Meet The Rubin Family Innovation Mentors at “Mentor Madness,” Monday, September 23, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., following Startup Weekend. The “matchmaking” event, over refreshments in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Bird Library, is designed to pair up new student innovators with experienced peer mentors who have already launched successful student startups. Find a mentor who aligns with your idea, and make a match to help coach you through upcoming business plan competitions. Mentor Madness is also a great opportunity to meet potential teammates for your startup.
This speed-networking style event is based on similar events offered by prestigious accelerators, but this is one of the few that is peer-to-peer. The student innovation mentors will be supported by professional advisors, alumni, industry experts and EIRs who are part of the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars. They will be teaching soft skills such as problem solving, opportunity recognition, team building, and project management, while also helping first time innovators shape a product and business model roadmap — utilizing the Toolkit that the LaunchPad has successfully developed to help commercialize ideas.
Todd B. Rubin ’04 (School of Architecture), Minister of Evolution and President of The Republic of Tea, established a grant through his family foundation for the 2019-2020 academic year for five Rubin Family Innovation Mentors at the LaunchPad. The mentors for the coming academic year are:
- David Fox ’19 (School of Information Studies), Global Media Fellow, founder of Jumpstart Marketing, and currently enrolled in Syracuse University’s College of Law;
- Kelsey Davis ’19 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), co-founder of CLLCTVE, and currently enrolled in Martin J. Whitman graduate EEE program;
- Alec Gillinder ’20, an industrial and interaction design major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and co-founder of MedUX LLC;
- Quinn King ’20, an industrial and interaction design major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and co-founder of MedUX LLC; and
- Matt Shumer ’22 an entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, and founder of Visos VR.
The mentors will provide multi-disciplinary skill sets to help student startups develop business model roadmaps, and connect student innovators to the university’s robust network of entrepreneurial resources.
Mentor Madness is open to all students, free of charge. To register, e-mail LaunchPad@syr.edu