***PUB TALK: THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2000
"CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP"
By Tanja Kaufmann and Natanya Myers, CafeMania.net
Open to the Public.
EnContacto.net, a startup launching in July, and its Latin American
founder, MexCom, have found a unique way to bring the business and
Internet savvy of MBA candidates out of the classroom and up to
snuff.
Tanja Kaufmann and Natanya Myers will present the model for “transition
training” that will prepare academic grads for a life of entrepreneurial
growth in the Internet Economy.
ABOUT ENCONTACTO.NET, CAFEMANIA.NET, AND ED CULP, CO-FOUNDER
MexCom's founder, Ed Culp, founded several successful start-ups
in Mexico before opening offices in Silicon Valley and funding EnContacto.Net.
Before initiating operations in California, MexCom had been accepted
as an Associate of the Silicon Valley World Internet Center.
To bring EnContacto.Net to life, Ed sought a passionate, multicultural,
multilingual team with broad international work experience. At the
Monterey Institute of International Studies, he discovered his team,
but the group lacked an Internet entrepreneurial background.
The question arose, can MBA students use their academic background
to become successful entrepreneurs in the real world?
To answer the question, the group is rolling up its sleeves and
getting its hands dirty with its own startup, CafeMania.net. It
will be a “bootcamp” to learn the street smarts one doesn’t learn
in business school, every aspect of beginning and running
a business -- from setting up technical networks to doing
battles with bureaucracy.
CafeMania.net is a separate entity wholly owned by the group with
seed funding from the EnContacto.Net project in Monterey, CA.
ABOUT TANJA KAUFMANN
As the only non-MBA student Tanja Kaufmann brings a different perspective
to the CafeMania.Net team. Born and raised in Germany, she then
moved to California at a young age. After receiving her sociology
degree from the University of California Santa Cruz, she moved south
of the border and worked in diverse areas of business, including
business development between the city of Orlando and Mexico.
After seven years of immersion in the culture Tanja decided to
steer away from business. She left her position as translator for
one of Mexico‚s biggest brokerage firms and came to the Monterey
Institute of International Studies to pursue an MA in Translation
and Interpretation.
ABOUT NATANYA MYERS
Natanya Myers is a international MBA student at the Monterey Institute
of International Studies. Before working with CafeMania.net, she
was responsible for making English a fun, interesting, and profitable
business for one of the largest English language schools in Japan.
As Nationwide Training Coordinator she dealt with all aspects of
the youth programs: from cross-cultural labor management to self-defense
tips for teachers of children. The pre-Japan years were spent living,
working, and studying in Germany, France, and Spain, between and
around a BA-length stay at the University of Oregon.
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