Entrepreneurship & Technology News 

Brigham Young University jumped up four spots to 71st in the U.S. News & World Report 2012 Best Colleges rankings, released earlier this week.

Where does Forbes turn when looking for a methodology to rank the world's most innovative companies? To Brigham Young University's Jeff Dyer and the insights found in his book released this week by the Harvard Business Review Press.

Inc. magazine recently featured three former Brigham Young University students and their composting company, EcoScraps, as part of a report on innovative social entrepreneurs.

A class project turned into a winning business for Marriott School of Management student Saul Howard, as he transformed an assignment into $10,000 and first place in the Crexendo Website Competition.

It all started with a box of Oatmeal Squares. Kalood, a company that hopes to use its innovative social deal platform to revolutionize how consumers receive bargains and shop, won first place and $50,000 in prizes at the 2011 Brigham Young University Business Plan Competition.

Some entrepreneurs plan their businesses from behind desks. But a new wave of thought, captured in the first international Business Model Competition, challenges entrepreneurs to test their assumptions in the field before committing them to a business plan.

In the world of college sports, Brigham Young University is known as a quarterback factory, producing the likes of Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer and Max Hall. But more recently, BYU is being recognized as a business startup factory — churning out hundreds of student-run ventures each year.

A team comprised of two MBA students from Brigham Young University took first place at the Adobe Web Analytics Competition, besting teams from universities around the nation. Using Adobe's analytical software, SiteCatalyst, teams found ways to increase website profitability for this year's client, Dogfunk.com.

Although a successful business can take years to build, a great idea shouldn't take more than a few minutes to pitch. Finalists in the Speed Pitch Competition rapidly presented their business ideas before a group of local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists as part of the Business Plan Competition at Brigham Young University.

Brigham Young University is bursting with new ideas. Entrepreneurially minded students from across campus pitched some of those ideas in the annual Idea Pitch Competition, sponsored by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Survival of the fittest is not only found in nature but also in business. Intrigued by the number of adaptations early-stage companies go through before getting their big break, Nathan Furr set out to determine the cause. His answer: cognitive flexibility, and his doctoral dissertation on the subject is garnering attention.

When they're not studying, students usually fill their time by joining clubs, working side jobs or volunteering — but the 2010 Student Entrepreneur of the Year prefers to spend his free time running a million-dollar company.

Brigham Young University's entrepreneurship program is No. 4 at both the undergraduate and graduate levels according to Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review. The report finds BYU's strength in offering low tuition, double the number of mentorship programs of any other undergraduate school in the top ten and a high number of campus organizations and clubs.

Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, who sold his fast-growing shoe and apparel company to Amazon for $1.2 billion, recently revealed that he would have preferred to take the company public instead. But board members had other ideas and thought selling the company was a better way to “harvest” their investments.

In an age when most people go straight to the Internet for information, an effective website is key to a company's success. Getting students to understand that reality and teaching them how to create and implement effective internet marketing strategies was the goal of the inaugural Crexendo Online Marketing Competition, which culminated in an awards ceremony April 9.

Ready. Aim. Launch hippopotamus. Hippo Blast, a game for iPhone in which the player shoots a cartoon hippo from a cannon to see how far it will go, won first place and $10,000 at the second annual Omniture iPhone App Competition, hosted by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the Marriott School of Management.

Restless leg syndrome affects nearly 30 million Americans, causing discomfort and keeping them up at night, but three Brigham Young University students hope to provide relief and build a business in the process. The students' innovative product and solid plans gave their company, TranquilMed, a first-place finish the 2010 BYU Business Plan Competition.

Jeffrey H. Dyer, professor of strategy, received the 2010 Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest distinction from the Marriott School of Management at the annual Marriott School Awards Night on March 31. Another 15 faculty, staff and administrators were also honored at the event.

Entrepreneurs blaze their own trails and make their own success, but lessons learned from those who have gone before can increase a startup's chances. That's the message of a new book about entrepreneurial marketing from three Brigham Young University business professors.

The most innovative CEOs spend 50 percent more time practicing five specific innovation skills than do their less creative counterparts, according to a six-year study by three prominent business scholars.