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News 12-3-09

Students Worldwide Innovate to "Make Saving Money Fun!" in Rapid-Fire Stanford University Competition
STANFORD, Calif., Dec 03, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Company: Sterling Business Solutions Inc. (STLB)

Use foot power to recharge your mobile phone? A puzzle that motivates children to save instead of spend? These are among the winning ideas announced today of the Global Innovation Tournament. which challenged contestants to "Make saving money fun!" In celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week, student teams in 31 countries developed everything from virtual reality tools to animated films and online games as they competed in the eight-day tournament hosted by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program at Stanford University. Entrants had to create value, have as much impact as possible, and convey their results in a short YouTube video. A panel of judges from throughout the world evaluated nearly 1,000 entries to help select 22 winners.

Winning entries included a virtual reality game tied to one's bank account that rewards the user with virtual goods as he or she builds real-world financial reserves; a credit card that cries out in agony when used; provocative outlet covers that motivate consumers to unplug idle appliances; a captivating animated film; a new bartering system presented with a sense of humor; and several products for kids, such as a "savings puzzle" and board game. Other winners devised working prototypes of a gadget that generates electricity as you walk and a recycling/videogame kiosk. While most participants were university students, two of the winning entries and four of the 39 finalists were junior high school and high school students. Winners hail from Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.

A complete list of global and Stanford winners, including links to their videos, is available at http://www.unleashingideas.org/tournament/winners.

The Global Innovation Tournament is a fast and furious competition that encourages students to work in teams, challenge assumptions, seize opportunities, and be creative. Most of all, it gives them a taste of what it's like to be entrepreneurial by creating value from basically nothing (in this case, a different twist on a common idea related to a global problem), while working with constraints, such as limited time and resources.

The competition was developed by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program at Stanford University and is sponsored globally by Intuit Inc., a leading provider of financial management solutions for consumers and small businesses.

More than 4,000 students from more than 100 institutions in 31 countries participated this year. Local hosts conducted the competition in their respective areas, chose local winners, and submitted them to Stanford University. STVP then coordinated two rounds of global judging by a panel of Stanford representatives, university professors from around the world, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and senior executives from companies such as Intuit, Logitech, Deloitte and Intel Capital. The local winners in most locations were announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 16-22.

"This is the third year we've run this competition, and the results are always astounding," said Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. "Every team has the same number of hours and raw material with which to work, and yet the range of ideas and execution activity blows us away every time. During this difficult economic period, an event like this takes on even more importance, demonstrating just how much entrepreneurial potential there is among our young people and how much they are capable of achieving when inspired to create value."

Added Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week, "This competition is enormously empowering to students, particularly for those who live in cultures that don't particularly encourage risk-taking and entrepreneurial attitudes."

Intuit's chief innovation officer, Kris Halvorsen, commented about the ingenuity of the students participating in the tournament: "The students presented smart ideas that have the potential to make a difference. As it is Intuit's business to help consumers and small businesses save and make money, we are inspired by the creativity the students exhibited in thinking of ways to make saving money fun."

This competition was one of the celebrations that marked Global Entrepreneurship Week, which was co-founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the UK's Make Your Mark campaign in 2008. Millions of people in 88 countries participated in a wide range of activities and challenges to inspire and shape the next generation of entrepreneurs.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week encourages youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality, and make their mark. From Nov. 16 - 22, 2009, millions of young people around the world joined a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities were planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign. For more information, visit www.unleashingideas.org, and follow @unleashingideas on Twitter.

About the Stanford Technology Ventures Program

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) is the entrepreneurship center at Stanford University's School of Engineering. Hosted by the Department of Management Science and Engineering, STVP is focused on advancing business skills and research insights that will help entrepreneurial leaders use innovations to solve major world problems, with an emphasis on the environment, human health, information technology, and other global issues. STVP creates scholarly research on technology-based firms and teaches entrepreneurship skills to graduate and undergraduate students across campus. STVP's outreach programs include a free podcast and video website featuring entrepreneurial thought leaders (http://ecorner.stanford.edu) and conferences for entrepreneurship educators worldwide. http://stvp.stanford.edu

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks(R), Quicken(R) and TurboTax(R), simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries(R) and Lacerte(R) are Intuit's leading tax preparation software suites for professional accountants. The company's financial institutions division, anchored by Digital Insight, provides on-demand banking services to help banks and credit unions serve businesses and consumers with innovative solutions.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.2 billion in its fiscal year 2009. The company has approximately 7,800 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

Intuit, Quicken, and QuickBooks, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries.

SOURCE: Stanford Engineering

Stanford Technology Ventures Program
Theresa Lina Stevens, 415-203-1800 415-203-1800
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Mark Marich, 202-467-2776 202-467-2776
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Intuit Inc.
Allison Green, 650-944-2512 650-944-2512
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Company: Sterling Business Solutions Inc. (STLB)