10/12: University of Maryland Startup Boot Camp

The premier, all-hands-on-deck, full-audience participation university event for discovering and advancing entrepreneurship and innovation

Friday, October 12, 2012, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
University of Maryland, College Park, Colony Ballroom, Stamp Student Union
www.bootcamp.umd.edu


The Startup Boot Camp is a one-day event for entrepreneurs and innovators of all shapes and sizes. Have an idea? We will help you advance it. Want to bounce ideas off of experts? They will be there in droves. Want to join a team, learn about fundraising and intellectual property, or just explore all of the wonderful resources UMD has to offer for entrepreneurs? Then this is the event for you. Everyone and everything UMD has to offer entrepreneurs will be in one place. Don't miss it!

Boot Camp's Three Thrusts (pick one or visit all three!): Study Hall, Innovation Fridays, and Informal Startup Fundamentals Study Groups

Study Hall: Crowd-Sourced Idea Iteration

Study hall is where you identify your idea, your specific needs, and who you'd like to connect with. You or your team will be assigned a table and your idea and needs will be highlighted on the big board to direct interested and relevant people in the audience to your table to connect with you.

(Inaugural) Innovation Fridays: Where All Ideas Are Welcome

Innovation Fridays are for everyone. No idea is too new or too crazy. We will have experts from across the university and the region available to give you advice, no matter what your idea is or how far along you are. You will have individual meetings to discuss your ideas 1-on-1. We will offer you free and impartial advice, brainstorm business strategies, investigate funding opportunities, discover new research avenues, find funding and learn about the additional resources available to researchers and entrepreneurs. Innovation Fridays are geared towards people who may not be ready to put their ideas up on the big board for Study Hall.

Informal Startup Fundamentals Study Groups

Don't have an idea and just want to learn? Visit the Boot Camp's informal study tables, available throughout the day. Learn from expert-led discussions about topics such as the university invention disclosure and licensing process, fundraising, intellectual property, the business model canvas, or market research.

Win Cash

The workshop will be bookended by investor pitches. The best pitches at the end of the Boot Camp will receive cash prizes. To be eligible for the $500 prize money at the end of the day, people or teams must pitch at the beginning and participate in Study Hall. To participate in Study Hall, you need to be one of the first 30 people or teams who present in the initial Study Hall pitch at 10:10 a.m.

The Boot Camp is a guided, hands-on workshop designed to help you advance your entrepreneurial ideas. You should leave the event prepared to take well-defined next steps that can lead you towards success.

The Boot Camp is FREE to University of Maryland students, faculty and staff. The cost is $49 for all others. Lunch is included.

Register at: www.bootcamp.umd.edu