I'm a student in a non-entrepreneurial college and I would like to invite several speakers over the course of this year to my university.
A lot of my classmates have interest in building their own companies, but most of them will go to consulting shops instead of using their skills to built a product and make a difference.
I have tried local entrepreneurs and while there was a lot of interest, the speakers weren't inspiring. Mostly because Belgium doesn't have that much of a tech-entrepreneurial culture.<p>I have secured the backing of the dean of faculty so tickets/money/sleeping arrangements aren't a problem.
Which speakers can inspire students to take startups serious?<p>I know PG can do this, but I suspect he doesn't have time.<p>My current 'Wanted' list:<p><pre><code> Paul Graham
Fred Wilson
Steve Blank
David Heinemeier Hansson
Eric Ries
</code></pre>
Please suggest additional speakers.
While this is not necessarily a recommendation for a speaker, I would suggest using Nathan Furr's Business Model Competition (<a href="http://businessmodelcompetition.com" rel="nofollow">http://businessmodelcompetition.com</a>) to compel a student population to shift their focus to entrepreneurship.
Maybe you could contact some angel investors? Angel List has a bunch, and even 39 European angeles <a href="http://angel.co/europe" rel="nofollow">http://angel.co/europe</a>
Some of my favorite speakers at the latest Startup School were Ron Conway, Tom Preston-Warner, and Brian Chesky. Last year my favorite speaker was Paul Buchheit.
I think it takes more than a series of inspirational speakers to have an impact. Evangelism is only part of what's needed. You also need informative talks about the details of starting a venture, funding, intellectual property, risks and rewards, and so forth if you want to enable people to move forward.
Why the lucky stiff's presentation at ART && CODE Symposium. Not much to do with 'start-ups', but more of a why do we program type deal. It's interesting to say the least.<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/5047563" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/5047563</a>