At a time when many adults are feeling the stresses of major economic challenges and a rapidly changing global marketplace, students at Camp BizSmart, an entrepreneurial business academy that inspires tweenpreneurs, are demonstrating the power of being energized by problems. These young aspiring entrepreneurs working directly with successful company CEO’s and founders, are given real business challenges that the companies are facing. If that were not a tough enough challenge, these students 11-15, who have no previous experience in creating business solutions, have only 10 days to complete their task.

Hope Lab VP Richard Tate discusses the business challenge

Udo Waibel, Hara co-founder, shares the business problem

Sound impossible? Than you don’t know these students and the amazing team of faculty and staff that mentor them through the essential hands-on skill building that allows them to build piece by piece the thought process and critical components that create a game-changing product to address a customers need. Camp BizSmart 2010 took on two big issues facing out nation, energy efficiency and childhood obesity.

Knowing that some of the best learning happens in the struggle, co-founders, Dr. Mike Gibbs and Peggy Gibbs, have created an intense, yet fun, immersion that simulates what it is like to startup a company or work on a project team to create and execute on a new business idea. Students learn to be persistent and collaborative while they gain confidence, problem solving and critical thinking to support and defend their business solution with fierce courage and passion.

By bringing great examples of successful entrepreneurship, these students heard why overcoming obstacles, creating new solutions to great challenges, and doing so in an ethical way that creates great impact for people all around the world is not only a good idea it is good business and therefore, worth their energy, their passion and their skills.

Inc Entrepreneur of the Year, Kevin Surace, CEO Serious Materials

Founded in 2007, Camp BizSmart has rapidly expanded to operate at 4 locations, Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and in Oahu, Punahou and Iolani Schools with a newly introduced program in Hyderabad, India just this summer. Students who competed in the 2 week programs in Oahu, SCU and Stanford and won a 1st or 2nd place ranking were eligible for the grand finale round. The Camp BizSmart First Annual “Tweenpreneurs of the Year” competition has just concluded and after carefully reviewing the written business plans and final presentations from each eligible team, the judges have made their decisions for the top 1st and 2nd place teams of 2010.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the CampBizSmart, “Tweenpreneurs of 2010″:

• “Top Tweenpreneur Team of 2010 goes to Hara 2, Santa Clara University session” who has been named, the 1st place team for 2010 out of the 3 Camp BizSmart regional competitions. Team members are: Gregory Hosono, CEO, Devan Panchal, CTO, Gloria Liou, CFO, Maggie Sun, CMO, Jeremy Veis, CSO and Dylan Patel, CIO. The students were challenged by Hara executives to design a fun and creative iPad Hara OMI app that would help Fortune 500 businesses calculate and improve their OMI or efficient use of resources.

Hara 2, SCU wins grand finale, named 2010 top team

WAGIC rendering of Hara 2's winning solution

• “Tweenpreneur Team with the most innovative idea, ready to go to market, goes to Hope Lab 1, Santa Clara University session” who captured the 2nd place,  judges choice award  out of the 3 Camp BizSmart regional competitions. Team members are: Monica Thukral, CEO, Aditya Reddy, CTO, Seema Saini, CFO, Alyssa Saviage, CMO, Hannah Robinson, CSO, Raymond Zhuang, CIO. Hope Lab executives have been working on reducing childhood obesity and challenged students to test, evaluate and improve upon their concept of an activity tracker, the Zamzee prototype, to engage and create effective incentives for tweens 11-14 to get active and get healthy.

Hope Lab 1, SCU wins 2nd place in grand prize 2010

Hope Lab 1, SCU 2nd place winning design, WAGIC rendering

Both teams, as part of their grand prize, will make presentations to the company that provided their business problem and will engage in a lively discussion with the executives on the details of their solution.  Much like a product development team within a company, they will find out what the executive team thinks about their solution and what is required to actually take their business solution to market.  Students learn during Camp BizSmart that, “lots of people have dreams, entrepreneurs have goals” – and, “an idea is just that – an idea – until you successfully execute upon it”.  Therefore, these candid conversations with company executives, help the students to understand what is required to take a great idea into the marketplace to let the customer decide what is truly successful. A valuable lesson to learn early in life.

