The Lineup

Student Pitches

The Coulter Challenge

The Coulter Challenge is the mammoth, action-packed culmination to New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. Held at the National World War II Museum, the event will bring together all the participants in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, city leaders, and innovation enthusiasts from around the city. After an Idea Pitch Entrepreneurial Panel, we'll have presentations from both entrepreneurs and students on what they learned, who they met, and what inspired them over the course of the week. Sponsored by Jim Coulter, the event will conclude with a celebration at the home of James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Student Pitch Entrepreneurs

Drop the Chalk

Drop the Chalk

Jennifer Schnidman - Founder

Drop the Chalk creates easy-to-use software tools for K-12 schools in need of customized student data management systems. www.dropthechalk.org

Jen Schnidman is a New Orleans transplant and a former 2006 Mississippi Delta Teach For America Corps Member. After teaching middle school math in Helena, AR, Jen helped get the Science Academy Charter School off the ground in New Orleans; teaching 9th grade Algebra during the school's first year. Jen then went on to help Teach For America improve its own tech infrastructure as the Manager of Online Media and Learning before founding Drop the Chalk. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University.

Entrepreneur Week Challenge:

Drop the Chalk now has a functioning beta version of its software product and is ready for use by local school clients. Having overcome the major hurdle of developing a functioning prototype, Drop the Chalk will work with the students from the Stanford Graduate School of Business to create a pricing strategy, perform market analysis to and develop an investment pitch.

NOLA Couture

NOLA Couture

Cecile Hardy - Founder, CEO

NOLA Couture is a New Orleans based clothing line that is known for its vibrant, unique prints that are inspired by New Orleans and the South. The main product line is a series of southern-inspired men’s ties, but they also sell dog collars and leashes, belts, headbands/scarves and t-shirts with their signature prints. www.nolacouture.com

Cecile Hardy has experience in the fashion industry as a designer, merchandiser and buyer for Gap, Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Home at their respective corporate headquarters in San Francisco. She moved back to her hometown of New Orleans in the spring of 2006 to launch NOLA Couture after seeing the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Entrepreneur Week Challenge:

NOLA Couture will work with the Kellogg Team to address brand and positioning strategy for expansion.

Schedulist

Schedulist

Christopher Laibe - President

Schedulist is the world’s first workforce scheduling program designed specifically to improve workforce retention. The product is designed to accommodate healthcare facilities and home health providers, but it can be modified to solve the scheduling needs of other industries. www.schedulist.com

Laibe has owned and run inFRONT since 2002, doubling company revenue and securing significant supplier positions at several Fortune 500 clients. Prior to acquiring inFRONT, he worked for E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company in several management roles in the US and Europe. He is a graduate of Cornell University and is a resident of New Orleans where he lives with his wife and 5 children.

Entrepreneur Week Challenge:

Schedulist has overcome many of the barriers young tech startups never do: it has developed a functioning product, launched and attracted actual clients. That said, Schedulist faces significant challenges that will determine the early trajectory of their venture. The Cornell Team will work with Schedulist find solutions in the realms of marketing, sales and investor pitch preparation.

Tutti Dynamics

Tutti Dynamics

Darren Hoffman - President

Tutti Dynamics music software combines digital media technologies with proven teaching methods and renowned New Orleans musicians to create the ultimate comfort zone for students to learn musical skill sets and apply them in virtual jam sessions at a fraction of the price of traditional lessons. Think of it as an academic version of Guitar Hero – or as a type of Blackboard, specifically designed for music education. www.tuttidynamics.com

Hoffman is responsible for overseeing all creative and financial practices of the company. He studied jazz performance at The University of New Orleans where he was awarded the Basin Street Scholarship and a graduate assistantship with the New Orleans Jazz Institute. Recently, Hoffman co-produced an album with Jason Marsalis that has won significant honors, including 4.5 stars from Downbeat Magazine, and accolades from the New York Times. Previously, Hoffman amassed important video and media expertise, including a BFA from a prestigious film program at Florida State University. He also created large-scale corporate presentations for Multivision Video & Film and has worked for Apple Computer as a video media specialist.

Entrepreneur Week Challenge:

Tutti Dynamics has experienced some recent successes with popularity of some of it iPhone applications, but it is looking to more fully develop its proprietary education platform. The Booth Team will work with Tutti Dynamics to prepare an investment pitch and to develop a marketing and sales strategy for product launch.

