Starting a new university

[helpmestartauniversity]

As you can probably gather from my username, I'm aiming to start a university.

If you're wondering what the general thrust of the university will be, read this relatively short post on my blog.

I'm posting here for a couple of different reasons.

First, I suspect this project is the type of thing that people here would find interesting, so I thought we'd be able to have some worthwhile exchanges of ideas on the matter. So feel free to offer your thoughts on what you'd like to see in a newly founded university.

Second, I'm looking for advice about forums, since I thought it would be worthwhile to have one hooked up with my blog and website in order to facilitate discussion. For reference, this site (Pavlina's) uses vBulletin. It's pretty nice IMO, and doesn't seem terribly expensive ($85/yr to lease, $160 to purchase), but it'd be nice to hear some of your thoughts and recommendations.

BTW, since this is my first post, it would probably be appropriate to give you a link to the 'about me' section of my blog.

Best,
James W. Sperman

[3rdStarMogul]

go for it !

[ogrekilleat]

With a name like Booyah! U...

Perhaps your first students can be the students from my U who, with a campaign slogan of "Whazzzzzzzzup", defeated the ticket with the campaign slogan "The fundamental basis vector is you. You must vote.", for student government.

[helpmestartauniversity]

Regarding the name, most universities are named after their location or the founder.

I think it would excessively vain to give it my last name. Besides, even though it's pronounced with a long 'e' (sounds like it should be spelled 'Spearman'), its actual spelling would make some people think it was a porn school.

Naming it after a location is lame and grossly unoriginal. Almost every school does that. I admit that my original name idea was 'Manhattan University', but then I thought that if the university is to be something new and original, why be a conformist in the naming of it?

So then I thought that Booyah! U would be apt, especially since the university and the company would both be built on (and named after) the same principles: the maximization of human potential, the impassioned pursuit of excellence, and a general enthusiasm about making a positive difference in the world.

"Booyah" was chosen as the company name because it represents feelings of victorious celebration upon overcoming difficulties.

The state motto of Kansas is ad astra per aspera -- "To the stars through difficulties." I'm aiming for the stars, and I know firsthand about the innumerable difficulties along the way. Successful arrival deserves a "booyah"; heck, the voyage alone warrants one.

If anybody has any other suggestions about the name, though, please post them.

[Doku]

I would think that the name would be one of your larger hurdles... Going with "booyah" would be just as bad as "pink taco". Nobody is going to take you seriously if you graduate from there.

I'd go with a name that speaks philosophy, or philanthropy, or ...

[helpmestartauniversity]

"Manhattan School for the Philanthropically Inclined" would be descriptive... although it makes me think of this:

[helpmestartauniversity]

How about "Manhattan School of Philosophy and Art" -- and then I just make the argument that business is an art?

System building is an art form, imo. Kant was making art when he created his worldview, and I was making art when I designed Booyah! Inc.

Of course, I'm not claiming that designing worldviews or business concepts can't also be categorized differently. To fit into the theme of my proposed university, however, the type of business school I have in mind would only have to have art as one of its categorical headers.

[Niki]

Manhattan Business School of Philosophy and Art

[ogrekilleat]

Think about your target audience. Will people seeking a business degree be attracted by a school with just "Philosophy and Art" in the name? Perhaps not, because saying that you have a business degree from an art school just seems...off.

[Still Growing]

I think its a horrible idea. I say go for it.

If it doesn't work you'll learn and if it does you'll profit. You only loose by not trying.

[Vanessa]

I really like the idea of starting a school based on philosophy and entrepreneurship. First thing in my head to do is figure out what Booyah will stand for, its reason to be as good as the big guys then get the right people on board. I'd look to see where are the top Philosopher's in the world, what are they doing right and how can you as the new university find a way to make that the advantage to secure funding a philosophy incubator that will benefit the larger good.

Some of your advantages of having a B school focused on social entrepreneurship is that its a hot interest among students and second: there are only a handful of schools doing Entrepreneurship programs as an academic study. I did an MS in Entrepreneurship and there's maybe 6 to 10 schools that offer it. I'd get to know folks at Kauffman Foundation and Babson since they are the some leading entrepreneurial academic environments. You said something about UMich with POS, I'd think bring someone visible from there to your start up team or collaborate with them would boost your visibility and credibilty for that program.

Some great ideas for a entrepreneurship school is to have something like a profit sharing student start ups. This way students who enroll would have part of their tuition go toward funding their company and the entire time they are in their first quarter (semester, or year) they are learning about building a company,instead of getting typical student jobs during school they could get min wage while working their business. In exchange for this environment and access to mentors and experts, ~30-50% of the students company's net profit could go towards the school endowment and some philanthropic cause for the first 1-4 years of the company's existence.

