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I'm not sure if the GSB summer program and the SIE program are the same thing. If they are, or if they are similar, I did SIE in 2011 and can say a few things about it.SIE was an overwhelmingly positive experience for me, one of my best Stanford...but the $10,000 question is tough to answer since I don't know the value of $10 grand to you.If you want to understand the nuts and bolts of a business administration: finance, econ, accounting, management theory, supply chain and logistics, negotiations, design thinking, public speaking, marketing, business model development, investor culture, ownership strategies, etc...take that $10k and use it for some night classes at your local community college. You'll get far more in-depth treatment of the topics if you take a semester long class rather than sit through two or three seminars on the subject. That being said, the quality of the GSB faculty is amazing and this is coming from a guy who had two years of excellent Stanford engineering professors. The seminars were uniformly delightful and engaging, but the finance and supply chain and negotiations seminars really stand out vividly over a year later.The SIE program is geared towards Stanford engineering and science graduate students who are interested in pursuing their own start-ups. It is very cheap for Stanford grad students ($500 out of pocket, when I applied--I think it went up this year)...and is subsidized by the school. The low cost and the opportunity to get some exposure to the GSB (which is excellent and nearly impossible to get a seat in during the regular year even if time permitted) were my motivations for applying for it.The motivation behind the program isn't entirely selfless--Stanford wants its engineering and science alumni to succeed in business for two reasons: voluntary largesse from wildly successful alumni ventures (Google and Yahoo being two) and the fact that many of these graduate scientists and engineers have been working on research that is legally Stanford's IP--if they can successfully capitalize on the research Stanford makes money. So the motivation is to give the engineering and science folks--who are often brilliant in their own fields of endeavor some MBA tools so they aren't completely hapless as businessmen (which is often the case). The notion is that the folks in the program aspire to found companies--not work in long-established ones.The program was 5-6 weeks long and was intense: 6-day weeks--a phone book worth of case studies to read and analyze, every moment from 9a to about 6p planned ...and you are responsible for developing a start-up, complete with a business model, value proposition, P&L forecast, etc etc. The final presentation at the end are half hr elevator pitches to silicon valley VCs who have invested and advised companies in your area.The students are chosen from science and engineering schools. I think we may have had an anthropologist and some psychology researchers but by and large they were either medical, physical science or computer science--very few software guys surprisingly enough. I would say about a third were post-docs and were largely involved in medical research, another third came from various engineering and science disciplines at masters through post-doc levels, another quarter were postdocs from other schools (seems like mostly Australian and Indian with a few Canadian my year), and a small handful of others who were aspiring tech business people in Silicon Valley. If you apply expect to be largely with Stanford post-docs from various disciplines. The ages are between about 25-35. Most of the students from abroad clumped together socially for lack of knowing anybody...the Stanford folks (being at 'home' on the farm) sort of all did there own independent thing. That's the basic social dynamic. The GSB went well out of its way to encourage networking amongst the students and I continue to keep in touch with quite a few on FB. Lots of free food and drink too.To give you an idea how multi-disciplinary it is...my project team was heavy on the master's students--3 masters: me from Structural, another Enviro/Sustainable Energy Systems, another in Materials Science. And 2 post-docs: one in Applied Physics, and another researcher in EE (in PVs) from a school in Australia. 4 of 5 on my team were Stanford affiliated--the fifth wasn't. Other teams were more consistently Stanford or 'other school'--especially as the research was shared by people in the program and so naturally they'd be lumped together to work on the start-up.As I said you will be working on developing a start-up and pitching it to VC (or maybe NSA or NGO folks depending on what you're doing). All accepted people are solicited to submit ideas for start-up ventures before the program. These are compiled into a list which is made available to the applicants on day 1.Out of about 125 ideas the SIE faculty edited them down to 12 or so. It is not a democratic process--the faculty looks for ideas that are somewhat novel (but not so much as to fall outside the scope of the seminars), somewhat plausible (a VC might conceivably invest in such a thing), and technology based (and that of course implies applications of technologies). The authors of the selected project ideas are made available during the lunch break to discuss their ideas with you and you get to choose your first pick to work on and a secondary pick. They need to apportion the teams evenly so some folks did not even get their secondary choice. Long story short--almost everybody there has a pet venture--and very few will get the chance to work on it and will most likely instead be working on someone else's idea. This is OK--it's a developmental workshop. Nonetheless there were a lot folks, particularly the ones from abroad, who were sorely disappointed they weren't in Silicon Valley at the GSB working on their baby and pitching it to investors. Don't apply if you think you are going to be developing your own company at SIE.The ideas my year ranged from the (well, to me) arcane (a computational fluid dynamics outsourcing online marketplace, a cellphone-based dermatology diagnostic tool, experimental cancer treatment for dogs), to the mundane (hand sanitizer for third world countries, cooler rentals for Indian marketplaces, toilets for Haiti), to the 'usual suspects'--apps, licensable GUIs, et al . Most of the extremely technical ideas didn't make the cut and most of the tech-light ideas (many of which I preferred) didn't either.Hope this helps.

