Nurturing Business Creators

By Kathy Kenne

Imagine, as a college student, owning a start-up business and being able to get advice from some of the leading executives in the country. Mississippi State offers just such an opportunity. The Mentorship Program, housed in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, pairs entrepreneurial students with business leaders who have a wealth of experience to share.

“This idea began when George Bryan [retired Vice President of Sara Lee Corporation] was on campus to speak with students,” says Jeffrey Rupp, Director of Outreach for the College of Business. “As he was visiting with several students who owned start-up businesses he began to take notes with a mindset of doing what he could to help them out. That sparked our idea to have successful business leaders mentor the students who are involved in our entrepreneurship program.”

The Mentorship Program kicked off in the fall of 2016 with a visit from Glenn McCullough, Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority.

“At the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, I had the opportunity to meet with some of Mississippi’s best and brightest,” shares McCullough. “These young entrepreneurs’ energy and enthusiasm for their future career paths is inspiring. I encouraged them to have a precise business plan with metrics in place, establish a business model, determine supply chain, who is going to manufacture their products, determine their access to markets, etc. I am hopeful I was able to share some experience they can carry with them as they work.”

The Mentorship Program has two tiers – Advisors and Coaches. Advisors are those who help a start-up company in its early stages. They commit to one or two office hours on campus each month for at least a semester. During that time, they may counsel two to three start-ups.

Coaches are paired with young companies who are at the next level of development. They help with tasks such as finding investors or taking products to market. Coaches are committed to five to eight hours per month with their mentees, for eight to 10 month spans.

“What sets mentorship apart from consulting is that mentors guide their mentees in how to make strong decisions, not tell them what to do,” says Eric Hill, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach. “Their role is to provide feedback, perspective, new ideas and judgment. It’s about sharing their experience, wisdom and political savvy.”

At present the Center has a portfolio of 100 student enterprises that it assists. The students represent 39 majors across campus.

“We’ve gotten excellent feedback from the administration, students and alumni about the Mentoring Program,” states Hill. “It is open to the entire student body. Students are able to get practical, hands-on experience based on their own ideas, so their classroom knowledge becomes even bigger. Alumni love working with the students. They see themselves in them.”

One recent graduate who has taken advantage of the program is Ryan Gilbrech, whose company, Meta Games, has developed a video game for personal computers. It is unique in that this particular game genre is currently only available on gaming systems. He will be the first to bring it to the PC platform.

“I had friends who were involved in launching a business through the Center,” shares Gilbrech, who has a biomedical engineering undergraduate degree and an MBA, both from MSU. “I was really impressed with what was going on. In fact, it was one of the biggest reasons I decided to get my MBA at Mississippi State instead of another university.”

Gilbrech has been mentored by MSU alumnus Wade Patterson, a 1983 electrical engineering graduate who has been extremely involved in the Center’s development. Patterson launched his career with Synapse Wireless Corporation and, after 12 years of working his way up in the company, was put in charge of the computer division of the business – a sector that had more than $1 billion in gross revenues. In 2000, he left Synapse to focus on the first of four companies he started. Since then, he has grown each of those companies and either sold them or licensed the technology. Now, his energies are focused on the young entrepreneurs at his alma mater.

“I get excited seeing students get excited,” says Patterson. “There is nothing like watching them see the possibilities. The Internet now enables you to have a business anywhere. You don’t have to be tied to a location. It’s time to unleash that capability at Mississippi State.”

Patterson exemplifies the type mentor that is making the program grow. Rupp says that good mentors have the “hearts of teachers.” They understand that mentoring is like parenting, in that you can’t pour all of your knowledge and expertise into a young person at one time. It must be measured out in increments that can be internalized and applied. An understanding of where students are in life is also essential. They are balancing school and other activities in addition to running their businesses. Being able to put students at ease with a relaxed demeanor and sense of humor is key to building mentoring relationships.

“Part of it is teaching, but they also need to be encouraged,” Patterson says about the mentees. “They need to feel that you have confidence in them.”

In fact, it was Patterson who reached out to Gilbrech after hearing him make a presentation about his game.

“I still can’t get my head wrapped around the fact that someone of Wade’s caliber is investing his time in me,” shares Gilbrech. “I can’t thank him enough. The amount of experience, talent and ingenuity he has offered me is incredible. We’ve spent weeks working on cash flow projections and a strategy to bring my game to market.”

Through Patterson’s work with Gilbrech and young entrepreneurs like him, he has seen the need to “take it all the way.” So he has been busy this year developing the Bulldog Angel Network to help these start-ups with funding to scale their businesses. In fact, Gilbrech was the first to make a presentation to the Network, requesting funds to cover the first year salaries of the 3D artists and animators his business will require.

In mid-August, he laid out his business plan via teleconference to 13 potential investors. Within one week he was fully funded for the $150,000 he was seeking. In the second week, he received offers of an

additional $50,000, which he felt it prudent to decline in favor of maintaining greater ownership of his company. He will now be able to leverage his investment two to one through a program offered by Innovate Mississippi to further increase his capital.

“The overall entrepreneurship program has been so successful that multiple universities have come to visit us in an effort to model their programs after what we’ve done,” shares Rupp. “The follow through from the executives toward our students has been gratifying. Without exception, every executive that has participated has asked when he or she can come back. They love spending time with the students.”

He continues, “I can’t say enough about the support we’ve gotten from the administration. President Keenum and Dean Oswald have encouraged us to dream big and given us the freedom to go out and make those dreams real.”

As the state’s chief economic developer, McCullough is excited about the program.

“The potential is unlimited,” he says. “The students will one day be the CEOs of their own businesses, hopefully headquartered in Mississippi. They will provide career opportunities and build the tax base, in turn building stronger, more vibrant communities across our state.”

His vision is echoed by Patterson, “I want to help create businesses that can generate billions in revenues. I want to see Starkville become an employment center with a thriving community of people in their 20s and 30s doing similar things, so they have a culture to plug into.”

The future course of the University, as well as the state, is being set by alumni like Patterson who have a desire to give back to those who helped mold them.

“There’s no way we could hire talent equal to that of our alumni body,” sums up Hill. “Tapping into their wisdom is the best way for us to enhance our program and assist students in becoming successful entrepreneurs. We’re very grateful for their leadership.”