TIA is a yearlong extracurricular program that taps into the expertise of successful alumni and parents while teaching students to develop and transform their own idea into reality. In the past, ideas have ranged from launching a nonprofit venture to creating a business, either on campus or halfway around the world.

Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani, addresses Entrepreneur Weekend attendees at lunch in the Hall of Presidents (Photo by Andy Daddio)

The blue skies and bright sunshine over Whitnall Field mirrored the energy inside James C. Colgate Student Union on Saturday. More than 200 students, alumni, parents, and friends gathered in the Hall of Presidents to hear Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya tell his own entrepreneurship story.

The rich Chobani Greek-style yogurt that Americans are buying at a rate of 1.8 million cases per week came from humble beginnings. Ulukaya purchased a defunct 90-year-old yogurt plant in New Berlin, N.Y., from Kraft Foods in 2005 and began producing small batches of his product, testing it and storing it for weeks and months to see if the quality would hold from trucking container to tabletop.

That’s the story of Ulukaya the master yogurt maker, the Turkish kid who grew up in a small farming village, east of the Euphrates River. But there’s another narrative of Ulukaya the entrepreneur, who moved to Central New York and saw economic potential in a castoff factory.

“The first thing I did when I started this journey was that I realized that I didn’t know much. I would make meetings with bankers or engineers, and ninety percent of the things they were trying to tell me — I had no idea with they were talking about.” He could fake it and figure it out, or he could ask questions.

Ulukaya chose to be himself. “The best thing I did was to say, ‘Tell me a simpler way to understand.’”

After 18 months of asking questions and testing cultures, the first 300 cases of Chobani yogurt went to a kosher store on Long Island, and Ulukaya’s future hung in the balance for a week as he waited for a sales report. Returns were positive enough to require a second shipment of 300 cases. The order came with good news: customers were encouraging others to buy this new yogurt, too.

“At that point, I knew this wasn’t going to be about selling; it was going to be about making. And the big guys were going to hear about this. They were going to kill me,” he said, referencing the long-established yogurt producers.

But Ulukaya had done his homework. Before he went to market, he interviewed shoppers at the dairy case and found out that they were mixing fruit into plain nonfat Greek yogurt because the leading brand only offered fruit with full-fat. So he flipped the equation and made his fruit flavors nonfat.

Then, Ulukaya bucked the traditional approach to distribution. Instead of putting his yogurt into smaller local stores, he went directly to the national chains. It was more expensive, and Ulukaya didn’t have the resources to pay the $200,000 that his first buyer demanded to sell Chobani. So Ulukaya bet the farm. “We told them we would pay them in yogurt. And what if it doesn’t sell?” he remembered. “We told them we’d give them the plant.”

The gamble paid off, and Ulukaya’s nontraditional, disruptive arrival shook the dairy industry. “I realized that those big guys — they’re not that clever,” he said. “It’s a very old way of doing business. It’s very slow, and they don’t react very fast.”

Now, Ulukaya and Chobani are expanding to stay ahead of the competition, taking care not to be slowed by the weight of their success. “We never sit and wonder what we’re going to do next,” he said, “Being in the action of doing, it comes.”

Some Colgate students, alumni, and parents will find lessons in the story of Ulukaya the Turkish dairyman, others in Ulukaya the entrepreneur. For Chobani’s CEO, who will receive an honorary doctorate from Colgate this May, the past five years have been a course in self-awareness.

“I had no idea I was a marketer, a finance guy, a leader,” he said. “I got to learn myself and the people I work with. I learned what makes this country so great — the passion and the belief.”

Andy Greenfield ’74 launches the Little Talks, Big Ideas series. (Photo by Andy Daddio)

A new feature of Colgate’s annual Entrepreneur Weekend, a speaking series called Little Talks, Big Ideas, resulted in a big-time funding commitment to one student entrepreneur and the promise of an invaluable connection to another.

It was a real-time demonstration of the power of the Colgate network and its flourishing entrepreneurial spirit, and it was on full display Saturday afternoon in Memorial Chapel.

Maggie Dunne ‘13 had just made an impassioned presentation about Lakota Children’s Enrichment Inc., a nonprofit corporation she founded that addresses issues facing the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Dunne told the audience about the need to invest in human capital and how too many Americans have chosen to ignore rural poverty.

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• Apply to Thought Into Action

“We don’t want to face the injustices happening right here in our own country, to Native Americans and others,” she said.

Up stepped David Fialkow ‘81, co-founder of General Catalyst Partners, and Mike Ellenbogen ‘86, an entrepreneur in residence at General Catalyst. And before you knew it, they had committed $22,000 to Dunne’s nonprofit and solicited at least $3,000 more from the audience.

