Student Ventures
You will work in teams to first identify problems and opportunities that inspire you, then ideate solutions to address these problems/opportunities, followed by developing a solution that you can implement. Consistent with Babson’s mission to embrace Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®, we view the concept of a “venture” in broad terms. You will be able to design a for-profit or non-profit company, a social movement, or even a creative endeavor.
Your Venture Creation Process
Identify
Identifying opportunities starts with observing real (or perceived) problems in your community, listening to real-time feedback, and mapping the ecosystem to see the opportunities in context. What resources do you already have at hand to take your next step? You will learn how to identify your personal strengths, a practice that builds your confidence and self-awareness.
Ideate
Creating a new solution often means discovering something that forces you to pivot. Through design thinking challenges, you will practice how to combine creativity and critical thinking to turn obstacles into opportunities. You also will have the chance to hear from innovative leaders about what motivated them to get started.
Prototype
You will learn methods to fuel your creativity and how to bring your ideas to life in physical form through hands-on workshops and training. Using common items that you'll find in your home or artifacts you'll unearth in nature, you'll further shape your vision by creating a visual representation.
Articulate
Communicating your ideas clearly is essential if you want to enroll others in your entrepreneurial journey. At the end of the program, you will pitch your idea, reflect on what you learned, and create an actionable plan for applying your new skills toward reaching your immediate and long-term goals.
Past student ventures include:
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Dream Today: DreamToday is a website, app, and community that provides quick, easily accessible information for one million immigrants who settle in the US each year. Through online platforms and a live chat hotline service, they offer support in legal, financial, social assistance, and other areas to help mitigate the many challenges immigrants face.
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Gen-Z Chat: A social platform constructed to encourage students from around the globe to communicate their insights, emotions, and opinions regarding their day-to-day life experiences as well as the issues they care about most.
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Hydrogarden: Hydrogarden is an inexpensive automated hydroponic planter that enables people who live in apartments to grow their own produce creating access to fresh, organic food at a cost-effective price. It delivers a sleek, trendy-looking design that allows the user to grow their own plants and vegetables easily and at a cheap price.
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Community Duty: Community Duty connects local nonprofit organizations with student volunteers looking to connect with meaningful community service opportunities. Schools can have students download the app to find opportunities and record their service participation more efficiently. The app will track all the events students sign up for and track the hours they complete. Students will also be able to compete against their friends to see who can get the most community service hours to make it even more fun to volunteer.
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ProCover: The spikes of cleats wear out quickly when stepping on concrete with them which can be dangerous for athletes and can result in injuries. This can result in athletes spending a lot of money buying new cleats often. ProCover is a reusable cover for cleats that prevents wear and tear and allows the user to walk on concrete safely. The reusable cover consists of rubber gel strips that mold to spikes with silicone bands securing it to the shoe.
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FastFacts News: FastFacts is a site that utilizes artificial intelligence to scan the internet for the facts (and just the facts) about a particular news story. Introducing the use of artificial intelligence to the news industry, our platform utilizes an unprecedented approach toward fact-gathering, streamlining not only the process of fact-checking but also allowing readers to quickly grasp the most important and accurate information.
"I didn’t know most of my teammates. We all came from different countries and sometimes we had very different perspectives, so there were times we disagreed. I learned that sometimes I can be dominant and that what I need to do is practice stepping back and listening. It sounds easy but in the moment can be difficult. We learned that to be an efficient team, we need to listen to everyone’s perspectives and ideas."
– Andrew (Shihang) Su
Summer Study 2019
Souderton, Pennsylvania, United States
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
