From bows to buttons, the journey to entrepreneurship for Loren Ferretti and Alexandra Gramatikas started at 麻豆原创.

Both women were on the hunt for clothing accessories that didn鈥檛 exist, so they decided to create a market for themselves with and ALTR button covers, respectively.

After struggling to find affordable options to wear to each of 麻豆原创鈥檚 home games, Ferretti developed Gameday Bows, a website that sells bows in school colors that can be worn at football games or anywhere. The bows were an affordable way to ramp up the school spirit of black, gold and white outfits she already owned.

鈥淭he bow creates an accent piece that can be worn on a number of dresses and adds the perfect pop of color to represent your school鈥檚 colors,鈥� said Ferretti, a 2009 marketing graduate who launched Gameday Bows鈥� web store this fall after receiving compliments on her bows and requests to buy them.

Now, she sews the bows herself and ships them across the country.

For Gramatikas, the concept for ALTR鈥檚 slip-on button covers came from a trying to find the perfect outfit for a themed party. She was in search of a traditional, preppy blazer with gold buttons. A jacket she already had worked, but the buttons weren鈥檛 quite what she wanted.

鈥淚n passing, I made a comment about wanting to change out buttons more efficiently, and from there, ALTR was born,鈥� Gramatikas said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an unexpected surprise, getting into an industry I never thought I鈥檇 be involved with.鈥�

Gramatikas earned her undergraduate degree from Florida State University before enrolling in 麻豆原创鈥檚 MBA program and graduating in spring 2012.

During her last semester, Gramatikas won the College of Business Administration鈥檚 annual Joust competition, which challenges entrepreneurial students from 麻豆原创 to develop business proposals and compete against one another in the hopes of being judged as having the most promising idea.

The business plan behind Gramatikas鈥� 麻豆原创-themed button covers won her the competition鈥檚 $10,000 prize and a year of support from the 麻豆原创 Incubator.

Experience inside the classroom and from internships also helped Ferretti get her company on track.

鈥淎s a marketing major, I was placed in classes that allowed me to participate in creating business plans and marketing plans鈥攖ruly hands on planning that I have utilized and continue to utilize with Gameday Bows,鈥� she said.

But starting your own company doesn鈥檛 come without small stumbles, both women said.

For Ferretti, she鈥檚 had to balance the responsibilities of operating Gameday Bows with her full-time marketing job. With ALTR, it took Gramatikas several months to get licensing approval for the logos on her 麻豆原创 and UF button covers.

Ultimately, the women encourage other self-starters to be bold and chase their dreams.

鈥淢y advice to anyone thinking of starting their own business is get out there and go for it. With proper education and planning, it鈥檚 possible to do,鈥� said Ferretti. 鈥淎lso, ask for help. I鈥檓 surrounded by marketing professionals daily that have encouraged me and enlightened me to things I never knew possible.鈥�

Gramatikas also encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to recruit mentors and ask for feedback.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 talk about your idea, you won鈥檛 find the resources or get the feedback you need,鈥� said Gramatikas. With a product, you need to not get caught up in the fact that it鈥檚 your baby. It鈥檚 your business, and it鈥檚 important to be open to constructive criticism.鈥�

Malic Dekkar, a doctoral student in Modeling & Simulation,聽came in second place and won $1,000 for developing Light Cloud which provides subscribers with a cloud-based 3D repository database of dense, millimeter accurate 3D data. Student聽James Davis won $750 and third place for At Your Side Laboratory Services, which provides onsite clinical laboratory testing with immediate results. The other five semi-finalists included: Adventure Fix (James Ceparano/Travis Sherman); Automated Cytometry Solutions (Antoniay Petkova); Chore Credit (Justin Castillo); KIDDS (Todd Stephenson) and Legleze (Terry Warren).

Judges for the event included: Biff Godfrey, local attorney; Jan Conrad, the 2012 recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for the Success in Entrepreneurship program; Adora English, award-winning television executive; Carol Ann Dykes, site manager, 麻豆原创 Business Incubator; Kai Isaac and Eddie Bradley, the founders of Filmscape Productions; Isabel Perry, president of TheSafetyDoctor.com; Michael Judith, engineer; Ron Ben Zeev, international economist and business expert; and Robin Phelps, startup strategist and team leader for 麻豆原创鈥檚 statewide program for second-stage business growth, GrowFL.

