A Review of Practices of Established Entrepreneurship Programs

1994 1995

1996 1997

1998 1999

2000 2001

2002 2003

2004 2005

2006 2007

2008 2009

2010 2011 2012

Organizers and Moderators: Douglas Arion – Carthage College Michael Lehman – Univ. of Pitts.

NCIIA – OPEN - 2012

A Great Idea! The Wheel!!

Please Don’t Do This!!!

Kathy Allen – University of Southern Cal. John Ochs – Lehigh University Tim Stearns – California State - Fresno Burt Swersey – Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute ( via Skype) Douglas Arion – Carthage College Michael Lehman – University of Pittsburgh

All of you! Discussion is Key!

What motivated starting a program?

When was the program started?

How many students and faculty are involved now? Initially?

Summary: How is the program structured/operated?

What have been some major successes?

What have been the greatest challenge(s) or failure(s) in your program, and how were they overcome?

If you were starting over, knowing what you know now, what would you do?

Center for Technology Commercialization Entrepreneurship center founded 1972

Commercialization center founded 1997

Challenge: Everyone is doing entrepreneurship now – how do you continue to stand out from the crowd?

Insights:

◦ You can’t control entrepreneurship in one place on campus

◦ Success is about the right people and tons of patience

◦ Success is about an entrepreneurship ecosystem that shuns bureaucracy and develops organically from a grass roots effort

◦ Success is about finding the champions to drive the vision

Motivation: Faculty, Alumni, State and Industry interest Timeline:

◦ 1994: Undergraduate Integrated Product Development (IPD) pilot

◦ 2001: Graduate IPD, MBA Venture Series, Integrated Business & Engineering

◦ 2005: Entrepreneurship minor

◦ 2010: Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation

◦ 2012: Graduate Masters in Technical Entrepreneurship

Initially: 9 students, no staff, 3 faculty (1/3 FTE) as a pilot during summer

session

Now*: 800+ students, 7 full-time staff, 23 faculty (10 FTE) per year and growing

Program Structure: University Institute with a director who reports to the

provost – an umbrella organization (*see slide #2, yellow highlight indicates activities included in ‘Now’ count above)

Major successes: See slide #3 or go to www.lehigh.edu/ipd

www.lehigh.edu/entrepreneurship, www.lehigh.edu/innovate

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Positives

LEHIGH’S Entrepreneurship

Ecosystem

Infrastructure

& Other Related

Courses

Integrated Business & Engineering

Integrated Product

Development

Community Consulting Practicum

Microfinance

Thalheimer Student Entrepreneurs Competition

Design Minor & Design Majors

Community Fellows

Business Information Systems Practicum

Levin Advanced Technology Entrepreneurship Competition

Opportunities for Student Innovation

Center for Advanced Materials & Nanotech

SBDC

Capstone CE & IE Design Projects

Keystone Innovation

Zone Manufacturers Resource

Center

Enterprise Systems Center

L. Pool Memorial Scholarships for Entrepreneurship

PA School for Global Entrepreneurship

Small Business Counseling MBA Corporate Entrepreneurship

VENTURE Series Executive Certificate

Educational

Programs

Related

Organizations

Development & Marketing of New Products

Bioengineering Capstone Design

Ben Franklin Technology

Partners

Wilbur Powerhouse

Business 1

Life Sciences Greenhouse

“Garage” Student Start-up

Incubator

Office of Technology Transfer &

Commercialization

Lehigh Entrepreneurs Network

Integrated Real Estate

Production & Marketing of Sound Recordings

PA Governor’s Institute for Personal Finance &

Entrepreneurial Education

Entrepreneurship Minor

Computer Science & Business

Center for Optical Technologies

Lehigh Silicon Valley

Leadership Breakfast Series

The Business of Life Science

ArtsLehigh

Global Village

Leadership Lehigh

Office of Student Leadership

Development

IDEAS

Business Minor

Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise

Innovation & Entrep. Leadership Residency

Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity &

Innovation

Technical Entrepreneurship

Masters

ME Labs

Tech Startups Viddler.com Orion Security LSP MPlug Gigmax.com hField Technologies EcoTech Marine Lifeserve Innovations

