Last year at the Venture Labs Global Investment Competition, Rob Adams, the popular McCombs instructor and director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs (TVL), promised everyone in attendance that big things were to come.
“I’ve got two big goals,” Adams said. “To make McCombs the No. 1 school for entrepreneurship in the world, and to launch a bunch of successful companies in the process.”
McCombs rose to No. 5 in the 2012 Princeton Review entrepreneurship ranking, and in a recent Q&A with McCombs Today, Adams predicts bigger things ahead.
What’s new on the venture startup horizon at McCombs?
RA: Everything we do will have a touch of new, beginning with the arrival in January of Rob Warren as the assistant director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs. Rob’s hire is a direct outcome of the naming gift we received back in May. I promised everyone at the global competition last year that big things were coming, and we’re moving at startup speed to fulfill that commitment.
Rob comes to us from the University of Manitoba, where he teaches, runs an entrepreneurship center, raises investment dollars, mentors business teams — you name it. I’ve asked him to give renewed focus and energy to our Texas Venture Lab Investment Competition. Watch for this competition under his guidance to attract increased participation from a greater number of schools across Texas, and more money on the table for winners.
In February we’ll announce the results of the Texas Venture Labs Scholarships Program, a new program that gives scholarships to entrepreneurs to pursue their startup businesses as part of earning their MBA — that’s a value of about $175,000.
Finally, expect changes in our Global Venture Labs Investment Competition, which we’re tightening up with the goal of spinning off more successful ventures. Our theme for the competition is “investor ready,” and that’s exactly the quality of business teams we are attracting.
Not to forget one of my favorites, our popular NASDAQ event with the GVLIC winner will expand to include more interaction with corporate partners, advisors, and students.
To read the rest of the Q&A with Rob Adams, visit McCombs Today.
Stacey Rudnick is not often surprised by data. But she was both thrilled and surprised recently by data indicating that women from the Texas MBA Class of 2012 have closed the gender pay gap, earning larger salaries on average than the men from their class.