REpurposingNOLA

REpurposingNOLA

Traci Claussen - Founder

REpurposingNOLA collaborates with local artisans to create handmade designer goods in limited edition production using sustainable materials that evoke quality and fashion; it is a triple bottom line business concerned with people, planet, and profits. REpurposing NOLA offers a truly UNIQUE "piece" of New Orleans by re-using local materials like burlap, salvaged cypress, glass bottles, banners, and textile remnants reproduced locally into simple, basic luxury items. www.REpurposingNOLA.com

With a 19 year sales & management career in the Radio Broadcast Industry, Traci has helped local numerous entrepreneurs launch their businesses. Traci is now living her decade-long dream of returning to New Orleans as Founder of eco-news daily Live Green New Orleans and the REpurposingNOLA Piece by (Peace) brand, in an effort to help propel a Triple Bottom Line ECO-lution not only in New Orleans, but also through duplicate micro-communities across the country.

Entrepreneur Week Challenge:

The Berkeley Team will work with Traci to develop a strategy for her online shop, www.REpurposingNOLA.com, that features fashionably redesigned consumer goods from salvaged materials found in New Orleans.

Special Guests

James Carville, Jim Coulter, Bob Brown, General Wesley Clark, Amy Cosper, Dr. Scott Cowen, Mark Cuban, Michael Hecht, Walter Isaacson, Julie Silard Kantor, Robin Keegan, The Honorable Mitch Landrieu, Mary Matalin, Irvin Mayfield, Stephen Perry, Peter Reiling, Hugh Weber & Kurt Weigle

  • "Inspired by Design"

    Entrepreneur.com - 5/3/10

    Just recently, Hardy was chosen as one of seven entrepreneurs to partner with an MBA team in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2010, when over 150 top MBA students, corporate volunteers, and our nation's most accomplished entrepreneurial talent congregated and collaborated in New Orleans to provide 9,121 hours of direct service to 329 early-stage New Orleans entrepreneurs....

  • "Reaping the Reward"

    myNewOrleans.com - 4/8/10

    What a year it has been so far! And now we are smack in the middle of festival season: Pinch me, I must be dreaming in the land of dreamy scenes. As good as it has been (Thank you, Saints. Thank you, Mitch. Thank you, Rex, etc.), plenty has been going on in parallel to all the Big Things that should not go unnoticed.

  • "How Businesses Are Launched, Big Easy Style"

    GOOD - 4/8/10

    Right after Hurricane Katrina hit, the academic world responded to the disaster. Schools sent students to do relief work, symposiums were planned.... Over spring break, while many of their peers lapped up tropical-flavored drinks, business students from around the country flew to New Orleans, where they were matched with local entrepreneurs as part of Idea Village's Entrepreneur Week.

  • "C.U. Team Takes First Place in Entrepreneur Challenge"

    The Cornell Daily Sun - 4/2/10

    The first time's a charm. The Johnson School of Management team travelled to New Orleans from Mar. 20 to Mar. 27 to compete for the first time in the Entrepreneur Challenge and won first place - beating out rival business schools Stanford, Northwestern, University of California-Berkeley and University of Chicago.

  • "Big Easy Blends wins Entrepreneur Week competition"

    New Orleans CityBusiness - 3/30/10

    Big Easy Blends, makers of the portable potable Mar-GO-rita, were chosen winners of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week’s competition among up and coming businesses. One of CityBusiness’ Innovator of the Year honoree in 2009, Big Easy Blends was founded in 2007 by Craig Cordes....

  • "Jazz Festival for Entrepreneurship"

    TravelTalk Media - 3/28/10

    Mixing work with fun is a longtime New Orleans specialty and nobody does it better. Mix they did again this week in the Big Easy for the annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week where some of the nation’s most creative minds congregated to celebrate, support and promote entrepreneurship and innovation.

  • "Johnson School team wins New Orleans IdeaCorps Challenge!"

    Cornell University The Johnson School - 3/27/10

    A team from the Johnson School, participating in their first IdeaCorps Challenge in New Orleans, took first place among other visiting business-school teams from Kellogg, Booth, Haas and Stanford.

  • "Students team up for New Orleans Entrepreneur Week"

    Tulane University Freeman School of Business - 3/27/10

    Jack and Jake's Local and Organic Market is a new business that plans to bring locally grown food to customers in underserved neighborhoods within three days of harvest, but to achieve that goal, the company first needs a top-notch distribution system. That’s where a team of MBA students from Tulane, Loyola and UNO comes in.