10

Services Lehigh Valley Grand

Prix Vital Conversions

Fashion Simply-Anti Apparel George Guest Ltd. Hillary Caroline

Jewelry NGOs Soccer without

Borders Jamii Water

Major Successes

Challenges: ◦ Finding like-minded faculty who are willing to learn by doing

◦ Convincing a reluctant University administration to invest

◦ Bottom-up implementation needs top-down champion

◦ Great Strategic Planning with poor follow-on tactical implementation

◦ Understanding University budgets and prioritization processes

◦ Capital $’s for buildings are easy; $’s for operations and maintenance not so

Solutions: ◦ Build your programs and courses into the curriculum on a boot strap

budget

◦ Seek funding from wherever: alumni donors, foundation grants, ear marks, and industry sponsors

Do overs? Fight harder, be even more belligerent when dealing with university administrators! Publish more.

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Negatives

What motivated starting a program?

Need for entrepreneurship curricula in the region. The Central Valley struggles with high unemployment, lower education levels, and lack of corporate opportunities. Both Innovation and Entrepreneurship are believed to be engines for economic transformation. Developing entrepreneurial skills among students is a long path to success, but fundamentally the most sustainable.

When was the program started?

The first class in the major was offered in 1999. The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship launched in 2004. However, it was the result of an earlier Institute that launched in 1996.

How many students and faculty are involved now? Initially?

We graduate 70-75 majors each year. Approximately 150 students with entrepreneurship declared as their major. I was the first entrepreneurship faculty. We now have 3 faculty (2 full, one assistant) and a host of adjuncts 5-6.

Summary: How is the program structured/operated?

The entrepreneurship major is housed in the Business school of which I am a faculty member. However, the Lyles Center is a university facility of which I am the executive director. I oversee both.

What have been some major successes?

◦ A two semester mentor program requiring students to attend each Friday for 3 hours.

◦ 8500 sq. ft. facility housing 8 student hatchery rooms, a classroom, 2 venture capital offices, 30 work stations, board room, student lounge, and creativity lab.

◦ Built the first ever Entrepreneur Pathway linking 20 high schools with 12 community colleges to Fresno State. Train faculty at all levels to teach entrepreneurship using our philosophy and method. Articulation between schools achieved enabling students to continue through a consistent educational experience.

◦ 2nd largest major in business school

◦ A technology commercialization unit that works both with campus and community to launch products.

◦ “New California LLC” created to capture commercialization agreements with potential benefits from exits. A partnership between the private sector and the university.

◦ Creation of an Advisory Council that contributes $5000 a year each and are highly engaged in programs.

◦ Originated the Coleman Fellows program which now has 15 faculty teaching aspects of entrepreneurship in their disciplines (e.g. anthropology, engineering, agriculture, culinology, public relations, music, architecture, etc.)

What have been the greatest challenge(s) or failure(s) in your program, and how were they overcome?

◦ Business plan competitions. So many methods, so many mediocre outcomes.

◦ Preserving the independence of the Lyles Center

◦ Money! 3 staff funded but 4 project managers live off soft money. Have to wake up every day and hope a new stream is found.

◦ Gaining greater penetration on campus through student engagement

◦ The exchange between investing in marketing or program is a tough one. We have never had marketing dollars and without have not received wide attention outside of Central Valley. On the other hand, we do not recruit students nationally. However, more national acknowledgements would (I think) lead to more dollars flowing into the Center.

If you were starting over, knowing what you know now, what would you do?

◦ I would have focused more on the students and their performance in the program. Your first cohort defines your second cohort defines your third….. We had many students that should not have been allowed to declare entrepreneurship as their major.

