Richard Reed spoke at the Oxford Entrepreneurs speaker series on November 3rd, 2009. This is the interview following his talk.

Interview: Richard Reed from The Alligator on Vimeo.

A big issue that many students and graduates are facing these days is the fact that they are struggling to find the jobs they want they because they lack experience. How do you convince employers that you’ll be good at the job if you’ve never done it before? But of course how do you get that first experience without prior experience? Well, one solution to this problem of is to tap into your contacts list. They are, of course, a great way to get one foot through the door. It’s an easy way to get big CV points. Another way is to take part in societies and make the most of what they have to offer. Doing this will give you very transferable skills and great insight – and with the best societies, this will often be for free! One series of events in particular gives students an unparalleled opportunity to get a real business experience. This is Oxford Entrepreneurs’ The OxPrentice.

The idea behind The OxPrentice is simply that students are put into teams and are given business challenges to complete, just like in the TV series, The Apprentice. However, instead of being a knockout competition, with the OxPrentice, the winners of each challenge will have the opportunity to take forward their idea after the event and build on it to make it their own venture that they will run. What is unique about this series is the fact that students are given the chance to experience first-hand real responsibility for a money making project. Whilst some societies provide “trading games” to simulate the trading floor at a bank/hedge fund, or trial law cases, the opportunities that arise from the OxPrentice are by no means fictional. To illustrate this, there were two winners of the iPhone App challenge that we held at the end of last month. One team is already at a stage where they will be meeting with the developers from Inside Mobile to speak about the coding that will be involved in developing their idea. The other team is making rigorous plans to ensure that their idea will materialise into a sexy yet simple app that will hopefully become a very scalable product.

Events like this, and the G&D’s Ice Cream Flavour Event, that we held all day on Wednesday 6th week Michaelmas at Science Oxford (see map) are great ways to get business experience. Running your own venture requires many skills such as organisation, leadership and negotiation. Employees recognise this and therefore look for people with these kinds of experiences. There are no risks in terms of financial investment, so opportunities such as these are rare. Seize the day, and help yourself gain the right experience.

November 25th – 18:30, Roy Griffiths Room, Keble College, OX1 3PN.

Life is full of moments when we have to sell ourselves but usually time is short. What would you say if you bumped into Richard Branson in a lift? How would you pitch your idea if you were on Dragon’s Den? How do you sell yourself in a job interview? Come and learn some practical hints and tricks about how you can effectively sell your ideas, your business or even yourself. This workshop will be very interactive and you’ll learn mostly through doing rather than listening to dry theories.

Continue to find out more and REGISTER.

We are now in the last 48 24 hours that you can register and get involved in this event. Can you create the next ice cream flavour? Can you market it? Read More About G&D Ice Cream Challenge

The deadline for the Ideas2Market BOOTCAMP has been extended to Midnight Sunday, November 1st. This is an opportunity to receive personal mentoring from top business leaders and turn your idea into a tenable business. Most of the 50 places have already gone but there are a few still available. Apply here http://oe.wufoo.com/forms/ideas2market-bootcamp-application/. Further details on this highlight of the Oxford entrepreneurial calendar can be found under the Events menu. There is no cost to participants.

At our speaker series last week, Daniel Ek (Spotify) gave his first address to any university audience. Full details here.

Oxford Entrepreneurs, Europe’s largest university entrepreneurship society, is pleased to offer a range of entrepreneurship-related events and services for students from inspiration all the way up to business success. OE encourages entrepreneurship by attracting established entrepreneurs as speakers, organises workshops and competitons for budding and established entrepreneurs, and hosts networking events for all. To support high-potential companies that are moving past the conceptual stage, OE is proud to offer a vibrant incubation centre.

Go To Incubation Centre Page

One of our most popular events ever- we only have a few spaces left so signup asap!

Magdalen College Auditorium, Wednesday 28th October, 7.30-9.30pm

This week the OE speaker series reaches new heights as we welcome Daniel Ek, the founder of the latest invention to hit the online music scene: Spotify.

Daniel Ek is a 26 year old technologist who started his first company 1997 at the age of 14. Currently he is the CEO and founder of Spotify, a legal music service that helps people discover, browse and play music.

Anybody who’s read the new this year will have seen that Spotify is currently something of a web pin-up… The more business minded amongst you will have noted the inherent difficulties in the business model – will Spotify succeed in its aims of changing the Music Industry and bringing an end to the avalanche of illegal downloads… We hope so!

Watch Video of the event NOW

November 2nd at Thirst Lodge – FREE drinks & cocktails

We are excited to announce our first ever mentor match up evening; this is a fantastic opportunity for you and maybe your business partner/s to find an ideal mentor that would really benefit both you and your business idea.

The evening will work similar to a ‘speed dating’ event whereby each team or individual will work their way around different mentors and spend a few minutes with each. This way you will be able to find the most suitable mentor for yourself and business idea. You will achieve this by finding out some background information on your mentor (their specialist areas, experience, etc) and they will also have the chance to ask you a few simple questions on your background and business idea.

After the evening has closed the Ideas2Market team will work hard to pair up suitable mentors with the most appropriate teams. Once mentors have been assigned you will be able to work with them and utilise their skills, experience and contacts to help develop your business idea.

Please sign up for this event by clicking here. We look forward to seeing you on November 2^nd from 20:00 – 22:00 at Thirst Lodge, St. Ebbes, OX1 1QF (behind the Westgate Centre).

Introducing the most exciting event on this year’s entrepreneurial calendar:

“The OxPrentice” is a series of innovative workshops that are held by Oxford Entrepreneurs designed to test participants’ core entrepreneurial skills, and to prove themselves to their friends and employers. The purpose of the iPhone Application Development Task is designed to introduce our members to cutting edge, innovative mobile technology, as well as examine the contestant’s ability to think of innovative new ideas and create marketing strategies to ensure that their product has the best chance of success. This will be tested by way of a short pitch after the preparation has been completed. Judging the two teams will be professional mobile application developers and marketing consultants, and between them, they will decide who the winners will be. The team that wins will have the opportunity to see their idea materialise by working with the developers and consultants to fully market their idea. Guidance will be provided throughout the task from both the developers and the consultants.