(In America) it's actually pretty easy, but does take a little discipline and some patience.Get a full time jobSave as much money as you possibly canEstablish a solid credit ratingOkay, so here's the thing, if you are like most people, you will not have the $$$,$$$ to dump into a home. This is not a bad thing! Actually realestate works best when it's under a lot of debt. But you will need to qualify for a loan, and you will want the best terms possible. That means, following steps 1–3 as strictly as possible for at least a few years. Once you have managed to save at least 8–10% of the property you want to buy, and have established a solid credit rating and routine, consistent pay stubs for a few years (it's gonna take you at least that long to save cash anyway) then you can move onto the next step.4 & 5; Find a realestate agent and mortgage broker. If you have problems finding a mortgage guy, the realestate agent will find one for you. The mortgage guy will tell you what you qualify for, and the realeate agent will find you listings that meet your budget, and guide you through the rest of the process.(A few of my own recommendations, take them or ignore them. If you ignore them, just skip down to the next paragraph. These are my own opinions. Based on my own experience;Basic single family 1 story homes that are newer than 1980, not in an HOA, or any sort of master plan make the best investments. If howver you cannot qualify for a house, then a basic walk-up condo is also fine. By Walk-up, I mean the most basic condos, that are one or two stories talk and are accessed by stairs, you probably have to park your car in a carport (hopefully assigned space). These basic condos are wonderful for investing and first time buyers, because they are affordable, and there are not usually too many things like elevators to drive up the maintanence fees. Also, because these make such good rentals, you may decide to keep it as an investment one day when you move on to a better place.I highly advise against buying into any condo that involves elevators, or complex mechanical systems. Highrises can be a fiancial nightmare. Also, if your loan officer qualifies you enough to go for a regular house. I would always choose the house over the condo (as lon as you are comfortable with the higher price). Just like with condos, the house should be as basic as possible, and free of any HOA or master plan, special tax, etc. in my opinion, these just add additional, unnessary exoenses. Also, stay away from anything that a bank will not write conventional financing on. This will eliminate a lot of condos, and other less common arrangements such as houses on leased land, etc. you want your first place to be as basic and straight forward as possible, and run away from anything weird like leased land arrangements. Regarding 1980 or . This is my own preference. I like this guide because once you start getting back into the 70s you start dealing with things like Asbestos and lead paint, and various other issues you probably don't want to deal with innyiurnfirst place. Of course if you live in a place like Boston where everything 150 years old that may not be an option. But if there are plenty of newer houses, like in Las Vegas, I would choose newer over older, just as long as it's not in an HOA or any of the new master plans, because you really don't need those expenses or letter from someone reminding to cut your grass because it's more than 2" long again..Anway, with that out of the way, the rest of the process works mostly like this;6. Your Agent shows you houses7. Your agent writes an offer when you find one you like8. The seller, accepts, counters, reject or just ignores the offer. (Low ball offers often get ignored). Reasonable offers may get countered or accepted9. Once accepted, start escrow10. Deposit earnest money (this is a 3rd party escrow account) which can vary, but very roughly, expect it be somewhere around 1% of the purchase price, rounded to the neares $1000. You can argue this deposits if you like, but it's probably not worth fussing over. A competent agent will not allow you to loose your deposit, if you keep up with your own responsibilities.11. Conduct your inspections during the due dilligence period. During this time it's it's pretty easy to escape the contract for almost any reason. This period may last a few days or a week or more depending on hiwnthenoffer was written.12. Pay your bank a crazy sum of money so they can appraise the home. If it does t appraise, you can bargain for a lower price or escape the contract assuming you had the loan contingency.13. At some point, come all sorts of other inspections, if applicable, such as termites, flood zone, HOA docs, etc, etc. assuming you have contingencies written in the contract, each one is an ability to escape.14. Eventually your Loan contingency expires. Before that, your lender should commute to the loan. It gets more difficult to escape once the loan contingency expires.15. Etc, etc, etc. there are hundreds of other things that can happen (your agent will lead you through)16. Final walk through. This is typically the last escape possibility. You do this right before closing and it ensures that the seller didn't run away with the kitchen, or trash the place on the way out. If they did something to decrease the value of the property, this is your chance to call