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Daniel Roth, managing editor — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:35:52 +0000

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Winners of the Rice Business Plan Competition

Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:52:01 +0000

BiologicsMD took first place and over $350,000 in winnings. To find out who took home the rest of the $1 million in prize money, click here. Filed under: Techland

Live blogging the finals of Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston

Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:42:23 +0000

Final round of Rice Competition starting now. Six Teams have 15 minutes to present; 10 minutes for questions. Finalists include three medical companies, two from the microchip industries, and one with optical technology: BiologicsMD, Ambiq Micro, GlucaGo, Rebellion Photonics, Reveal Design Automation, OrthoIntrinsics --Jessica Shambora

First up: BiologicsMD

Developing OsteoFlor, a new prescription medication for treatment for Osteoporosis.

"You're not looking at a hip fracture, you're looking at a death sentence." --Jerry MORE

A peek inside the halls of Rice Business School

Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:21:09 +0000

Rice is ranked No.5 among graduate entrepreneurship programs in the U.S. by Princeton Review. Wonder if it has anything to do with these fancy lockers? What do they keep in there? --Jessica Shambora

Filed under: Techland

Five pointers from the judges

Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:24:34 +0000

by Jessica Shambora

During the first round of competition at Rice on Friday, one audience saw business plans ranging from a Netflix for maternity wear, to a better tool for identifying bugs in semiconductor chips. The assembled judges, including investors, attorneys and past winners, asked questions and offered feedback. Here are some key lessons that emerged:

1. Action speaks louder than words: Even if it's very basic, do an alpha test to MORE

What’s your elevator pitch?

Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:24:47 +0000

by Jessica Shambora

The Rice Business Plan Competition kicked off in Houston Thursday night with an elevator pitch contest. All 43 teams had one minute to pitch their plans. Each asked for a specific dollar amount; some suggested a valuation and exit strategy; a few even promised 40x returns!

While there were designated judges for the competition (including VCs and high school students), audience members with the event's iPhone app got to MORE

Tweeting from the Rice Business Plan Competition

Paul Smalera — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:01:37 +0000

Fortune's Jessica Shambora and others are Tweeting about the Rice Business Plan Competition on Twitter, under the hashtag #RBPC. Click to follow the updates coming out of the competition. Filed under: Techland

Rice University Business Plan Competition 2010

Daniel Roth — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:36:30 +0000

What's the Big Idea? Judge for Yourself

By Josh Hyatt, contributor

Call it April Madness. In just a few days, 42 teams of student entrepreneurs will compete in a grinding competition to win a record-busting $1 million in cash and prizes.

Meet the 42 teams who have been chosen — out of 420 entries — to face off in Rice University's Tenth Annual Rice Business Plan Competition, the country's largest and wealthiest graduate-level MORE

Nintendo Wii officially recession-proof

yiwyn — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:43:56 +0000

The Wii Fit game is one of Nintendo's biggest sellers with 697,000 sold in the U.S. in November. Courtesy of Nintendo

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Nintendo seems to have bucked the recession. The Japanese video game manufacturer has doubled November sales of the Wii in the U.S. from a year ago, according to NPD's latest release on gaming sales.

The demand for the Wii remains strong since the game console's debut two years ago. The company MORE

Kosmix searches for a new way around Google

yiwyn — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:12:05 +0000

By Yi-Wyn Yen

These days, getting a large handout from venture capitalists is rare. It's even tougher when your startup needs a lot of cash to compete with Google.

Kosmix, however, has defied the odds. In late October, the plucky startup raised $20 million, led by Fortune's parent company Time Warner (TWX), by assuring investors that Google is not the only way to search on the Web. Kosmix says it takes a MORE

Report: Former AOL chief wants to buy Yahoo

yiwyn — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:33:42 +0000

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Yahoo's fate is becoming more convoluted every day. Just two days after the Times of London reported that talks between Microsoft and Yahoo were back on, the the Wall Street Journal says former AOL chief executive Jonathan Miller is trying to raise money from private equity and sovereign wealth investors to buy the struggling Internet company.

Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) spiked 11% to $12.50 in mid-day trading on MORE

Phone forecast calls for sales decline in 2009

smoritz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:04:02 +0000

By Scott Moritz

With clouds of economic gloom darkening the tech horizon, mobile phone sales - a former bright spot in the gadget world - look to be slowing.

Tech buyers went away early this fall, and as recession fears intensified, orders have continued to dry up.

