Entrepreneurship Fest Hands You the Keys to Success
We have the keys. Now is your time to take entrepreneurship out for a spin. The 2017-2018 school year kicks off with a series of events for those interested in working for a startup, creating innovative products of their own, or learning from CEOs and serial entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Fest begins October 2—and for the first time ever, features student ambassadors from the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship.
“We want these events to be fun and informative for everyone, even those who might find entrepreneurship a little intimidating,” said organizer Lauren Brohawn. “The student ambassadors are excited to host peers at their favorite events.”
The adventure starts October 2 with Seattle Startup Week. The “University Track” features panels and workshops on virtual reality, pro bono lawyers for entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurship, and events like the UW Startup Career Fair on Wednesday, October 4.
The first 2 of 10 “Build Your Own Business” nights (October 5 and October 19 from 6 – 7:30 pm) take place at the Foster School of Business. Undergraduate students can bring their ideas for a product, service, or company and receive feedback from an entrepreneurial coach and their peers. On October 6, UW’s Clean Energy Institute offers a tour of the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds—a new lab for manufacturing prototypes, testing devices, and more in the name of cleantech innovation. The Buerk Center will also host workshops on ideation (Thursday, October 12) and customer discovery (Thursday, October 26), as well as a team formation session featuring design thinking (Wednesday, November 1).
“What we love about entrepreneurship at UW is that it brings together students from all corners of campus,” said the Buerk Center’s Leslie Mabry. “No matter your discipline, or whether you’re a freshmen or a PhD student, you can find a way to apply the real-world business skills you learn today to whatever idea you have in the future.”
EntreFest also features some great networking opportunities. One of the leaders of Project Drawdown will speak (Wednesday, October 11) about the “most comprehensive plan ever to reverse global warming” and the innovations that will be needed to make it possible. We’re also proud to partner with the UW Real Estate Club to bring the CEO of Blokable to campus to speak about his journey from working at Amazon to creating a startup that is disrupting the housing market.
Fans of cutting-edge tech won’t want to miss out on back-to-back events on October 17 and 18. The Amazon Alexa Accelerator hosts a demo day at Startup Hall for entrepreneurs interested in advancing voice-powered technologies. The Buerk Center will then host a special team formation night at Fluke Hall to showcase the amenities of the on-campus makerspace—including 3D printing.
Want to learn more? Come visit the Buerk Center anytime at Dempsey Hall 227 or join us for one of our information sessions on September 26 and September 28. You can also find a complete calendar of events at startup.uw.edu.