The inaugural event was hosted by the 麻豆原创 Blackstone Launchpad, an initiative of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, located in the College of Business Administration. Rather than focusing on developing a robust business plan, complete with financials and slick presentations, the business model competition focuses on identifying and precisely defining the assumptions of the new venture, testing those assumptions in the field, and then changing (pivoting) based on the lessons learned. Students must demonstrate how they tested their assumptions rather than gathered data and how they validated their learning rather than merely wrote a business plan.

Visit the to learn more about other upcoming competitions.

If you have an idea for a business or product, you can compete by presenting your business plan to our judges featuring prominent members of the local business community.

The competition goal is to train young entrepreneurs in the proper aspects of creating a company.

The BMC is for all current 麻豆原创 students, regardless of major. The four finalists will share a cash prize pool of $5,000, with the BMC Champion winning $3,000 and an invitation to participate in the International Business Model Competition held at Harvard University May 3-4, 2013, for the grand prize of $25,000.

Proposals are due on聽Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The final competition in which the winners are announced will be on Friday, Feb. 22 in BA-1 room 238.聽Apply today聽or follow updates on聽https://cel.ucf.edu/events-and-competitions/joust/.

麻豆原创 Vice President of Research and Commercialization (ORC)聽M.J. Soileau, Ph.D., was the keynote speaker and聽Brandon Lojewski, president of Mesdi Systems, Inc. served as the moderator. Other speakers:

罢丑别听聽hosts numerous workshops, speakers and competitions throughout the academic year.聽聽from the event.

Sixteen teams participated in the semi-finals of the 9th Annual Joust Business Plan Competition, but just four of them were selected to compete in the final round in April.

The competition, hosted by the 麻豆原创 Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), located in the College of Business Administration, is 麻豆原创鈥檚 premier celebration of students鈥� entrepreneurial aspirations, creativity and achievements. The event has grown each year, and has become more competitive.

鈥淎pproximately 500 students have been energized and enriched by this event over the years and they have enriched us as well,鈥� said聽Cameron Ford, director of the CEI.

The final four teams will compete for $25,000 in awards, and include:

ALTR LLC, led by聽Alexandra Gramatikas, is dedicated to providing easy and affordable alternatives to existing everyday apparel. The company has created a way to 鈥淎LTR鈥� your existing blazer, polo, cardigan, or anything else with buttons, by adorning it with an innovative button cover which can transform a plain blazer into a trendy 麻豆原创 sporting jacket.

Greek Guide, led by聽Michael Irene, is a mobile application implementing cognitive learning techniques that uses push notification technology. The app enables new fraternity and sorority members to learn the entire history of a fraternity or sorority with ease.

PHIDIAS3D, led by聽Malic Dekkar, is an emerging construction intelligence company that specializes in providing engineering-grade, millimeter-accurate 3D data of any existing building structure. By leveraging their expertise in algorithm design, they effectively increase construction fidelity and efficiency and cost of ownership while providing permanent accurate 3D records鈥� considerably lowering risk and costs.

PlatForm, led by聽Tyler Salem, allows businesses to create custom electronic signable forms to be used by the business鈥� clients. The software can be used by front-end users on tablet computers such as the Apple iPad, Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy.

The Joust is sponsored by聽Steven Felkowitz, 鈥�79, chief executive officer of Atico International. Incoming CBA Dean聽Paul Jarley聽served as a judge, along with聽N. Lois Adams, 鈥�85;听Debbie Balaschak, 鈥�88;听Jim Balaschak, 鈥�86;听Jeff Borysiewicz, 鈥�95;听Mark Brewer;听Howard Brunet, 鈥�75;听Les Eiserman, 鈥�81;听Andy Fore, 鈥�76;听George Gramatikas, 鈥�04;听Rob Hearn, 鈥�00;听Keith Ingersoll, 鈥�01;听Bill Kehoe, 鈥�91;听Mitch Less, 鈥�86;聽Joe Losch, and聽Rick Parks, 鈥�76.

The finals will be held on April 6 at 2 p.m. in the聽FAIRWINDS聽Alumni Center. Visit the CEI website for more information on the聽Joust.

Hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation located in the College of Business Administration, the competition featured 16 entries that presented their business ideas to a panel of six judges.

The King of the Court competition is comprised of two rounds of competition. In both rounds, participants are given 90 seconds to present their business concept and another 90 seconds to address questions raised by the panel of judges. The top four finalists win cash prizes totaling $3000.

Other top entries included:

The following students also participated in the competition:

Judges included:

Please visit the to learn more about the center and the competitions they sponsor throughout the year. The Joust is scheduled for Friday, April 6, 2012.

Nearly 150 aspiring entrepreneurs attended Invention to Venture (I2V), a one-day workshop hosted by the College of Business Administration鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.

Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council and author of the book聽Never Get a 鈥淩eal鈥� Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke, was the keynote speaker. Gerber promotes entrepreneurship to students and young professionals interested in starting their own business in support of Startup America Partnership, an initiative from President聽Barack Obama聽focused on supporting entrepreneurs. Prior to his presentation, Kirstie Chadwick, managing partner of Growth Innovators, announced the formation of Startup Florida, an offshoot of the national program. KnightLaunch, a new web-based resource for young entrepreneurs at 麻豆原创 was also introduced at the workshop.

The event, which was held in the 贵础滨搁奥滨狈顿厂听Alumni Center, featured workshops on technology entrepreneurship, legal issues, marketing and sales and financing.

The 麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and (CEI) and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance will hold the event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center on 麻豆原创鈥檚 main campus. I2V is a program of the NCIIA with sponsorship from the Lemelson Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation.

Invention to Venture is designed to help students, faculty members and industry leaders tap into the untouched entrepreneurial resources. The Orlando workshop allows attendees to gain information on business formation, networking, service providers, and financing sources.

This year鈥檚 workshop features an elite group of national and statewide business leaders聽who will share their knowledge and insight with attendees.聽 A complete detailed biography can be found online.

Scott Gerber 鈥� CEO, Gerber Enterprises

Pete McAlindon 鈥� CEO & Director, Blue Orb, Inc.

Michael O’Donnell – Executive in Residence, 麻豆原创 College of Business Administration

Ted Murphy 聽– Founder & CEO, Chairman of the Board, IZEA

Thomas O鈥橬eal – Associate Vice President of Research and Commercialization at 麻豆原创 & Executive Director of the 麻豆原创 Business Incubation Program (麻豆原创BIP)

Gordon Hogan 鈥� Director, 麻豆原创 Business Incubation Program

Andrea Wesser 鈥� President/CTO, PharmAcute, LLC

Al Ducharme 聽– Assistant Dean, CECS & President/CEO Hoverfly

Carol Ann Dykes – Site Manager, 麻豆原创 Business Incubation – Central Florida Research Park

Ace Glenn 鈥� Founder & CEO, CourseMob

Herb Gingold 鈥� Technical Sales Representative, Texas Instruments

Scott Wall 鈥� RBC Bank

Ed Alexander 鈥� Founder, Entrepreneurship Law Firm

Svetlana Shtrom 鈥� Director, Technology Commercialization

Cameron Ford 鈥� Founding Director, 麻豆原创 Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

According to Cameron Ford, director of the CEI, 鈥溌槎乖� is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week by offering our annual premier technology entrepreneurship educational event for both the campus and regional business community.聽 Attendees will learn unique insights and skills from both local and national business leaders, that lead to success and high-growth, innovation-based ventures.鈥�

I2V connects students with real entrepreneurs and investors to teach them how to create successful business around their technology. Approximately 150 to 250 aspiring entrepreneurs attend the Orlando workshop each year. Attendees will experience hands-on workshop activities that they can apply to their entrepreneurial ideas immediately. These workshops include topics ranging from opportunity assessment, sales and marketing, intellectual property, and the management team to presenting the business plan and financing your venture.

I2V has been conducted at top colleges and universities such as the University of Maryland, the University of Florida, Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of California San Diego, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the University of Southern Mississippi.

Admission is $8 for all students, $15 for 麻豆原创 Faculty/Staff/Alumni, and $25 for others.

To register, please visit http://www.invention2venture.org/ucf2011/register/ or call Brittany McCracken at 407-823-3683 or via email at cei@bus.ucf.edu.