T E X A S S T AT E U N I V E R S I T Y p r e s e n t s

April 24 – 26, 2020A virtual weekend workshop

filled with learning-by-doing exercises to teach entrepreneurial skills to a

cross-disciplinary student group in a hands-on environment.

1st Virtual

we did it ;-)

Virtual Entrepreneur Boot Camp 2020

The first Virtual Entrepreneur Boot Camp (EBC) debuted the last weekend in April, 2020. The Boot Camp offered an introduction to startup basics and entrepreneurial thinking over the course of 3 intensive days. A collaboration between the McCoy College of Business and the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the EBC provided students the opportunity to learn by doing, guided by mentors who included faculty and professional entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial workshops have been offered on campus many times before, but the current circumstances required a creative twist. Knowing there was a great deal of interest in entrepreneurship across campus, the faculty organizing committee, made up of Claudia Roeschmann, David Cameron, and Daniel Roy, decided to take the EBC online. The Zoom interface was robust and the mentors were able to each advise the teams by using the breakout room feature. This feature, which helped give the student groups an opportunity to work together in their own “space,” was put to good use; the students were able to return to the main room to ask for help if needed and the mentors were able to join a group for as long or as short as needed.

Student interest was indeed high. Twice the number of students applied than were spaces. Selected participants were from colleges and schools across the campus, were representative of the student body, and included undergraduates and graduate students alike.

The EBC started off with presentations by mentors about what an entrepreneurial mindset is and examples of the Bobcat Canvas. Created by the mentor team, the Bobcat Canvas is a streamlined version of common business development canvases. Grouped into 5 teams, the students worked together to propose potential new ventures by the end of the first day.

On the second day, armed with their team and their business idea, students were ready to begin creating their Bobcat Canvas. Mentors gave presentations about the different modules on the canvas and how the modules can be used to help assess the viability of a new business and its market opportunity. In between presentations, the students were given time to work with their team to craft the modules for their proposed business.

Each student team prepared a 60 second video pitch describing their proposed business on the final day. Esteemed guest panelists, Alvaro Soto and Hank Stringer, provided valuable feedback on the proposed ventures and offered suggestions of how each could be developed further.

Even in the online environment, a great spirit of camaraderie emerged from the outset. Unexpected pop-up activities and prizes helped add an additional level of interaction and fun. Students remained interested and engaged; mentors felt that the virtual environment was very conducive to effective and efficient interchange.

by Teresa W.

factoids + schedule

5 weeks to prep virtual event(4 Friday meetings with all organizers + 1 dry-run a week prior)

10 days to recruit(2 Info Sessions a week prior, all other recruiting through email + social media announcements)

58 applications

(break down: 36 Business +19 non-Business majors; 20 Female + 25 Male; 22 Mixed Race + 26 White)

21 acceptances(break down: 4 Business, 4 Marketing, 4 ComDes, 2 CIS, 2 Business Admin., 2 Theatre, 1 Acting, 1 Finance, 1 Accounting;

or 10 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 2 Masters; or 9 Female + 12 Male; or 10 Mixed Race + 21 White)

10 happy organizers 17 excited students + new friends

5 business proposals4 favor-delivered lunches for 4 fast answering students

23 hours of Zoom-time with 6 break-out rooms

post-event

pre-event

3:00 pm Kick off + Introductions (claudia et al.) 3:30 pm Entrepreneurial Mindset (Josh + Dan) 4:30 pm Ideation in small groups (Claudia + Kyle) 5:30 pm Bobcat Canvas (BC) Introduction (David + Hauke) 6:00 pm Adjourn on Zoom, work in smaller groups on initial BC

8:30 am Arriving + Mingling + Coffee (everyone) noon upload final video + BC 1:00 pm FINAL PRESENTATIONS via zoom with three external judges 1 minute video + 3 minute Q+A

8:30 am Arriving + Mingling + Coffee (everyone) 9:00 am Module 1: OPPORTUNITY (David + Hauke + Dan) 9:15 am Module 2: CUSTOMER (David + Hauke + Craig) 9:30 am Breakout rooms to work on BC #1 + 2 with mentors 10:30 am Module 3: PRODUCT (David + Hauke) 10:45 am Module 4: DIFFERENTIATION (David + Hauke) 11:00 am Breakout rooms to work on BC #3 + 4 with mentors

noon LUNCH BREAK on your own, or, hang with us in Zoom

1:00 pm Module 5: RESOURCES (David + Hauke + Corey) 1:15 pm Module 6: FINANCES (David + Hauke + Craig) 1:30 pm Breakout rooms to work on BC #5 + 6 with mentors 2:30 pm Presentation + Prototyping Module (David + Hauke + claudia) 3:00 pm Dry Run Presentation (with mentors) 4:30 pm Adjourn on Zoom, work with team to finish up BC + start video

fri

sun

sat

organizers (aka dream team)

Dr David Camerondc50@txstate.edu

David Angelowdangelow@txstate.edu

claudia röschmannclaudia@txstate.edu

Dan Roy, EIRd_r560@txstate.edu

Dr Josh Daspitjosh.daspit@txstate.edu

Hauke Röschmann, EIRhauke@txstate.edu

Dr Corey Foxcorey.fox@txstate.edu

Teresa Wingfield, GTAtww38@txstate.edu

Craig Millerctm54@txstate.edu

Kyle Findley, GAskf38@txstate.edu

weekend goals

cross-disciplinary collaborationvirtual pilot of 20 participants

build a network of entrepreneurial like-minded people introduction to entrepreneurial thinking

development of a startup business using canvas approach

1-Minute Video Elevator Pitchpresent your business idea in a 1-minute elevator pitch

followed by a Q+A with external panelists

final presentation + pitches here

sunday

fri + sat

panelists

Hank Stringer, Alioth Executive Search Consultant and Co-Founder

Alvaro Soto, Director Product Management, Data + AI at Procore Technologies

Hank Stringer has four decades of experience as a successful Executive Recruiter, Consultant, Author, Industry Speaker, Entrepreneur / Founder / Visionary & Innovator in the creation and use of Internet technology for the recruitment process.

Specialties: Executive Recruiter, Talent Management Consultant, Recruitment Technology Innovator / Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author, Thought Leader

Alvaro is a product leader with proven experience building and growing platforms, AI products, and teams of people.

He previously worked as strategy leader for the IBM Watson Portfolio and as director of Product at Figure Eight. He now heads the Data and AI group at Procore, bringing advanced analytics and AI to the construction industry.

students’ quotes

Thank you everyone!! What a fun way to spend a weekend!

I -loved- it, thank you for the fun, challenge + relief from the pandemic

The mentors/organizers have all been fantastic!!!

Everything was so lovely!! Thank you, thank you!!

Thank you so much!! I really enjoyed this and I learned lots!!

Robert W.

Megan B.

Matthew H.

Nuha A.

Catherine S.

This is brainstorming at its finest …!!! :-)Hauke R.

organizers’ quotes

Loved the commitment!

It’s been a great team effort. Wow!

Thanks, everyone + let’s do this again – virtual EBC rocks!!

Craig M.

David C.

Claudia R.

Outstanding job everyone - such an exciting time, thank you!!Dave A.

LinkedIn post hereCorey F.

LinkedIn post hereJosh D.

social media

thanks, everyone!

1st Virtual

A weekend-long virtual event that brings together students from all backgrounds in order to learn the

basics of entrepreneurship.

Questions? Dr. David Cameron at dc50@txstate.edu or Claudia Röschmann at cr29@txstate.edu

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