Blog

By Fahim Sachedina

Over the past two years, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been transformed and cultivated to one of great opportunity and one prime for international collaboration. iCUE has been growing at an incredible speed to accommodate for this and provide the platform needed to inspire and support student enterprise organisations across the world, such as those in East Africa, China, Brazil, USA and the UK.

Following on from the last two successful iCUE Global summits, the third summit- to be held on the 25-26^th April 2012 in London, in the spirit of the 2012 Olympics- follows the theme of “The Power of a Dream”, which is to act as a catalyst to discuss youth entrepreneurship policy and establish priority action plans for the coming year whilst allowing us to share best practices and collaborate to encapsulate a powerful message to policy leaders across the globe.

At this critical stage, we are looking for sponsors for the event in order to take forward our vision as a mechanism to enthuse, educate and inspire student enterprise within various ecosystems across the world. We welcome your support in aiding our vision and helping us realise our ambition as the international entrepreneurial hub for student organisations.

Both days will consist of TED-style talks and discussion on global best practices, networking events with inspirational leaders from around the world, the prestigious iCUE awards ceremony and the keynote speeches of Mark Prisk (Minister of State for Business and Enterprise), Karan Faridoon Bilimoria (CBE recipient for services to business & Founder of Cobra Beer) and Paul Judge (Chairman of Schroder Income Growth Fund).

Please click here <iCUE-Sponsorship Package for GRT 2012> to find the document outlining the aims and highlights of the event, how you can help drive forth the next generational entrepreneurial movement, along with the three sponsorship packages that are available. All sponsors will be highly prominent in our social media channels and newsletters, whilst the support generated will be conveyed to our network of 100,000 young entrepreneurs.

This showcase can emphasise the fantastic work done by enterprise movements and how we can accelerate this further, whilst supporting a strategic and sustainable evolution of iCUE. Please help us to realize our vision and email us today at Fahim@icueonline.com or Tobias.Hug@icueonline.com to express your support as Sponsor of the Global Round Table of 2012.

Please find here the <iCUE 2012 GRT Agenda>.

Last week the iCUE team was boosted with the addition of 3 enthusiastic interns who have joined us to work across a range of exciting areas. We’ve invited the new team members to give a short introduction of themselves:

Fan – Marketing Manager

After finishing my four-year undergraduate study in English Literature, I decided to go abroad to see the real Western world outside my textbook. In fact, the experiences in past 17 months in UK have never disappointed me. I spent one year fighting for my Master degree in Glasgow, an amazing Scottish city with its brilliant landscape, beautiful buildings and lovely people. Then I came to Cambridge, another history-honored city as I have been in love for it since the first glance. The 17 months in UK offers me the opportunity to learn not only about the knowledge of my professional field, but also the spirit of independence and courage to overcome all difficulties alone. It is really the most important and significant experience I have had so far.

Personally I love history, archeology, and culture study. Meanwhile, through my long-time experience as a volunteer working in several Chinese NGOs, I get to know that people can work together to create so many wonderful things so long as they are organized in a proper way. Therefore I begin my internship with iCUE, the young but powerful entrepreneurship NGO which touched me deeply by its passion and persistence and from which I have learned a lot on organization building. One day, I hope, I can connect people from different countries with different cultural backgrounds for collaboration and mutual understanding. It seems like a dream, but it will be reality in someday as I believe.

Fahim - Finance Manager

Fahim is a 2^nd Year Economics and Politics student at the University of Manchester. He is currently part of the External Relations Team for the Manchester Entrepreneurs, playing an influential role in building up the brand as well as establishing a strong presence at the University in relation to its stakeholders. The society this year has achieved press on a national scale, featuring on numerous NACUE case-studies as well as in The Independent and BBC radio Manchester.

He also works with numerous start-ups, whilst also setting up his own venture, the studentbusinessreview.co.uk, which acts as a platform for students who want to write and discuss about current affairs that range from Economics and Politics, to Science and Technology. He hopes that by working with iCUE, he can help promote youth entrepreneurship on a global scale whilst providing the platform to erode barriers of collaboration between entrepreneurs in different parts of the world allowing the subsequent drive towards economic prosperity in developing parts of the world. He is interested in social enterprise, technology, journalism and innovation.

