
Something happened on the way to April. We're all familiar with Malcolm
Gladwell's book, "Blink". I must have blinked as I came to the
blinding realization that the spring semester is coming to an end. This
being the last week of classes for our MBA students with finals and
project presentations next week, I'd like to take stock of just a few of
the remarkable accomplishments and stories of progress that occurred
during the past 3 months.
One of our greatest assets is the
approachability and engagement of Boulder's entrepreneurial business
community. That characteristic of Boulder offers one of the greatest
values outside of the classroom that we can offer to our students - but
only if the students make the effort to take advantage of it. Great
evidence of how that is thriving at the Deming Center and Leeds School
is showcased by various student groups.
We've had a number of
Deming Center connected student groups. They form for many purposes, but
most prominently to create points of connection between groups of our
students with shared interests and with members of/and organizations
within our business community. Here's a brief summary of some of our
leading groups, including a number that are quite new - some having
started late in the fall semester but all achieving meaningful traction
in this current semester. This is a summary - more will be coming on
each of these as they move forward.
•
GEA (Graduate Entrepreneur's
Association) - the Deming Center has sponsored and supported this
group for several years. Never have they had such an active and
successful year with Learn-from-the-Best sessions, ideation sessions,
and the GEA annual entrepreneurship retreat.
•
Organics
Student Group - this self organized group is the center of gravity
for the Deming Center's Organics Business Initiative and has developed a
great working relationship with
Naturally Boulder •
CU Energy Club - this group was
launched by a group of Leeds School MBA students who immediately set
out to create a full campus, inter-disciplinary organization, and now
numbers over 500 members from all across the CU Campus. Trent Yang of
the Deming Center, who serves as Director, Entrepreneurship and Business
Development for
RASEI
has been advising this student group in fostering connections with
students and researchers around campus, and with entrepreneurs,
investors and business leaders in the exploding cleantech industry.
•
Social Entrepreneurship Student group - this is a group of graduate
and undergraduate students from the Leeds School, working with students
from throughout the campus and all sharing a passion for social
entrepreneurship. The Deming Center and Leeds faculty have been
collaborating on research and development of curriculum and programs,
particularly though our relationship with
SEED@CU; with CU
Boulder's recent selection as an ASHOKA
ChangeMaker campus,
our students have become particularly involved with the program.
•
MBA Biotech Club - this group
self-organized during the spring semester, and has already had several
meetings with industry business leaders. Further, its work with our colleagues
in the
Colorado Initiative for
Molecular Biology (CIMB) has already expanded to include Ph.D.
Science students from CU Boulder and from Fitzsimmons.
• Outdoor
Industry Student Group - having laid the ground work very thoroughly since last semester, this group has hit the ground running with approximately 40 members and great
industry connections, especially with the
Outdoor Industry Association
and the
ActiveBoulder Business Cluster (supported by the Boulder
Chamber.)
•
The Collegiate Entrepreneurs
Organization - led by undergraduate business students committed to
the entrepreneurial spirit, this group is open to all CU-Boulder
undergraduate students. CEO's focus is to provide an environment in
which students can meet to share ideas, forge new friendships, and
develop business skills. The organization, with insight from local
business community leaders, strives to promote an environment conducive
to brainstorming and new-venture creation. Members learn skills
necessary to intelligently develop their own business. Through a series
of guest speakers, roundtable discussions, and social and networking events,
students have an opportunity to meet and learn from local entrepreneurs
and community business leaders.
Of course, there's more. Our developing collaboration with Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, our recently
re-launched Deming Center Venture Fund, the increasing number of
students involved with TechStars and their startup companies, the
success of this year's Venture Capital Investment Challenge team, the success of our March Sustainable
Opportunities Summit and Cleantech Venture Challenge, and all that is
going on with our role in the Renewable And Sustainable Energy Institute immediately come to mind. Not to mention that I'm sure I'm missing some things
among my growing lists of other activities and progress that have come to pass this
semester. What's most important is acknowledging and saying
thanks to the organizations and individuals that make these student
activities so valuable. Thanks, too, to our students who see the
opportunities and take the initiative to make them happen. It's been a
great year.