Future Entrepreneurs Put Their Ideas to the Test

USD Hosts First Business Plan Competition 

Five finalists have been selected for the University of San Diego School of Business Administration’s first Business Plan Competition offering a total of $10,000 in prize money for entrepreneurial students looking to be the next Steve Jobs or Richard Branson.  

The final round of competition takes place Friday, May 2 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in USD’s Mother Rosalie Hill Hall conference room (Room 102). 

Sixteen teams and over 60 students competed in the first round in April. Two finalist teams were selected from the graduate division and three teams from the undergraduate division.  

Plans that made it to the final round include “Green City Mexico,” an enterprise offering beautification services to Mexican cities in exchange for exclusive billboard advertising rights, “MyHeya.com,” a virtual dating site and MySports.com, an online sports community.  

USD’s new Entrepreneurship Club; the School of Business Administration; Amador Bengochea, owner of Bentar Inc., a Las Vegas-based contracting firm and parent of a 2007 USD graduate and USD alumnus and entrepreneur Tom Breitling are sponsoring the contest.  

Breitling co-founded Travelscape.com and later sold the company to Expedia.com for more than $100 million. “I’m very impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of USD’s business students and look forward to judging the final round,” said Breitling, author of the new book “Double or Nothing” chronicling his business journey through the Internet and gaming industries.  

The other two judges for the final round are Michael Gallegos, president and CEO of American Property Management Corp., one of the nation’s largest independent hotel companies with operations in San Diego and Albuquerque, N.M. and Andy Laats, co-founder and president of Encinitas-based Nixon Inc., which markets branded watches and fashion accessories to action sports and youth fashion retailers.  

This competition, along with the formation of the USD Entrepreneurship Club are two important steps toward building a program that will significantly increase our contribution to the innovation-driven economy of  San Diego,” said USD Assistant Professor of Management Helder Sebastiao, coordinator of the competition and instructor of entrepreneurship. 

In March, “Business Week” magazine ranked USD’s undergraduate business programs in the top 50 of the nation for the second year in a row.  

USD’s MBA program was also ranked in the top 100 worldwide for integrating social and environmental issues, according to the Aspen Institute’s 2007-08 edition of Beyond Grey Pinstripes.  

The University of San Diego School of Business Administration is committed to developing socially responsible leaders and improving global business practice through innovative, personalized education and applied research. Visit www.sandiego.edu/business.

The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls some 7,500 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The establishment of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies will bring the University’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Leadership and Education Sciences, Law and Nursing and Health Sciences. 

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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is among the Top 20 Best Private Schools for Making an Impact according to The Princeton Review. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.