You can follow him on twitter here: @FahimSachedina

Lucia - Event Manager

My name is Lucia Vrablova, I am 23 years old and I originally come from Slovakia. Currently I am studying as an Erasmus student at Canterbury Christ Church University in England.  In October 2011 I joined Canterbury Enterprise Group where I work as Community Outreach Manager. My biggest achievement in this organisation so far is establishing a cooperation between C.E.G. and student enterprise group „Poradenske a rozvojove centrum“ in Slovakia. While working on this project I got a chance to cooperate with iCUE and I became interested in the concept of international entrepreneurship and the organization as a whole.

I finished my BA in Business administration last year in Slovakia and now I am officially Master student at my home university. During my studies I worked in AIESEC as Vice President of External Relations and later as Organisational Committee president responsible for running the biggest national conference in Slovakia and I deeply enjoyed it. Therefore I found the chance to work as an iCUE intern responsible for the 2012 Global Round Table and the fellowship program very interesting and also challenging. In this position I am responsible for the conference as a whole, communication with the delegates and solving various questions regarding this event.

By Anthony Silver

Are you a student with a great business idea?

Are you looking to pitch to the perfect investors?

European Student Startups is Europe’s first Venture Capital Competition exclusively for students. Hosted by the London School of Economics Students’ Union Entrepreneurs in partnership with many of the continent’s top entrepreneurial student societies, the competition culminates in the Grand Final where the best entrepreneurs will pitch to an audience of experienced investors, looking to put their money into Europe’s best new enterprises.

ESS brings together aspiring entrepreneurs with investors where business ideas are turned into reality. As a Europe-wide competition, European Student Startups will host ambitious and driven entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds who will have the chance to find the funding they need in order to start up their companies. It will also give investors the unique opportunity to invest in an exciting mass of new businesses in just one morning, at one location. Entrants will pitch to the investors through a three-stage process, with the finalists earning the opportunity to secure the investment they need to realise their business ideas.

European Student Startups encourages imagination, initiative, and innovation. The best of the best will compete to secure investment.

Apply NOW: The deadline for entry is January 27th, 2012.

www.europeanstudentstartups.com

During the last couple of months iCUE has been growing at an incredible speed. Besides iCUE’s 18 member countries to date, over seven world-class Advisors from leading, international entrepreneurship organizations recently joined the network. Being already the world’s largest community of young entrepreneurs, iCUE aims to further extend its global leadership position in 2012.

At this stage, we are looking for two, highly motivated part-time interns (15-20 hours / week) to join our extraordinary organization and team. Besides valuable working experience in a young startup, you will meet leading youth entrepreneurs from across the world and will have the chance to significantly contribute to iCUE’s further development. Make a change.

Both internships will last up to 4 months and will not be paid. You can work from home.

Our ideal candidates are…

• Passionate about entrepreneurship
• Able to work in a daily changing environment
• Able to accomplish projects on their own as well as in a team
• Innovative, think outside the box and love problem solving
• Highly motivated and positive-thinking

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Internship Placement 1

Main responsibility:         Finance, Sustainability, Funding

Special Project:               Development & Funding of a Global Learning Program

Application Deadline:      January 5^th

Start of internship:          Between January 5-10^th

During the internship you will…

• Develop sponsorship packages for iCUE’s 2012 Global Round Table
• Determine whom to approach for these sponsorship packages
• Approach and build relationships with potential iCUE sponsors & partners
• Explore new revenue streams and create a Financial Sustainability Plan for 2012/13
• Develop a Global Learning Program concept and propose ways of funding
• Present your results to leading youth enterprise organizations on iCUE’s 2012 Global Summit
• Report and discuss your projects with the iCUE Director, Tobias Hug
• Have a lot of fun

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Internship Placement 2

Main responsibility:         iCUE’s 2012 Global Round Table

Special Project:              Development of an iCUE Fellowship Program

Application Deadline:     January 5^th

Start of internship:         Between January 5-10^th

During the internship you will…

• Take the lead on the registration process for the iCUE 2012 Global Round Table
• Make and confirm all event-related bookings (venues, receptions, etc.)
• Invite and confirm all speakers (VIP Keynote speakers, iCUE member presidents, etc.)
• Develop, order and prepare all elements of the event’s delegate packages
• Obtain speaker gifts and prices for the Global Summit’s award ceremony
• Develop an iCUE Fellowship Program and propose ways forward to realize it
• Attend iCUE’s 2012 Global Round Table in London and make sure everything goes well
• Work directly with all iCUE members and report to the iCUE Director, Tobias Hug

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Application process

1. Like and follow iCUE on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn
2. Submit your CV and a few lines of your motivation to Tobias.Hug@icueonline.com  
3. Skype interview between January 5-10^th
4. Final confirmation

Further information about iCUE

Website: www.icueonline.com

November Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hfZ92

2012 Global Round Table Agenda: http://www.icueonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/iCUE-2012-GRT-AGENDA.pdf

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Please contact Tobias.Hug@icueonline.com should you have any questions whatsoever.

