Entreprenuership at Princeton

Princeton's campus is like a catalogue of how-to books: It abounds with opportunities for students to learn how to do everything, from writing essays to wiring circuits.

Learning about starting high-tech ventures, however, has not traditionally been a part of the Princeton experience. Like other universities, Princeton has been slow to provide support for budding student entrepreneurs.

A student organization called the Entrepreneurship Club, however, is filling this void and is bringing together students who want to prepare for entrepreneurial careers.

The club's president is Arthur Steinbock '01, a Wilson School major. "Our focus is definitely on technology," Steinbock said. "This is natural since students tend to get their ideas from lab work or working with professors. These people are at the cutting edge of their field, so their ideas are typically centered around some technological innovation."

Professor Ed Zschau '61 supports the club as part of his larger role promoting entrepreneurship at Princeton. Zschau, who has been involved in high-tech businesses for most of his life, holds several advanced degrees and represented Silicon Valley for two terms in Congress.

He came to the University after a 1997 conversation with James Wei, the dean of the engineering school. Zshau and Wei agreed that it was important to launch Princeton's "entrepreneurial flywheel" — the process of spinning of technologies developed at the University into faculty and student-run commercial ventures.

Zschau said his effort to infuse the campus with entrepreneurial spirit has several components. He teaches a seminar for graduating seniors and graduate students about how to turn technologies into commercially viable products. He works directly with students and faculty to turn technologies into business ideas.

And, working with student leaders, he advises the Entrepreneurship Club. The club runs a speakers series that brings successful high-tech entrepreneurs from around the nation to campus and an annual business plan contest with a $10,000 cash prize for first place.

"What's great about having speakers come to campus is that they take some of the air of mysticm away when we get to hear them speak and ask them questions, which I think is important for all burgeoning entrepreneurs," Matt Hyder '01, speakers series director, said in an e-mail.

One of the club's largest events is its annual business plan contest. Funded by a grant from venture capitalist Howard Cox '64, the contest recruits real investors to judge student business plans. Philip Michaelson '03 and Adrienne Clark '02 organized this year's contest. "When I got to campus my freshman year, I heard an extremely large statistic about the number of students who go to work for large consulting and investment banking firms after graduation," Michaelson said about his reason for joining the club.

He wanted to explore the possibility of working in a more entrepreneurial setting. "We had a fear that the possibility of impending failure for the hyped dot-coms was going to negatively impact this year's contest," Michaelson noted in an e-mail.

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Instead, they ended up with nearly as many entries as last year.

"I was glad that the ideas reflected the changing market for new businesses. We are looking to expand the contest to provide additional advice and guidance to individuals as they develop their plans, rather than providing information along the developmental path and then advice at the end," Michaelson added. "I can see the club becoming a network and a resource for students who become entrepreneurs."

Entries in this year's contest covered a wide range of technological areas, from online radio to industrial management.

The winning team was a group of four seniors who have obtained a patent for a new technology to make electrical power more reliable. Erik Limpaecher, Mark Holveck, John Lerch, and Daren Hammell plan to go in to business full time after graduation, explained Hammell in an e-mail.

"Voltage sags are a serious power quality problem in many industries," said Hammell. "Anytime your lights flicker, or your computer shuts off without warning, those are minor examples of the numerous power quality problems that happen every year. In industry, these problems cause losses of millions of dollars per event due to computerized factory control systems failing, motors slowing down, and continuous processes being interrupted.

"Our technology allows us to produce devices to solve these problems for a fraction of the cost of our cheapest competitor," Hammel explained.

Rob Katcher GS and Brooke Lang '01 placed second in the contest with a proposal for an internet infrastructure venture. Their proposed firm, Influid, will make routers, a key hardware tool used in computer networks, Katcher noted in an e-mail.

"Influid plans to take standard hardware components, package them with an operating system developed here at Princeton, and sell routers for significantly lower cost than our competitors," he explained.