“Let’s do this,” said Fialkow. “Let’s make this happen.”

Fialkow then pulled Jack Henley ‘12 onto the stage and had him make his pitch for Real Abroad.com, a web venture he co-founded with Steve Carey ‘12. The website is geared toward college students interested in information about study abroad and travel experiences.

After Henley discussed his project and fielded questions from the audience, Fialkow and Ellenbogen promised an introduction to people they know at Rough Draft Ventures, a Boston-area partnership that provides seed money for start-ups.

Henley and Dunne are both participants in the university’s Thought Into Action program, which pairs successful alumni entrepreneurs with students to help the students start up their own business or not-for-profit organization.

Now in its fourth year, TIA was co-founded by veteran entrepreneur Andy Greenfield ’74 P’12; Wills Hapworth ’07, president, DarkHorse Investors; and Bob Gold ’80 P’15, president and CEO, Ridgewood Capital.

Amy Jurkowitz ’85, co-founder of Milkshake, discusses her work as a social entrepreneur.

Greenfield opened the Little Talks, Big Ideas session and noted how far TIA had come through the involvement of dedicated alumni and the leadership of President Jeffrey Herbst.

“Entrepreneurship is embedded in Colgate’s DNA,” said Greenfield.

Greenfield introduced each speaker, who provided words of advice and snippets from their success and failures as entrepreneurs. In addition to Dunne, the other speakers were:

AMY JURKOWITZ ’85, co-founder of Milkshake, a media company devoted to discovering all that’s good around the globe — featuring companies, causes, products, people, and places making a positive impact.

SARAH STEWART ’04, co-founder of The Pop Nation, a San Francisco-based company that manufactures and sells gourmet, vegan, and gluten-free popsicles.

KATIE FINNEGAN ’05, who launched Hukkster, a platform that allows online shoppers to tag their preferences anytime, anywhere, and gain real-time access to specific products the moment they go on sale.

BRIAN HAGHIGHI ’09, co-founder and chief marketing officer of California Fruit Wine Co., an innovative winery in San Diego that handcrafts wines from a variety of fruits other than grapes.

Yuni Sameshima ’13 (left) and Joey Petracca ’13 (right) talk about their company, Recipe Into Reality, at the student venture demonstrations on Saturday morning.

Thought Into Action (TIA) student entrepreneurs made sure their conversations Saturday morning were accompanied by a firm handshake, a smile, and a well-rehearsed elevator pitch. After all, the alumni they were talking with could be their next investors.

GateSwap founders Rob Carroll ‘15 and Gabe Zetter ‘15 talked about their effort to create a safe, social, and sustainable way to exchange goods and services on college campuses.

“It’s easy to think of it as a college Craigslist,” Carroll said of their company, which is now active at Colgate with 613 members, and is expanding with the help of TIA mentorship.

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Joey Petracca ‘13 and Yuni Sameshima ‘13 were talking about Recipe Into Reality, their company designed to make life easier for home cooks, who can order ingredients from popular recipe sites with a few simple clicks.

“This is very real,” Petracca said. “It’s not a project or an academic exploration, this is a company. The TIA mentorship is invaluable. We’ve probably racked up $20 million in free advising so far.”

Cody Breene ‘13, David Lederer ‘13, and James Barker ‘13, talked about their online service Giggity, which is designed to connect universities with performing artists.

“Our goal in the next year is to have 1,000 performers connected to 20 universities,” Breene said.

Many of the ideas on display were for-profit ventures, but some focused on community action, student clubs, and one was even about getting a little bit of rest.

Linh Bui’s effort to create locations for students to take naps on campus was about far more than the concept itself.

“I was very shy,” said Bui ‘14, an international student from Vietnam. “TIA changed me completely. If I want something, and if I want it bad enough, I’ll now put myself out there to make it happen.”

Bui’s thoughts on the subject were special to Jane Porter ‘74, a TIA mentor. “She has grown so much in the last year. It’s night and day. I’m just so proud of all of my students.”

Wills Hapworth ‘07, TIA co-founder and alumni director, said Colgate’s commitment to entrepreneurship in the liberal arts context can be attributed  to dedicated alumni and the support of  President Jeffrey Herbst.

“He had the vision to see this and try it out. I think of him as lead investor,” Hapworth said. “It’s not about making tons of money or being famous… it’s about taking an idea, and through a process of trial and error, making it into a reality.”

Support for TIA is provided in part by the Paul J. Schupf Presidential Discretionary Endowment.

