We’re so excited about the new BMIC web site because it speaks to the heart of BMIC – a community! The new site is a social networking site that allows every member of the BMIC community to communicate with each other.  It helps faculty to share ideas around the globe.  It helps sponsors to reach out and help young entrepreneurs in building their dreams.  Hopefully, you’ll find ways to extract value from it that we’ve not envision!

When you create an account on the new site, you’ll discover exciting capabilities:

• Personal Page – You have a profile that you can use to tell everyone about you, your background, and your aspirations (and you control what is published and to whom) and you can post documents, photos, and videos that might be of interest to others
• Groups – you to show your organizational relationships
• Universities – there is a group for each University that we’re working with
• Teams – each student team will have a group in their own
• Sponsors – there’s a group for each sponsor
• BMIC Alumni – if you’ve participated in a BMIC event in the past – this group will help you keep in contact with the others that you met at the event
• BMIC Staff – for those that are working on making BMIC happen
• Groupware – and we’ve also created pages that allow the groups to share information amongst themselves
• Friends – you can create links between yourself and others on the BMIC site
• Activity Streams – when you do something on the site or within the group, it is posted on the activity stream associated with you or the account
• and much more

We hope you find this new capability not only cool but useful.  So jump in, start using the new site, and let us know how we can improve it.

Paul

Microsoft, Google, Sun, Dell, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, Cisco, HP…

What do these companies have in common? Beyond market and technology leadership and a legacy of achievement – college students founded all of these companies.

People who started working on their ideas in their dorm rooms founded almost every great technology company. (There are many notable exceptions to this rule, particularly in enterprise software. There are also a large number of successful companies where college students formed large parts of the founding team – including Zynga, Netscape, and Silicon Graphics.)

But why have these dominant positions in technologies like search, web portals, personal computers, operating systems, and so many other areas been taken by relatively inexperienced college students, instead of the many larger technology companies steered by experienced executives?

While I certainly don’t know (and the answer is at least a little bit unknowable), I have some ideas:

-The Incredible Role of Iteration in Technology Startups – When we dig into the history of each of these companies, we find they each went down a variety of dead-ends, and had several false starts. As eminent venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen tells us, most startups that were successful were not successful by executing their first idea. (Marc talks a little about what they did at LoudCloud before he talks about iteration.)

I think college students are less afraid to make mistakes – and fundamentally less afraid to say “oh, this isn’t working – let’s try something else” then traditional executives. College students will experiment – and this is what leads to great companies.

Bringing Together Students From Different Disciplines – In The Medici Effect, Stanford Professor Franz Johansson talks about how truly innovative ideas often come from the intersection of disciplines. At large companies, people become true experts in micro-scopic areas, but college students study a large variety of different disciplines, and hang out with a true variety of people.

Steve Jobs has talked about the impact of his calligraphy class on the ultimate typography of the Macintosh – what seemed to be random, unrelated knowledge picked up by dropping in during a course reappeared years later, as a groundbreaking feature in a truly new device.

On Calligraphy Class:“None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

The Beginner’s Mind

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind, there are few.” – Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Traditionally, computer systems have been difficult to deal with, staffed by a curmudgeonly technological priesthood and used for things like accounting. If you’ve worked with computers in an enterprise environment (especially before the current era of IT), you’ve probably thought of them as something less than delightful and personally transformative.

As I look at the companies that have made information technology smaller, more ubiquitous, and more social, I see college students behind all of them. In the pursuit of making technology friendlier, lack of preconceptions is a virtue – especially when later combined with experienced executives.

How BMIC Helps

At the Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative, we believe that college students can drive technology innovation. The mobile internet is a new area with unique potential – the most ubiquitous, internet connected consumer device, at the locus of location, social networks, and payment. The mobile opportunity is bigger than we’ve ever guessed – more than 5 billion (that’s billion with a B) devices will be coming online soon.

If you’re a student and you want to learn more about how you can be part of the next wave of technology innovation, check out our ‘for students’ section. If you’re a faculty member looking to get your students involved in mobile innovation and plug into a network of support from industry, trade organizations, and non-profits, please reach out to us and we’ll see how we can help. And if you work for a player in the mobile space, you can tap into a network of college students innovating by becoming a BMIC sponsor.

P.S. – College students also start excellent non-technology companies like FedEx and Kinkos.

What do you think? Why are so many consumer technology companies started by college students? What’s your favorite company started by a college student? Leave a comment and share with the community…

January 2010
Berkeley, CA

Dear Reader,

Over the past 12 months many executives, analysts, investors, pundits, and entrepreneurs have focused on the emergence of mobile phone applications as the next big market changing or “killer app” opportunity. The embrace of mobile applications by consumers and business is becoming the engine to drive new revenues, opportunities, and innovations in the technology sector. The mobile application store, as masterfully crafted by Apple in the iTunes mechanism, has whetted the public’s appetite to buy a plethora of useful to entertaining apps that improve, divert, edify, or simplify people’s lives even to a greater or small degree.

