Open Letter of Invitation
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]