The Silicon Valley Neat Ideas Fair: Initiatives to Encourage Entrepreneurship Among Students

Anuradha Basu, San José State University

This session describes and evaluates an initiative to foster creativity among students at San José State University (SJSU) by encouraging them to conceptualize and present new business ideas. The initiative,
called the Silicon Valley Neat Ideas Fair, was held in November 2004 and will now be an annual forum. It was hosted jointly by SJSU’s Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship and the student-led Entrepreneurial
Society. The session describes the objectives of the initiative, the methods used to generate participation by students and other SJSU affiliates, and the challenges to its implementation by a group of faculty and student volunteers. It evaluates the impact on encouraging entrepreneurship and strengthening the connective fabric of innovation within SJSU and the community. Sharing the experience of this initiative will be valuable to all educators interested in promoting entrepreneurship through practical learning.

>>Read the peer-reviewed paper here (PDF)