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February 22, 2000
UT MBA Students Win Regional Venture Capital Competition
Austin, TX - The winning team of five Texas Business School MBA students will join other regional winners at the national Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) in March. The UT team beat competitors from the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, the University of Chicago, and Washington University-St. Louis in this competition that places students in the role of venture capitalists deciding among various investment opportunities.
The students looked at real companies that are seeking venture capital investment. Each team chose which companies to fund and presented their analyses to a panel of venture capitalists. The judging panel selected the top teams based on their demonstrated knowledge of the venture capital investing process, including their funding decisions, choice of deal structure, evaluation of management, and planned interaction between the VC firm and the company in the future.
UT's winning team noted, "We learned a lot during the competition, but we also know that in terms of searching for seed stage financing, the companies that participated learned a lot, too." Ron Losefsky, president and CEO of Internet start-up Servicerelief.com, concurred. "The competition was a great place to get unfiltered feedback," he said. "Plus, I had a really good time."
Representatives from Sevin Rosen Bayles Management Company, Texas Growth Fund, Austin Ventures, AV Labs, Murphree Ventures, TL Ventures, and Legacy Fund served as judges in the competition. The companies see the event as a way to partner with the University to educate students about the real world of venture capital while supporting Austin's thriving entrepreneurial/VC community. "Anything that encourages interaction with the Austin venture capital/technology community is good for everyone involved," said Russ Cockrell, partner at Austin Ventures. "We are always looking for opportunities to meet UT students interested in venture capital or entrepreneurship as potential employees, or more importantly, employees with our portfolio companies."
Members of the winning team include: Matthew Forrester, Kumi Takasumi, Amy George, Sarah Lowthian, and Quinton Dodson. The team will receive a $3,000 cash prize, an engraved trophy, and travel expenses paid to the national competition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The University of Wisconsin finished second and Washington University finished in third place.
The mission of The Texas Business School at The University of Texas at Austin is to be a premiere institution for business education in the world. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs are consistently ranked among the top 20 business programs-public or private-in the nation. The school's entrepreneurship program is a special strength, ranked #10 by U.S. News & World Report and among the top 10 in the world by The Financial Times. The curriculum combines an integrated set of multidisciplinary courses with hands-on projects, access to the Austin Technology Incubator, ties to other academic and business organizations involved in entrepreneurship education, and the opportunity to participate in the world-renown MOOT CORP® Competition, hosted by the Texas Business School.
For more information contact: George Johnson, 512-232-3912, in the Texas MBA office.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