President Jeff Herbst presents Sheryl Sandberg with a Colgate hoodie after her talk at Cotterell Court. (Photo by Andy Daddio)

“This would be the perfect place to go to college. I would love to go to a place like this,” Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg said Friday just before she met with members of the Colgate Women in Business student group and others.

Later, during her keynote address that kicked off the university’s second annual Entrepreneur Weekend, Sandberg challenged the crowd of several thousand at Cotterell Court to stand up if they had ever told someone they would become president or CEO.

“Why did you not stand up,” Sandberg questioned the vast majority who stayed seated. “Ambition is complicated … but ambition is important.”

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The New York Times bestselling author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead explained her philosophy that women need to assert themselves in the workplace and to challenge common stereotypes, such as young girls being considered “bossy,” a word she would like to see banished.

“With the opportunity Colgate gives you,” Sandberg said. “You can create a more just world.”

For first-year student Nicole Brookman, who plans to major in English and French, Sandberg’s talk was elegant, had a message that resonated, and more importantly was delivered to a room filled with both men and women.

“I think her book is going to continue to break down those stereotypes for women,” Brookman said, adding that she can relate to being looked down upon at times for being ambitious. “That’s something that I’ve experienced.”

Thomas Wobby ‘15 said it was easy to agree with Sandberg. “I think everyone should be a feminist. I think there’s a lot of inequalities and it’s good to hear about it.”

Sandberg’s keynote was the first event on a weekend schedule that highlights Colgate’s successful drive to develop the entrepreneurial spirit among members of the campus community. The program continues on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the James C. Colgate Student Union, where student members of Thought Into Action will pitch the projects that they have been developing with the support of their alumni-entrepreneur mentors.

Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya addresses a gathering of parents and students during a special lunch, and the university premieres its new speaking series, Little Talks, Big Ideas, at 2:30 p.m. in Colgate Memorial Chapel. A slate of alumni are scheduled to take to the stage, tell their stories, and share insights that they have gathered on the way to making their creative ideas a reality.

Psychology professor Carrie Keating talks to the Colgate Women in Business club about leadership.
Photo by Janna Minehart ’13

From LinkedIn etiquette to the many hats that entrepreneurs wear, female students have been learning about various facets of the business world through a new club. Carly Keller ’13 founded Colgate Women in Business last fall, and it quickly grew to approximately 150 members.

Being from Silicon Valley, Keller has business acumen in her blood. So, the dual psychology and environmental studies major gauged interest on campus, found that students were enthusiastic about the idea of the club, and formed an executive board. An alumnae advisory board provides additional structure.

Club members represent a range of concentrations, although international relations majors are a large contingent.

Monthly coffee hours attract around 40 people regularly and focus on a specific topic each time. “I want them to be a meaningful educational experience,” Keller emphasized. At one coffee hour, the group Skyped in Charlotte Burkly ’07, assistant admissions director at Columbia Business School. At another, recently, psychology professor Carrie Keating spoke about women in leadership.

To get an in-person taste of different business cultures, with the help of career services, 19 club members traveled to New York City in February to visit alumnae at their workplaces, from Google to Deloitte.

McKenzie Hume ’15, the club’s chief communications officer, is now considering a career in consulting after learning more about Deloitte from Deirdre Ryan ’90, who is a strategy and operations principal.

“She was incredibly engaging and enthusiastic about consulting,” Hume said. “It sounds like an analytical field with a lot of new challenges, which appealed to me.”

In addition to the site visits, students participated in how-to workshops on everything from interviewing, to preparing for day one on the job, to the benefits of a liberal arts education.

“Colgate teaches us to think critically, be able to articulate our ideas, and build relationships — that’s the strength of a liberal arts degree. So one of my takeaways was knowing that it’s an advantage as long as I sell it correctly,” Hume said.

Keller and the other executive board seniors have been preparing younger club members to take over the reins. After graduation, Keller will exercise all that she’s learned at Colgate and through the club as she begins her career with the marketing team at the academic company Chegg.

Julian Farrior ’93, founder of Backflip Studios, addresses sophomores during the first SophoMORE Connections program on January 18.

More than 100 alumni returned to Colgate last weekend to network with the Class of 2015 and offer career advice during the university’s first SophoMORE Connections program.

The event brought an early end to winter break for nearly 350 undergraduates. It featured panel presentations, networking receptions, and a keynote address from Backflip Studios founder Julian Farrior ’93.