Victoria Lennox, iCUE’s Chair is running a special 6-week blog series sharing her ‘golden nuggets’ on how to build student enterprise ecosystems, organisations and movements.

Earlier today, I chaired iCUE’s December Member conference call and Jean Paul from Rwanda asked about what partnerships he would need to foster beyond governmental in order to build his national youth entrepreneurship organization and a national youth entrepreneurship movement.  I thought that it would be better to put it on Vimeo as a turorial for NACUE and ICUE members to access as they like. In this 15 minute tutorial, I begin from a macro view of positioning national youth entrepreneurship organizations (easily works for enterprise societies or any tertiary enterprise support organization for that matter) within the ‘governance triangle’ and then go onto focus on the governance of enterprise ecosystems in particular. UtilizingBabson College’s Enterprise Ecosystem Project diagram, I walk through the optimal role of national youth entrepreneurship organizations within the ecosystem and how they can leverage Babson’s model as a starting point for developing a partnership building strategy that leverages the strengths and capacities of the ecosystem to inspire, celebrate and accelerate youth entrepreneurship across cities, regions and countries. I stress, however, that this model only provides a framework to make sense of the ecosystem and areas for consideration; however, the process of forging and building partnerships and momentum requires political acuity and an appreciation of how to cultivate movements. I have written on this topics here: (1) Political Acuity and (2) Building Networks.

Click here to continue reading and to see the tutorial. 

Victoria Lennox, iCUE’s Chair is running a special 6-week blog series sharing her ‘golden nuggets’ on how to build student enterprise ecosystems, organisations and movements.

This is the second tutorial of a weekly series for young enterprising leaders working to cultivate youth entrepreneurial movements within their high schools, colleges, universities and countries. It has been developed for NACUE and ICUE leaders; however, it is also useful to anyone looking to start a movement. Throughout the 20min tutorial, I refer to direct examples from my experiences in having built communities around Oxford Entrepreneurs, NACUE, ICUE and Startup Canada. In this interactive tutorial, which includes clips from Steve Jobs and TEDx, I speak to the importance of having a clear and measurable vision and an intimate understanding of how your movement / organization is situated within the macro socio-economic context and broader entrepreneurial ecosystem…

Click here to continue reading…

2012 iCUE Global Summit

April 25-26, 2012, London, United Kingdom

The  2012 iCUE Global Summit will convene leaders of youth entrepreneurship organizations from over 20 countries and takes place over two days. Highlights include:

• Rigorous TEDx style global best practice sharing sessions
• VIP Mentorship Dinners with global mentors from the UN, World Economic Forum, TiE, Kauffman and the European Commision
• Entrepreneurial Keynote and Networking Drinks Reception in the London Eye
• Celebrity Entrepreneur and Global Thought Leader Keynotes and Panels
• 1st Annual iCUE Global Enterprise Awards
• Press Conference
• And much more…

By Liu Fan

Last June, a secondary student team from the Greenhead College, with their innovative eco-friendly cab-sharing business plan, won the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge 2011 organized by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Those young ‘entrepreneurs-to-be’ had a short but fascinating talk with Professor Alan Barrell, who worked as an advisor and judge of the final competition and engages himself in the growth of youth entrepreneurship in ‘a world without borders’.

The PolyU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge is a business plan competition held every two years in Hong Kong, the significant financial centre and gateway to Greater China. The competition aims to discover as well as inspire creative individuals, providing an opportunity for them to explore their business potential, and a unique platform for the young participants from all over the world to share not only their business ideas but the spirit of collaboration, culture, and dream.

Professor Alan Barrell also talked about entrepreneurship with Winnie Eley —the founding Director of International Affairs at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University—when the PolyU team visited Cambridge. This discussion shows Professor Barrell’s view towards entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship is a way of thinking regardless of age and chance. It is about change, the positive change in all dimensions. It is about innovation, creativity, and the possibility of changing the world. Obviously, as one of the largest universities in Hong Kong, PolyU acts as a pioneer of manifesting and developing this idea. The university plays a crucial role in researching and developing youth entrepreneurship, as well as creating an access to the business world not just for new start-ups in Hong Kong, but all of the young entrepreneurs in Asia and the globe.