them on it and escape. Once you sign that one, your are pretty much locked in.17. A few days later you will own the home. Congratulations!This is your first home. Think if it as a stepping stone to a better home off in the future. With that said, please resist the urge to start dumping money into it! You will waste your money, and possible degrade the home. Just keep it in good liveable repair. Keep everything neutral. Don't paint the wall wild colors!! Futite buyers (including me) hate that! White is fine! If the appliances are truely ancient, go ahead and get new ones, but keep it basic, nothing luxurious now. If there is any safety hazard, fix that as soon as possible. Make all your payments on time. If you wound up in an HOA despite my advice, it's okay. Just pay them on time, and actually go to the meetings! Follow the rules, be a good owner. It is your responsibility.Some time later you will discover a large amount of equity in your home. It will probably be enough for a down payment on something much nicer, or maybe an investment. You can either sell your place and trade up, or take out a cash refi and buy your next home. Then you will have two. If you do that, a few years later you can double again.One last thing. Resist the urge to pay down your mortgage. In my opinion this is a total waste of perfectly good money. Instead invest it in things with higher dividend or just enjoy life.Good luck!If I missed anything, feel free to comment. Sorry for the spelling. I'll fix it later if I get enough likes. Cheers!

I'd be more succint in this answer, but for this: every film is different, and content defines distribution. So, without knowing what the film's about or seeing a trailer, it's difficult to provide less than a hundred million options for how you might consider proceeding. The rough outline of those various options follows. In other words, apologies: tl;dr.Broadly, it goes like this:1. Understand yourself and your resources; know the definition of baseline success for this movie, and how this experience might fit into your longer-term goals.2. Understand your asset: know what kind of movie you've actually made.3. Have all your releases and documentation in place.4. Let the movie guide your distribution and marketing options.I've heard it said that every film is really three films: the movie you are planning to make, the movie you're making, and the movie you made.Test-Market: Start by taking a hard look at the movie that you've made, and assess it, not by looking at the past, at how effectively you cut costs or had a hella good time, but rather in terms of what the property is that you actually have. Pull some people together for an impromptu screening; make sure to leave your thin skin at home. Tell your guests a little bit about what to expect before they see the film (in other words, "test market" your marketing: give them your logline - "billy, a ne'er-do-well housepainter and handyman, meets Jackie, a down-on-her-luck real estate broker with a heart of gold and they fall hilariously in love until one of Jackie's deals goes south due to the evil involvement of a reality TV home improvement show". Or something, hopefully, much better than that.After they've seen your film, either you or someone you trust (because your guests know you, they might be less than honest to protect your relationship) can tape the conversations or take notes on their thoughts about the film. Find out where the story didn't work for them or where they got confused; if some actors didn't seem "right"; who they'd think the show would appeal to; if it's a purpose-driven film (a doc about a neighborhood land fill or something) did it achieve its goal with a call to action? etc. Get specifics (especially about various production values, like sound quality, awkward or jarring edits, scoring, consistency of picture quality, etc.). Don't hate them if they say things like: "I don't understand what happened here..." or "yeah, what was THAT about?" because it means they were paying attention. If they say nothing, they were sleeping, and you won't get any useful information. If a moderator leads the after-movie review according to a list of questions, it's most effective; so that each part of the film and the movie in its entirety is efficiently considered. Pizza and lots and lots and lots of beer for your guinea pigs (tequila for you) is helpful, but if it's a story that involves alcoholism or gluten, you may want to reconsider that particular menu.Now, you can begin to put together a strategy for the film's distribution, which should be based on content and goals for the film and for the people who participated in its making, as well as for yourself as a filmmaker and producer.Ask yourself the following questions. There are two sets of questions: one is about you and your career; the other set is about the feature you've made.About YOU:Why did you want to work on this film? Do you write/direct/act/edit/sound design/DP as well as produce?Are you interested in a future doing any ONE of those things more than the others, or are you interested in making more films combining those talents?Was this project a one-time event, or will you continue to make more films, applying the lessons learned, here?What is your obligation to the people who helped you make the film?How far are you willing to go to support the project, in terms