Farrior’s speech quickly traced his career from Colgate to Yahoo, then focused on his move to entrepreneurialism. In 2008, after venturing into the mobile app market while developing specialized mapping software, Farrior realized that there were few options — and a growing market — for exciting mobile games. “My parents were talking about games,” he said. “That was absurd to me.”

Backflip Studios was born in this moment of disruption, and has quickly grown from three employees to a team of 100, generating more than $150 million in revenue.

“Here’s the takeaway,” Farrior told sophomores. “Opportunity is not linear. In periods of stagnation and decline throughout your career, you always have to be attuned to and looking for those opportunities that will catapult you to the next level.”

Before and after Farrior’s address, alumni met with students at industry-specific breakout sessions. Conversations were intended to help attendees clarify their academic and professional vision — the first step toward becoming ideal candidates for employers and graduate school admission officers.

Speaking to undergraduates interested in media careers, Paul Toscano ’07 pointed out that he began college as a pre-med major. Then, he spent a summer making a feature-length movie with his friends, and the experience turned him on to Colgate’s film and media studies courses. “They weren’t classes to me,” he said. “That’s how I knew it was what I wanted to do.”

Today, Toscano is a producer at CNBC — a storyteller without a beat. He has covered topics ranging from real estate markets to counterfeit pharmaceuticals.

Undergraduates also had the chance to speak with alumni working in government, technology, the arts, business, education, environmental affairs, finance, healthcare, law, nonprofit, and research. Alumni and university staff partnered for presentations on résumé writing, creating a digital identity, and more. Dean of the Faculty Douglas Hicks and Associate Dean of the Faculty Nancy Pruitt also discussed the process of selecting a major and seeking out research opportunities.

“The strength of the alumni network is something that I’ve been told about since before I even came to Colgate, but I don’t think that I truly understood it until this event,” said Jessica Li ’15. “It was clear that, whether returning alumni had graduated in 2012 or 1950, they wanted to connect with us.”

Half of all alumni invitees came from the classes of 2000–2012. By combining their contacts, patience, persistence, and strong liberal arts education, they earned titles like founder, director, project manager, and senior adviser. Alumni who graduated more than 13 years ago brought their experiences as CEOs, chief marketing officers, vice presidents, and presidents.

“There’s an indebtedness that many alumni have to the school,” said Tom Dempsey ’72, retired president of Utz Quality Foods. “One way we can pay that back is to help make these current students as prepared as possible to be successful; they were hungry for information.”

SophoMORE Connections sprang from Colgate’s original Real World event, designed for seniors entering their final semester at the university. With the 2012–2013 academic year, Real World was transformed into a full-year series focused on networking and the post-Colgate transition. This shift allowed career services to create SophoMORE Connections and further expand the impact of alumni engagement.

“The weekend exceeded our expectations,” said Michael Sciola, associate vice president for advancement and director of career services. “Connecting sophomores with alumni around topics of career direction and success — it was perfect timing.”

From Left: Madison County IDA Executive Director Kipp Hicks, Colgate University President Jeffrey Herbst, and Rob Simpson `97, CenterState CEO president.

President Jeffrey Herbst welcomed state and regional economic development officials, along with Madison County business executives, to an on-campus group discussion this week focused on regional growth, employment, and entrepreneurial assistance.

“Colgate both plays an important part in the region, and is critically affected by the fortunes of the region,” Herbst said. “We’ve been right here since 1819 and we believe that we will be right here forever. There are very few organizations, families, or companies that make that kind of statement of permanency.”
Alumni Rob M. Simpson ’97, co-chairman of the Central NY Economic Development Council (CNYEDC) and president of CenterState CEO, said it is important for his agency to hear from local business leaders and county development officials to determine what projects might benefit from state grants and special funding.

The CNYEDC is one of 10 regional councils created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2011 to help facilitate economic development across county lines. The organization is designed to help identify and develop projects to best encourage job creation, community enhancement, and regional tourism.

“This is a new way of economic development that’s built around anchor institutions and market-driven strategies,” Simpson said, adding that connections to the many institutions of higher education in NY is critical for success.

Colgate has invested about $30 million in improvements to downtown Hamilton in recent years. State research shows institutions of higher education contributed about $2.8 billion to the economy of central New York in 2011.

Nicole Simpson, Colgate associate professor of economics, said the university’s Upstate Institute, which encourages faculty and student research in the region, may be a good portal for increased connection with Madison County businesses.

“Students really want to learn about the region, and they really want to help it,” Simpson said. “A trickle leads into a flood, and I think the Upstate Institute is very open to having those conversations.”

Attendees included representatives from manufacturing, agriculture, consumer products, brewing, winemaking, and Fran Duskiewicz ’81, senior executive VP for Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes.

