• Rules from the BABY’s Book on Becoming a Billionaire
  
  

  • Rule #19: Big success can spring from small change. Just as it is said, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you give him a fish hook, you feed him for life.

• Cutting Edge Officers. “No vision is too distant and no detail is too small,” advises Rafael Pastor, CEO of Vistage International, the world’s largest support organization for CEOs of small to mid-sized businesses.

• Do it yourself--don’t delegate. Author and consultant Brian Hill asserts that the experience of writing a concise business plan will prepare you to describe the opportunity your idea brings to investors and clients.

• Lift off to the Galaxy. Participants in the UCSD Entrepreneurship Competition receive mentoring, support and more, says Kartik Joshi, one of the organizers.

• A noble plan leads to a Nobel Prize: a pittance combined with support from one’s village leads to successful entrepreneurship in the poorest of countries.

• The “I wish I’d thought of that idea” Idea: Die-hard sports fans… Loyal long after the game (of life) is over.

Brian Hill is the founding partner of Profit Dynamics, a consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona. He has helped more than 100 companies prepare their business plans and is the author of two popular books on the subject or raising money, Attracting Capital from Angels and Inside Secrets to Venture Capital.

Rafael Pastor is the chairman and CEO of Vistage International, the world’s large CEO organization. Vistage helps CEOs become better leaders, make better decisions and achieve better results through their participation in peer group meetings and one to one coaching sessions, expert workshops and access to an online best practices library. Prior to joining Vistage, Rafael had his own investment banking and private equity firm. In his career, he has also held senior management positions in several leading companies including CBS, USA Networks, Fox Television and News Corporation.

Kartik Joshi is a member of the organizing team for the UCSD Entrepreneurship Competition which will offer $50,000 in prize money. Each team must include at least one UCSD undergraduate or graduate student or involve technology developed at UCSD. The purpose is to foster community involvement and technological innovation by bringing together multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, scientists and business minded students with San Diego entrepreneurs and professionals.