of time and money and your personal and professional relationships?Did you enjoy making the film? Sure, it was cool, but would you do it again?What would you do differently - in terms of your participation in the film, if you were to do it, again?About THE MOVIE:Is it any good? Really, is it good? Or is it like an extended wedding video? (there's nothing wrong with that, it just changes how you might consider marketing and monetizing it)Would you pay real money for it, in the theaters, on DVD, for private screenings, etc. - for any or each of the different forms of possible distribution?How much more work might it need before it's really "ready for prime-time?" Color-timing, scoring, re-cutting, titles, subtitles, dubbing, Foley, re-shoots, pick-ups? How much time and money would that take? Is it worth fixing?Is there any specific talent or content in the film that stands out? Either good or bad?Armed with your answers to these questions (and a few more), you will know how to manage your expectations, and more importantly, what's the most efficient use of your time.Don't worry, yet, specifically about any one element - except for this one: BE SURE you have a very clear understanding of ALL RIGHTS for your movie; keep the documentation and releases well-organized.Almost all the footage of the Oscar-winning When We Were Kings (1996) about Mohammed Ali, George Foreman and the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Zaire, was shot by producer/director Leon Gast in 1974; it took 23 years to distribute the film at least in part because of court cases regarding ownership of the negative and rights to the film by Liberian financiers. You will NOT be able to secure distribution through a netflix or similar distributor unless you purchase E&O (Errors&Ommissions) coverage on the film; the insurance companies will not provide you with insurance unless you have documentation of relevant rights and releases. In some cases, Netflix or a similar distributor will pay the E&O premium for you out of your anticipated revenues or on purchase of the film, however, if you don't have the paperwork, you will be SOL. For an example of the kinds of information you need to secure insurance coverage, download an example of an E&O insurance application here: http://www.filmins.com/insurance-forms.htmFinancing your marketing/distribution is just like financing your film. If you have a finished film, perhaps you can crowdfund, using a trailer and website to raise monies for post, making prints, DVD's etc. Mark Hughes is quite thorough in his answer talking about different avenues for marketing and distribution through digital and online worlds.You can get some incredibly beautiful footage with a great camera like the Canon5D or 7D - but these cameras, though inexpensive in the scheme of fantastic cameras, still cost several thousands of dollars especially with lenses and 64G $450 memory cards. Plus, the in-camera sound isn't terrible, but most professional filmmakers will have a good multi-channel sound package as an add-on, with booms, lavaliers, etc., as necessary (and lights packages, etc.). Renting this equipment is at least $100/day or more; so simply in equipment, I'd guess your feature length film "cost" more than $500 to make - and we haven't yet considered talent deferments, location fees, craft service, crew payments, transportation costs, or your time and equipment.It's reasonable to say (although it's not exactly correct) that a feature length film might have cost you $500 - in cash layout, perhaps. After all, Blair Witch Project (1999) was shot, in 8 days with only an outline rather than a full script for an"estimated" $1500-$60,000 and grossed well over $250mm. You may want to put together another "production budget" that is more specific as to what your locations rentals, actor/talent time, transportation costs, etc. really cost, or might be estimated to have cost if it hadn't been donated. It's good for tax purposes, potentially, and also as a checklist that you've credited everyone involved in the production, either in the credits, or with written "thank yous" and copies of the film, or official "thank you" gifts. Remember that if you do crowd-fund directly into your own personal bank account as opposed to doing so through an LLC or other entity, then the funding can be seen as "income" to you - and you will be taxed on it.Some of the people in the film might want clips to add to their reels; be sure to allow them to use those clips, as they'd like. If parts of the film are being sent round to various agents and managers, then maybe people will start asking about it, and soon, asking about you, too. They will be some of your best evangelists. Word-of-mouth is critical, as Mark has noted.Festivals: If you are thinking that you'd like to try to sell the distribution rights or you're looking for exposure, you should send or submit to various festivals. Maybe you can start a online festival of your own. There are a million festivals with varying degrees of prestige; several of them even have post-production labs, where they'll assist in providing resources for finishing your film, or other resources and support, in addition to participating in the festival, which will give you pieces to add to your marketing material and postcards (i.e. "X Festival Selection 2012, Y Festival Audience Award"...etc.). This could help you see interest from a "real" distributor. It will increase visibility for your project if you are accepted; it's great fun, and you might meet some people who might work with you on future projects.There are significant costs associated with festivals; for instance, making a print of your film will cost you anywhere from $900-1500. 