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Deming Center forEntrepreneurship2020-2021 Achievements and Impact
A Note from ErickWhat an amazing year we just completed! Never in my 18 yearswith Leeds have I encountered such challenges—and so manyopportunities to innovate. With all its pivots and adaptations, youmight call the 2020-2021 academic year the ultimate exercise inentrepreneurial thinking!Despite the pandemic and shift to remote operations, we achievedsome incredible things. Our students stayed connected andengaged, and there was no dampening their enthusiasm fordreaming and launching new ventures. In one telling example, thestudent demand for our Now What? startup series was so strongthat we had to double the number of appointments we initiallyoffered. Some truly great student-led ventures are going to comeout of this experience!We also doubled down on our commitment to Colorado andsocial impact with the Rural Colorado Workshop Series andCOventure Forward. In addition, we launched a new targetedprogram for the Southern Ute Tribe and will continue expandingour reach to native communities—and even to incarceratedpopulations—in the year to come. We were honored to do ourpart during these challenging times via educating, connecting andsupporting our students and community. I couldn't be prouder ofhow the Deming Center team and the Leeds and CU Bouldercommunities came together to deliver when it mattered most!Above all, this year was a reminder of how importantentreprenurship and innvoation are to building a resilient andadaptable world. To all of you who helped make this year asuccess, whether through your time, your investment, or othersupport, thank you. If you're new to the Deming Center, I hopeyou'll be inspired to join us in the year to come. There's so muchpossibility ahead of us.- Erick Mueller, Executive DirectorDeming Center for Entrepreneurship1
Student Entrepreneur SpotlightWhether they're just testing the waters of entrepreneurship or growing anestablished venture, our students are creating positive change through innovation.Meet a few of our student entrepreneurs.I’m inspired by women and I want toinspire younger girls by showing themthat they can do the same thing. Only5% of CEOs are female and I’m hopingto change the status quo.Maggie Grout (MGMT '21)Senior Maggie Grout is the founder of the nonprofi t Thinking Huts, which she started at age 15after being fascinated with the idea of leveraging technology to create architectural solutions thatincrease educational opportunities around the world. Thinking Huts is currently in the fundraisingprocess and plans to build the world's fi rst 3D printed school in Madagascar this year.As students, we are young and havethe advantage of time on our side. Iwould rather fail now, learn, and moveforward, rather than to never try andnot know what could have been.Eddy Connors (MGMT '23)Sophomore Eddy Connors took a gap year to explore the world and fi nd out what he wanted for hisfuture. He spent three months on a cultural immersion program in Indonesia, which inspired him tostart BerBeda—a sustainable lifestyle brand that produces men’s athletic shorts using recycled oceanplastic. Eddy’s vision is to create positive change through ethical and sustainable business practices.Deming Center for Entrepreneurship2
Access for AllThe Deming Center helps students from all degree programs incorporateentrepreneurship into their studies. Learn more from students enrolled in theBusiness Certificate, High Growth Venture (HGV) Fellowship, and Business Minor.Daniel Avnieli (MGMT'21) and Luiz Pompeo (MGMT'21)Daniel and Luiz, both undergraduates pursuing an entrepreneurialstudies certificate, are serial entrepreneurs. Their latest venture,Wyzer Capital, is a marketplace for investment advice meant to beaccessible to all, regardless of income level, background, or beliefs.Nosa Oghafua (MBA'23)Nosa, an incoming HGV Fellow, is a McKinsey AchievementAwardee and an Obama Foundation Leader who founded Learnira,an educational social enterprise working to make quality educationaccessible to students in marginalized communities in Nigeria.Amy Gillespie (MBA'22)Amy is a second year HGV Fellow and Founder of The CampfireExperience, a glamping business. She is an investmentassociate and director of diversity and inclusion for the DemingCenter Venture Fund.Lane Levine (MechEngr’21)Lane, an engineering major pursuing a business minor and anavid skier, was part of the team that won the business minor pitchcompetition. Their business, ReachRak, created an accessible roofrack designed to improve storage in compact vehicles.Deming Center for Entrepreneurship3
