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Gigot center for entrepreneurial studies
Beginning Fall 2003, top venture capitalists from around the country came to campus on football Fridays to teach a dynamic new MBA course—Venture Capital Fundamentals. Using up-to-the-minute case studies, the venture capitalists gave students an inside look at how new business ventures are evaluated and how to develop and negotiate investment terms. The class helps prepare students for competitions," said Theresa Sedlack, Venturing Programs Manager, "the 2004 venture capital student team advanced through two qualifying rounds to represent Notre Dame in the national finals of the Venture Capital Investment Competition.
TOUCHING LIVES THROUGH MICRO-ENTERPRISES • Invention Convention: High school junior Dexter Brown devised a plan for a photography studio that “knows what young people want,” winning first place in the Invention Convention Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Robinson Community Learning Center and the Gigot Center. In this program, Notre Dame undergraduate students and staff help young people from South Bend develop entrepreneurial projects designed to improve their business, academic and life skills. • Internships: During the past two summers, 41 Mendoza student interns have assisted aspiring high-risk entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations in locations throughout the United States, South Africa, Mexico and Jamaica. • Atlanta Social Entrepreneurship: A pilot program in Atlanta connects low-income entrepreneurs with Notre Dame educators and alumni as well as providing them access to additional training opportunities and networking. • Faculty Exchange: Faculty members from the University of Guadalajara come to Notre Dame campus for a semester to exchange insights with Notre Dame scholars about Mexico’s rural economic development challenges under a three-year project overseen by Accountancy Professor Juan Rivera.
Gigot Center NASDAQ Award; Other Rankings News
IrishAngels Support Students and ND Ventures Mentoring students, judging business plan competitions, supporting promising ND-affiliated ventures—these are just some of the ways the IrishAngels network serves Notre Dame’s Gigot Center. The IrishAngels, now 140 members strong, is composed of Notre Dame alumni and friends who are experienced in entrepreneurial endeavors across industries and interested in supporting new venture development.
Succeeding with Family-Owned Businesses Knowing that less than 15% of family businesses survive through the third generation, Dan Kuney (MBA ’05) sought advice as he and his brother Max prepared to take over leadership of Max J. Kuney Co., a Spokane, Washington-based heavy/highway contractor established in 1930 by their great grandfather. By enrolling in Nolan Director David Hayes’ Family Business course and winning the 2005 Dorothy Dolphin Notre Dame Family Business Plan Competition, Dan gained the strategic planning skills he needed to effectively plan for generational succession.
Faculty Awarded Family Business Research Grant The success of family businesses can diminish with subsequent generations when family members begin to lose interest in the enterprises. Siegfried Director James Davis and Nolan Director David Hayes received a grant from the Family Owned Business Institute in 2005 to conduct a multi-year study of the relationship between the performance of family-run firms and the level of family commitment to these ventures.
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The Gigot Center was recognized by NASDAQ and the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers for making “remarkable advancement” in the entrepreneurship field, winning a “ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award” in 2003. The Gigot Center also rose in the rankings by breaking into the top 25 in Entrepreneur magazine’s annual ranking. A joint survey conducted in 2004 by the Princeton Review and Forbes.com ranked Notre Dame #2 among “ America’s Most Entrepreneurial Campuses,” noting the strength of the Gigot’s IrishAngels network.
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