There have been a number of ominous signs. First Cisco (CSCO) slashed its outlook and froze hiring. Then Wall Street analysts slashed Google's (GOOG) search ad sales MORE

Hewlett-Packard solid, Corning shattered

smoritz — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:06:42 +0000

By Scott Moritz

It was a tale of two techs Tuesday. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) surprised Wall Street on Tuesday with a fourth-quarter earnings report that beat analysts' profit and sales targets. HP shares soared nearly 14% in early trading.

Meanwhile, glass maker Corning (GLW) warned of a sales shortfall in the current quarter as demand for its flat-screen TV and computer panels drops faster than anticipated. Shares fell nearly 12%.

HP posted preliminary adjusted earnings of $1.03 a share, which compares with MORE

The Xbox 360′s holiday makeover

yiwyn — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:02:31 +0000

Xbox 360 gets an image makeover to compete with the Wii. Image: Microsoft

By Yi-Wyn Yen

The Xbox 360 is getting a major software update designed to transform it into a multimedia machine.

Starting Wednesday, all Xbox 360 owners will be required to update their gaming consoles so that they can watch movies in high-definition, stream TV shows and movies from Netflix (NFLX) and navigate categories like games, photos, and videos through a MORE

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to step down

yiwyn — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:47:52 +0000

By Yi-Wyn Yen

At the Web 2.0 Summit two weeks ago, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was asked if he was the right guy to lead the battered Internet portal. Yang dodged the question by defending his passion for the company he co-founded 13 years ago. "I didn't make the decision of being the CEO lightly," he said. "I wanted to make a change at Yahoo that I believe I can make....That's MORE

Mark Cuban faces insider trading charges

smoritz — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:25:29 +0000

By Scott Moritz

U.S. regulators on Monday charged Dallas Maverick owner and outspoken blogger Mark Cuban with using confidential information in 2004 to sell his stake in Mamma.com, a Montreal search engine now known as Copernic (CNIC). His sale of all 600,000 shares helped Cuban avoid a 10% dive in the stock, or about $750,000 in losses, the government contends.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Cuban on Monday. No criminal charges were MORE

Silicon Valley celebrates do-gooders

Michal Lev-Ram, writer — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:13:59 +0000

By Michal Lev-Ram

SAN JOSE - On the same day that Intel (INTC) slashed more than $1 billion from its sales forecast and more analysts cut sales estimates for Google (GOOG), Silicon Valley luminaries momentarily put the downturn aside and celebrated a happier cause -- using technology to benefit the world.

Nearly 1,500 guests on Wednesday night attended the annual Tech Awards, which recognize innovations used to alleviate poverty around the world. "Tonight is a reminder of MORE

Microsoft gives Windows Live a Facebook facelift

yiwyn — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:22:11 +0000

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Microsoft is trying its luck at social networking - again.

After a failed attempt four years ago, Microsoft (MSFT) is ripping a page from Facebook's playbook, introducing on Thursday new profile and photo-sharing features to its web-based Windows Live services. The software giant allows users with Windows Live Hotmail or Messenger accounts to create online profiles that highlight what a person is doing through a Facebook-like newsfeed.

Microsoft hopes that MORE

Google hits 3-year low on growth fears

smoritz — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:21:13 +0000

By Scott Moritz

What was a little fuzzy last month has become clearer of late: The sagging economy is weighing on Google (GOOG).

Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell cited signs of weakness in search advertising - Google's biggest moneymaker by far -- in cutting his revenue growth target for the current fourth quarter from 4% to 1%.

Mitchell is the second analyst this week to lower estimates for Google. On Monday Barclays analyst Doug Anmuth called MORE

Nortel cuts jobs, shakes up management

smoritz — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:33:15 +0000

By Scott Moritz

Nortel (NT) plans a major restructuring and another round of job cuts as demand for tech gear plunges.

The Toronto networking equipment giant said Monday it would trim 1,300 jobs on top 1,200 cuts previously announced. Nortel had 32,550 employees at the end of 2007.

The company also said four top executives, including its head of sales and its chief technology officer, would leave at year-end.

The news comes as Nortel posted third quarter MORE

Al Gore: Web 2.0 can help save the planet

Michael V. Copeland, Senior Writer — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:50:24 +0000

By Michael V. Copeland and Yi-Wyn Yen

SAN FRANCISCO - Al Gore didn't take credit for inventing the Internet at the Web 2.0 Summit Friday, but he did credit it with enabling the victory of President-elect Barack Obama and helping restore faith in the principles upon which the United States was founded.

"The electrifying redemption of America's revolutionary declaration, that all human beings are created equal," Gore said to a cheering crowd, MORE