  • "New Orleans entrepreneurs merge commercial and social-welfare interests"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/23/10

    Hurricane Katrina disrupted the sense of detachment and malaise that can often envelope communities, and in doing so it laid the groundwork for a burgeoning innovative entrepreneurial community in New Orleans, the president and chief executive officer of the Aspen Institute said Monday.

  • "Entrepreneur Week Kicks Off In New Orleans"

    Good NOLA - 3/22/10

    Entrepreneur Week Kicks Off In New Orleans. Entrepreneur Week in New Orleans is a meeting of the minds for upstart businesses and up-and-coming talent. The week is about matching top business talent from across the country with ...

  • "Village Capital and The Idea Village: Starting Social Enterprises"

    TechDrawl - 3/21/10

    The Idea Village in New Orleans is an excellent model for how a small group of dedicated entrepreneurs have created a remarkable ecosystem. A group of young entrepreneurs in New Orleans went to Atlanta, New York, Boston, and Chicago, did well in start-ups and finance, and then moved back to the city....

  • "Entrepreneur Week billed as Jazz Fest for business"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/21/10

    Despite their splashy appearance, the three-foot-long, black and yellow flags emblazoned with a light bulb and the phrase "It's On In NOLA" that were sent to businesses around the metro area this month may prove to be an understated way ...

  • "Bloomberg Television to focus on New Orleans entrepreneurs"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/19/10

    The digital-cable business network Bloomberg Television will present a live New Orleans edition of "On the Road with Betty Liu" on Tuesday (March 23) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

  • "Idea Village sets economic development pace"

    New Orleans CityBusiness - 3/19/10

    Let's spend a few minutes celebrating a victory and remembering what could have been. First of all, congratulations to The Idea Village for making its 10th year and helping countless New Orleans area entrepreneurs make something of themselves and their good ideas.

  • "Big Help in the Big Easy"

    Inc.com - 3/17/10

    Organizers of New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week estimate the event will provide some $900,000 worth of consulting to local businesses. New Orleans already is the fastest-growing city in the U.S. - and a local nonprofit wants its businesses (and hopefully, a reputation for fostering innovation) to keep pace.

  • "Johnson School team to be part of Entrepreneur Week's IDEACorps"

    Cornell - 3/16/10

    A team of Johnson School students has, for the first time, been invited to compete with the best in the Idea Village Entrepreneur Challenge in New Orleans, LA from March 20-28. The challenge, which is part of Entrepreneur Week, charges teams from the nation's leading MBA schools to use their professional skills in short-term, high impact service roles in the revitalization of New Orleans.

  • "New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week: Meet With Google, Deloitte, Salesforce.com"

    BayouBuzz.com - 3/3/10

    Google, Deloitte and Salesforce.com…Jazz Fest of Entrepreneurship…What a week…Attend Friday's Introduction, Cocktail Party and Mingler. Idea Village, a leading organization in Southeast Louisiana is announcing Entrepreneur Week which will be a week-long event involving many New Orleans sites, business and major national industry leaders.

  • "Blue Ocean: Can the popular business strategy help Louisiana find its next big catch?"

    1012 Corridor - 2/9/10

    When state economic development officials talk about the kinds of companies they want to attract to Louisiana, they point to TurboSquid.

  • "Receivables Exchange capitalizes on the down economy"

    The Times-Picayune

    Nic Perkin and The Receivables Exchange, an online auctionhouse for accounts receivable are trailblazing for a new generation of entrepreneurs by capitalizing on a huge theoretical market. New Orleans is welcoming driven entrepreneurs with open arms, says Tim Williamson, co-founder of The Idea Village. "The biggest ideas are the ones that have skepticism in the beginning."

  • "Back in Business After Katrina"

    CNN - 10/22/09

    Sean Callebs reports on how Rock 'n Bowl bounced back after Hurricane Katrina. Rock 'n Bowl discusses with CNN the generous grant he received from The Idea Village which made it possible for them to quickly open their doors to the public news-Katrina.

  • "The New NOLA Tech Zone"

    Where Y'At Magazine - 10/15/09

    According to Tim Williamson, President and Co-founder of the Idea Village, New Orleans possesses, among other things, a university system and a creative culture. New Orleans is also a "worldwide brand." "The good news is that the foundation is there," Williamson says.

