4B Wednesday January 8, 2014 // The Statement Wednesday, J ry 8, 2014/SB The Silicon aitten Michigan's changing entrepreneurial landscape Its gone viral. It's all across campus. It's not an app, but in recent years, it's a movement buzzing with energy all across phone screens, Facebook profiles, posting walls. And it's rapidly evolving. by K.C. Wassman, Daily Staff Reporter Zurbuchen's new role as senior entrepreneurial adviser may not seem as consequential as the opening of two entrepreneurial powerhouses. However, his appointment marks an important shift in the way entrepreneurship at the University works: from the individual to the collaborative group. One of Zurbuchen's jobs is to design an academic program in entrepreneurship which will be available to all majors, which is a stark contrast from where the different entrepreneurial programs started. Originally, Zell Lurie and the Center for Entrepreneurship stayed in their respective corners: Zell Lurie in the Ross School of Business on Central Campus, and the Center for Entrepre- neurship in the Duderstadt Center on North Campus - primar- ily supporting only their home communities. As the buzz around entrepreneurship grew, so did students' desire to utilize both Zell Lurie and the Center for Entrepre- neurship, regardless of whether or not they were majoring in business or engineering. Mary Lemmer was one of those students. Lemmer started Iorio's Gelateria with her brother Nick while she was in high school, and decided to come to the University to further her entrepreneurial ventures through Zell Lurie. However, when she learned about the Center for Entrepreneurship's speaker series, she decided to try and attend those classes as well as Zell Lurie's. Though it was difficult, Lemmer worked with both departments and was eventually allowed to take the courses with both Zell Lurie and the Center for Entrepreneurship. The Center for Entrepreneurship offers about 40 courses available to students from other colleges, a 9-credit Program in Entrepreneurship certificate program, and collaborations with Zell Lurie on many different programs includingthe Masters in Entrepreneurship program, a joint degree from the College of Engineering and the Ross School of Business which was started in the fall of 2011. "If I would describe (the Center for Entrepreneurship) in comparison to a company's life cycle, it was the early-stages of really focused entrepreneurial resources for students on cam- pus, and now they've grown a lot, which is great to see," Lem- mer said. A growing resource hub Apart from expanding programs to other schools, the University has increased the available resources to student entrepreneurs. The University's TechArb is a student startup accelerator program run between the Center for Entrepreneur- ship and Zell Lurie, and gives student startup teams the office space to work on their businesses. Nestled in the lower level of an office building on East Liberty Street, the TechArb also offers other resources besides physical office space, such as mentors and introductions with venture capitalists. Like many students, University alum Jason Bornhorst didn't come to the University thinking he'd delve into entrepreneur- ship. He thought he'd get his degree in computer science, gradu- ate and get into the startup scene later. Instead, Bornhorst got involved with the Center for Entrepreneurship and later found- ed MadeVentures - a student group which together to talk about University-based startups in Bornhorst's apartment over beer. Bornhorst founded the group initially because he felt there wasn't a central place for student entrepreneurs to gather and share ideas, but eventually with help from faculty and a local real estate company, Bornhorst and the students of MadeVen- tures became the first class in the TechArb. Since graduating in 2009, Bornhorst has founded his own software company, Filament Labs. He's returned to the Uni- versity since graduating and recently spoke at the Center for Entrepreneurship's Entrepreneurship Hour Speaker Series. Bornhorst said he was impressed with both the students he met after speaking, as well as the progress the University has made in helpingastudent entrepreneurs. "I think it's incredible. I think students have access to a ton of new resources today," he said. "For example, I would never feel the need to start MadeVentures today based on what I perceive to be available from the University just since graduating." While the TechArb has been around campus a long time - for a startup - the Center for Entrepreneurship is currently working on a new resource for student entrepreneurs called MEngage._ _ _ MEngage is a new program that focuses on growing entre- preneurial programs outside of the University to make the pro- grams on campus stronger. The two programs will be based out of Grand Rapids and the Bay Area of California, and both will work to connect students with successful entrepreneurs who operate in the same sector. ____ Tom Frank, executive director of the Center for Entrepre- neurship, characterized the program as "match.com" for entre- preneurs. "For me the goal is to match the best talent to the best advice," Frank said. "I don't mean to oversimplify it, but getting good advice from someone who knows (and) understands the business sector you're operating in can make all the difference in the world in terms of how fast you move forward with your idea." Frank added that while both locations have the same mis- sion, they will do different work based on their locations. The Grand Rapids hub will revolve around creating more opportu- nities for students to explore design manufacturing innovation in the state. Frank said this will include anything from finding"' more internships to helping students build relationships with Michigan incubators and accelerators. Furthermore, the Grand Rapids hub will attempt to create an easier path for students who want to stay in-state to build their company. In contrast, the Bay Area hub will focus on long-distance mentoring between experts in the area, and students in Ann Arbor. Frank said participants will be using Skype video screens to help facilitate the relationships and leveraging the University's expansive alumni network to find mentors. Both locations of MEngage are set to launch in the first few months of 2014. Changes by the leaders and the best From new events to new CSG committees, entrepreneurship has infiltrated the minds of the student body. Many of the most recent student-lead changes can be attrib- uted to University alum Manish Parikh, former CSG President, who ran on a platform of promoting entrepreneurship on cam- pus and followed through on his campaign promise. During his tenure, CSG dedicated 10 of its 59 executive proj- ects to the entrepreneurial community, which included the cre- ation of an entrepreneurship commission. The commission, which has been renewed for the semester, is comprised of leaders from student organizations that focus on entrepreneurship, and aims to shape the University with the top student-driven entrepreneurial culture in the country. Since its inception, the