| Special Programs and Events |
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The University Center for Entrepreneurship sponsors several events, workshops and programs throughout the year. Listed below are opportunities currently offered. Please check this page regularly to see other ways you can be involved with and utilize the resources of the Entrepreneurship Center! Fall 2009 New Venture Workshops Legal Help for Starting a New Venture Tuesday, September 22, 6 - 7 p.m. Steve Virgil, Director of the Wake Forest Community Law and Business Clinic will discuss legal issues that all entrepreneurs should be familiar with. Topics will include:
Mr. Virgil will also provide an overview of what free legal services student entrepreneurs can receive through the Wake Forest Community Law and Business Clinic. Grant Writing Workshop & Feedback Session Learn what it takes to write a successful grant proposal. Advisors with the University Center for Entrepreneurship will also be available to provide feedback and assistance on grant proposals for the New Venture Seed Grant and the Chambers Family Fund for Entrepreneurship Grants. Past EventsGetting Started - How to Launch an Entrepreneurial Venture Tuesday, September 15, 6 - 7 p.m. Learn what it takes to start a new venture and how the University Center for Entrepreneurship can help. The workshop will address issues such as how to monetize your idea, how to assess the feasibility, and how to develop an effective business model. Information about the New Venture Seeds Grant and Chambers Family Fund for Entrepreneurship Grant will also be distributed.
More opportunities coming soon!For more information on upcoming opportunities, contact:J. Bren Varner John Ceneviva University Center for Entrepreneurship 208 Kirby Hall 336.758.3312 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
| Pro Humanitate Social Enterprise at Wake Forest |
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The motto of Wake Forest University is Pro Humanitate. Many students choose to attend Wake Forest because of the opportunity to get involved in volunteer work that benefits other people, and in fact the largest student organization on campus is the Volunteer Service Corps which has pro humanitate as its mission. A major focus of entrepreneurship teaching, research and practice is in the area of social entrepreneurship. Social enterprise takes on two forms. Some new ventures, though organized as for-profit ventures, have social welfare as the focus of their efforts. Other new ventures are organized as not-for-profits, having similar types of social welfare goals but operating with different "business" models. Social enterprise is active on the Wake Forest campus. Project Bokonon, a not-for-profit enterprise, was formed in 2002 and works to provide medical supplies to Benin, West Africa. Organized by student Rosita Najmi and advised by Dr. Sylvain Boko (Economics department), Project Bokonon has an active student management team, a board of directors, and is looking to expand to other campuses. See the Student Entrepreneurs and Alumni Entrepreneurs section of this website for more information about Project Bokonon, Backpacks Abroad, and other social enterprise projects. In addition, the Babcock Graduate School of Management hosts a national case-writing competition each year that includes awards for the best social enterprise cases. These cases can be used subsequently in the classroom as instructional tools to enhance teaching about social enterprise. The University Center for Entrepreneurship actively supports social enterprise efforts. A committee of students is working to assemble resources to support social enterprise projects on campus. These will include a library of reading materials, examples of previous work done to start up not-for-profit enterprises, hosting guest speakers, and identifying faculty around campus interested in teaching about social enterprise and not-for-profits. The Pro Humanitate Committee of the Center is organized by Hillary Francis, who may be contacted This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The Center will seek to support qualified social enterprise ideas as key projects. Click here for more information on How to Get Involved and about how to qualify ideas as formal projects. |
| Idea Evaluation Process |
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So you have an idea that you think would make for a terrific new venture? Be careful. Lots of people have lots of ideas. But not every idea makes economic sense; this is why the economic landscape is littered with failed new ventures, including the "dot-bombs" of the recent past. There is a "chicken and egg" question about ideas for new ventures. You will never know if an idea can be successful as a new venture until you try it, but trying every idea is bound to lead to lots of failures. So how can we help separate the wheat from the chaff, and only pursue the most promising ideas? The University Center for Entrepreneurship exists to help you with your ideas, and to help you become more educated about entrepreneurship in order to increase your odds of success. Before committing resources of the Center to an idea, we want to make sure it's a strong idea that makes sense to continue developing. So we have developed a process to help provide some initial