  • "After the Storm: New Orleans' economic rebirth"

    CNN - 8/27/09

    "If you look at the people that have come since Katrina, there has been this influx of talent who has come to New Orleans, initially to help, but now they are here to stay and live and to grow new companies. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to reinvent an American city," Tim Williamson said.

  • "Entrepreneurs Take to 'Big Easy'"

    Wall Street Journal - 8/24/09

    Small-business owners who left are now coming back, driven by a sense of mission to help the struggling city and to take advantage of generous tax breaks. Young professionals have moved to the Big Easy to help with its recovery, enjoy its cultural offerings and start businesses.

  • "The changing face-and faces-of New Orleans"

    The Times Picayune - 8/23/09

    "Now you have some people who are here not just for the recovery, but who have drunk the Kool-Aid and want to be part of the long-term economic and social change of New Orleans," Tim Williamson said.

  • "A Place of Their Own"

    1012 Corridor - 8/1/2009

    "If you’re a young, bright entrepreneur, New Orleans looks pretty interesting right now," [Idea Village CEO Tim] Williamson says. "There aren’t hundreds of thousands of layoffs; there’s actually a growing, entrepreneurial community. We’ve got our coolness, but there’s also a sense of opportunity here, because we’re going through a transformation."

  • "Entrepreneurs Leverage New Orleans's Charm to Lure Small Businesses"

    The New York Times - 7/30/09

    "Competitive gets you nowhere. It's about being collaborative. And this city is so like that, from the people helping each other rebuild their homes to building businesses," said Seema Sudan, the owner and director of the knitwear company LiaMolly.

  • "Introducing the Entre-pioneers of the 'New' New Orleans"

    Social Earth - 7/30/09

    Clusters are a validation that entrepreneurs can create economic and social change.

  • "Persevering in New Orleans"

    The Washington Times - 7/29/09

    Driven by the mantra "Trust your crazy ideas," The Idea Village is a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the city's for-profit entrepreneurial culture. Through a combination of talent attraction, technical support and connection to financing, the organization has supported more than 255 entrepreneurial ventures representing 946 jobs and more than $69 million in revenue.

  • "Think Tank"

    WWL - 7/24/09

    Think Tank hosts Tim Williamson, Miji Park, Jo Ann Minor and Amy Cosper, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, on July 24th to discuss entrepreneurship in New Orleans and the grand opening of The Entergy Innovation Center.

  • "Entrepreneur Magazine Highlights the New Orleans Entrepreneurial Ecosystem"

    Entrepreneur Magazine - 7/23/09

    "When The Idea Village was founded in 2000, we were building the framework for vibrant entrepreneurial community. 9 years later, this nascent spirit is alive and growing" says Tim Williamson.

  • "Laid-off Wall Streeters Find Entrepreneurial Spirit"

    Christian Science Monitor - 7/23/09

    "Clustering entrepreneurs is quite useful," says Tim Williamson, President of The Idea Village, a New Orleans business incubator. "It allows people to interact closely, bump into each other at the water cooler, [and it] forces conversation," he says.

  • "Entrepreneurial Hubs Are Springing Up Across the City And Spurring Economic Development"

    The Times Picayune - 7/19/09

    "The hubs operate under edgy names - Entrepreneur's Row, The Icehouse, The IP and the Entergy Innovation Center. The hubs encourage networking and collaboration among innovative companies while seeking to recreate a freewheeling culture reminiscent of Silicon Valley."

  • "Despite the National Recession, New Orleans is Attracting a Wave of Workers Pursuing Entrepreneurial Jobs"

    The Times Picayune - 6/26/09

    "New Orleans is attractive because there are lots of opportunities here and less layoffs than in other places like Boston or San Francisco," Tim Williamson said.

  • "Trumpet named one of top 10 marketing agencies in the country by Fast Company magazine"

    The Times-Picayune

    Regional New Orleans ad agency continues to craftily reinvent itself news-Katrina by becoming a startup incubator.

  • "3-D role in building up America"

    Anderson Cooper 360

    Turbosquid, a New Orleans-based 3-D imaging company becomes a worldwide leader in its industry despite difficult odds.

  • "James Carville: New Orleans is Storming Back"

    CNN

    James Carville pens a tribute to New Orleans’s historic rebirth.