Camp BizSmart not only inspires young entrepreneurs, they are helping students be confident and courageous and use critical thinking when solving problems, embracing change as a natural state and looking forward to creating bold innovations that have positive impact.

So, when you find yourself concerned about the state of the world, remember that organizations like Camp BizSmart are inspiring young entrepreneurs to be the difference they want to see in the world! Founders, Mike and Peggy Gibbs, believe that providing these young people with these essential skills will create the thoughtful inventors and entrepreneurs we need to ignite a renaissance of critical thinkers with a can-do spirit!

Camp BizSmart, CEO Mike Gibbs says, "These young entrepreneurs are the ones to watch!"

Special thanks go to the company sponsors and their executives who worked with their teams to provide Camp BizSmart business problems this year: Udo Waibel, Amit Chatterjee and Katherine Brittain of Hara and James Bickford of Tigo and Darren Kimura of Sopogy in the energy efficiency space; and Carey White and Larry Tobin of Club One, Inc. and Pat Christen, Richard Tate, Liz Song and Chris Murchison of Hope Lab in the health and fitness space. Ken and Ron Johnson of WAGIC, who provided their design team, Anders, Cassie, Valerie, Sueng, and Steve to make the students sketches come to life. Faculty mentors, Howard Charney, Cisco Sr. VP, Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials, Maigread Eichten, Eichten Consulting, James Bickford, Tigo Business Development, Paul Witkay, Founder, Alliance of CEO’s, Greg Kim, lawyer and Russel Cheng, entrepreneur, Robert Yonover, inventor, Sharon Web and Chris Horgan, intellectual property. Business Plan Competition sponsor for Silicon Valley sessions: Dan’l Lewin, Sr. VP, Microsoft; Site sponsors, Jim Sweeney, Dir. Precourt Center for Energy Efficiency, Stanford University, Dan Aguiar, Dir. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Santa Clara University, Ann Yoneshige, Iolani School and Cathy Kawano-Ching, and Casey Agena, Punahou School, Oahu. and Mr. K. Sharat Chandra and Mr. T. Anatharajan, for arranging the Indian School for Business, Hyderabad. Mini-case sponsors: Ron Hazelton with iBuild2 and Tim Jahnigan and Mal Walwick with One World Futbol and Bronson Chang -Uncle Clay’s.  Competition judges, Lata Krishnan, Bill Reichert, Manish Chandra, David Dembitz, Harry Motro, George Chao, Maigread Eichten, Paul Witkay, Greg Kim, Patt Steiner and Robin Campaniano. And to our great Camp Directors – Bryan Cockel, John Rankin and Ellen Pieterse, our amazing staff, facilitators and leaders in training  at each site – you were great!

Thanks to you all for inspiring Young Entrepreneurs! It’s been quite a year, we look forward to expanding even more to inspire yet more students with entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving!  We are already signing up great companies to provide innovative business problems for students to solve in 2011. If you know of a curious student age 11-15 who loves to solve problems and learn about business while they do -you  will want to tell them about Camp BizSmart.

You know how people always say that if you want to be a great tennis player, play with people better than you? So you want to be a great entrepreneur? Well, the same thing applies – if you want to be a great critical thinker, problem solver and innovator – hang out with great thinkers who have demonstrated success solving real problems!

Do great role models matter? We believe they do, and that’s why the entrepreneurs who come to share their wisdom and experiences with students at Camp BizSmart are selected with great care. These entrepreneurs have created successful companies, with real value and are also great people who are respected by their peers! We honor them because they take time out of their very busy schedules to inspire the Camp BizSmart students knowing how important it is to fill kids up with great stuff to get great stuff back.

So here’s to our heroes – the dreamers and visionaries who are doers and collaborators creating amazing value that is good for all of us! Let me share a glimpse of the entrepreneurs who are mentoring and inspiring our students in Silicon Valley this summer:

Maigread Eichten is a kick-off speaker for us at Stanford and Santa Clara talking about what makes great teams and how to work with the company executives who have sponsored business problems this summer. Last year, whenMaigread was the CEO for FRS, the company sponsored a business problem for student teams to solve.

