Dear Oxford Entrepreneur,

Oxford Entrepreneurs has continued to grow over the past year while sticking to its core values of encouraging and supporting student entrepreneurship through Inspiration, education, and networking. We now have over 3500 members making us the largest free society in Oxford and shows that students are most excited than ever by entreprepreneurialism.

Oxford Entrepreneurs is inspiring students to aim high and giving them a launchpad. This year saw Kulveer and Harjeet Taggar become the first company from Oxford Entrepreneurs to exit for $5m. Previous OEers Sumon Sandhu (SnapTalent), David Langer and Andy Young (Groupspaces), Richard Price (Liveout), Kirill Makharinsky and Bob Goodson (YouNoodle) now all have major funding for their ventures. The multitude of ventures coming out of the society are testament to the entrepreneurial drive OE is unleashing.

 I would like to welcome Oxford Entrepreneurs President 08/09, Victoria Lennox. Victoria comes from Canada and has previously setup a successful dance tutoring company and student society focusing on women in politics. I have every confidence that she will lead the society to a new high. Accompanying Victoria will be an evolution in the society’s governance which will allow for increased activity and improved continuity.

 Please read on for more details of our events and activities from the past year.

 Alasdair Bell

President 07/08

"The entrepreneur builds an enterprise; OE builds entrepreneurs." Thomas F.A. Whitfield

Contents

1. Idea Idol
2. Speakers and Events
3. John Bird, Founder of The Big Issue, 28th January 2008
4. Richard Reed, Co-Founder of Innocent Smoothies, 5th March 2008
5. Sir Tom Hunter, Sports Division & Westfield capital, 4th February 2008
6. Charles Dunstone, CEO and Founder, The Carphone Warehouse, 7th November 2007
7. Levi Roots, Reggae Reggae Sauce, Wednesday, 17th October 2007
8. Kulveer and Harjeet Taggar returned to Oxford Entrepreneurs to talk about selling their company, Auctomatic, for $5m! - Friday 25th April 2008
9. Panel Discussion on Growing Your Start-up, 13th May 2008
10. Influential 100 Meal
11. Start-A-Company
12. Enternships
13. Community and Profile
14. Thanks

1. Idea Idol

After four months, hundreds of entries and weeks of training and preparation, we crowned 2008's Idea Idols in a dramatic final on 19th February 2008 at The Said Business School.

Over 300 people attended to watch the finalist deliver their 2 minute elevator before facing gruelling questions by the four judges, including Deborah Meaden, who is well known for being one of the Dragon's on the BBC's Dragon's Den. Other judges were Katherine Mathieson, Head of Future Innovators at NESTA, Reshma Sohoni, CEO of Seedcamp, and Sebastian Grigg, MD of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse. http://tinyurl.com/35o57f

Deborah Meaden commented that "the presentations we had here tonight beat 90% of the presentations we have on Dragon's Den"

The atmosphere in the lecture theatre was electric. Alasdair Bell and Jennifer Tsim, two of the OE committee members, hosted the evening and kept the crowds entertained as they introduced the event. Once the finalists had pitched their idea and faced tough questions, the judges went off to deliberate as to the winner.

The joint winners were fledging firms Altitude Medical and Zoombu, which were awarded £4,500 each.

Altitude Medical, set up by Alexander Roman Oshmyansky and Dan V Nicolau Jr, have produced a simple device which involves antiseptic being released every time a door handle is used in a hospital. The inventors believe that this device will reduce the risk of infections and superbugs in hospitals caused by staff and visitors failing to wash their hands properly. Altitude Medical were also awarded a £500 People's Choice Award after winning the vote of over 300 local entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business angels and fellow students. Later this concept won second place in the international, £25k Big Idea business idea competition.

Zoombu is an idea which Alastair David Hann came up with. He describes it as the ultimate way to plan a trip between any two places in Europe. Zoombu searches every permutation of coach, rail, air, sea and car travel, enabling users to find the fastest, cheapest or greenest routes between the destinations.

Glen Mehn received £500 to make the trip to Silicon Valley to present their heat transfer concept to Google.

Here is what the press said:

• Oxford Mail – Idea Idol Winners Named http://www.oxfordmail.net
• BBC Radio Oxfordshire: Alasdair Bell, Altitude Medical and Zoobu were interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford about the competition and the businesses.
• Cherwell and Oxford Student ran features on the competition.

Blogs

• http://www.overthecounterculture.com/2008/idea-idol-2008/
• http://veganomics.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/idea-idol-2008/
• http://davidlanger.co.uk/2008/02/15/finalists-announced-in-oxfords-idea-idol-
• competition/ http://mba.sbsblogs.co.uk/

2. Speakers and Events

Over the years OE has hosted a range of amazing speakers to inspire our members including Sir James Dyson, the late Dame Anita Roddick, and Sir Alan Sugar. This year was no exception with a range of inspirational and diverse speakers.

3. John Bird, Founder of The Big Issue, 28th January 2008

John Bird, was a poor boy, orphan, thief, inmate, artist and poet before going on to found the ground-breaking social initiative that is The Big Issue. Since the inception of The Big Issue in 1991, John has overseen its development into the UK’s most successful social enterprise, stretching from Tokyo to Totnes and helping thousands of homeless people worldwide.

