Calling all Entrepreneurs!

Ever wondered what it would be like to own a billion dollar company? Ever debated the pros and cons of starting a business over a career? Ever wondered if you can start your own business? Ever thought about starting your own business but don’t know how? Silicon Valley Comes to Imperial (SVC2Imperial) is your chance to get answers to all of these questions.

SVC2Imperial is run in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), which will take place this coming week. GEW is anadaptation of Enterprise Week in the UK. Co-founded by The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and

SVC2UK is a not-for-profit series of industry supported events organised by Sherry Coutu, the UK’s most prominent angel investor, and Reid Hoffman, early Facebook investor and founder of LinkedIn

philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, their vision is to foster “a society of economically independent individuals who are engaged citizens, contributing to the improvement of their communities”. GEW UK is now hosted by Youth Business International, a global network of independent, non-profit initiatives helping young people start and grow their own business and create employment.

Now GEW has become the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship, taking place in 115 countries. The theme this year is to ‘Pass it On!’ – to provide the practical help & support needed by early start-ups and individuals whoare considering taking the plunge.

In the spirit of GEW, another organisation, ‘Silicon Valley Comes to the UK’ (SVC2UK) has a similar purpose. SVC2UK is a not-for-profit series of industry supported events organised by Sherry Coutu, the UK’s most prominent angel investor, and Reid Hoffman, early Facebook investor and founder of LinkedIn. SVC2UK brings leading Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders to the UK to explore ideas and to inspire local entrepreneurship. Entering its sixth year, over the same week as GEW, Silicon Valley and UK leaders in entrepreneurship will lead workshops, masterclasses and lectures across the UK, with the aim to debate, discuss, create and fund today’s most innovative technologies to change our world in the years to come. It’s designed to improve the ecosystem for entrepreneurship in the UK and Europe.

In partnership with SVC2UK, Imperial Entrepreneurs is running SVC2Imperial. SVC2Imperial encompasses three free events over two days, held on Thursday 15th and Saturday 17th of November 2012.

On the Thursday there will be a live stream of the opening SVC2UK conference held in Cambridge from 5.30PM till 7pm. The opening conference will consist of a panel of Silicon Valley and UK speakers, talking about scaling up and the challenges faced. Speakers will include Venture

SVC2Imperial encompasses three free events over two days, held on Thursday 15th and Saturday 17th of November 2012

Capitalists (eg. Raj Kapoor, Mayfield Fund), Founders and Chief Officers (e.g. Renaud Visage, Eventbrite) and Educators (Bobbi Kurshan, Executive Director of Academic Innovation & Senior Fellow in Education).

On that same day at SVC2Imperial there will also be a CEO & Investor Workshop and Networking Dinner. CEOs from some of the most promising start-ups in our ecosystem, which are in the process of scaling up, are invited to attend a workshop with successful local entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley CEOs and executives, where facilitators will share their experiences and participants can troubleshoot any current issues. It provides a unique opportunity for start-up CEOs to learn from the best in the business. The purpose is to bring together like-minded people in hope of increasing the interaction amongst the entrepreneurship community not only in Imperial College London but in the whole of London.

The Saturday will mainly consist of a conference running from 10am till 5pm. The day will be split into three parts: Masterclass, Company Showcase and Keynote Lectures. In the Masterclass, there will be workshops and panel discussions run by successful entrepreneurs, industrialists, authors and

SVC2Imperial encompasses three free events over two days, held on Thursday 15th and Saturday 17th of November 2012

businesses. Students will get the chance to hear from leaders from the local ecosystems on a range of entrepreneurship topics; from lean start-up methodologies to why you should join/start start-ups and how it differs from a corporate career.

The Company Showcase is an opportunity for companies to showcase their ideas, businesses and technologies to the Imperial community giving them exposure and a chance to inspire students who would like to join or found start-ups. It provides a way for Imperial Students to interact with local entrepreneur companies.

The Keynote Lectures will have successful entrepreneurs give speeches and run multiple discussions for an entire afternoon. The aim is to motivate and inspire students by sharing the success stories of established entrepreneurs as well as providing advice. Some topics of lectures are how an idea can grow to become a great start-up and how you can create a great team. If you have started, how to overcome adversity and fear.

The main purpose of SVC2Imperial is to bring the ‘start-up mentality’ found in abundance in Silicon Valley (San Francisco) to Imperial.

Imperial Entrepreneurs’ motivations for running these events are to connect Imperial College London students with Imperial College London start-ups, and introduce these start-ups to well established London start-ups and investors. We also aim to create an environment where various entrepreneurship related topics could be discussed.

The conference is suited to everyone at Imperial; we have different workshops tailored to your needs whether you have your own business or have never thought about entrepreneurship. To register your interest and keep up to date with the latest news you can become a member of Imperial Entrepreneurs (for free!), we will keep you informed through our Facebook page.