Leading the Charge: Business Competition Lessons from SiNode Systems

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A Year of Learning

In the business world, SiNode Systems is becoming known for its success in recent business competitions as much as for its innovative, high-performance anodes for lithium ion batteries. The startup out of Northwestern University won the 2013 Rice Business Competition, the largest such competition in the world, as well as the 2013 Clean Energy Prize on the back of its cutting edge battery technology and a strong team of founders. Since the competitions, SiNode has gone on to secure private investment, receive a federal research grant, and form industry partnerships as it continues to grow

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July 23rd, 2013 | Tags: , , , | Category: Best Practices, Competitions, Entrepreneurship, iStart News, Starting A Startup, Stories | Leave a comment

Best Practices for Running a Business Competition

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Whether you are planning to run a business plan, a business model, pitch or idea competition there is a couple of things I have noticed from hosting a couple of hundred competitions in the last two years that you may want to consider.

Don’t run a competition just to check a box for your organization. Business competitions are a wonderful way to provide experiential learning for your applicants. If you can’t put in the time and provide a clear benefit to those applicants, education, mentorship or capital, let them know about other competitions and help prepare them. In a recent

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May 28th, 2013 | Tags: , , | Category: Best Practices, Competitions, Entrepreneurship, iStart News, Running a Competition | Leave a comment

Starting a Startup: A Founder’s Journey – Featuring JJ Tang of Vantage Realized

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There are many definitions for the word “startup.” However, a single group of seven words will hardly describe the journey a founding entrepreneur will embark upon during the establishment of his or her company. Business plan competitions are an exciting way to develop new relationships and earn funding. However the top benefit could be experiential learning.

Today, iStart explores the expedition of founder JJ Tang of Vantage Realized, Edson Accelerator winner.

iStart: Tell us about your company?

JJ: Just over a year ago, three friends came together with a mission to change the world for the better. Dana, father of

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July 30th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Business Plans, Competitions, Entrepreneurship, Funding, Running a Competition, Starting A Startup, Stories | Leave a comment

Starting a Startup: A Founder’s Journey – Featuring Brandon Iglesias of ReactWell

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There are many definitions for the word “startup.” However, a single group of seven words will hardly describe the journey a founding entrepreneur will embark upon during the establishment of his or her company. Business plan competitions are an exciting way to develop new relationships and earn funding. However the top benefit is experiential learning.

Today, iStart Now explores the expedition of founder Brandon Iglesias of ReactWell, local winner of the 2012 Tulane Business Plan Competition.

iStart: Tell us about your company?

Brandon: ReactWell is a biomass to crude oil and bioproduct production platform

Why did you decided to start

Continue reading Starting a Startup: A Founder’s Journey – Featuring Brandon Iglesias of ReactWell

May 30th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Business Plans, Competitions, Entrepreneurship, Starting A Startup, Stories | Leave a comment