John spoke with passion to over 80 people about eliminating homelessness and his belief that the most effective way of going about this is to give hand ups and not hand outs

4. Richard Reed, Co-Founder of Innocent Smoothies, 5th March 2008

Richard came and told over 100 of us about the story and brand values of Innocent smoothies. A company which began as a stall at a music festival in the summer of 1998, when the three co-founders bought £500 worth of fruit, turned it into smoothies and sold them alongside a sign saying, 'Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?' They had two bins, one saying YES and the other NO and asked people to put their empty bottle in the right bin. The next day they had all resigned from their jobs. He spoke about the challenges of building a multinational corporations and faced tough questions on ethics and organic farming.

5. Sir Tom Hunter, Sports Division & Westfield capital, 4th February 2008

Sir Tom Hunter rose from humble beginnings selling trainers from the back of a van to become Scotland's first billionaire. In 1984, he founded the Sports Division chain of sports shops. He built this up into a leading retailer. In 1998, he sold the chain to JJB Sports, making over £250 million. In 2001 he co-founded the West Coast Capital investment firm and by 2006 was named the richest man in Scotland. Not content to live the life of the idle rich, and has pledged to use his fortune for the benefit of mankind. The Hunter Foundation aims to, over time, invest £1 billion in venture philanthropy.

Sir Tom recounted his story, gave an insight into the workings and his belief in venture philanthropy, and discussed his passion for improving enterprise education to over 90 attendees.

6. Charles Dunstone, CEO and Founder, The Carphone Warehouse, 7th November 2007

Charles told his story of founding and growing the Carphone Warehouse in less than ten years to become the UK's leading independent communications specialist retailer. An Observer survey rated him as the 124th most powerful person in the UK and the Times rated him as the 74th richest.

7. Levi Roots, Reggae Reggae Sauce, Wednesday, 17th October 2007

Levi Roots spoke about his experiences after winning £50,000 funding from the Dragons Den, spiced up with some Reggae. Levis charismatic style added some spice to proceedings with music, tastings and an energetic crowd of over 100.

8. Kulveer and Harjeet Taggar returned to Oxford Entrepreneurs to talk about selling their company, Auctomatic, for $5m! - Friday 25th April 2008

Recent Oxford graduates, Kulveer and Harjeet Taggar turned down careers in banking and law to leap into starting their own business, moving out to Silicon Valley. In less than two years they sold their company for millions proving that students can hit it big as entrepreneurs! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7315598.stm

9. Panel Discussion on Growing Your Start-up, 13th May 2008

Six expert panellists led this discussion focusing on founding and successfully growing a start-up. These were:

• Paul Fisher - VC at Advent Venture Capital - thecoffeeshopsofmayfair.com
• Alex Hoye - angel Investor - entrepreneur - co-founder of goindustry.com
• Sumon Sadhu - founder of Imperial Entrepreneurs, CEO of Snaptalent
• James Uffindell - founder of Bright London and Oxbridge Applications
• David Langer - CEO of Groupspaces.com
• Martin Chilcott - serial entrepreneur - founder of Meltwater Ventures

10. Influential 100 Meal

We invited the 100 most influential, inspiration, and active figures in Oxford student entrepreneurship for the ultimate networking meal.

Attendees included Tom Savage (former OE committee member, founder of Bright Green Talent, and Edge Upstart Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year), Jamie Murry Well (Glasses Direct), Michael Smith (Firebox and Mindcandy), and Nick Cross (Milton Park and Oxford Semiconductors) amongst others.

11. Start-A-Company

Our Start-A-Company scheme attracted over 120 students interested in getting involved in running a venture while at university. A series of events led to companies forming into teams and being provided with mentors. Start-ups ranged from a mentoring scheme for schools, to a company connecting students and graduate recruiters.

12. Enternships

This year the Enternships scheme continued to grow with over 70 placements being offered to Oxford Entrepreneurs. These have been spread out throughout the year and the exciting placements have ranged from web start-ups in San Francisco to market research companies in London. The upcoming year should be an exciting one for the scheme with a national expansion planned.

13. Community and Profile

Over 800 new members signed up to the society this year. In order to continue engaging and connecting with our members we have setup a community platform on YouNoodle. This enables our members to showcase their start-ups and find recruits to join their team.  www.younoodle.com

This year we have featured in the Telegraph twice (“Oxford’s Dreaming Spires are Waking Up to Commercial Reality”)(http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/business/yourbusiness/june2008/entrepreneurship-is-in-rude-health.htm), the Oxford Mail (twice), The Cherwell (three times), The Oxford Student, BBC Radio Oxfordshire (twice).

14. Thanks

Running the society has been my job and life for the past year, it has been challenging but very rewarding. I would like to thank: Everyone who has been on the committee in the past year for all their hard work. Fiona for her continued support as senior member. Annabel for helping with all the admin. Dave, Raj and Andy for advice and encouragement. Sarah for putting up with me. All the speakers, workshop hosts, and mentors for their invaluable wisdom and time. The Said Business School staff for helping and tolerating the adolescent child that Oxford Entrepreneurs is! Sponsors for believing in our work and supporting it. And most importantly thanks to all our members for being Oxford Entrepreneurs.

** Oxford Entrepreneurs is sponsored by Deutsche Bank, www.FreePrintManagement.com, Purple Media, Business Link and the Oxford Science Enterprise Centre **