Pace Lubin

 

BOOT CAMP FEATURED ON NATIONAL TV

From Soldier to Entrepreneur

SciTech Now, April 29, 2015

Verizon and Pace University Entrepreneur Boot Camp

Hiring America, April 25, 2015

Veterans Entrepreneurship Boot Camp

organized by supported by

The Entrepreneurship Lab

All tuition and supplies are provided for by a generous grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.

Final Presentations & Networking Reception

Boot Camp 1 & 2: Photos & Videos and Highlights

Boot Camp 3 & 4: Photos & Videos and Highlights

Boot Camp 5 & 6: Photos & Videos and Highlights

About the Program

A hands-on technology focused program providing participants with valuable skills that can be applied immediately. Small groups meet in the state of the art Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab) in downtown Manhattan. Instruction and guidance provided by professionals with real world experience. The seven week (summer four week) program includes business and technical instruction, as well as collaborative lab time and networking opportunities.

 

 


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Program Description

Overview

The Entrepreneurship Boot Camp at Pace University is designed around two central elements: a focused, practical training in the tools and skills of new venture creation and growth; and the technical application that will allow participants the opportunity to launch a startup.

The Boot Camp will meet once each week for seven weeks (summer boot camps will be four weeks). Each meeting will consist of the following elements:

  1. 1 hour of business instruction focused on a core element of entrepreneurship, such as opportunity identification and analysis, organizations and operations plan, entrepreneurial finance and marketing, business plan writing, and pitching.

  2. 1 hour of technical instruction that will provide participants with the foundation for creating their own website.

  3. 1 hour of lab-based instruction in which participants will begin to create their own website through the use of tools they have learned during technical instruction.

Activities

Entrepreneurship Instruction

The activities of the Boot Camp will be structured to help veterans connect their military experience to business concepts. The role of the Entrepreneurship instructor will be to arm the participants with the ability to identify and analyze opportunity, conduct research, and create detailed plans to cover three important aspects of business which are operations, marketing, and financial. The facilitator will help the veterans set achievable goals and regularly access their progress.

Technology Instruction

The program will provide academic and lab-based instruction on the most important web development tools and languages. Being on the web is critical for most businesses as it is shows seriousness and commitment to all stakeholders. The goal of the program is to train the participants to be able to independently create or oversee the creation and maintenance of a website. Mastering any technology will require substantial time commitment and dedicated practice. The participants will have access to the computers available in the University’s Entrepreneurship Lab.

Networking & Presentation

The veterans will also be given an opportunity to network and collaborate throughout the course. A networking event will be held at the beginning of the courses to allow the participants the chance to connect about their business ideas and make connections. At the end of the courses, a Demonstration Day will be held to allow the participants to present their business concepts to industry experts, investors, and venture capitalists.

 

Program Outline

Session Entrepreneurship Technology Lab
1 Introductions and Program Overview
After participants, instructors and staff introduce themselves, a brief overview of the 7-week program will be presented. Each of the 3-hour weekly session will have three distinct components: an interactive lecture on key business topics; hands-on instruction covering a variety of practical technology resources; and individual lab time where participants develop their business concepts and apply what they learned, with the assistance of instructors and staff.

The Nature and Importance of Entrepreneurship
At its core, entrepreneurship is a mindset – a way of thinking and acting. It is about imagining new ways to solve problems and create value. Fundamentally, entrepreneurship is about opportunity; the ability to recognize a new opportunity, to methodically analyze the opportunity and, ultimately, to actually capture the opportunity. These skills are important not only for those seeking to establish a new venture, but are increasingly critical in a wide variety of professional careers in In today's hyper-competitive marketplace, where rapid technological innovation and globalization has led to corporate downsizing and a dramatic increase in entrepreneurial activity.

Technology Overview

Importance of a website & tech tools for entrepreneurs
Participants will learn how successful entrepreneurs create a web presence and use technology tools to help build their businesses.

