College Mogul Fans,

I know many of you have been asking us when we’re gonna be back. Its been a while and I’m finally excited to announce that we have finalized anew design!

We’re working on a few more things and should be up very, very soon! Check back in the next couple of weeks and join our Facebook group so we can give you the heads up.

Alex

Hello College Mogul Fans,

We apologize for the appearance of our site; we are in the process of building, redesigning, and launching a new College Mogul.

The new College Mogul will be up soon!

Join the Facebook group so we can let you know when College Mogul will hit the ground running again.

Thank you for your patience,

College Mogul

A recent estimate for the total global freshwater is 35,000,000 cubic kilometers. Sounds like a lot right? Not quite. Humans depend on freshwater to survive, but unfortunately it only accounts for 2.5% of the Earth’s total water volume. Geophysicists and climatologists maintain that changes in climate conditions and stresses on water supply from overconsumption of groundwater resources and population growth will bring 45% of the world’s population below the Basic Water Requirement (BWR) by 2050. Water supply is difficult to adjust because renewable freshwater sources such as rain and groundwater are highly variable with respect to meteorological and geographical factors. Currently, households and farmers are consuming freshwater at rates that are below the sustainable yield.

The scientific facts beg the fearsome question: will the world run out of water? Environmental entrepreneurs would like to think the answer is no. A University of Ottawa student’s desalination process to extract drinking water from seawater took the $10,000 top prize this week at the Eastern Ontario Technology Venture Challenge competition. Large-scale desalination typically requires large amounts of energy as well as specialized, expensive infrastructure, making it very costly compared to the use of fresh water from rivers or groundwater, but founder Mohammed Rasool Qtaishat (pictured right) claims that his technology is more efficient and cost effective than competing desalination technologies. His startup Water For All, has already obtained funding including $286,000 in from the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman.

Water For All uses membrane systems to separate the salts from the water. These special membranes act as one-way valves: seawater that is heated releases water vapor which passes through the hydrophobic membranes (membranes that can not be permeated by water), but once the water vapor cools into droplets it cannot pass back through the membranes, separating the heated seawater and newly created freshwater. Although membrane systems require less energy than other alternatives such as thermal distillation, desalination still requires a great deal of energy. Therefore, the market is highly variable with respect to energy prices, which have of late, been skyrocketing. Until energy prices begin to ebb, desalination may not be commercially viable. The good news is as we begin to explore and develop new energy resources, we will begin to open up doors to pre-developed technologies such as Mohammed’s, which will dramatically improve resource availability and standards of living throughout the world.

Anybody interested in membrane system desalination technology should click here.

We thought the DFJ Gotham $250k competition was huge, squashing the Forbes $100k and MIT $100k. Although a very niche competition, the Global Security Challenge offers $500,000 cash as a prize as well as mentorship from leading venture capitalist firms such as Siemens Venture Capital. Students are welcomed to enter since they are looking for innovators and new technologies from university labs (71% of security startups actually originate from universities). In general, they are looking for technologies that have potential to aid and increase the United State’s security. The “Crowded Places” category offers a $10,000 prize to protect citizens from terrorist threats and doesn’t require a product or prototype.

The competition is open for submissions. Check out the types of technologies they are looking for and visit their site for more information.

Target Technologies

We seek to uncover the creative capabilities of innovators in universities and infant companies that apply to public security needs. This includes software or hardware solutions that help (a) protect people, critical infrastructure, facilities and data/electronic systems against terrorist or other criminal attacks and natural disasters or (b) help governments, businesses and communities defend against, cope with or recover from such incidents.

Examples of our areas of interest are (but are not limited to) biometrics, detection sensors, network security, data storage, video surveillance, RFID, data-mining SW, biotechnologies, and search software.

The majority of startup incubators, such as Y Combinator, require entrepreneurs to give up small percentages of equity in exchange for small amounts of seed financing, usually in the range of $15,000. While they are usually tremendous opportunities to work alongside seasoned entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, it is still questionable whether or not they actually increase the entrepreneur’s chance of success and if it is worth giving up their equity. The connections that are made along the way are valuable, but as these firms take on more projects (Y Combinator has seeded over 80 companies) the returns for entrepreneurs diminish as those resources are spread thinner over time.

Obsidian Launch takes a different approach. Resources are focused for a longer period of time. The entrepreneur doesn’t have to give up any equity either! Well, they do have to give up “phantom equity,” but this it’s not the same. Instead of taking shares, Obsidian Launch takes a percentage of earnings for a specified amount of time. In exchange, Obsidian Launch provides a team of professionals such as accountants, lawyers, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth, revenue, and profits of the company that it has undertaken. The success of Obsidian Launch is more closely tied to the success of a young entrepreneur’s company, creating a much larger incentive for the company to make the startup successful. Fewer companies are taken on in a given time period, allowing the entrepreneur to work closer with the firm.