evaluation, feedback, and guidance for the development of ideas into new venture projects. Below is a description of our process. Screen your idea -- You may have several ideas that have occurred to you about possible new ventures. The first step is to do a simple evaluation using some basic criteria that help distinguish more promising ideas from less promising ideas. These criteria include: creating a clear, articulate statement about your product/service and its benefits; carefully defining your intended target audience; examining the "industry" for basic characteristics such as size and growth trends; and identifying your probable competitors. You should also be asking other people what they think about your idea. The Center has a form for you to use to help you screen your idea. Click here for an Idea Screening Form Get informal feedback on your idea -- Several times each year the Center will provide forums in which you can get informal feedback on your idea and the screening you have already done. We schedule Sounding Boards during open meetings with the members of the Center, during which students outline their ideas and receive advice and comments from the members. These sessions are helpful because you get a lot of feedback from a number of people. The Center will also schedule Private Advisory discussions periodically; these will typically include a member of the faculty and representatives from the Center's student review committee. Typically, private sessions are for those ideas that may involve some type of proprietary, possibly patentable technology. Develop a Project Proposal -- With your own screening in hand plus having informal feedback from interested Center members, develop a Project Proposal to submit to the review committee. Your project proposal should follow these general Proposal Guidelines. Review Committee Evaluation -- The review committee will typically meet two times per year to deliberate on Project Proposals. The review committee consists of students, the Center Director, and an ad hoc group of faculty. Projects accepted by the review committee may get a physical work-station assignment in the Center and qualify for additional financial resources and support through the Center's annual operating budget. Project leaders of accepted projects have a responsibility to compose a team of students to assist in the planning of the new venture, and must establish and report on development goals for the project periodically. Return to "Get Involved!" web page. |
| How To Get Involved |
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Entrepreneurship is a fascinating and exciting social dynamic that impacts all of us. There are three ways in which you can get involved: attending sponsored events, as an Associate, and as a Project Leader. Attending events Anyone can participate informally in sponsored events and activities. Announcements about open events and activities are regularly posted on campus, on our website, and through e-mail newsletters. In addition, the Wake Forest Entrepreneurship Society hosts several events throughout the year. Associates Any student at any year in any major can also become an Associate of the Center. Associates are students who wish to learn about aspects of entrepreneurship by attending educational seminars, sponsored speaker events, meet entrepreneurs in the community, and/or assist in the development of other students' new ventures. To join as an associate, each student should submit an Associate Application form to the Center's director. The application seeks basic information about the student's background, interests, and contact information. We require an application because members have access 24/7 to secured space and equipment in Kirby Hall. Download an Associate Application Form. To submit an Associate application, fill out the following form and submit it to Bren Varner, Center Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it New Venture Project Leaders Many students have their own ideas about possible new ventures, and the Center is organized to assist the development of promising ideas. Project Leaders are students who propose and take the lead on the development of an approved new venture project. To be considered for a position of project leader, the student must submit a Project Application to the Center's Review Panel and participate in an interview about the proposed project. The Director and Review Panel will review the project proposal and make a decision on acceptance as an approved project. Each project leader must sign an Operation Agreement for any project approved by the directors and Review Panel. To learn more about having a project approved and the Center's new venture review process, please review the following documents: Information on Review Process Idea Screening Form Project Proposal Guidelines Operation Agreement Form for Approved Projects Completed applications and agreements should be submitted to Bren Varner, Director for the University Center for Entrepreneurship ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). |
| Overview |
In addition to the University Center for Entrepreneurship, Wake Forest offers two other centers for aspiring entrepreneurs. The graphic below depicts the different function and resources of these centers. 
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