Learn basics of Microsoft Office and Google Docs & SkyDrive
Microsoft Office tools like Word, Excel and PowerPoint are critical for most businesses. Participants will learn basics of using the most popular Microsoft Office applications. Participants will also learn how to use SkyDrive and Google Drive to work collaboratively and also publish documents on the internet.

Know how to register a domain name and set up web hosting
Participants will learn about various options for hosting websites, including traditional web hosting services and new & upcoming cloud hosting services like Amazon AWS, Oracle Cloud and Google Cloud Computing & Cloud Hosting Services.

Create documents using Microsoft Office applications and Google Docs

Participants will upload and download files using CoreFTP and Google Cloud.

2 Entrepreneurial Strategy
Why are some firms consistently successful while others perform poorly and fail? This is a central question in strategic management. At a very basic level, strategy is simply about the actions a business takes to attain superior performance.  Ultimately, it is about achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. This objective is particularly challenging for new entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses that have limited resources. Management is primarily concerned with achieving organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner. Again, this is particularly challenging for firms with limited resources – especially talented human capital – and is a major reason why small businesses do not experience high growth.

Small Business Management
The definition of what constitutes a small business varies, but it is generally one that has less than 500 employees. The impact small businesses have on our economy is quite significant. They account for more than half of all private sector employment and are responsible for creating the majority of net new jobs over the past several decades. They also lead the way in new ideas, developing 65% of inventions and 95% of radical inventions since World War II. Managing a small business presents an array of unique challenges, requiring a breadth and depth of skills, and the ability to do it all with less resources than the competition.

Building a Basic Website

"Language of the browsers" – HTML
HTML or Hypertext Markup Language is the most important language for creating web pages. Participants learn the commonly used tags and attributes.

Add style with CSS
CSS or Cascading Style Sheet helps style website without too much of clutter and the ability to reuse settings for several web pages.

Create an intuitive webpage with JavaScript
JavaScript is the first step towards providing interactivity. Participants will learn JavaScript functions that can be used to create a unique experience for the user.

Make websites ready for any device with responsive JS frameworks
Participants will learn fundamental concepts of advanced JavaScript or JS Frameworks like Bootstrap, JQuery and Ajax. These easy to use frameworks can make a website adapt any screen dimensions.

Create static webpages for a business website.
3 Entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales
Getting the attention of customers and building brand awareness is particularly difficult for a new venture. Techniques such as guerrilla marketing and viral advertising have been used effectively and social media is certainly opening a myriad of opportunities and leveled the playing field. Staying close to the consumer and building customer relationships is increasingly critical.
Advanced Tools for a Professional Quality Website

Save and retrieve information with PHP and MySQL
PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is a programming language suited for new web developers. MySQL is a database platform to store information. Participants will learn to save user entered information into databases and also create sessions to let users Sign Up and Login to the website.

Sign up users with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & Google
Participants will learn how to integrate social authentication into their websites. This integration will speed up the Sign Up process and help connect the business with multiple users easily through these social networks.

Learn how to blog using WordPress
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS). Participants will learn how to use the WordPress Dashboard and add plugins based on specific requirements. Squarespace an alternative.

Integrate e-commerce solutions
Participants will learn about the most popular e-commerce solution providers like Shopify & Magneto and learn how to accept payments with PayPal and Amazon.

Create dynamic webpages and add login functionality to the website.

Integrate social authentication to the login.

Install WordPress and create a blog.

4 Entrepreneurial Finance
As entrepreneurs and small business owners often work with limited financial resources, it is imperative that they fully understand and appreciate the impact finance has on their operations. They must be comfortable reading financial statements and performing financial analysis. It is imperative that entrepreneurs fully grasp their current finances and are able to accurately forecast their financial position.
Social Media and Web Marketing tools

Use social plugins for user feedback
Participants will learn how to add social media plugins from Facebook, Twitter and a popular integrated platform Disqus.

Market your website with search engines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are associated with marketing websites through search engines. Participants will learn how to create content to make their website accessible to search engines and also learn how to work with Google AdWords and Bing Ads.

Email Marketing with Constant Contact
Participants will learn about acquiring emailing lists and creating quality emails to attract customers.

Integrate social plugins to a website.

Create sample marketing email.

Write relevant content for making a website visible to search engines.

5 Legal Issues
Choosing a corporate structure, shareholder agreements, investor regulations, intellectual property protection, contracts, and liability concerns are some of the legal issues entrepreneurs must deal with. Having a basic understanding of these issues and being aware of the potential impact they pose is of critical importance.

The Business Plan
There are numerous reasons to prepare a formal business plan. For many, the first one that comes to mind is to raise funds. While that is certainly a major consideration, it may not be the most important. Business planning should be thought of as a ‘process of discover’ – a realization of just how many unknowns and uncertainties exist – followed by a methodical and analytical approach to finding and presenting information in a clear and compelling format. If the business plan successfully demonstrates a talented team committed to pursuing a viable opportunity with and feasible business model, funding will follow, though rarely quickly or easily as factors in the general environment and risk versus return considerations weigh on potential investors. In many cases, the real value of writing a business plan is the process of actually creating it.

Basics of Photo and Video Editing

Create high quality logos and edit photos with Adobe Photoshop
Participants will learn how to use basic tools in Adobe Photoshop to create vector logos and edit photos.

Edit videos with Adobe Premier Pro
Adobe Premier Pro has a professional video editing software that is used to edit videos in several formats. Participants will learn to use the software to help create marketing videos.

Create vector logo using Adobe Photoshop

Edit Photos using Adobe Photoshop

Edit video using Adobe Premier Pro

6 The Art of Pitching
Pitching is based on the Elevator Pitch concept, popular in the venture capital community. It is an extremely concise presentation of an entrepreneur's idea, management team, business model, competitive analysis, marketing strategy, and financial plan, which is delivered to potential investors. The premise is that it could be made in a few minutes, should the entrepreneur spot a potential investor on an elevator and have the opportunity to pitch their idea during the brief ride. It must be clear, concise and convincing. The ability to make such an oral presentation is an incredibly valuable skill, especially in today’s frenetic business environment
3D Designing and Rapid Prototyping

Create basic 3D solid models with Autodesk 123D
3D Solid modeling or designing is the creation of virtual models of physical objects. Autodesk 123D is a simple design tool which lets users create 3D models and then make them ready for printing with consumer level 3D printers like MakerBot.

Learn to prototype models with MakerBot 3D printer
Participants will learn how to print prototypes with 3D models designed using Autodesk 123D.

Design a 3D model using Autodesk 123D

Print a model using the MakerBot 3D printer

7

Demo Day

Networking and Pitch

 

 

Important Dates

Two separate boot camps will be organized each in Fall 2014 & Spring 2015. The first boot camp will run from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM and the second will run from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Similarly, two boot camps will be held in Summer 2015 (Dates will be made available shortly). Participants may choose the boot camp based on their availability.

Summer 2015
Session Boot Camp 5  - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Boot Camp 6 - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
1 Thursday, June 4th 2015 Thursday, June 4th 2015
2 Tuesday, June 9th 2015 Tuesday, June 9th 2015
3 Thursday, June 11th 2015 Thursday, June 11th 2015
4 Tuesday, June 16th 2015 Tuesday, June 16th 2015
5 Thursday, June 18th 2015 Thursday, June 18th 2015
6 Tuesday, June 23rd 2015 Tuesday, June 23rd 2015
7 Thursday, June 25th 2015 Thursday, June 25th 2015

 

Spring 2015
Session Boot Camp 3  - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Boot Camp 4 - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
1 Thursday, February 19th 2015 Thursday, February 19th 2015
2 Thursday, March 5th 2015 Thursday, March 5th 2015
3 Thursday, March 12th 2015 Thursday, March 12th 2015
4 Thursday, March 26th 2015 Thursday, March 26th 2015
5 Thursday, April 2nd 2015 Thursday, April 2nd 2015
6 Thursday, April 9th 2015 Thursday, April 9th 2015
7 Thursday, April 23rd 2015 Thursday, April 23rd 2015

