Roger Gonzalez, program manager of the Blackstone Launchpad
Roger Gonzalez is effusive when he talks about the聽Innovation + Entrepreneurship (I+E) Lab聽at 可乐视频. 鈥淚 was floored by the reception we got when we opened the space on campus,鈥� he says, noting a steady flow of students taking advantage of the lab鈥攎ore than 60 walk-ins alone since it opened last October.
The I+E Lab at 可乐视频 was established in the fall of 2021 with $450,000 of funding from聽Blackstone LaunchPad,听an initiative that provides resources to build entrepreneurship on college campuses. The lab supports students looking to start or expand entrepeneurial ventures through guidance, training, academic programs, and access to professional mentors and networks.
Gonzalez calls the lab 鈥渁ll inclusive,鈥� saying, 鈥淭he lab is for all students, all the schools and programs. It鈥檚 for undergrads, grad students, and even recent alumni鈥e share our program with thousands of students across campus with the help and cooperation of the聽Magner Career Center,听Koppelman School of Business, and others.鈥�
During its first year, the lab operated as a virtual space, with more than 200 students attending free online workshops ranging in topics from How to Raise Funding for Your New Business to Telling the Story of Your Venture to How to Start a Non-Profit.
Opening the physical lab space in Boylan Hall in October 2022 was a gamechanger, according to Gonalez. Along with the walk-ins, the lab hosted two hybrid events on campus with CUNY Edge (Educate, Develop, Graduate, Empower), a program that provides eligible undergraduate students who receive public assistance with supplemental resources and support. 鈥淲e had 20 to 30 students attend each event.鈥�
Gonzalez sees the lab as something that is not confined to its third-floor office but a resource that benefits from the participation, input, and expertise of faculty, staff, and alumni. 鈥淪tudents come to us with ideas, but need to be pointed in the right direction,鈥� says Gonzalez. 鈥淲e give them one-on-one consultations. But we also encourage them to explore all the courses the college has to offer.鈥�
I+E Campus Director Lucas Rubin agrees. 鈥淓ntrepreneurial activities take place across the campus in various forms,鈥� says Rubin, who is also assistant dean for academic programs at 可乐视频 and director of the聽Latin/Greek Institute. Rubin, along with 可乐视频 Provost Anne Lopes, were the initial administrators of the initiative.
鈥淧art of our purpose at I+E is to help students who enter competitions like the聽Koppelman business competitions聽to take their ideas to the next level,鈥� says Gonzalez. Most of the students who stop by the lab are still in the idea stage. 鈥淔or instance, we recently had a student who wanted to return to her homeland and build a vending business for juicing. She was curious about how to start it, and where to get the funding. Others have gone further,鈥� says Gonzalez. He points out there has been new attention on influencers and creative business owners who are building their brands and working on expanding into full-fledged enterprises.
Hilal Palacioglu Ulukaya 鈥�20 M.S., 鈥�22 M.S, cofounder and CEO of Society Mano
One such person is Hilal Palacioglu Ulukaya 鈥�20, M.S.,鈥�22 M.S., cofounder and CEO of Society Mano, a sustainable clothing company based on the traditional handicrafts of her native Turkey. Ulukaya, who received two master鈥檚 degrees at 可乐视频 in聽computer and information science听补苍诲听business administration, worked as a space engineer before coming to the United States. When the pandemic hit, like many others, she began to rethink how she would achieve her 鈥淎merican dream.鈥�
鈥淚 saw that online shopping had grown very big during the pandemic,鈥� says Ulukaya. 鈥淚 also observed that people kept asking me about the cardigan I was wearing; where could they find one just like it. My mother had made it.鈥� Ulukaya asked her mother and other relatives to knit sweaters and began selling them online.
Another faculty member involved in the lab, associate professor of business management聽Veronica Manlow, who encouraged Ulukaya to attend Startup Grind. The annual gathering of entrepreneurs held in San Francisco helped Ulukaya step up her game. 鈥淚 needed to learn how to network in the U.S. and meet investors,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow, I鈥檓 taking my company international. Much of this is thanks to the support of the I+E Lab.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e created the lab to provide a place, a foundation, for grants and new opportunities,鈥� says Rubin, with an emphasis on traditionally underserved groups. In April, the lab collaborated with the聽Black and Latino Male Initiative (BLMI)聽to run the Pitch NExT competition, in which students were encouraged to present their business ideas in the categories of consumer products, digital entrepreneurship, social impact, and traditional business.
鈥淢any Black and Latino men drop out because they don鈥檛 feel that an academic career necessarily leads to employment,鈥� says David Wells, the associate director of BLMI. 鈥淲e are trying to counter that impression by connecting students with alumni mentors, programs, internships that will lead to career and job success.鈥�
As many Americans are rethinking traditional concepts of work in light of the pandemic, events like Pitch NExT, which comes with a $1,000 first prize, and New Economy Conference, cohosted by BLMI and The Herbert Kurz Leadership Academy at Google headquarters in New York City, give students with entrepreneurial dreams a head start.
鈥淗aving the lab work with us鈥攚ith their resources and our ideas has been symbiotic,鈥� says Wells. 鈥淎 match made in heaven.鈥�
Lab manager Gonzalez agrees. 鈥淭here are so many students eager to start their own enterprises,鈥� says Gonzalez. 鈥淲e have many tools and resources to offer on and off-campus. When students come by, we鈥檒l point them in the right direction.鈥�
Looking ahead, Gonzalez says, that with each event student engagement deepens. 鈥淭here are many students walking into the lab or calling me to join our regular cohort of students who consistently join us for competitions, coaching, internships, and more. We are not an Ivy League School with deep pockets, but the dedication to entrepreneurship and innovation at 可乐视频 is strong. It really is the future, and we can鈥檛 shy away from it.鈥�
