The new podcast seeks to discuss entrepreneurial success stories of CU alumni
Anna Pyle | Photos Courtesy of Rachel Sharpe
The Innovation Action Team at CU, formed in 2017, serves as a group of role models in entrepreneurial and innovative efforts among the student body. Members strive to combine innovation and entrepreneurship to illuminate for students all the different resources on campus they might use. The organization is split into three sub-teams, the SEED funding team, the events team, and the podcast team, united by their seven core values:
- Demystify Entrepreneurship
- Connect the Dots
- Just Send It
- Be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
- Push the Envelope
- Take Chances
- Recognize the Value of the Journey
This semester, the Innovation Action Team introduced the 鈥淪tudents and Startups鈥� podcast miniseries, which provides a platform for CU alumni to share their success stories about starting a new company. Through these podcasts, the team hopes to encourage others to take similar risks. 鈥淭he whole reason for the podcast is to make it accessible to anyone and have students see themselves within these entrepreneurial minds,鈥� Rachel Sharpe, senior in Engineering Plus, said.听
Students and Startups is a 30- to 50-minute podcast that interviews current students and recent alumni who have founded companies. Listeners get to hear听about their experiences, what sparked the idea for a new company, and what drove them to success. They also get to hear about the pitfalls and setbacks entrepreneurs had to overcome in the business. The goal of the podcast is to give students answers to questions they would want to know and insight about how to get their own company started.
Guests on the program have included Jenna Palenksy from Specdrums and Fletcher Richman from BubbleIQ. Throughout the Spring semester, the team planned to produce eight more episodes, with podcasts interviewing the founders of Shinesty, Pastificio, and MergeLane Ventre Fund.听
鈥淢y favorite podcast so far was the Fletcher Richman Interview,鈥� Mechanical Engineering Senior Tyler Eden said. 鈥淭he stories he told were incredible and his advice was invaluable鈥攁 perfect podcast for any students interested in jumping into the world of entrepreneurship. I also have a feeling that our NVC championship podcast will be one of my favorites too. Next week we will be interviewing teams during the NVC championships after their pitches. The field interview is a new style for us and I鈥檓 excited to see how it goes!鈥澨�
Over the semester, the team experimented with different formats like one-on-ones, roundtables, and panels. All the recordings take place in the Williams Village Startup Hub where a producer from KGNU, a local radio station, provides all the equipment and edits the recordings so they can be aired.听
The future is bright for Students and Startups and the team hopes to expand their audience in the next year. Since all the people interviewed on the program were formally CU students and their companies were made possible by the resources on campus, every student should be aware of these opportunities because they might find out they have the entrepreneurial spirit to launch a successful business too.听