Supporting Student EntrepreneursMany programs looked and felt different this year, yet staff and facultyensured that the high-quality, supportive programs that students expect fromthe Deming Center continued uninterrupted.When the pandemic forced the cancellation of inperson programs such as student trips to SouthAfrica, France, and London, the Deming team pivotedto virtual events. Virtual global internships were a hitfor students and even resulted in at least one fulltime job offer for a graduating student.The Deming Center has programs toreach students no matter how theywant to engage.The Deming Center introduced a new series of prizesfor the best submitted and published papers by PhDstudents aimed at encouraging students to movetheir research into the publication pipeline.Recognized papers included research into: Deming Center Venture Fund How policy uncertainty impacts venturecapital investment at a regional level Buffs with a Brand Creative Distillation Podcast Deming Pulse Newsletter Demystifying Entrepreneurship WorkshopSeries Entrepreneurship & Empowerment in SouthAfrica Entrepreneurial Solutions How and when pharmaceutical companiesally with technology startups Global Programs Entrepreneurship's relationship to digitalplatforms Now What? The importance of kinship in first-generationfamily firms Campus programs, including New VentureChallenge, Get Seed Funding, Catalyze CU,and more. High Growth Venture Fellowship Startups and SandwichesFall 2021 brought the opening of the DemingCenter's new home and a campus Innovationand Entrepreneurship Hub in the RustandyBuilding. Innovative programming, including aGenius/Entrepreneurship Bar andentrepreneurship workshops for engineeringstudents, will soon take place in the new space.Deming Center for Entrepreneurship4
Featured Program: Buffs with a BrandJust in time for the NCAA’s rule changes on Name, Image and Likeness, the DemingCenter helped launched Buffs with a Brand for student athletes in August 2020.Facilitated in partnership with CU Athletics andthe SCRIPPS Leadership and CareerDevelopment Program, Buffs with a Brand offerscomprehensive programming for student athletesfocusing on three key pillars: personal brandmanagement, entrepreneurship and financialliteracy. This CU program was the first of its kindin the country!35 CU Boulder athletes from 15 sportsparticipated in the program’s inaugural year,investing time each month to learn aboutbusiness fundamentals and interact with mentorsfrom the Boulder entrepreneurship community."I've been inspired throughout this entireprogram. Here you have student-athletes whoare juggling school, sports, social and workcommitments, and are perhaps the busieststudents on campus. And yet they jumped intolearning about how to take advantage of thepending Name, Image and Likeness legislationand how to create amazing careers and lives,whether that includes sports or not. I was veryproud to be a part of such an innovativeprogram and see the impact it's had on ourstudent athletes."- Erick Mueller, Executive DirectorFor the 2021-2022 school year, Buffs with aBrand 2.0 will reflect updated Name, Image andLikeness legislation and introduce a new cohortof student athletes to the opportunities ofpersonal branding and entrepreneurship.Deming Center for Entrepreneurship5
Deming Center in the Community160 localbusinessesassisted byCOventureForward250 RuralEntrepreneurswere supported viaeducationalworkshopsAt a time when support for entrepreneurs andsmall business owners was needed more thanever, the Deming Center extended its reach tohelp growing audiences and new communitiesacross Colorado.Programs including COventure Forward and theRural Colorado Workshop Series were specificallycreated or adapted to help businesses throughthe unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.For the first time, the Deming Center launcheda Demystifying Entrepreneurship workshopspecifically for indigenous communities, focusingon the Southern Ute Tribe in SouthwesternColorado.2 seasons1 inauguralof the CreativeDistillationpodcast—17episodesand 1,400 downloadsNativeEntrepreneurshipprogramOther programming like the Creative Distillationpodcast by professors Brad Werner and JeffYork reached broader audiences than ever with adiverse range of topics.What's coming up next for the Deming Center inthe community? Be on the lookout for a fullNative Entrepreneurship Workshop Series and anew Correctional System EntrepreneurshipWorkshop Series. Both are communities thathave significant potential for business startups topositively impact economic prospects for theirmembers.To stay updated and support the Deming Center’s programs, visit us atcolorado.edu/business/deming. Be sure to sign up for the Deming Pulse enewsletter and consider making a philanthropic contribution to support theDeming Center's work.Thank you for your support. We look forward to another impactful year!Deming Center for Entrepreneurship6
The Deming Center has programs to reach students no matter how they want to engage. Buffs with a Brand Creative Distillation Podcast Deming Center Venture Fund Deming Pulse Newsletter Demystifying Entrepreneurship Workshop Series Entrepreneurship & Empowerment in South Africa Entrepreneurial Solutions Global Programs
