DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
Sydney Stroup (BSFCS ’16) earned an entrepreneurship certificate through a Terry College and College of Family and Consumer Sciences partnership, a predecessor to the new and expanded program. [Editor’s note: Sydney Stroup was incorrectly identified as Sarah Manning in the print version of this issue. GM regrets the error.]
“Anything that makes you a better writer, speaker and storyteller, that’s the key,” he says. “It’s about being able to transform ideas you care about into stories that ignite passion in others.” And while Gorlin believes experience provides the best lessons in entrepreneurship, he says the next best thing students can do is learn by working with those who have done it. While the program is housed in the business school, it is open to all students, regardless of major. Students in art, science, international affairs, engineering and biology all have the opportunity to explore what it’s like to start a business. Sophomore Sarah Manning, from Rome, Ga., wants to start a speech pathology practice. In addition to majoring in communication sciences,
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she plans to enhance her degree with a certificate in entrepreneurship. The launch of the certificate program is happening amid a growing culture of entrepreneurship in Athens. UGA’s Thinc. initiative, launched in 2013 to provide inspiration and advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, offers noncredit pop-up classes, such as coding for students who aren’t computer science majors. And tech incubator Four Athens is nurturing an off-campus entrepreneurship community. “There is a movement happening in Athens, with UGA’s help, to keep and attract entrepreneurs,” says Drew French (BBA ’05), founder of the pizza franchise Your Pie, which finished sixth on this year’s Bulldog 100 list of the fastestgrowing companies owned or operated by UGA alumni.
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A thriving startup ecosystem in Athens benefits the university and the state’s economic development. Outside the classroom, the Entrepreneurship Program guides students through experiences to help turn their ideas into profitable businesses. UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur is a national competition hosted in Athens in which students pitch their existing business or idea for a $10,000 prize. The Collegiate Next Great Consumer Brands program invites student teams from all over the country to present consumer/retail brand ideas or businesses, with the winner receiving a $25,000 award. Both of these programs are supported by private funds. In UGA’s Idea Accelerator Program, an eight-week “business boot camp,” UGA faculty and Athens-area entrepreneurs help students hone their ideas as they compete for a $5,000 prize to invest in their business. The prize for this program comes through the UGA Innovation Fund, which is supported by Dan Broos (BBA ’78), founder of Brighton Partners, a private equity investment firm in Atlanta. Pinckney is searching for additional private sponsors for these and other entrepreneurship events. The idea is to give students the chance to launch a startup idea before they graduate and must choose between pursuing their dreams and paying rent. “There’s less downside, less risk,” Broos says. And if their ideas are successful, perhaps they won’t have to defer their pursuit of a startup in favor of a stable income. Last fall, Enck took his digital ticket sales idea through the accelerator program and won the top prize. He’s using the money to develop an app and website for his idea and to begin marketing to music venues. “It was an amazing experience,” Enck says. “I learned so much about how you start a business. True learning experiences happen by getting out there and trying to make things happen.”
www.executive.terry.uga.edu/ entrepreneurship