What better way to fund a institution than with the new companies that are started by the students who are fostered in the programs.

Another consideration is that since you're a new school built on a new school of thought, comparing yourself to Harvard or Stanford won't be as helpful to you as defining your own success for a new institution. It's easier to shine as a success when you're playing on your own terms.

I'll be honest, if I wanted to go to one of those schools for whatever reason, I wouldn't consider going to a newly founded school without credentials unless what I could get out of that education would be greater than what Stanford or Harvard could offer me.

What kinds of things would be of interest? Getting my company off the ground while I'm a student studying with some great Entrepreneurs, the network of mentors and experts who are available to me. Being able to make money from building my company right away. Not writing business plans all semester long for VC funding.

Something more like business building incubator with some academic nets to fall back on.

The ultimate sign of success for such an institution?
Being known for providing entrepreneurial students the room to build successful companies right away while giving back to what matters to them from the get go. Not twenty years later, and not an annual business plan competition for some seed capital or donating back as an alumni.

[helpmestartauniversity]

Thanks for the great thoughts, Vanessa!

[helpmestartauniversity]

I decided not to try to start a new university from scratch.

Instead I'll focus on hyperfunding the existent university--but still starting with the philosophy department and business school.

Sorry to be a quitter but I finally decided that the idea of trying to build a university while building a company was just too overwhelming. Now I'll be able to focus on the company and let the geniuses (literally) in the philosophy department handle their own growth while I provide them with the resources to do so. Ditto with the business school.

Talk about biting off more than I could have chewed. I think I would have definitely chipped a tooth on that one.

[helpmestartauniversity]

BTW, you guys are still welcome to follow my progress on this lesser project. I'll be documenting it on my personal blog at From Pink Taco to Philanthropy

[helpmestartauniversity]

Changed my sig to reflect the new blog

[schola]

I like the idea of harnessing capitalism to fund a university, but it's really too ambitious.

You say you're modeling YUM brands who own a bunch of different restaurant chains, but YUM! Brands didn't start each company they own from scratch. They bought them after they were fully developed.

Would tuition be free at this university since it's completely funded by these businesses? I'd rather see the money go to pay for student's education that see it wasted on useless university programs.

[Vanessa]

I'm glad you have decided to concentrate on building your company. I read your plan and I've got to say I'm excited for you! You've got a good thing planned out with Booyah! Pizza.

Stick to your guns about not pursuing the university idea... it's still a good idea maybe now's just not the right time for it.

[DavidDavidDavid]

Vanessa: I think you're unwittingly describing the SBI! experience!

What intrigued me about it -- not that they sell it this way, exactly -- is how SBI! could be used as a "hands-on learning experience"...you pay to learn, but learn to earn as you learn (and many do earn as they learn)...it's like an online course and the term/semester project is a money-earning website! So it's very similar to what you have in mind there (only there isn't the kind of "hand-holding" available as would be the case on a face-to-face basis with a professor at a school, obviously)....

[helpmestartauniversity]

A couple of updates:

1) I moved my blog to jameswsperman.blogspot.com so that I could use adsense

2) K-State doesn't have a film school, but I want it to have one. There's a rising director in the area (Steve Balderson, whose work Roger Ebert calls "brilliant"), so I asked him if he'd be involved in the launching and direction of a new film school at K-State. I told him that if he'd give me some sort of conditional agreement to do so, that I'd make the film school one of my immediate funding priorities (along with philosophy and possibly replacing business). His response: "I'd love to." So hopefully that will help me drum up more support for Booyah! Inc from folks who would like to see K-State have a great film school.

3) A professor at K-State who teaches a course called "Philanthropy and Fundraising" has agreed to advise me and let me pick her brain throughout my endeavor. (My other 3 advisors include 2 Professors of Business and "The Dough Doctor"--arguably the world's #1 pizza expert/consultant.)


I'm getting close to the point of promoting my project to the relevant folks (Manhattan residents, current K-Staters, and K-State alumni). Hopefully I'll be able to successfully raise the needed startup capital. We'll see.

[Vanessa]

NYT: A Classroom Path to Entrepreneurship

at Babson, incoming freshmen take a yearlong course in which they are required to start and run a small business. Each class of 25 to 30 students is given $3,000 in seed money and is required to create a company to sell a real product that will exist for the school year. According to Professor Andrew Zacharakis, the students have never had a company fail to make back its initial financing. Most often, the companies make a profit, which is donated to charity.