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College Business Incubators
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By
Erika Richardson
27 April 2007
Young company founders, like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, rid the word entrepreneur of its misconceptions – you don’t have to hold an MBA to strike it big with a start-up. Quite the contrary, young people have a vast number of important entrepreneurial qualities; they tend to be more innovative and more likely to take risks. For this reason, colleges and universities worldwide are focusing on the development of entrepreneurship courses, business plan competitions and other innovative entrepreneurial components.
One particularly innovative trend is emerging out of undergraduate residence halls – living-learning entrepreneurship programs. These programs allow students to live in cutting-edge facilities with other residents who share similar entrepreneurial interests. With the assistance of faculty and visiting entrepreneurs, students are encouraged to start and nourish their very own businesses. This article takes a look at a few existing living-learning entrepreneurship programs and the components that have lead to their graduates’ success.
The University of Maryland’s, Hinman Campus Entrepreneurial Opportunities Program (Hinman CEOs) is the nation’s first living-learning entrepreneurship program of its kind. Housed in the apartment-style South Campus Commons, the Hinman student body consists of approximately 90 students who are selected based on scholarship and entrepreneurial interest. The Hinman CEOs Program aims to develop students’ knowledge of entrepreneurial concepts and issues through mandatory courses, a speaker series, and fellowship among residents and faculty.
Hinman’s networking component helps to foster entrepreneurial activity through conversations with other residents, invited speakers, and program directors. Anik Singal, Hinman CEOs alumnus, speaks of his experience in the program and the success of his Web-based enterprise, Affiliate Classroom (affiliateclassroom.com):
"The network that I got through Hinman was absolutely invaluable," he says, "Not only did I get to bounce ideas around with [the directors of the program], but I was introduced to countless other experts in the internet marketing world, who in many cases are still helping me now."
Several entrepreneurship courses help to reinforce the functional aspects of running a business. Students are able to execute their great ideas and turn them into profitable enterprises. Hinman companies, such as Affiliate Classroom, boast annual revenues of more than $1 million.
"I would say that Affiliate Classroom is an incredible success to date," Singal attests. "We launched in January 2005 and in 2006 we saw a growth of over 300%."
Oregon State University’s Austin Entrepreneurship Program, is the largest living-learning entrepreneurship community with a total of 290 residents. The program is housed in Weatherford Hall, a modern dorm equipped with cutting edge resources for budding entrepreneurs. Prospective residents are required to have some entrepreneurial interests, but are not selected based on credit hours or academic ability.
Truly unique in its kind, the Austin Entrepreneurship Program allows entrepreneurs, innovators, and business professionals to participate in its Weatherford Fellows Program. Executive fellows stay in residence for a night and participate in fireside chats and seminars throughout the early evening and the next morning.
"These gatherings are intentionally designed to be informal," explains Justin Craig, faculty-in-residence for Weatherford Hall. "The fellow is actually being invited into the home of the students."
Iowa State’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Learning Community (EILC) houses 26 undergraduate and graduate students in the newly renovated Buchanan Hall. "By design, we’re smaller and less academically oriented," says Judi Eyles, director of programs and marketing for Iowa State’s Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship. The program, open to all ages and majors, seeks to develop entrepreneurial interests though speakers, coursework, and advisors.
This year, students in the EILC launched an on-site café. Several students participated in a $500 shareholder buy-in, with $100 paid in cash and $400 paid by working in the café. Through real world experiences and a unique mentor program, students are able to get a true perspective of the business world.
"We have a local entrepreneur helping the students with the bookkeeping for their company," says Eyles. "We are really focused on helping our students connect to our local entrepreneurship community."
Living-learning entrepreneurship programs are the next step in the revolutionary movement toward innovative entrepreneurship education. Educators are beginning to realize the benefit of an experiential classroom – they are starting to see the development of long-lasting successful companies such as Singal’s Affiliate Classroom. To that end, educators are pioneering the development of original components for their respective entrepreneurship living-learning programs.
In an attempt to foster a creative environment for budding entrepreneurs, universities are seeking out the best way to contribute to your success as a potential company founder. Who knows, with the correct resources and a few creative minds put together maybe the next hit company founder will be you!
© 2008, Young Money Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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