The first pitch I made at San Jose State University to rally support for Spartups.

1. Spartups
A joint venture where anyone can innovate.
By Saif Akhtar

2. Background
• Graduated from SJSU, Spring ’11 with a BS-Mechanical Engineering
• Passion for startups and building things.
• Pursued my first idea in April 2011 with a fraternity brother from UCLA.
• Dec 2011 – July 2012: Project Manager at the Nerditorium
• Easy Time Lapse
• Boss.ly / Wiki Vizi
• People in Motion
• Current
• Business/Product Development @ Pinfluence
• Consultant
• Constellation CK
• Nanigans
• Shahjee Solar
• AJURIS International

3. Vision
• Lost and confused.
• Similar concept currently in place for Senior Projects.
• Need advice!
• Common theme at networking events.
• Have ideas, but nobody in my current network to execute with.
• Search for talent.
• Starting a venture. Now what?
• Mentors? Advisors? Anybody?

4. Goals
• Provide an entity where students, faculty, alumni and other locals from any
background can come together to collaborate on ideas.
• Provide an entrepreneurial lecture series (similar to Stanford’s ETL program)
where alumni and other local entrepreneurs can share their stories.
• Utilize existing alumni network to participate in project incubation.
• Provide student members with the opportunity to work for and network with
startups and other companies before they graduate.

5. What’s Next?
• Coordinate with current SJSU entrepreneurial team consisting of:
• David Steele (Dean, College of Business)
• Dan Doles (SJSU EiR; Co-Founder/BoD, Connexive)
• Anu Basu (Director, Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship)
• Joe Giglierano (BoD, Marketing & Entrepreneurship Interest Group)
• Collaborate with all interested parties on logistics of the incubator.
• Create a team of students/alumni/others to set up organization.
• Network with other students/faculty/alumni/entrepreneurs/others to take part.
• Start building!

6. Still Interested?
• Collaborator Database
• Ideas
• Talent
• Work Opportunities
• Speakers
• Spread the word!
• Friends
• Family
• Professors
• Co-Workers
• Other clubs/groups/organizations.
• Keep in touch!
• Phone: (408) 806-1986
• Email: saif_akhtar@hotmail.com

7. Special Thanks
• Dan Doles
• Anu Basu
• Steve Blank speaking on Monday, September 10th, 6-7:30pm, MLK 225/229
• www.cob.sjsu.edu/svce
• Jannice Tu – International Business Association
• E-Society
• CSU Alumni San Jose - LinkedIn

8. Questions?