In fact the world has already been in a changing era, which is accelerated by the unprecedented high-tech progress together with a strong calling for global communication and cooperation. Young people are increasingly realizing their power to develop their own creative thinking, to turn the idea into reality, to connect personal interests with future career. Meanwhile, they urgently need the support from various parties of the society—governments, NGOs, universities, and other experienced entrepreneurs. They need a national or even multi-national network of their own, which enables its members to expand connections with policy leaders, venture investors and business angels in specific interest area, to obtain help and guidance from the professionals, and in which members can get a sense of mutual understanding and an improved atmosphere of collaboration among people with similar objectives.

That is exactly what the international Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (iCUE) is creating, establishing, and contributing. iCUE provides its members with professional advisory support, consulting service, guidance in organizational development and network building. It also conducts a series of workshops, conferences, and annual global summits to cultivate the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the respective countries of its members. The organization acts as a bridge connecting young entrepreneurs and the social assistance which they need, an important representative voice on the international economic/entrepreneurship forum speaking for those new-comers who just get into the business world.

Nowadays iCUE has more than 18 member organizations across the world. In September 2011, CCUE (China) was officially launched and will work as a significant partner of iCUE in China and Asia. In the coming yearx, there will be more and more student entrepreneurs starting their own business and their own career with the help of iCUE, which is spreading the seeds of youth entrepreneurship and innovative thinking all over the world.

Global Youth Entrepreneurship:

Creation, Inspiration and Growth

Last June, a secondary student team from the Greenhead College, with their innovative eco-friendly cab-sharing business plan, won the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge 2011 organized by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Those young ‘entrepreneurs-to-be’ had a short but fascinating talk with Professor Alan Barrell, who worked as an advisor and judge of the final competition and engages himself in the growth of youth entrepreneurship in ‘a world without borders’.

The PolyU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge is a business plan competition held every two years in Hong Kong, the significant financial centre and gateway to Greater China. The competition aims to discover as well as inspire creative individuals, providing an opportunity for them to explore their business potential, and a unique platform for the young participants from all over the world to share not only their business ideas but the spirit of collaboration, culture, and dream.

Professor Alan Barrell also talked about entrepreneurship with Winnie Eley —the founding Director of International Affairs at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University—when the PolyU team visited Cambridge. This discussion shows Professor Barrell’s view towards entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship is a way of thinking regardless of age and chance. It is about change, the positive change in all dimensions. It is about innovation, creativity, and the possibility of changing the world. Obviously, as one of the largest universities in Hong Kong, PolyU acts as a pioneer of manifesting and developing this idea. The university plays a crucial role in researching and developing youth entrepreneurship, as well as creating an access to the business world not just for new start-ups in Hong Kong, but all of the young entrepreneurs in Asia and the globe.

In fact the world has already been in a changing era, which is accelerated by the unprecedented high-tech progress together with a strong calling for global communication and cooperation. Young people are increasingly realizing their power to develop their own creative thinking, to turn the idea into reality, to connect personal interests with future career. Meanwhile, they urgently need the support from various parties of the society—governments, NGOs, universities, and other experienced entrepreneurs. They need a national or even multi-national network of their own, which enables its members to expand connections with policy leaders, venture investors and business angels in specific interest area, to obtain help and guidance from the professionals, and in which members can get a sense of mutual understanding and an improved atmosphere of collaboration among people with similar objectives.

That is exactly what the international Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (iCUE) is creating, establishing, and contributing. iCUE provides its members with professional advisory support, consulting service, guidance in organizational development and network building. It also conducts a series of workshops, conferences, and annual global summits to cultivate the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the respective countries of its members. The organization acts as a bridge connecting young entrepreneurs and the social assistance which they need, an important representative voice on the international economic/entrepreneurship forum speaking for those new-comers who just get into the business world.

Nowadays iCUE has more than 18 member organizations across the world. In September 2011, CCUE (China) was officially launched and will work as a significant partner of iCUE in China and Asia. In the coming yearx, there will be more and more student entrepreneurs starting their own business and their own career with the help of iCUE, which is spreading the seeds of youth entrepreneurship and innovative thinking all over the world.