This past April, my Entrepreneurship New Venture Development group won 3rd Place and $5,000 cash at the annual Oklahoma Governor's Cup!

But let me back up...  New Venture Development is a capstone-level class for Entrepreneurship majors at OU.  Many of OU's Entrepreneurship classes prior to this one were focused on how to recognize, research, and develop new business opportunities.  NVD builds on what students have learned in earlier Entrepreneurship classes and its main focus is to write a business plan that is entered in the annual Governor's Cup.

So from the middle of this past January to the end of March, four students and I worked on piecing together a business plan for our group's product.  Some of the parts of our business plan include:

• Industry Analysis
• Customer Research
• Product Implementation Plan
• Competitive Advantage
• Management Team
• Critical Risk Factors
• Financial Statements

My group, dubbed "Fifth Slope", developed a new ultra-comfortable ski boot liner called the "Zeph-Air." The Zeph-Air uses air-cell technologies to provide a more safe and comfortable skiing experience.  The Zeph-Air replaces traditional ski boot liners and its air-cells are slightly inflated to provide a snug fit between the skier's foot and ski boot.  When it comes time for a break from the slopes, the Zeph-Air can be quickly and easily deflated, allowing the user to pull out their foot (with the Zeph-Air still on their foot) from the ski boot.  This allows the skier to more safely and comfortably walk around in their Zeph-Airs (which have a durable and water-proof sole) instead of walking around in heavy and uncomfortable ski boots.

Not only did my group have to write a business plan, we also had to give a 20 minute presentation and handle 20 minutes of Q&A from a panel of judges (potential investors).  Out of over a hundred submissions, only 30 teams made it into the Governor's Cup.  Then only 6 or so made it to the final round for a more difficult presentation and Q&A and the chance to win one of three top places.

The NVD class and competiting in the Governor's Cup was an excellent experience. It was satisfying to start basically from scratch and end up with a fairly well polished end product.  I also got additional presentation practice which is something I've really grown to love to prepare for and do.  The entire experience also re-ignited my entrepreneurial spirit and showed me how some of the best facilities and opportunities are right here at home in Oklahoma!

More photos here.

I've known for a while that you can use the Remote app to control your iTunes library via WiFi...

But I just found out you can use it in combination with iTunes DJ to allow people at your party to request songs!  It's freakin sweet!

In iTunes, click on iTunes DJ on the left hand side. Then click Settings at the bottom right.

The Welcome Message never appears for me on my iPhone though... maybe since I was already authorized?