We Made it Through
Spring 2019!
By Ain Center Staff
Spring 2019 had a recurring theme: no one can build anything alone. Entrepreneurs need a solid team behind them every step of the way, as evidenced throughout our workshops, lectures, and competitions. In case you missed anything, below is a summary of some events we hosted or co-hosted this semester.
Monthly Faculty & Staff Luncheons
Each month, the Ain Center hosts a luncheon open to faculty and staff from throughout the University. These lunches provide insight into the Rochester entrepreneurial ecosystem and allow everyone with an interest in innovation to meet up on a regular basis. This spring we learned about Eastman offerings in music entrepreneurship, the importance of work space and the future of co-working via the Evelo Agency, resources available through Upstate Venture Connect, and RIT’s Accelerator program, where two of our student teams will be in residence this summer. We’d also like to thank our speakers: James Doser, Rachel Roberts, Joseph VanderStel, Christopher Cooley, Nasir Ali, Anthony Testa, Rupa Thind, and Evan Vershay.
Workshops
Problem Solving Workshop
The first workshop of 2019 was co-hosted with Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership and the Barbara J. Burger iZone – here’s our recap!
Business Plan Workshop
Business plan writing isn’t always easy, but speaker David Mammano summed up the process in a few manageable steps.
Students 2 Startups
This semester brought Students 2 Startups back to the River Campus. On February 15, the Ain Center and the Gwen Greene Center hosted 16 regional startups who pitched their venture to members of the University community. Over 70 attendees were able to learn about innovative work happening in Rochester. The Ain Center’s Senior Program Manager, Matt Spielmann, shared his excitement about the connections made during the event – local entrepreneurs offered valuable internship opportunities and advice to student innovators.
Buzz Lab Boot Camp
In February, we welcomed our second cohort of entrepreneurs to the Buzz Lab Boot Camp, made possible by an EDA University Center grant through the US Department of Commerce. Open to all, this four-week training program covered topics from Idea Filtering to Business Structure and Tax Law. 35 attendees (innovators from the greater Rochester area, including a few UR students) worked with 12 professionals to build their business acumen.
Business Strategy Panel Event
On March 28, Meliora LaunchPad, the Greene Center, and the Ain Center hosted three panelists for a lunch event on business strategy in the tech world. Aditya Agashe (Product Manager, Microsoft), Parth Detroja (Product Manager, Facebook), and Neel Mehta (Product Manager, Google) discussed when and how to enter a new market, as well as their recent book, Swipe to Unlock. Their talk was immensely popular with our students, undergraduate and grad, and the speakers even offered discounted copies of their book.
Upon writing, we realized that we did too many things (yay entrepreneurship events!) to contain it all in one post. You can find Part II here.
