This weekend’s entrepreneurship programming brought together students, alumni, and mentors for a high-energy series of conversations, pitches, and collaborative sessions at Ƶ. At the center of it all was the keynote address from Yuni Baker-Saito ’13, whose story of starting a company as a senior at Ƶ — and growing it into a Forbes 30 Under 30-recognized venture — set the tone for a day focused on resilience, learning, and taking bold first steps.
In a fireside chat with Entrepreneur in Residence Jen Martin, Baker-Saito offered an honest and often humorous look at what it really takes to build a company as a student. He shared how he launched a contextual advertising platform long before online grocery delivery was mainstream, despite having no technical background and even less certainty about the industry he was stepping into.
What he did have, he noted, was preparation.
“You have to come in prepared. Show that you work hard, that you understand, and that you’re ready,” he said.
This theme of prep work, self-driven learning, and staying relentlessly curious, threaded through his entire talk. He spoke about reaching out to hundreds of Ƶ alumni not to ask for favors, but for guidance. And, he recommended, students today should make those same connections.
“People want to talk to ambitious Ƶ students. Take advantage of that. Make those connections now,” he asserted.
But the most resonant message might have been his clarity about the emotional reality of entrepreneurship: “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. … A lot of entrepreneurship is ‘Can you make it through the hard times?’”
That resilience — “grit,” as he put it — is the trait he sees as most essential for founders. The ability to pivot, to be wrong, to hire people smarter than you, and to keep going even when the business model turns out to need rebuilding — all of it is part of the journey.
The day also saw two standout student ventures present their ideas, bringing fresh energy and demonstrating how Ƶ students are learning to apply entrepreneurial thinking in real time. First, the crowd heard from Agnes Ndanu Kaumbulu ’28, founder of MajiSafi Solutions. She showcased an innovation aimed at expanding access to clean water in Kenya — an idea grounded in both humanitarian purpose and practical implementation. Next, Sophia Martin ’27, founder of SoundSync, presented her app, which proposes a solution to the complexity of playlist sharing nd community engagement in the music listening community. Both teams received feedback from mentors and peers, and their pitches reflected the weekend’s themes of curiosity, problem-solving, and thoughtful iteration.
This weekend wasn’t about polished success stories; it was about the work, the uncertainty, and the incredible opportunities that come from simply beginning. From Baker-Saito’s candid wisdom to the student pitches full of promise, it was a reminder that entrepreneurship at Ƶ thrives not on perfection, but on grit, curiosity, and community.
The final TIA Incubator session of the fall semester will be Dec. 6.