One of the things we frequently tell the entrepreneurs in our programs is to be ready to pivot and adapt to changing circumstances. That’s an ethos that our program itself is run on, and that we’ve embraced very much over the past several months as the coronavirus pandemic has upended business as usual in higher education.
When students were sent home in March, we were faced with the challenge of concluding the Incubator virtually and replacing Entrepreneur Weekend, and then we had to start looking ahead to the summer and fall.
Through an adaptive mindset and the help of technology, we have continued to support our entrepreneurs and offer a variety of programming to help them continue to grow their ventures:
- Our final Incubator workshop was conducted over Zoom with over 65 entrepreneurs and mentors engaged in an interactive lecture and breakout sessions with mentors focused on venture growth
- The Virtual Venture Showcase took the place of Entrepreneur Weekend, garnering over 1,500 views on launch day and sparking numerous connections
- Our summer accelerator, the Entrepreneurs Fund, continues for its eighth year in a virtual format for four teams, with daily Zoom scrums, advising sessions, and access to over 400 mentors and advisors in the ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ entrepreneur community
- Recruiting for the 2020-2021 Incubator, conducted entirely virtually this spring, yielded over 50 applications from both new and returning ventures, with our largest 200-level cohort ever
- A new summer webinar series, offered for incoming and continuing Incubator participants, provides actionable advice for students, many of whom have time on their hands now with internships and other summer plans having fallen through
As we look ahead to the fall, we view these unique circumstances as an opportunity not a barrier. In responding to the pandemic, we have learned how we can leverage virtual opportunities to complement the in-person engagement that supports our students' entrepreneurial journeys in essential ways, providing opportunities for our students when they are off campus and engaging mentors and advisors in the community who may not be able to return to campus regularly during the year.