Maigread Eichten

Maigread has led teams as CEO at FRS and now Eichten consulting.

Howard Charney, Sr. VP for Cisco, is an annual favorite! Howard talks to the students about solving the right problem, critical thinking and respecting your team. Having founded 3 companies including 3com and Grand Junction, he knows about innovation and working with a great team to achieve great things!

Howard Charney

Howard also shares insight from his journey as an entrepreneur and holds a “contest of ideas” with the students to let them pre-test their business solutions before going in front of a panel of judges for our business plan competition.

Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials, and Inc Magazine, “entrepreneur of the year”. Kevin talked about what it’s like to start-up a company, stating it takes persistence, innovation and determination because there will be good days and hard days and you need to be ready to get through them both! He gave real examples of being a game-changer and valuable thoughts on how to address tough problems and tough questions other throw at you. Kevin’s company sponsored a business problem in 2009.

Kevin Surace

Chris Horgan, of Pinnacle, demystified the topic of intellectual property, what has value and what can be protected. We all think that our ideas are extremely valuable – but are they? And if they are, can they be protected? Should they be? An interesting discussion from an industry expert who made the topic easy to understand. He created a game for us to teach what intellectual property is. The kids loved it!

Chris Horgan

James Bickford, is one of our young entrepreneurs, having founded his first company, Valence Energy, while he was still a student at Santa Clara University, and now working with a second company, Tigo Energy to continue building his career at the ripe old age of 23! James share his story of leading the 2008 SCU Solar Decathlon team to 3rd place in the national competition overcoming what seemed like insurmountable odds. A great story about always being ready to compete, overcoming obstacles and never giving up!

James Bickford

Entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation applies to all kinds of business. Students sometimes forget that those who have chosen a career in the arts must use good business skills if they want to create a sustainable business. Remember the old saying ” how do you get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice, practice, practice!” It is fitting to close with this next entrepreneur, a musician, teacher, and composer – Brian Moran. He is part of a local Brazilian Jazz group, Grupo Falso Baiano.

Brian Moran

Brian was able to share with the students that it isn’t enough to have a talent or a love of something – though a very good place to start. You must want it enough to put the time in, be persistent, dedicated, practice so you know it really well and can then color your presentation with the richness of your experience and the passion that made you believe so strongly in committing to this idea, this problem to solve, this song to write, your part to play as a soloist or in a well-honed team. Making beautiful music as well as making successful companies looks easy when a master is showing you what they do – but oh my friend do not be fooled – even though you did not see it happen – it took lots of dedication, persistence, and the willingness to defeat obstacles by coming up with yet again, new solutions. Brian wrote our original “Camp BizSmart Theme”. We will post it soon for your enjoyment. In the meantime, dream of ways to solve the problems you encounter and be determined to create value in your world. Creating something of great value takes hard work, guts and determination, but it is worth every effort you put into it! Thanks to all of those who inspire us to stretch and grow beyond what we are today to be ready to solve the great challenges of tomorrow!

Serious Materials Team brainstorming A 21st century classroom design

Camp BizSmart is pleased to announce  our newest location for ”Tweenpreneurs” age 11-15 will be  at Stanford University July 6-17, 2010.  Innovative companies with passionate & inspirational founders & leaders from companies like Serious Materials, Hara, Valence Energy, and FRS, challenge the students to solve important “hot topic” problems.  Executive mentors from Apple, Google, Cisco and WAGIC mentor and coach the students in the basics of innovation and design, business planning, marketing and sales, idea generation, and finance.   Students hone their writing and presentation skills as they prepare to pitch their business plan to a panel of Silicon Valley investors.  Students compete for the ”top business plan” and  “best go to market idea”.  The top two teams pitch to CEO’s in the boardroom following Camp BizSmart.  The grand prize winning team appears at a prestigious entrepreneur event. Spaces are limited – sign up now!

Valence Energy Team pitching a cool invention to clean solar panels