Students, mentors and members of the Austin entrepreneurial community converged on The University of Texas Austin campus for 1 Semester Startup's second-ever "Demo Day" featuring President and CEO of National Instruments Dr. James Truchard.
Demo Day showcased 10 undergraduate student startups that each presented five-minute investor pitches. The startups are part of the spring 2012 1 Semester Startup (1SS) class, an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship practicum for undergraduates.
Bob Metcalfe, one of the three instructors for 1SS and professor of innovation at the Cockrell School of Engineering, kicked off the evening with an interview of Truchard.
Truchard, who cofounded NI in 1976 while working at The University of Texas at Austin, shared his startup wisdom with the audience, answering questions from aspiring Longhorn entrepreneurs.
1SS is taught by Metcalfe, a national technology medalist, inventor of Ethernet, founder of 3Com and the Cockrell School's Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise, along with Joshua Baer of Capital Factory and the Department of Computer Science, and Johnny Butler of IC2 and the McCombs School of Business.
The class, which has 35 enrolled students among the 10 startups, allows undergraduates who already have startups to experience entrepreneurship first-hand while learning from some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Austin. The startups range from database and server management services, to mobile applications and social networks.
