Program to foster student ideas for business incubator
The Faber Entrepreneurship Center will launch the Technology Instigator, a campus-wide program designed to facilitate networking and connectivity among inspired students, in the fall.
The instigator is still in its testing phase, but the goal is to have an office in each college and link them through video conferencing, Dirk Brown, director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center, said. Students will have the opportunity to discuss business ideas with each other and with business professionals that they otherwise would not have met.
"We want to kick-start official connections that are harder to create in larger universities," Brown said.
Brown has been working closely with Dean Kress, the instigator's associate director, and USC professors Bill Sandberg, Richard Robinson and Joel Stevenson.
The success of the USC/Columbia Technology Incubator, originally established by Stevenson in 1998, has been a pivotal part in the creation of the instigator. The instigator will serve as a "pre-incubator" for students who have ideas but lack the tools to bring them to fruition.
"When I worked with the incubator, a lot of great students came to me with ideas but I couldn't help them," said Stevenson, professor of entrepreneurship and strategic management at the Moore School of Business. "To enter the incubator you need to have a plan, but for the instigator you only need an idea."
The instigator is headquartered in the basement of the Moore School of Business, and faculty members, as well as professionals from the USC/Columbia Technology Incubator, will be holding office hours and general hours to assist students.
In larger universities, it's hard to commercialize ideas because you need a cross-functional team, Brown said. Using the instigator, students will have access to the best breed of experience and majors.
Currently the College of Engineering and Computing, College of Pharmacy, College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research have committed to having offices, but Brown expects the rest of the colleges to commit soon.
The USC/Columbia Technology Incubator has been focusing on high-tech companies, as opposed to lifestyle businesses. Brown hopes the instigator will serve as a virtual "water cooler," or "coffee shop" that will facilitate chatter, accelerate the growth of the connections and produce the type of technology businesses that may eventually be able to enter the incubator.
"I absolutely would have used the instigator," said Ian Steen, who served as the Entrepreneurship Club's president and will graduate in August. "It's a great opportunity to have someone hear your thoughts while you're in college and fully surrounded by intellectuals."