Herbst said it is important for Colgate to continue the economic discourse spurred by this week’s meeting.

“Of course it’s very important for us to continue to develop economic ties with all of you, and to assist you… but also to see how you can benefit from the many things the university does,” Herbst said.

Maggie Dunne ’13, of Scarsdale, N.Y., is a Native American studies major at Colgate.

A nonprofit organization created by Maggie Dunne ‘13 has been named one of the top five “literacy champions” of 2012 by Scholastic, a welcome recognition of her efforts to help residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Dunne’s nonprofit — recently renamed Lakota Children’s Enrichment (LCE) — was cited for its efforts in bringing thousands of books to reservation schools and for working with school administrators to develop book-incentive programs.

She said that Scholastic now will partner with her nonprofit in providing books to the reservation.

Earlier this year, Dunne was named winner of the 2012 grand prize in Glamour magazine’s Top 10 College Women Competition. She received $20,000 for the work she has accomplished through her nonprofit.

At the awards ceremony, she announced that she would donate the prize to her organization, and leverage its prestige to raise even more money. She did just that, collecting $20,000 apiece from a Colgate alumnus and from Sir Richard Branson, the entrepreneur who was the keynote speaker for the university’s Entrepreneur Weekend.

Dunne first met the children of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota during a volunteer trip during high school in Scarsdale, NY. She started small, with a local coat drive and modest fundraising, and today her organization has distributed more than $100,000 worth of coats, boots, and books to members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe who live there.

At Colgate, Dunne is a Native American studies major. In and out of the classroom she has found many students who want to get involved. Through the Center for Outreach and Volunteer Education (COVE) she held campus fundraisers and started and staffed a summer camp on the reservation.

Through the university’s Thought Into Action Institute, she received invaluable advice from dozens of successful alumni who return to campus to teach students to create jobs for themselves through entrepreneurial means.

“Friends, family, members of the Colgate administration and faculty, and of course my mentors from Thought Into Action have helped me so much throughout this process,” said Dunne.

Jeffrey Herbst, president and professor of political science, will co-teach Technology and Disruption with Vijay Ramachandran, assistant professor of computer science.

It takes much discipline to succeed as an entrepreneur, as Colgate students are learning as they work with alumni in the university’s Thought Into Action Institute and other extracurricular programs.

Next semester, a new pilot course will examine entrepreneurship through interdisciplinary, academic inquiry. Technology and Disruption (UNST 360) will be co-taught by Jeffrey Herbst, president of Colgate and professor of political science, and Vijay Ramachandran, assistant professor of computer science.

The course will take place over seven weeks at Colgate and will focus on patterns of technological disruption in various areas of society and the economy. After completing the course, all students will spend the summer in Palo Alto, Calif., working in paid internships that Colgate will arrange. Occasional lectures, led by Colgate alumni and parents, will take place at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Chegg.com, the innovative online student hub whose president and CEO is Daniel Rosensweig P’15.

The field experience will expose students directly to the types of changes induced by digital-era entrepreneurship. As the company that brought a low-cost, short-term rental option to the $5+ billion college textbook business, Chegg.com represents the kind of “disruption” students will be studying.

“To be ready for the fast pace of today’s economy, students need both a solid academic foundation and the workplace skills gained through apprenticeships,” said Rosensweig. He has called publicly for all companies to invest time, people, and expertise in order to create a pipeline of skilled interns and future employees.

Chegg, which has been called “the Netflix of textbooks,” is an apropos partner for Colgate’s new course. According to one report, the company “represents a bold new philosophy that’s changing commerce.”

Co-professor Ramachandran expects there to be considerable demand for Technology and Disruption, which, because of the internship that follows the course, will be limited to 12 students. No previous background with programming is necessary, although the seminar-style discourse (with a 6:1 student-faculty ratio) will require an intermediate-to-advanced level of work.

According to the syllabus, Technology and Disruption will focus on how current technological developments (e.g., social media, digital content, “big data”) have disrupted and will continue to affect our society and the structure of the economy. Among the issues to be examined are who benefits (and suffers) from disruption, the prospects for “brick-and-mortar” institutions (including universities), and possible future patterns of disruption. Some evidence will be drawn from previous examples of technological disruption (e.g., railroads).

“By working in Silicon Valley, students will be immersed in a culture of entrepreneurship, able to take part in creative and strategic development of technology,” said President Herbst, who has made it a priority of his presidency to connect liberal arts learning and entrepreneurial character traits needed for today’s economy. “During the internship, students will be able to recognize relevant technologies and patterns of disruption studied in the course. Thus, the course and internship go hand-in-hand.”