90% of theaters still do NOT do digital downloads. It takes about 6 cans of film for a feature; some times as many as 8 spliced together on one giant wheel to screen your film. A master is not the same thing as a print, and that adds to cost, also. This might be an expense that would be picked up by a distributor, if you sell your film and they decide that it's appropriate for theatrical, but if you choose to distribute your film yourself, you'll have to bear the costs.Door-to-door/Grassroots: Depending on the content of the film, there've been several films that have been incredibly successful at the grass roots level - including all those back-of-the-van, drop them off at the drive-in, "B" horror movies by Roger Corman. This includes the Left Behind (2001,2002, etc.) series, that went straight to video and then was able to garner limited theatrical release due of its intense support from religious groups across the country who would hold "private" screenings for their congregations; and of course, Passion of the Christ (2004) which was able to use its subject matter to drum up more advance ticket sales than any film in history (eventually grossing $400mm+). I didn't see either of them; but the people who I know who did see them both, saw them with their church groups in the basement auditorium, or as part of a special event. And they saw those films, several times over. If you've raised monies (whether or not you are actually successful) for post through Kickstarter.com, or indiegogo.com or any other similar sites, use that mailing list to promote your film; that's invaluable, too. I've tried to support a couple of projects that way who failed to meet their goals; I get email from them all the time, and just gave one of them funding through another source. Depending on content, you may want to try to approach academia, and educational institutions and catalogs, to see if they might want to pick it up for distribution in schools, or senior centers, for instance. There are a million ways to go - but that all depends on content.There are also independent online distributors, like indietalk.com, nomosa.com. eyesoda.com, and many many others, with differing deal structures and business models. Tunecore.com (for getting onto itunes) and www.vuze.com (VOD) are also worth exploring. Each distributor will have its own contract and deal terms; be sure to read everything and understand your options. This blog and website provides some good general information on considerations with respect to traditional distribution options:http://www.marklitwak.com/articles/film/indie_filmmaker.htmlHere's a link to a synopsis of a panel from SXSW about independent online distribution challenges:http://magnetmediafilmsinc.com/blog/2010/03/sxsw-nobody-wants-to-watch-your-film-realities-of-online-film-distribution-watchyourfilm/and here's a company (there are lots) that specializes in independent distribution, advisory, etc.: www.filmspecific.comGet T-shirts made, and wear them (and sell them). Go door to door. Call film journalists, critics, film schools. Try to set up times to screen the film for as many people as possible who you think might be able to help you. See if there's a local or specialized cable TV channel that might be interested in picking up your film. If you have a soundtrack with original score, etc., try to monetize it and upload to itunes (but be sure to have all relevant performance, publishing and recording clearances). See what kind of footage you have (remember those comments about the wedding trailer, at the beginning of this essay?) consider selling clips to a stock house, like gettyimages.com or the various suppliers on a site like www.footage.net.Make a plan and stick to it; pursuing each of these options costs time and money...and maybe a piece of your soul.Hold fast to your realistic goals and your reputation-making promises, for this project (and all others). One film is not a career; do whatever you feel is necessary to reach the particular goal you set for yourself, on this project. The people who worked on the film with you may be even more passionate about it than you are, and willing to work on some aspect of promotion and distribution. So let them...if you're happier in production, get back to it.Sometimes, a film is just a experience. You will still learn from it, and will have good stories to tell. Micro-budget features are very difficult to make enough money from to give up your dayjob; but there are now more avenues for distribution than ever before, and a great deal rides on content and developing an audience for it. Know your audience.After you've delivered on your promises to your colleagues, you might decide to simply make a few extra DVDs, and put the master and a few copies into a safe deposit box while you return to your dayjob or work on more film projects. In a few years, you might find that you have a treasure trove of special secret footage for when you make an appearance on a late night talk show the day after you've accepted your Oscar.