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YearlyReview
June2009–May2010
 
StudentEntrepreneurs|AgentsofChangeissteadilybuildingaprofileacrosstheAustralianuniversitysector,withaspirationsofbecominganationalnetworkby2012.Ouraimtoraisetheawarenessofentrepreneurshipamongstuniversitystudentshas,andwillcontinuetobepursued,throughavarietyofinitiatives.BetweenJune2009andMay2010,StudentEntrepreneurs|AgentsofChangehassuccessfullyrunfourmajoreventsaspartofitsannualprogramme:
EntrepreneursWeek2009
,
IdeaPitchCompetition2009
,
NapkinCompetition2010
,and
StartupCamp2010
.Theseinitiativeshavecreatedathrivingstudententrepreneurshipcommunityattheuniversitylevelwithclubmembershipgrowntoover900.Participatingstudentscomefromadiverserangeofdisciplinesanduniversities.Multiplestudent-runstartupshavebeenlaunchedaftercompetinginourcompetitions.Throughpartnershipandsponsorship,ourinitiativeshavereceivedextensivesupportfromvariousgovernmentandindustryorganisationsaswellastheUniversityofMelbourne’sFacultyofBusinessandEconomicsandGraduateSchoolofBusinessandEconomics,whichalsohaveaninterestinfacilitatingthegrowthofentrepreneurshipandinnovationinAustralia.Oureventsprovidedanexcellentopportunityfortheseorganisationstoreachthistypeofaudience.Withgrowingmomentumandstrongcommunitysupport,StudentEntrepreneurs|AgentsofChangeiscurrentlyexpandingitsnetworktomoreuniversitiesinAustralia.Oureffortsaretoensuresuchstudentsreceiveasupportiveenvironmentinwhichtheirentrepreneurialendeavoursmayflourish.Yourssincerely,TianYangPresident
 
2
TableofContents
TheAgentsofChangeStory............................................................................................3
BuildinganEntrepreneurshipCommunity..............................................................4
Events....................................................................................................................................5
EntrepreneursWeek2009(7–14August).......................................................................5
IdeaPitch2009(15Sep–15Oct)..........................................................................................6
NapkinCompetition2010(3March–7April)..................................................................7
StartupCamp2010(9–11April).........................................................................................8
Participation.......................................................................................................................9
 AppendixA:LetterofSupportfromMinisterforInnovation..........................10
 AppendixB:ExamplesofMediaCoverage.............................................................11
 AppendixC:PartnersandSponsors.........................................................................12
Contact................................................................................................................................13
 
3
TheAgentsofChangeStory
Early2007,agroupofuniversitystudentspassionateaboutentrepreneurshipgatheredattheUniversityofMelbournetostartanorganisationthatwouldsupporttheirlike-mindedpeers.Likemoststartupsthefirstversionoftheorganisation–MelbourneUniversityEntrepreneurshipAssociation(MUEA)enduredafewsetbacksduringitsfirstyear.Afteradoptinganumberofprinciplesthatenabletheorganisationtooperatelikeastartup,thegrouprelauncheditselfatthebeginningof2008underitscurrentname-StudentEntrepreneurs|AgentsofChange(SE|AoC).Today,
SE|AoCexiststocreateandcultivateentrepreneurshipcommunitiesinAustralianuniversities
.InthenextfiveyearsweaspiretocreateanationalnetworkofstudententrepreneursacrossmajoruniversitiesinAustralia,empoweringthemwiththeskillsandknowledgetostarttheirownentrepreneurialventures.Thisgoalhasbeenpursuedthroughavarietyofmeans,includingthefourmajoreventswerunannually:
NapkinCompetition,StartupCamp,EntrepreneursWeek,
and
IdeaPitchCompetition
;aswellastwoadditionaleventsintroducedsince2010:
EntrepreneursCoffeeClub
and
Startup101Talks
.Anumberofcommunitybuildingefforts,includingtheclubwebsite(http://agentsofchange.org.au),blog,Facebookgroupandfortnightlyemailnewslettersaredesignedtomaintainourengagementwiththestudententrepreneurshipcommunityduringgapsbetweentheseevents.Internally,SE|AoCisstructuredtorecreateastartupenvironmentthatoffersitscoremembersarealstartupexperience.Eachoftheabove-mentionedeventsistreatedasaseparatestartupprojectmadeupofateamofnomorethanfourstudents.Teammembersoftenhavenopriorexperiencebutareentrustedwiththemaximumresponsibilityattheoutset.Theyareexpectedtocommitupwardsof20hoursperweektofullyengageintheprocessandgainpracticalstartupexperiencesastheyprogress.Thisisdesignedtoensureauniqueentrepreneurialculturebeingmaintainedbothwithinandaroundtheorganisation.Whileformalproceduresandorganisationalhierarchyaredeliberatelyavoided,consistentmentorshipbetweentheclub’salumniandnewmembersareputinplacetofacilitateexchangeofexperienceandknowledge.Thisongoingdialoguealsoensuresthelong-termsustainabilityoftheclub.AfterestablishingastrongfoundationattheUniversityofMelbourne,sinceAugust2009SE|AoChassuccessfullyrunmultipleeventsinMonashUniversityandRMITtobuildmomentumforitsexpansion.Ourfirstexternalchapterisduetolaunchinlate2010atMonashUniversity’sClaytonCampus.

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