I have had the pleasure to meeting Obsidian’s founder Mike Michalowicz and am proud to say that he is an inspirational and charismatic leader as well as a successful entrepreneur. He has already built several companies and sold them for respectable sums. Due to the differences explained above, he is able to pride himself on being the “nation’s only business growth accelerator that partners with young, first-time entrepreneurs.” Besides supplying a team of dedicated experts, Mike also aids in the development of differentiation strategies, implementation of systemization tools, complete office staff, as well as key introductions to a large network of contacts that you would expect from any incubator.

Obisidian Launch is extremely selective in who they partner with, but have already helped expand and grow six successful companies that have been able to make Obsidian Launch profitable already. Most investment vehicles bank on exiting through merger, acquisition or IPO, whereas Mike’s model may be less risky and far better for their firm AND the entrepreneur. If you are interested, check out their requirements and apply!

What model do you think is best. Comment to let us know.

Rate Obsidian Launch

Aaron Belsh of PhatDeals recently informed us of the winners of the UCSB Technology Management Program New Venture Competition. A total of $25,000 was distributed to five winners in different categories. Taking “Most Fundable Idea” and “Dow Materials Use” categories ($10,000 and $5,000, respectively) this year was Nitride Solutions, a startup developing products used for fabrication of ultraviolet LEDs. These LEDs are sold to companies needing to sterilize medical devices or doing biological detection. The team of student entrepreneurs is comprised of Troy Baker, who is doing postdoctoral work in materials engineering, and David Pricco, who is finishing an undergraduate degree in business economics.

The award for “Best Business Plan” ($4,000) went to Green Pieces, a modular green-home building company that purportedly reduces costs by 15 percent and construction waste by 40 percent while allowing a home to be built in half the normal time. The company has already obtained $500K in funding. Green Pieces, which also won the Audience Choice award ($2,000), is led by Kelly Schmandt who is getting her masters in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Managment at UCSB.

Finally, InFlowMed, led in part by mechanical engineer Alex Williams, took home “Best Pitch” ($4,000) and split the Audience choice award. The company makes software that prevents harmful drug interactions by checking prescriptions quickly for doctors at “point of care” in hospitals. They’re planning to develop their product on EMR (Electronic Medical Record) devices.

All of these companies are incredibly impressive and I look forward to learning more details about their operations and future plans. I’ve been in touch with most of the founders so look out for full profile pieces with more details this week!

StudentBusinesses.com is excited to announce the launch of a new column, in which we will feature some of the most promising startups on our site. This week, we have selected two startups that each target college students and could improve your performance in school - but in completely different ways.

Founded by a PhD candidate at Stanford Medical School, Think Gum LLC has created a chewing gum that they believe can improve your energy level and enhance your memory:

Think Gum LLC is a wholesale chewing gum company that supplies its customers with chewing gum designed to boost mental performance. The candy-coated, sugar-free chewing gum is flavored and scented with rosemary, peppermint and other brain-boosting herbs and herbal extracts.

The company has already sold over 150,000 units, and they face a substantial opportunity: if the gum is actually effective, it could take the place of energy drinks and be used by countless high school students studying for their SATs, college students working on problem sets, or professionals preparing for a presentation. Furthermore, the price seems very reasonable (you can buy Think Gum at $0.16 per piece online), making the product within reach for students. Product manufacturing businesses like this one generally don’t come from students and are often tough to scale, but with an intriguing product and a smart team, there is a significant opportunity for them to keep growing.

As you write your next paper with the help of some Think Gum, you may also want to turn to EasyBib, a startup founded by two students who were in high school at the time (who subsequently attended Northwestern and Brown):

EasyBib.com was developed in 2001 as a solution to expedite the bibliographic process. Students enter information and EasyBib formats that data into a works cited list ready to print. Today, EasyBib is the number one software in its niche. Searching “bibliography” in Google will return EasyBib as the number one result. EasyBib receives over 20 million page views monthly during the school year, and is used by the majority of students throughout the US.

EasyBib’s current popularity and search engine position are great, but their biggest asset is an extremely useful and simple product that caters to a large niche. Monetizing the site will presumably take the form of advertisements, and their substantial traffic has enabled them to be profitable since their launch. However, once they capture the high school and college market, their largest challenge will be to find a new direction to expand; presumably, most of their users only visit for limited amounts of time (as they assemble a bibliography) and return only as they get new assignments. Perhaps they could become more integrated with the entire writing process. For example, one interesting point of expansion would be to create “intelligent” bibliography software, which sees which articles and books you cite and recommends additional potential resources based on those works. For now, though, EasyBib has done an impressive job of building a useful tool and attracting a wide range of students.