 

Fall 2014
Session Boot Camp 1 - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Boot Camp 2 - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
1 Thursday, October 9th 2014 Thursday, October 9th 2014
2 Thursday, October 16th 2014 Thursday, October 16th 2014
3 Thursday, October 23rd 2014 Thursday, October 23rd 2014
4 Thursday, October 30th 2014 Thursday, October 30th 2014
5 Thursday, November 6th 2014 Thursday, November 6th 2014
6 Thursday, November 13th 2014 Thursday, November 13th 2014
7 Thursday, November 20th 2014 Thursday, November 20th 2014

 

1. Complete the online Application Form.

Application form in now CLOSED.

2. Submit your DD Form 214 and your latest Resume by emailing it to Elizabeth Jovanoska, Associate Program Director at ejovanoska@pace.edu

 

Administration

Bruce Bachenheimer, Program Director & Entrepreneurship Facilitator
Bruce Bachenheimer is a Clinical Professor of Management and the Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab at Pace University. He is also the organizer of the annual Pace Pitch Contest and Business Plan Competition. Mr. Bachenheimer is a member of the Board and past Chair of the New York City Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum and has served on the organization’s Global Board. He is a board advisor for several private firms, an ELabNYC Mentor and has served as a consultant to governmental organizations and a variety of new ventures. He has been widely quoted in a variety of domestic and international publications, interviewed on radio and television, and has spoken on entrepreneurship at numerous organizations, including the Youth Assembly at the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Mr. Bachenheimer began his career in investment banking and has worked for global corporations and new ventures. He has conducted business in over two dozen countries and was the founder of Annapolis Maritime Corp. and the Co-Founder of StockCentral Australia. Mr. Bachenheimer holds a BBA, Summa Cum Laude, from Pace University. He received the McKinsey & Company Leadership Scholarship to pursue an MBA degree, which he earned from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

 

Elizabeth Jovanoska, Associate Program Director & Technical Facilitator
Elizabeth Jovanoska is the Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab). Elizabeth plays the role of a mentor and a guide to students interested in entrepreneurship. She helps students execute their business strategy and implement marketing and technology strategies. She leads a team of student assistants to create and organize events including Annual Pace Pitch Contest, Speaker Series and Workshops. Elizabeth has over 14 years of strategy, business development and marketing experience in the financial services sector with her most recent role at American Express, Sydney, Australia. Her passion is in entrepreneurship, and has run her own online start-up in the fashion industry. Elizabeth holds an executive MBA degree from Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia.

 

Drew Mogren, Veterans Program Coordinator
Drew Mogren grew up in the town of Oswego, NY, attending the Hannibal high school, which boasted a student body in the area of five hundred. Being from a small town he knew his employment options were scarce, and the military had always been something he was interested in. The events of 2001 solidified Drew's decision, the summer after his senior year in 2007 he signed a SEALs contract and left for Navy boot camp. During a training exercise Drew sustained an injury and was provided with an ultimatum; remain in the navy as an undesignated seaman, or, separate and use my GI bill benefits. At Pace University he has maintained a 3.5 GPA as an entrepreneurship concentration and a finance minor. Upon graduating, the military is again an appealing employment option and maintaining a connection to that culture is very important to him. Drew will apply himself fully to the betterment of the other veteran students, as well as the organization that has given him this amazing opportunity. 

 

 

 

For information about the Veterans Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, please contact:

Bruce Bachenheimer
Program Director
E-mail: bbachenheimer@pace.edu
Phone: 212-618-6663
Fax: 212-618-6664

Elizabeth Jovanoska
Associate Program Director
E-mail: ejovanoska@pace.edu
Phone: 212-618-6667
Fax: 914-989-8101

Entrepreneurship Lab address:
163 William Street, Room 344
New York, NY 10038
 

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