UCD has received a £1.3 million (€1.65 million) donation from US-based Irish businessman Mr Philip Berber, who sold his online brokerage firm, CyberCorp, for $488 million (€524 million) last February. A commerce graduate from UCD in 1979, Mr Berber has donated £800,000 to the new undergraduate school of business at UCD, due for completion in 2002. The remainder will go towards a chair in entrepreneurship at the new school.
The Cross Atlantic Technology Fund has also set aside a $1 million fund for masters graduate students from the university wishing to start their own technology and e-commerce businesses.
The fund will be administered by the business school and will typically grant between £20,000 and £50,000 to graduates in their first year of a new start-up venture. According to Prof Philip Bourke, dean of the faculty of commerce at UCD, it is hoped the fund will be continue to be topped up over time.
Speaking after an Alumni Association forum at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, UCD, Mr Berber told The Irish Times: "I feel this is a relatively small gesture to support the vision of UCD and the business school for the next generation of Irish men and women. Ireland is ripe for allowing entrepreneurial souls to emerge and this donation will hopefully help them believe they can be anything they choose to be."
Mr Berber joined Mr Sean Melly, chief executive officer of eTel and Mr Jim Coffey, chief executive officer of SoftCo, in addressing graduates on the theme "The Rise of the eTiger: E-entrepreneurs on Building Global Technology Ventures". Mr Berber said the e-commerce environment had begun to move into its third generation, where it was no longer fashionable to invest in speculative ventures that required multimillion pound brand building exercises.
"Be old fashioned in your values. It's back to the dirty `p' and `c' words - profit and cash-flow. We are going to hear about a lot more Boo.coms where there will be more blood on the ground than champagne in the glass."
He added there would be a lot more emphasis on establishing a physical mortar and brand presence in overseas markets in order to build a global company.
The key to being a successful ebusiness entrepreneur, Mr Berber said, included being able to anticipate what the market would look like in two years time, having `best of breed' technology, hiring good people with skills you lack and being able to deliver to your customers on target.
"Don't look to qualifications or money. Look to dreams and passion. When you get a hunch about something, pursue it and draw on all your skills and surround yourself with what you're missing. Until you jump in, you don't know how warm or cold the water is," Mr Berber said.
Mr Coffey said it was important for companies to be able to evolve and move away from their original vision as the company grew. He said that, since its inception, SoftCo had had three rebirths.
"If you see an opportunity, grasp it," he said, adding that powerful brands would win out in the new economy and would be able to leverage off struggling businesses.
