Program, recently raised an additional $200,000 in financing from NYCSeed, as reported in BusinessWeek's article focusing on the recent trend of product integration.

The four-person company provides a fee-based classifieds service, and now plays a key role in unifying the entertainment and advertising communities, currently connecting over 300 content producers to more than 200 brands and agencies.

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.

Meet the Experts: Tina Wells

Tina Wells, founder of Buzz Marketing Group, an information service provider to companies that target youth, is an inspiration to anyone hoping to utilize viral marketing for business growth. Buzz has acquired clients in the fashion, beauty, entertainment, business and lifestyle sectors such as: PBS, Procter + Gamble, SonyBMG, Sesame Workshop, Time Inc, and now Island Def Jam Music Group.

Island Def Jam Music Group and Tina Wells, who received a certificate in entrepreneurship from Wharton Exec Ed and was a presenter at Wharton's VIP panel Meet the Experts this morning, have recently partnered to launch a talent search based off Wells' tweens book series character "Mackenzie Blue."