◦ Built more assessment into the academic program.

◦ Built an Advisory Council sooner.

◦ Would start with the creation of a School of Entrepreneurship.

◦ People! Get the right people on the staff. Make sure they have drunk plenty of KoolAid before you bring them on board.

◦ I recommend finding a billionaire to name your program rather than bootstrap!

Start with Individuals. Teams can kill innovation in early Concept Phase.

Insist that Students do more than they think they can. ◦ Based on Values, Purpose, People and Planet ahead of Profits

Zero waste, 1/10 the cost, available for all. Scalable to 1,000,000 users ◦ Understanding based on facts and research not “guesses” ◦ Teach basic “Creativity”, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving ◦ Visual Thinking, Fact-based Decision Making

Teach a Process for innovation ◦ “Learning to See/ Understand”-Problem Finding, Needs, User, criticize

what exists, identify and challenge assumptions and compromises Tell a Story of specific user, “needs not wants” List the questions in structured format

◦ “What”- Create a Vision- Suspend Judgment, State the “Ideal” “We have a design/ method that will make it possible for... to… Benefits will

be… Now all we need do is figure out how to achieve it.” ◦ “How”- Make it Reality- O.K now for Teams with Shared Goals, Attitude

Successes: Ecovativedesign.com

BullexSafety.com Successful Graduates

who are intrapreneurs at leading companies.

Gaining at least some attention and support at RPI.

Support from NCIIA!!

Failures: Students who do not

achieve their potential

Teaching “Problem Finding” and Solving, Creativity, and Thinking Skills to all- making it a priority.

nytimes.com- Corner Office, dotearth.blogs

NPR.org- Weekend Edition, MarketplaceMoney

WSJ.com

Delicious.com/swersb

“Whack on the Side of the Head”, Roger von Oech

“Drawing on Right Side of Brain” Exercise Book Betty Edwards.

Independent, private, four-year college

Huntingdon, PA

1,400 undergraduate students

Juniata Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership launched in 2003

◦ includes Sill Business Incubator and Student Seed Capital Fund

Motivation:

◦ experience-based learning

◦ regional economic development

Impact: 500+ students

State-related research university

Pittsburgh, PA

Fifteen schools

◦ 25,000 undergraduate students (2,000 in business)

◦ 10,000 grad students (900 in business)

New wave of entrepreneurial offerings in 2008

Motivation

◦ Experience-based learning opportunities

Impact: 1,000+ students

Challenges

“We don’t want to give up equity in the company!”

“Why should we pay for space in the incubator?”

“Effort follows funding, and our funding is for regional economic development.”

“Student ventures we help create should stay in our region.”

“This technology has already been licensed.”

“Where is all of that interest (from the Student Seed Capital Fund) going?”

Insights

Leverage the ‘Student Supply Chain’ enrollment, academic advising, career services, alumni, development

Adopt a three tiered approach to curriculum development develop new, integrate and embed

Create a ‘revenue-generating’ Board (plus students and faculty) provides matching funds (plus) for grants

Proposed by alum/donor – 1994

Staffed by 1 faculty member + Pieces of others

Junior classes of 20-30 students; 5-15 seniors

ScienceWorks is a minor ◦ Coursework + Innovation/Business Plan Project

Very, very successful graduates

Tough curriculum, high expectations

External Advisory Board/Defense Panel very helpful

Current industrial/company/economic development activities/experience critical

Built many partnerships Part of NCIIA since founding

PUI Group

Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation

Regional economic development organizations

Cross-campus projects

One man show

No operating budget

Small college ◦ Little visibility/Smaller scale

Difficult to interest partners

Difficult to get grants/funds

◦ Small number of students – must recruit heavily

Had to invent it all! ◦ No precedent for undergraduate tech.

entrepreneurship In 1994!

What will you do? What questions do you have?

What new ideas are out there?

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