The syllabus has been updated with information for the Spring 2012 Semester. Welcome to new and returning students and mentors! First class is today in ECJ 1.202 at 6 PM. Read instructor Josh Baer’s blog post to find out how you should prepare for the first class. See you tonight.

Our first class is coming up on Thursday – what should you do to prepare?

• read: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• watch: start your company in college video by Joshua Baer
• review: the mentor list and identify those with relevant backgrounds and skills
• think: about the roles in your company – who is CEO?
• think: about the equity structure of the company – who owns what %?
• think: about what you want to get accomplished this semester
• meet: with your team some time before the class
• prepare: to give a 90 second elevator pitch on yourself to the class

We have a great line-up of mentors returning from last semester but there is still room for a few more. If you are an Austin entrepreneur, inventor, researcher, executive, engineer, designer, programmer, marketer, salesperson, or have other experience that you think could benefit student startups, please contact us for more information.

Thanks again to our 1 Semester Startup Demo Day Sponsors: Kauffman Foundation, Capital Factory, Austin Ventures, S3 Ventures, G51 Capital Management, Cockrell School of Engineering Center for Lifelong Engineering Education, Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise.  And thanks to the UTAustin Department of Athletics for the Jumbotron!

Thank you to Bob Metcalfe and John Butler for teaching the class.

Thank you to Bruce Porter for creating this class and nurturing it.

Thank you to our guest speakers Jason Cohen, Michael Dell, Ash Maurya, Kip McClanahan, Frank Moss, John Price, Mikey Trafton and others.

Thank you to our Demo Day sponsors the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise, Capital Factory, the Kauffman Foundation, Austin Ventures, G-51 Capital and S3 Ventures.

Thank you to the jumbotron gods.

Thank you for the pizza delivered by Bazaarvoice, Capital Factory, Homeaway, Indeed.com, OtherInbox, Silverton, and Spiceworks.

Thank you to the mentors who volunteered their valuable time this semester to help our students.

Thank you to our Teaching Assistants Joel Hestness and Jonathan Spillman.

Thank you to our Mentor Wrangler Kyle Cox from ATI.

Thank you to Jason Nolasco, our community manager extraordinaire. He volunteered his time this semester as an alumni and I really can’t imagine how we could have done it without him.

Thank you to Mariel Bolhouse and the Technology Entrepreneurship Society for co-hosting our public speakers.

Thank you to the staff in the Computer Science, Engineering and Management departments who put up with our unusual requests and were always flexible and accommodating.

Thank you to the students entrepreneurs who put their hearts into their companies. We expect great things from you.

What starts here, changes the world!