According to a timeline to be determined, students will be asked to submit a one-page statement of interest and letters of reference that provide pertinent information about the student’s abilities, interests, and readiness for a summer-long internship experience in Silicon Valley. The instructors will review these materials and notify students of acceptance into the program.

Ryan Smith ’13 and Brendon Karson ’13, founders of EcoCampus LLC, deliver tree-free paper to Case Library.

Lumberjacks beware.

Thanks to the entrepreneurial efforts of two seniors, Ryan Smith ’13 and Brendan Karson ’13, printer paper at Case Library, along with more than two dozen other departments on campus, is no longer a product of trees or recycled paper. It is composed of recovered sugarcane fiber which would have otherwise ended up in landfills.

EcoCampus LLC is a 2011 Thought Into Action (TIA) project of Smith and Karson. The green office supply company delivers sustainable office products to campus, and in most cases, the day after they are ordered online at thegreenoffice.com.

TIA is a Colgate program that pairs successful alumni entrepreneurs with current students to help them start up their own business or not-for-profit organization.

Colgate Director of Sustainability, John Pumilio, said EcoCampus is having a positive impact on the campus carbon footprint.

Use of the eco-friendly paper has prevented the release of 20.59 tons of carbon emissions, the production of 155,553 gallons of wastewater, the creation of 13,363 pounds of solid waste, and the use of 2,660 gallons of oil, according to Smith.

Pumilio said the entrepreneur team of Karson and Smith have proven themselves as reliable suppliers.

“They had to really follow through. That’s the difference between the student projects that never really see the light of day and this… these guys just stayed with it,”  Pumilio said

When a campus department places an order for paper online, Smith and Karson load up their cars with inventory they keep in Hamilton and deliver the next day.  This month, EcoCampus received a delivery of 1,200 reams, or about 12 carloads, of paper. Their first order was just 400 reams.

“We’ve upgraded our warehouse from underneath our beds to a shed out back….” Smith posted in the project update section of TIA’s website.

To become an approved supplier to campus, Director of Purchasing Art Punsoni said the students had to allay concerns about the operation. Karson and Smith returned to Punsoni and addressed everything in a business plan, including incorporation as a registered limited liability corporation in Madison County, and being fully insured.

“They went through the process,” Punsoni said. “They have done an excellent job and are well prepared.”

Smith and Karson say the effort has led to an invaluable education outside the classroom.

“Undoubtedly, Thought Into Action has been the greatest learning experience in our four years at Colgate. TIA alone has made coming to Colgate worthwhile,” Smith said. “You have to enjoy every obstacle, and every ‘No’ has to make you want it even more. Otherwise, ideas never happen.”

As winner of the 2012 grand prize in Glamour magazine’s Top 10 College Women Competition, she received $20,000 for the work she has accomplished through her nonprofit Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project. At the ceremony, she announced that she would donate the prize to her organization, and leverage its prestige to raise even more money.

Maggie Dunne ’12 poses a question to Sir Richard Branson

Opportunity landed a few weeks later, when Sir Richard Branson visited Colgate. Branson was the keynote speaker for Entrepreneur Weekend, a time for Dunne and other students in the university’s Thought Into Action Institute to showcase their ideas.

During a Q&A session with Branson, the consummate entrepreneur, Dunne boldly introduced herself and asked how she might use her Glamour prize money to motivate humanitarian celebrities to donate to her cause. She held up the oversized check she happened to have brought with her.

To Dunne’s amazement, and that of everyone in the room, Branson agreed to match Glamour’s $20,000 award through his nonprofit Virgin Unite, provided she could secure another $20,000 from a certain prominent Colgate alumnus, who wishes to remain anonymous. So Dunne steeled herself for another big ask.

Now, with two CEO donations and the Glamour prize in hand, Dunne’s recent awards total $60,000. To sustain the momentum, she has added a donation link to her website and hopes to raise another $20,000 from the community at large.

“Maggie Dunne’s passion for her work is evident and her success is measurable,” said Branson. “She has made a difference in the lives of thousands of Lakota children and deserves a chance to do more. It is my pleasure to support her work.”

Dunne first met the children of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota during a volunteer trip during high school in Scarsdale, NY. She started small, with a local coat drive and modest fundraising, and today her organization has distributed more than $100,000 worth of coats, boots, and books to members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe who live there.