commission has worked hard to promote entrepreneurship on campus, including hosting a "Month of Entrepreneurship" in March 2013. The month was a six-week period comprised of over 30 events featuring entrepreneurial topics. It included events like the inaugural MHacks, which has become one of the largest student hackathons in the country, and will be hosting its third hackathon this month. The Month of Entrepreneurship was well received not only on campus, but also by the Obama admin- istration. The White House dedicated a blog post to the Uni- versity's Month of Entrepreneurship, where they interviewed Parikh about the event as well as growing entrepreneurship oe campus. When talking to Parikh on a long-distance phone call from India, it's hard not to hear the smile in his voice when he talks about entrepreneurship at the University. While discussing the entrepreneurship commission, he sounds like a proud parent. And when it shifts to the White House his tone switches to one of honor. See ENTREPRENEURIAL, Page 6B across the University, from MPowered events to E ntrepreneurship. These days, it's a buzzword heard student startups. Entrepreneurial efforts abound us on campus, but its role at the University is hard to define. If it can be defined by one trait, it's the ongoing process of change. "Change" is a fitting definition for the entrepreneurial cli- mate on campus - with an increased focus on the topic over the last year and a half alone. In 2013, there have been two hack- athons, a "Month of Entrepreneurship" and a newly created entrepreneurial adviser position. With another hackathon rap- idly approaching and the Central Student Government's Com- mission for Entrepreneurship renewed for another semester, it seems last year's change is only the beginning. The rising'rock stars of the world' You may be hearing more about entrepreneurship on cam- pus, but it's hardly a new concept. It's a spirit politicians say America was built on, and the increase in entrepreneurship on campus mirrors a national trend. According to a 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reporton the United States, total entrepreneurial activity is at its highest level since 1999. Though it's hard to determine exactly when this increasing trend toward entrepreneurship started, Stewart Thornhill, executive director of the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneur- ial Studies, believes it comes from a changing business model in the United States. "The current generation of students - whether they're undergraduate or graduate students - grew up in the period of time when there was a real loss of faith in the long-term, big- company employment model that their parents and their par- ents' parents had gone through," Thornhill said. "There were all these huge employers which had previously been seen as very stable forms of employment ... now all (of a) sudden (they) are not so stable anymore. Your job could literally disappear overnight." Apart from the changing business model, Thornhill also cited increased media coverage, a new social culture and the desire for people to control their own destiny as reasons for the growth in entrepreneurship in the United States, and con- sequently, on campus. Thornhill said "Shark Tank" - an ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to receive funding from investors - is a prime example of how entrepre- neurship is infiltrating popular culture. "The entrepreneurs are now the rock stars of the world," Thornhill said. "They're on TV programs and magazine covers. So you've got this whole sexiness thing that 20 years ago wasn't really associated with starting your own business." Indeed, there are many well known entrepreneurial "rock stars" nowadays, Mark Zuckerberg being one of the most famous. Zuckerberg started Facebook in his early 20s while a student at Harvard University, and has since turned his dorm- room project into a multi-billion dollar empire - increasing his personal net worth to $19 billion in the process, according to Forbes. Engineering junior Chris O'Neil serves as the cur- rent president of MPowered, an active student entrepreneur- ial group on campus that seeks to unite and enhance student startup culture. O'Neil said during his time at the University, there has been an increase in student entrepreneurial involve- ment and believes it can partially be attributed to a "Mark Zuck- erberg effect." "It's definitely more known than it used to be," O'Neil said. "Everybody knows that a couple of kids that went to Stanford started Snapchat, and just got offered $3 billion. ... Whether you're interested in entrepreneurship or not, you're going to know about that story. It builds this awareness of entrepreneur- ship and you can get people thinking." A student movement Thomas Zurbuchen, now the senior adviser for entrepre- neurial education, has spearheaded entrepreneurship on cam- pus during his time at the University. In 2008, he started the Center for Entrepreneurship, a resource hub for campus start- ups and students interested in created new businesses. While originally exclusive to engineering students, the Center has since expanded its program availability to most students at the University. Zurbuchen said the increase in entrepreneurial opportuni- ties from the University initially came as a result of increased student demand, adding that he founded the Center for Entre- preneurship for the students - not for institutional prestige. "In many ways I think Michigan entrepreneurship, as opposed to other schools, is entrepreneurship that has started bottom-up," Zurbuchen said. "It turns out that students have taken tremendous ownership of entrepreneurship." Zurbuchen cited the number of entrepreneurial-minded clubs on campus as an example of student initiative. MPowered was one of the first entrepreneurial student groups on campus when it was founded in 2006, but is now one of 16 listed on the Center for Entrepreneurship's website and one of almost 50 on campus, according to Zurbuchen. While entrepreneurship was primarily pushed by students in the beginning, Zurbuchen said the current entrepreneurial cli- mate is beingsupported by both the students and the University administration. "What's really interesting about this movement on campus is that it comes from both directions," Zurbuchen said. "I think it is a coincidence of sorts that the students see this as absolutely critically important and something that they can act on, but we at the University-level see it as absolutely essential and a huge opportunity for the University to have an impact ... in our state, and in our future of the U.S., and the world." Changing an institution The switch to entrepreneurship overdrive may have been slow at the University through the lens of the fast-paced startup world, but for an institution that's turning 200 in three years, the shift is fairly quick. Over the course of the last 15 years, the University has seen large amounts of entrepreneurial growth. Zell Lurie was founded in 1999, the Center for Entrepreneurship in 2008 and Zurbuchen's role expanded to help foster entrepreneurship on campus in 2013.