Entrepreneurship+Week+Forum+2013


 * Over //** 350 students **// packed the Hotel Capstone ballroom for the 2013 entrepreneurship week forum. UA entrepreneurship instructor Allen Henry and Ron Davis, director of the newly-opened "The Edge" introduced four speakers who gave insightful remarks about their experiences. Three of the speakers, David Snyder, Nick Wright, and Amanda Perna, are successful entrepreneurs who graduated from the University of Alabama.

Scroll down for main points each speaker had to share with the audience. || ||

Greg Sheek
[|Greg Sheek], director of [|Alabama Launchpad] programs, talked about the mercurial progress the Alabama Launchpad competitions have made and announced a [|new competition for start-ups] with $100,000 to be awarded as prizes. Applications for the competition open April 22. One of Greg's slides showed how he values the practice of using the business model generation canvas to help entrepreneurs pursue opportunities effectively.

David Snyder
David Snyder graduated from the University of Alabama in the early 1990s with an MBA in strategic management. He went to work for John Cassimus, founder of Zoe's Kitchen, for $9 an hour and eventually became director of all store operations by 2007. David left Zoe's on good terms soon after Brentwood Associates' acquisition of Zoe's from John Cassimus and went on the road for the next year with his wife to check out "[|fast casual]" restaurants across the U.S. David said he collected menus from restaurants in a shoe box to look for signs of what menu items had appeal across geographic areas and confessed that he would even wander into the kitchens of some restaurants to see what they were doing (his excuse was that he was trying to find the restroom).

David and his wife worked in several restaurant kitchens during this time and experimented with different recipes for fast casual entrees. They offered samples of their experiments to restaurant diners for free with the request that they complete an online survey about the meal. Using these data from the surveys and his collection of menus from across the U.S., David was able to create and validate a concept for what would become [|Urban Cookhouse].

Amanda Perna
Amanda Perna came to the University of Alabama with the intention of getting a psychology degree. She soon found herself taking a course in clothing and textiles and discovered her true passion. Amanda began to create and sell stunning dresses while still a student. Amanda entered the University of Alabama pitching competition in spring of 2009 and placed as a finalist despite having to compete against several technology-based ideas.

After graduating with honors from the University, Amanda worked for Calvin Klein as a designer for four years before leaving to form The House of Perna, where she is creative director. Amanda spoke to the audience by webcam from Manhattan. She urged students to check out her designs on her company's website.

Nick Wright
Nick Wright couldn't attend the forum due to a family emergency. Nick and his partners have built Game Day Tents from a tent rental business that made revenues seven times a year to a "tents and events" business that provides steady revenues for the whole year.