At Colgate, Dunne is a Native American studies major. In and out of the classroom she has found many students who want to get involved. Through the Center for Outreach and Volunteer Education (COVE) she held campus fundraisers and started and staffed a summer camp on the reservation. Through the university’s Thought Into Action Institute, she received invaluable advice from dozens of successful alumni who return to campus to teach students to create jobs for themselves through entrepreneurial means.

Dunne’s experience and concern reaches beyond the Native American populations. She has spent summers in Bangladesh, learning the language and working with the Grameen Bank, the microfinance organization that gives small loans to the poor. In 2011 she received the Newman Civic Fellowship for “promising college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.”

Follow Dunne’s progress here and help her meet her goal.

Dr. Mark Mandel ’60

Calling himself “a neophyte in the business arena,” Mandel pitched his concept to the university’s Entrepreneurs’ Club in spring 2011. Club founder Bharadwaj Obula Reddy ’12 accepted the challenge.

“I’m on financial aid, so when Dr. Mandel initially talked about how he was going to help someone else go to college, I really loved that idea,” Reddy said. “And once I got into the process, it was amazing to have the experience of launching a new product.”

Mandel commissioned two chemists who had developed all of Paul Mitchell’s formulations to create his trio of sulfate-, paraben-, and formaldehyde-free shampoo, conditioner, and glossing serum. Reddy was tasked with developing the marketing — relying partly on social media — and strategizing distribution.

Another member of the Entrepreneurs Club, Julia Won ’15, researched how other companies market to young adults. Although the line is for everyone, the team believes that young adults will have an interest in supporting a cause that benefits their own generation. Reddy has reached out to representatives at other college campuses to spread the word.

Art student Abi Conklin ’13 was brought on board to design the logos and branding. In addition, Conklin has been working with Reddy on a commercial as well as social media outreach. “As an artist, it’s awesome real-world experience,” Conklin said. “These are areas of the art world that I need to understand and make pertinent to my work.” Noting that Mandel has been open-minded and flexible to work with, Conklin said she thinks “it’s really nice to see somebody from another generation looking out for us.”

Reddy expects to fully roll out their marketing efforts by the end of summer, but the products are currently for sale in the Colgate Bookstore, campus C-Store, JJ’s Salon in Hamilton, and online. A basket of Dr. Mandel Beauty Products was also auctioned off at the Konosioni auction during Colgate’s Entrepreneur Weekend in April.

A minimum of three $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to eligible high school seniors this fall, and additional scholarships will be given as proceeds grow. Showing his commitment to the endeavor, Mandel will supplement any scholarship funds that the product sales do not cover. For more information, visit http://facescholarship.org and http://getmandel.com.

Colgate’s Thought Into Action Institute (TIA), a selective program that requires both a viable idea and tremendous commitment, gives students access to the business and life experience of some of the most the most successful entrepreneurs, marketers, and financiers in the Colgate community.

Now in its third year, TIA was co-founded by veteran entrepreneur Andy Greenfield ’74 P’12; Wills Hapworth ’07, president, DarkHorse Investors; and Bob Gold ’80 P’15, president and CEO, Ridgewood Capital.

“There’s nothing more empowering for anyone than making something happen on earth… going from thought to action, from theory to practice,” said Greenfield, who has the enthusiasm of a 12-year-old with his first lawn-care business. “And once you have that experience it is liberating, it is empowering, and it is a hell of a buzz.”

On Saturday of Entrepreneur Weekend, 25 students demonstrated ideas that ranged from a zipper that will never get stuck in fabric (from James Frankel ’13), to a mobile system that tracks the whereabouts of the Colgate Cruiser (from Justin Altus ’14). Alumni, parents, and students quizzed the entrepreneurs, who seemed to have thought through obstacles as well as opportunities.

Lynn Plant ’77, founder and CEO of BrandCentric Inc., who volunteers as a mentor, was impressed at the students’ combination of academic and practical skills. “The students working on the Colgate garden are serious scientists. And some really brilliant engineers and mathematicians are behind the technology projects.”

President Jeffrey Herbst said he sees a strong connection between entrepreneurship and the liberal arts. “Our students learn to think critically and understand disruption,” he said, “A program like this can help prepare them for a lifetime of creativity in whatever fields they choose.”

After lunch, a series of panel discussions shifted the focus from student projects to how some established businesses were financed and launched on the ground, on the web, and in the public sector. And a food and wine event showcased Colgate restaurateurs and vintners.

During his remarks before Richard Branson’s Global Leaders appearance at Colgate, Herbst talked about entrepreneurial ideas and technology — and how important it is to try new things in order to prepare for the future. “For the first time in the 193-year history of Colgate, the Board of Trustees held a meeting outside of New York State,” he told the assembled crowd.

