Top Ten Lessons Learned in Business
Business Plan Competition & Luncheon

Mason alumnus Amir Ansari, '90  Electrical Engineering,  will discuss his "Top Ten Lessons Learned in Business", including successful use of the "Prize Model" to stimulate innovation at the luncheon. Mr Ansari will award the Student Venture Prize worth $20,000 and other prizes to the winning teams of the Dean's Business Plan Competition. The Competition takes place the same morning, prior to the luncheon.

More about the Business Plan Competition: http://som.gmu.edu/calendar/event/209

More about the Business Plan Luncheon and Awards: http://som.gmu.edu/calendar/event/205

About the speaker

Amir Ansari is Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder and as an inventor and serial entrepreneur, brings more than 20 years of experience to Prodea Systems.

Prior to co-founding Prodea Systems, Amir served in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer of Sonus Networks, Inc. He was responsible for providing technical guidance and direction in deploying one of the industry’s first softswitches in a carrier network.

Amir joined Sonus Networks via its acquisition of telecom technologies, inc., where he was Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer.  Amir led efforts to design and deploy the company’s softswitch, the most robust and scalable product of its type. telecom technologies’ client list consisted of Fortune 500 companies such as WorldCom, Qwest Communications, Hewlett-Packard, Sprint, and AT&T.

Amir is a member of the X Prize Foundation’s Vision Circle and its Board of Trustees. Amir is also actively involved with several non-profit organizations that strive for social development. He has co-authored numerous technical papers and filed several U.S. patents in the areas of voice over IP and multimedia services. He and his sister-in-law, Anousheh Ansari, staked the 2004 X Prize for private sector innovation in space travel with a multi-million dollar contribution.

Amir earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from George Mason University.

The winning team will receive the first-ever Student Venture Prize of $20,000 in cash and in-kind services such as accounting, legal and consulting support to take their business concept to the next stage. The competition is open to student teams from all colleges and schools within the university. The Student Venture Prize is made possible by the generous donations of alumni who see the value in fostering entrepreneurship at George Mason University and in Northern Virginia.