To see more details about these businesses, you can login at StudentBusinesses.com to view full business plans for these and other top startups around the country.

~Travis May, StudentBusinesses.com

Facebook is the obvious one, but there are plenty of other startups that have sprung from Harvard University students and recent graduates. They’re attracting millions of visitors to their websites and millions of dollars in funding. Facebook has certainly spawned an immediate copycat phenomenon, but what about Microsoft? Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, but we didn’t see his classmates drooling with envy and doing the same. The times have certainly changed; it’s easier with the evolution of the web, flattening of economies, and the glamorization of young moguls in the media. It’s irrefutable that building your assets is far more valuable than building someone else’s. Why build someone else’s dream when you can build yours.

We’ve covered some of the companies that grew out of Harvard, including Facebook, IvyInsiders, and uProdigy, but who are some of the others? Trip Adler, a 2006 graduate who watched Mark move to Silicon Valley, started an online document-sharing company called Scribd. Scribd now employs 12 people, attracts over 11 million visitors, and has raised nearly $4 million from Redpoint Ventures and several over firms. He was inspired by Facebook and realized he could build his own company. A handful of other recent grads have started Kirkland North Inc., Drop.io, Labmeeting Inc., iLike, and Indaba Music.

Despite the growth of entrepreneurship, noted by a record 55 entries for their business plan competition this year compared to 10 to 18 for past years and the success of these businesses, Harvard is still considered “behind” due to its once “relatively sleep start-up culture” described in a Wall Street Journal article. They “shunned a cozy relationship between academics and industry.” Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator who also holds a doctoral degree from Harvard, thinks so too: “Harvard is very noticeably behind.” They are starting to catch up though and finally discarded their rule that forces students to notify and get their dorm room businesses approved.

Both Google and Yahoo came out of Stanford University, which also happened to lease land to Hewlett-Packard Co. College startup culture isn’t new, the fever is just finally catching on. Who will be the next College Mogul?

You want a RoboScooter, you just don’t know it yet. The MIT-designed lightweight, folding, electric scooter is one their labs latest innovative creations that is bound to revolutionize urban mobility. The prototype of the new design, which was unveiled at the Milan Auto Show a couple of months ago, is a product of MIT’s Smart Cities Group run by professors and students. Their goal is to reduce the negative effects of extensive vehicle use, road congestion, air pollution, traffic noise, excessive consumption of space for parking, and ultimately reduce carbon emissions to slow global warming. No wonder they were a semifinalist at the MIT $100k.

They are working with manufacturers in Taiwan and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute. Motor scooters are already popular abroad in European and Asian cities and it’s about time that someone is doing something to reduce traffic congestion in these major cities. RoboScooter is an improvement because it is green and designed in such a way that eliminates the powertrain with the motors directly inside each of the two wheels. This makes it possible for the scooter to be folded up into half its size and making it easier to be stored in crowded urban environments.

If the scooter isn’t impressive enough, the team designed and accomplished the project in a mere eight months “from a blank sheet to a built concept.” Plans in the future not only center on selling these but creating systems where communities can share or rent from spots throughout the city Zip Car style. Check out the video to see it in action:

We are in the process of forming a partnership with VenturePORT and talking with their project manager, Tracy Buzzell. VenturePORT is a resource and networking site for entrepreneurs as well as a major sponsor for the The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour. Right now they are hosting a video elevator pitch competition in which winners take home an iPhone as the grand prize or a $100 gift certificate for sending them an email of your success story to contest@ventureport.org. For more on the details, go here.

Tracy wrote about our interaction and the importance of collaboration in the web 2.0 and business world in general. Partnerships have played a crucial role in the success and growth of College Mogul and believe that they are crucial for any business. Businesses are able to leverage each other’s efforts, form synergies, and catalyze innovation. If you are interested in forming a partnership with College Mogul, send us an email at submit@collegemogul.com. I agree with Tracy’s points, here is what he had to say:

Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World!

Alex Lindahl from CollegeMogul.com reminded me yesterday of how important collaboration is in today’s business environment. Alex did something that most of us wouldn’t think twice about today but would have been unheard of even a few short years ago - he reached out and offered to collaborate with VenturePORT.

“What’s the big deal…” you say? Well, CollegeMogul.com is a blog that profiles and reviews new and existing companies, organizations and technologies developed by college students and recent college graduates. It is a leading source for all information and media pertaining to Generation Y entrepreneurship. Sound familiar? Yes…they have a similar mission to VenturePORT, and some may even see them as a competitor.

What Alex and most successful entrepreneurs realize is that collaboration (or even co-opetition) are great opportunities to grow your business. “Locking down” and protecting proprietary content, articles, white papers, etc. is an obsolete business model, especially in the Web 2.0 world. Sharing your content with links back to your site builds relationships, traffic, and brand awareness…for all collaborators involved!