Nicholas Seet
By MANDY MARKSTEINER
Enrollment is now open for one of the most popular classes offered at UNM-Los Alamos, Introduction to Entrepreneurship (Course #BSTC 193-300.)
The class is noon-4 p.m. Fridays, Feb. 28 through May 9 in Building Six, Room 610 at UNM-Los Alamos.
Students will enter a business incubator where they will receive hands on training, practical assistance, be matched with a mentor, and experiment with crowdfunding and other ways of financing a business. The experience will culminate in a real business pitch.
Instructor Nicholas Seet is a successful entrepreneur and business expert who created Auditude, an online video advertising platform that became the fourth largest video ad network in the world and was acquired by Adobe in November 2011.
Seet is now focusing his creative energy on building an online virtual incubator for training and vetting up-and-coming entrepreneurs and matching them with the venture capitalists that fund new business ideas.
His virtual incubator, http://sivi.com/ gives entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed, like specific steps and resources to guide your startup, real time challenges that measure your entrepreneurial attitude awareness and aptitude, and rewards such as start-up tools, mentor connections and opportunities to connect with investors. Students in the UNM-LA class will have the first opportunity to test Seet’s new model.
In addition, the interactive class will include presentations from New Mexico business owners and leaders, Seet said.
“Students will learn the ropes about starting a business from members of New Mexico’s business eco-system, pitch new business concepts in teams to a panel of experts and learn about how innovation transforms the economy as much as the individual,” he said.
“Last year, the students all came up with great ideas, were able to explore them and develop first rate presentations of business ideas worthy of financing,” Seet said. “One of the students wanted to start a local bakery, and another student had a plan to start an outdoor adventure company. They were all engaged and excited to come to class.”
Current business owners are also encouraged to take the class, because they will benefit from Seet’s ability to think big and take any business to the next level. Many local businesses struggle with the Los Alamos location, and the constant need to compete against companies in Santa Fe and on the Internet. Seet will help local businesses free themselves of those physical constraints.
“With online entrepreneurship, we can serve a global market from our small mountain town,” Seet said.
UNM-LA has an open admissions policy. Those interested in signing up for Introduction to Entrepreneurship may do so in person at UNM-LA, (in Student Services, downstairs in Building Two, at 4000 University Dr.) or by calling UNM-LA Student Services at 505.662.0332. Visit http://losalamos.unm.edu/ for more information.