StartupTime and the Commuter Pod!

For all those who enjoyed Alternative Transportation Week on the Optimist Company and all other dreamers and doers and innovators of world-improving transporation, StartupTime's Commuter Pod webisode cartoon contest is an absolute must see.

StartupTime is the creation of Molly Lavik, founder of Mentorography Inc. The Commuter Pod is a webisode series about a disgruntled young professional who quits Corporate America to take on the entrenched powers-that-be in the automotive industry in an attempt by creating a 100 recyclable alternative fuel commuter vehicle.

Check out the Call for Entries to Mentorography and StartupTime.com. The winning story submitter gets $1,000!

StartupTime creator Molly Lavik is an inspiration. A standout among standouts on the entrepreneurial faculty at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management, Professor Lavik goes beyond a stellar curriculum of business plan writing and marketing for new ventures. She matches every single student with a mentor from her vast rolodex of media professionals, interactive gurus and cultural creatives and takes an unbelivably active role in the career searches and start-up endeavors of her students and colleagues.

In the parlance of Malcom Gladwell, she is the ultimate connector. She's also herself a mentor to past and present students and fellow entrepreneurs; a longtime P.R. professional; and an entrepreneur herself. Huge disclosure: I am among the proud and appreciative former students and "mentees" of Molly Lavik and am even lucky enough to have collaborated with her on The Commuter Pod!

Certain keywords in Molly's bio keep popping up...entrepreneurial, inspiring, and mentor. So it's not surprising that Molly is also the founder of Mentorography, a digital media company that tells the stories of inspiring socially responsible entrepreneurs in countless formats.

Judges for the contest include famed Mac evangelist, entrepreneurship-inspiring blogger, Truemors.com co-founder and Art of the Start best-selling author Guy Kawasaki; Broadband Emmy-winning studio Animax Entertainment's managing director Michael Bellavia; and balance-oriented actress and author Mariel Hemingway.