In the News

Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Clean Up: The Winners of the School's second annual Leigh Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition want to make the world a neater place.

The pessimistic business student says, "The World is a mess." The optimistic one counters, "Well, then, let's clean it up- and afterward we'll go to this cool new place and enjoy a cup of exotic tea."

Extremely simplified, the glass-half-full philosophy more or less sums up the four winning ideas from this year's Leigh Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition, three of which offer creative solutions for dealing with unwanted stuff in our lives. Launched at the School a year ago with the financial backing of Miami-area businessman and philanthropist Leigh M. Rothschild (BA '73), the contest challenges undergraduate and graduate students to come up with a novel venture and write a formal business plan for getting it off the ground.

This year's iteration attracted a staggering 131 entries- up from 38 in the inaugural competition. From these, 25 finalists were invited to prepare detailed business plans, just as they would present to venture capitalists or other investors. Instead, they made their pitches to a panel of 14 business leaders, some of them alumni.

"I thought, before getting involved with the competition, that we had less entrepreneurship," says Scott Deutsch (BBA '89), founder and CEO of Miami-based Orange Clothing Co. "But after being a judge, I realize that not only is entrepreneurship alive, it's alive and kicking."

The first-, second- and third-place winners (who received $10,000, $6,000 and $3,000 each, respectively), plus 16 honorable-mention winners (who each received $1,000), were feted at a luncheon held April 30 at the James W. McLamore Executive Education Center. Dean Paul K. Sugrue and UM President Donna E. Shalala praised the students for their hard work and creativity.

Competition judge David Epstein, president of Presidential Capital Partners, was the featured speaker. He told the audience how he founded his first company while still an undergraduate. "Take risks," he advised the students. "You will learn from them, and you will be better for it. Somebody once said that being an entrepreneur is like setting your hair on fire and trying to put it out with a hammer. But ultimately, there is nothing more rewarding."

The winners in this year's competition have already been rewarded. Here are their stories.

1st Prize: $10,000
Haul of Fame

Let he or she among us without a basement, garage or attic filled with useless junk cast the first trash bag. And how about that sinful heap of tree clippings littering the back yard since who knows when? Who ya gonna call to get rid of it all? If Omar Soliman (BBA '04) has his way, it'll be College Hunks Hauling Junk at the other end of the phone line.

"It started with just me and a couple of friends trying to think of ways to make extra money," says Soliman, recalling how he spent his 2002 summer vacation at home in Washington, D.C. They came up with the clever name and plastered it on flyers around the neighborhood. "About seven that night, my cell phone started ringing," and quicker than Soliman could say "busted recliner," he and his fellow hunky collegians were in business. By the time he headed back to Miami for his senior year, Soliman had hired two full-time employees, enlisted as many reliable friends as possible and pocketed about $15,000. "We were booked solid," he says.

Soliman signed up for the School's entrepreneurship class, taught by Philip Needles (BBA '91), then heard about the Rothschild competition. "It was easy for me," Soliman says of turning his summer job into a viable business. "It wasn't this vague idea in my head. I knew the numbers."

A management major, Soliman admits that his entrepreneurial spirit comes naturally. "I've always been thinking of different creative ideas," he says. "Ever since I was in about sixth grade, my mom, who runs a furniture store in the center of the city, said, 'Omar, why don't you help us come up with some marketing ideas?'"

The competition, however, brought it all together. "This is definitely the most valuable experience I've ever had academically," he says. "If you had told me at the beginning of the year that I'd be sitting in front of President Shalala because I was receiving an award, I'd be like, 'You're crazy.'"

Soliman returned home for the summer somewhat unsure of his - and College Hunks Hauling Junk's - immediate future. One part of him says to get a job and some real-world business experience, and pad the nest egg the competition's top prize laid on him. "I want to start it right," he says. "I want to come out of the gate at full speed as a professional-type company." And leave someone else to pick up the dust.