As we greet a new decade in 2010, there is little doubt that a vast supply of usually inexpensive mobile applications combined with a nearly frictionless digital sales and distribution tool that instantly, seamlessly, efficiently satisfies the customer’s demand is transforming the global marketplace. In short, the enormous selection of mobile apps +instant-gratification mobile app stores = new frictionless marketplace.

The evolution of the mobile marketplace is transforming the mobile tech ecosystem around the globe. While the greater Silicon Valley has long been the center of gravity for most technology innovation, it has been a relative backwater within the telecommunications and mobile industries. But today, the Silicon Valley is fully engaged in leading innovation in mobile technology. As we enter this new decade, what will follow is a period of unprecedented economic growth in mobile software.

Because of these developments, a group at Berkeley started pursuing a vision of enabling universities and mobile telephony companies around the globe to collaborate on tapping into the energy and enthusiasm of students by encouraging them to become mobile applications entrepreneurs. Mobile applications are a global phenomenon and they offer clear, real world incentives for students. These young people are poised to become the next generation of entrepreneurs, developers, technology leaders and visionaries. To make mobile applications innovation and entrepreneurship happen, the mobile industry needs to collaborate with and support mobile technology entrepreneurship in the curriculum and extra-curriculum of all of the world’s major universities. By attracting and inspiring students, there is a significant opportunity for universities and mobile companies across the globe to collaborate through innovation.

We have created the Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative (BMIC) as a classic non-profit start-up corporation that aims to bring the Mobile Application courses combined with a competition to students around the world. This is something that we have already proven to work at Berkeley and now it is time to expand to students and universities internationally.

Universities provide a natural and stimulating environment for students to connect with the the next wave of mobile application energy. University education thrives on competition and challenge. Strong universities can bring students and company sponsors into alignment by collaborating to use academic competitiveness to create some very valuable, visible, and viable opportunities – not unlike university athletic competition.

Our vision is to start with the existing Mobile Application entrepreneurial course here at Cal and promulgate the concept of a business competition to universities and students everywhere. The concept behind the course is to attract engineering, business, and other undergrads interested in entrepreneurship and to give them practical experience through the mobile industry. The students in a university’s entrepreneurship course will form teams that combine both technical and business skills. Students participate in the course meetings and lectures while simultaneously coming up with an innovative idea for a mobile application. Each team is given the task to build a working mobile application on the handset of their choice and build a rational business plan for taking the mobile application to market. By the end of the term each student team is expected to have: (i) a working mobile application that demonstrates their concept ; (ii) a business plan complete with pro-forma financials, a proposed business model, and a go-to-market strategy; (iii) a slide presentation to present publicly to a panel of prospective investors; and (iv) a well rehearsed 6 – 8 minute presentation involving all members of the team where the app is demonstrated, the business plan explained, and a request for financial support made to the panel of judges.

After the final presentations are made the panel of judges composed of mobile industry leaders and investors, are given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments regarding their real-world assessments of the strength of the concept(s) behind each mobile application pitch. The culmination of the class competition takes place when the winning team and mobile app is announced.

In the next stage we plan to make this mobile application course a global competition. We are currently inviting 25 to 50 universities around the globe with entrepreneurship programs similar to the Berkeley program to participate in the 2011 Mobile Challenge that will have world finals at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain in February of 2011. We have considerable interest and support expressed by mobile technology companies who want to help build the collaborative and make the Challenge happen. But we seek a leader. We would love to have your involvement, support, guidance, and leadership. Please contact us immediately to get involved.

Bill Washburn

email [bill DOT washburn AT bmic DOT org]

GSMA Announces New Developments for App Planet at 2010 Mobile World Congress

28 January 2010, Barcelona, Spain

The GSMA today revealed exciting new developments in its inaugural App Planet event being held at the 2010 Mobile World Congress. The GSMA announced that Google and Motorola will each hold application developer conferences (ADC) within App Planet, bringing the total number of individual ADCs at Mobile World Congress to six. The GSMA also announced that it is partnering with Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative to launch the global “University Mobile Challenge”, a competition designed to spur mobile application development and innovation at the university level. Additionally, the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) announced finalists for the 6th edition of the gaming awards and will name the eight award winners at the IMGA ceremony on Monday, 15 February at App Planet.

