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A hub of entrepreneurship and innovation
The basic human desire to improve processes and make something better – to grow and progress – is an intrinsic motivation for both academia and entrepreneurship, making them natural partners. Entrepreneurship is also about finding solutions. At their best, those solutions can have a significant impact on the environment and society, improving our experience of the world through business. This is important work, and we do not take that responsibility lightly.
That’s why I want to share the many ways that the Lundquist College of Business and the Lundquist Entrepreneurship Center, under the leadership of Director Jeff Sorensen, have been central to a rapid expansion of opportunity and activity for entrepreneurs not only in the college, but also on the Phil & Penny Knight Campus and across the university.
Over the past few years, we’ve expanded our curriculum offerings, launched a new incubator program called the Oregon Innovation Challenge, launched an on-demand student consulting service, expanded mentoring from our entrepreneur-in-residence, invested in our faculty, and more.
Expanding Entrepreneurship: New Courses, Minors, and Certificates
Lundquist College has offered entrepreneurship concentrations and specializations to undergraduate business majors and MBA students for many years, but has recently expanded these curricula and courses. For example, last year we made the entrepreneurship concentration available to accounting majors. We also launched an entrepreneurship minor in 2017, which has grown over the past two years to become one of the largest minor programs at the University of Oregon, with over 150 students enrolled.
We’ve taken a similar approach at the graduate level, creating a new four-course certificate program in entrepreneurship that is open to all graduate students on campus, but designed specifically for Knight Campus graduate students. Andrew Nelson, professor of management and the Randall C. Pappe Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, designed these courses and is teaching the first in the series, which is now required for all Knight Campus graduate students. In addition, a $2 million endowment will support graduate students taking these new courses and establish the Knight Campus Cameron Innovation Fellows. These funds are part of a significant gift announced last year from the estate of Jerry and Marilyn Cameron to support entrepreneurship at the Lundquist College and the Knight Campus.
We’ve partnered with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to extend this graduate-level entrepreneurship training and certification to researchers, physicians, and potential healthcare entrepreneurs at the state’s flagship medical school in Portland. In fact, six OHSU faculty and students enrolled and attended Nelson’s course remotely, learning alongside Knight Campus students how to take innovation from idea to startup. We hope this is just the beginning of many exciting possibilities for our long-term collaboration with OHSU on entrepreneurship and innovation.
A new incubator experience
Increased enrollment in entrepreneurship studies and courses shows that students crave these opportunities at all levels. That’s why we’ve also created a new model to foster innovation and entrepreneurship for all UO students. The Oregon Innovation Challenge (OIC), which Sorensen conceived and created in collaboration with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Group student club, is now in its second year and is a months-long incubator for student startups that includes in-depth workshops, one-on-one mentoring, training, a peer community, pitch competitions, and even funding for top projects. This year, 263 projects participated in the OIC, 80 went on to pitch, and 33 received funding totaling $175,000 to take their ideas to the next level. These projects involved students from 65 different majors, including six doctoral student ventures from the Knight Campus and one team from Portland’s Sports Product Management Master’s program.
Fueling innovation on demand
Another new service we’re offering on campus is on-demand entrepreneurial consulting. Mentored by our faculty and entrepreneurs-in-residence (see below), student teams have been providing UO faculty and scientists with services ranging from business plan consulting to market analysis and pricing studies to help them bring their concepts to market. These projects have not only benefited the School of Education, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, and Knight Campus faculty and researchers, but they have also provided students with valuable hands-on learning experiences and connections.
Investing in faculty and research
Of course, our universities and colleges are making strategic investments in faculty expertise in this area as they expand their entrepreneurship programs, with a number of key recent hires adding to already outstanding faculty.
“Our new faculty will not only inspire and educate our students, but also deepen our understanding of entrepreneurship as an economic and cultural engine. Few institutions have the depth and breadth of resources and expertise needed to delve deep into this topic and become thought leaders. We do, and we’re leading the way.”
Some of the timely research topics that our faculty are actively working on include how organizations can impact entrepreneurial activity (and careers) in the long run, the role of gender in entrepreneurial leadership, and even theories on human-non-human collaboration such as artificial intelligence.
Entrepreneur Residence
In addition to the expertise of this research faculty, we actively recruit Entrepreneurs in Residence, experienced and successful entrepreneurs who can guide, mentor, and advise students at every stage of the startup and venture launch process. Bob Miguel is one such Entrepreneur in Residence who has quickly become a student favorite. Another is Ann Carney, who has a deep background in venture capital and a history of working to improve small businesses, and joined our team this spring.
We are thrilled to welcome Miguel and Nelson, and thanks to recent gifts from Dave and Nancy Petrone and the estates of Jerry and Marilyn Cameron, we will soon have even more entrepreneurs in residence and be able to expand our support for Knight Campus scientists, students, discoveries, ventures, and other innovations and innovators across campus.
Mountain of Opportunities
Finally, I want to share one final tidbit that highlights our growing reputation for entrepreneurship. Last November, Sorensen hosted a 60-person Founders Summit at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood for some of the best student entrepreneurs from around the country. Known as the v10 Summit, the summit introduced the promising students to three generations of experienced entrepreneurs. Mid-career founders resonated about fundraising and hiring, older luminaries shared the raw details of launching billion-dollar companies, and the students brought infectious energy and optimism. Attendees described it as a “life-changing” experience. Students who met at Mount Hood went on to launch standout companies in the W24 Y Combinator batch. Several participants raised more than $15 million in funding in the months that followed. Many formed lasting friendships and mentorship, and one Boston-based luminary later visited Eugene to speak at the Knight Campus.
With all these investments and efforts and more, it’s no wonder that Oregon is quickly climbing the rankings and becoming a hotbed of entrepreneurial ideas. Just as Oregon Business alumnus and Olympian Devon Allen said, “I went to Oregon to compete in the Olympics,” we’re setting the stage for students to say, “I went to Lundquist to be an entrepreneur.”
As always, I look forward to speaking with you further on this important topic for our students and the world.
Bruce Blonigen
Edward Maletis, Dean of the Lundquist School of Business
Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Sciences
University of Oregon
