New Talents Ltd.

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Entrepreneurs don't grow on trees, and relatively few come out of business schools, either. Lately, however, there have been signs of a new blossoming of entrepreneurship in the groves of academe. One such outbreak occurred this spring on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles, where students organized the First Venture Proposal Competition.

The contest -- sponsored by the Entrepreneur Association and Price Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies -- offered UCLA graduate students the opportunity to compete for $2,500 in prize money by developing a business plan for a new venture. In the end a total of 14 proposals were submitted. The entries were judged by a panel including venture capitalists Ken Deemer of First Interstate Capital, Brad Jones of Brentwood Associates, Steve Kurtin of Lane Research, Richard Riordan of Riordan Ventures, and David Swarts, a small business consultant.

The winners:

* First Place ($1,000) -- Coleman Youngdahl, who developed a computerized system for streamlining maintenance procedures in machine tool companies.

* Second Place ($500) -- Lucy Lewand, Dan Heller, and Glen MacLeod, who came up with "Beat the Racetrack," a hand-held computer designed to exploit market inefficiencies in horse-race betting. That tied with

* Another Second Place ($500) -- Terrill Barnett and Maile Meyer, who proposed a gourmet fast-food operation called "Drive and Dine," aimed at young professionals, working couples, and anyone else willing to buy gourmet meals at a drive-through window.

Five other entries were awarded third-place prizes of $100 each, for such things as skis that eliminate the need for ski boots, and a "Security Deposit Insurance Company" to serve as a liaison between landlords and tenants. Losers included a proposal for a business that would extract precious metals from computer circuitry; and another for "New Talents Ltd.," a company that would develop and package screenplays using local talent.

Oddly enough, no one proposed the most obvious idea of all: a venture capital fund to finance the winners.