“Solely focused on the rapidly growing application developer community, App Planet will bring together the many critical elements of the broad mobile application ecosystem together in one location,” saidMichael O’Hara, chief marketing officer for the GSMA. “Application development is one of the most vibrant, innovative areas within mobile today, and we’re thrilled with the early response to App Planet.”

Leading Platform Dev Conferences under One Roof at App Planet
Google will host an Android Developer Lab at App Planet on Wednesday, 17 February. The full-day session is targeted towards current Android developers as well as those who are interested in learning more about the platform. Participants will have the opportunity to attend a technical session, talk to the Android developer relations team, and meet other members of the growing Android developer community.

MOTODEV, Motorola’s developer network, will host a Developer Day on Monday, 15 February. In this half-day event, MOTODEV will give developers an opportunity to spend the day getting tools, guidance, go-to-market knowledge and community support they need to create a whole new generation of phenomenal user experiences on Motorola’s Android-based devices. Developers will get access to the latest Android devices from Motorola, meet with MOTODEV experts and learn how to capitalise on the worldwide mobile market opportunity. Motorola is also a sponsor of the IMGA awards at App Planet.

The full schedule of App Planet ADCs is:

GSMA and BMIC Launch App Dev Challenge for University Students
The GSMA has teamed with Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative (BMIC), a non-profit organisation focused on bringing innovative, real-world educational and entrepreneurial opportunities and experiences to college students throughout the world, to create the global University Mobile Challenge. The University Mobile Challenge will bring together teams of students from universities that offer courses in mobile app development and entrepreneurship.

Groups of students form start-up teams to create an original mobile application in a category of their choice (personal utility, game, service, entertainment, location service, etc). Students must take the application from an abstract idea to a working model along with a business plan. In the final exams for the project, the competing teams will present to a panel of judges as well as their classmates, and will publicly demonstrate their respective mobile apps, including outlining the market value, the business plan and go-to-market strategy. The winning team with the combination of the strongest mobile application concept and business plan from each university will be invited to a regional competition at a country level. Each national winning university team will be sponsored to go on to compete in the global final competition, the first of which will be held at the 2011 Mobile World Congress. More information on the University Mobile Challenge can be found at http://bmic.org/.

IMGA to Hold 6th Annual Awards at App Planet
An international judging panel of 20 specialists have selected the 25 best new games for mobile phones in the 6th edition of the International Mobile Gaming Awards. The selection was made from more than 150 entries coming from 36 countries including China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. According to the IMGA, 60% of all award entries were iPhone applications, versus just 16% last year. In addition to the iPhone entries, nominations covered all platforms including Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, Maemo and Linux.

The IMGA will announce the eight award winners at an invitation-only ceremony being held at App Planet at the Mobile World Congress on 15 February. For more information on the International Mobile Gaming Awards, please visit www.imgawards.com.

About App Planet at the GSMA Mobile World Congress
The inaugural App Planet event will feature application developer conferences; an interactive exhibition; the App Lounge for networking and business development activities; a dedicated, day-long conference programme on industry trends in mobile applications; and the App Garage, which will showcase cutting-edge GSMA initiatives in the mobile applications space. App Planet will host more than 120 exhibiting companies and the GSMA expects between 3,000 and 5,000 mobile application developers to visit App Planet over four days. Full information on App Planet is available athttp://www.mobileworldcongress.com/exhibition/app_planet.htm.

Sponsors for the 2010 Mobile World Congress include LG Electronics as Platinum Sponsor and Generalitat de Catalunya as Mobile Innovations Platinum Sponsor. For more information on the 2010 Mobile World Congress, please visit www.mobileworldcongress.com.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the new online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website atwww.gsmworld.com.

Media Contacts:

GSMA Daniel Lowther
+44 7747 636 687 (mobile)
press@gsm.org

BMIC Bill Washburn

+1 650 248 6113

bill.washburn@bmic.org

We’re very proud to launch the new bmic.org web site.

You’re looking at it right now! So we hope you like it. Please feel free to provide us with any feedback.

The Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative creates strategic relationships between mobile companies, innovative universities, and entrepreneurial students. We run global start-up competitions and develop world-class curricula to equip the next generation of mobile professionals.

The mobile internet is a worldwide phenomenon of unprecedented scale and impact. BMIC seeks to make every college student an entrepreneur, utilizing the unique insights of the generation of “digital natives” to create the next wave of mobile internet innovation.

BMIC creates partnerships between faculty, students, and industry, enabling all three groups to share expertise, ideas, and resources. In addition to providing resources for Mobile Innovation & Entrepreneurship courses, BMIC sponsors the Global Mobile App Challenge. The Global Mobile App Challenge is a series of innovation and business competitions at the university, regional, national, and global levels.

Welcome to our new web site, and find out all about us,