1 Semester Startup invites you to Demo Day on April 26, 2012 at 5 PM inside the LBJ Auditorium where we will showcase the 10 undergraduate startups from our Spring 2012 class.

Undergraduate students experienced entrepreneurship first-hand, learning from some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Austin. University of Texas students from many different departments including Computer Science, Engineering and Management started companies and were assisted with a semester-long program of startup acceleration: speakers, mentors, and supervised project work. Mentors are exceptional people who have successfully started one or more companies.

Each startup will get 6 minutes on stage and then you can go and talk to them afterwards. There will be numerous other leaders from the Austin entrepreneurial community in attendence as well.

Join students from 1 Semester Startup at the University of Texas for an informal networking dinner. This event is open to the public. Get a sneak preview of what our 10 teams are working on for Demo Day on May 3. We’re especially interested in talking to former students, those interested in taking the class next semester, or those interested in being a mentor.

We’ve got about 20 RSVPs as of this writing with most of the teams represented. Hope to see you out there!

Drop by the new Longhorn Startup Camp, home of 1 Semester Startup and other startups at the University of Texas. We’ll have free drinks, food, and music throughout the evening and student-founded companies on hand to meet and greet. Invite your friends!

Camp is located at 1616 Guadalupe, two blocks from campus. This is a part of the SXSW Startup Crawl . Shuttles will stop in front of camp.

Companies attending:

3 Day Startup
AgreeOn
BeDJ
Stick.it
Clay.IO
DaBL
DebateTab
GameUp
Hoot.me
Kymyk
Moth to Flame
MunchyMart
NowOnCampus
PhotoWhoa
PowerSmart Labs
Predictable Data
ReQwip
Semiproductive Labs
Simpler Schedules
SolSpot Systems
Spectrum (Lynx)
StacheStudios
Texas Property Photos
The Food Lab
Toopher
Unique Influence
UThinkTank
College of Natural Sciences Entrepreneurship Society
CS Hackers Lounge
Student Entrepreneurship Organization
Technology Entrepreneurship Society

• 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

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 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!

http://www.engr.utexas.edu/metcalfe/blog/dellstartups

If there is one big lesson we’ve learned, it is that we want to attract undergraduate students that are already working on startups. This class isn’t for students who are curious about startups or want to learn the basics of entrepreneurship. This is for students who are going to build a successful startup with or without this class. We’re going to help them do it bigger, faster and smarter and by bringing them resources, mentors and inspiration.

You can submit your team application here.

The second thing we learned is that we want to accept teams and not individuals to the class. We will select from the teams, and any eligible students on that team will be allowed (but not required) to take the class. We will not be doing any speed dating events after class starts – we want you to join teams before the first day of classes. If we accept a team, and then that team accepts you (before the add/drop date), then you will be allowed to join the class.

The last thing we learned is that it’s hard to give 20 startups as much attention as we would like. Next semester we expect to fewer startups. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to accept every team that applies.

What does this mean if you’re not working on a startup right now but you want to take the class? It means that you either need to join an existing team or start your own company ASAP!

Come talk to us! Bob Metcalfe and Joshua Baer both hold regular office hours and want to meet you. If you’re not sure, we can help you think about it. If you need to build a team, we may be able to help you.  You can sign up for Josh’s office hours here or schedule with Bob by contacting his assistant Amadeo.