The site of the meeting, he said, was Palo Alto, the epicenter of technological innovation. Board members and senior administration visited with Colgate alumni and parents at tech giants including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. They immersed themselves in technology in order to understand how it can enhance the Colgate experience.

One of the ideas to come from the break in tradition was innovation awards. Cash prizes were offered for ideas that would use technology and social media to improve the student experience: on campus, during the admission process, or after graduation.

The winners are:

Maroon: Share a $1,000 prize: Srikar Gullapalli ’13, Brian Lemanski ’14, and James Zhang ’13: “More than 13 Reasons: A Visual Search Engine”

Silver: Share $500 Prize: Christopher Crane ’12 and Andrew Greene ’12: “Colgate Research Connect”

Bronze: Each team shares a $250 Prize: Lisa Lee ’12 and Stephen Trostle ’13: “CommuniGate: Connecting Incoming Students with the Colgate Community” and Isaac Lee ’13: “The Colgate App”

Watch the university’s news blog and Facebook and Twitter pages for news on these and other innovations at Colgate.

Sir Richard Branson, wearing a Raiders jersey, charges his way to the stage of Sanford Field House. (Photo by Janna Minehart ’13)

As Colgate people around the world celebrated Friday the 13th and #ColgateDay trended on Twitter, the university welcomed international entrepreneur and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson to campus for the fifth annual Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate.

The presentation capped off the university’s Colgate Day celebration and launched Entrepreneur Weekend, a tribute to the business acumen of Colgate students, alumni, and parents, and the translatable skills of a liberal arts education.

In a nod to Branson’s roots in the recording industry, members of the student rap group Swagged Up Squad warmed up the crowd of more than 4,000 in Sanford Field House. After President Jeffrey Herbst announced the winners of a campuswide technology competition, the music continued as a flash mob emerged from the audience and escorted Branson, the evening’s guest of honor, to the stage.

What followed was a wide-ranging conversation between Herbst and Branson, covering Branson’s philosophy of business, his roots in entrepreneurialism, and his vision for the future of his company.

“Most businesses specialize in one area,” Branson told the audience. “Virgin has 400 companies, and we’re more of a way-of-life brand.” It started with a record company, founded because Branson heard a tape and thought it was brilliant. He wanted it to be heard.

Virgin Airlines was born after Branson was bumped from a commercial flight. “I’ve gone through life and been frustrated with experiences,” he said. “I thought, ‘We can do it better; let’s give it a go.’”

The same spirit that has turned Virgin into a commercial success is also driving Branson’s nonprofit efforts. Through Virgin Unite, he is tackling environmental and social ills by generating ideas and then finding bright, people-focused leaders to help address them.

While on campus, Branson met with members of Colgate’s Thought Into Action Institute, the Entrepreneurs Club, and the Benton Scholars. Asked his opinion on the biggest mistake one could make in starting a business, Branson cautioned against pursuing dollars. “Embark on something you can sing about,” he said.

Global Leaders at Colgate was formed by the Parents’ and Grandparents’ Fund of the Society of Families to bring Colgate students into contact with individuals like Branson. “We wanted to use our combined resources to introduce our students to global change-makers,” Parents Steering Committee Chair Wendy Carey told attendees during her remarks.

Taking part in a series that has seen presidents, religious icons, and ministers of state, Branson presented a fresh perspective for Colgate’s undergraduates, but he also echoed the trademark theme of hope for the future. “There are just as many possibilities in the world as there were five years ago,” he said. “The world needs entrepreneurs.”

• Johanna Ames Coats ’98 (right), president of Ames Linen Service, the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Business of the Year

• C.V. “Major” Bowes ’41, owner/operator of Covewood Lodge, the historic Adirondack “great camp” on Big Moose Lake

• Ellen (Strohm) Griffin ’83, co-owner of the popular athletic shoe store Fleet Feet Sports in East Syracuse

• Dick Najarian ’63, owner of L.A. Najarian Inc. of Greene, one of the last high-end ribbon manufacturers in the United States.

• Kingsley Wratten ’64 and Harold Davies MA’65, co-owners of The Horned Dorset restaurant and their newest venture, an artist colony still in progress in Leonardsville.

Their stories in the feature article, “Central New York road trip,” sketch a picture of imagination, optimism, perseverance, and enterprise right in Colgate’s back yard.

That is what Andy Greenfield ’74 said about membership in the university’s Thought Into Action Institute, which provides mentoring to students who want to transform ideas into realities.

Greenfield has been teaching a practical entrepreneurship program the past two years, with about eight students in each session. With assistance from Bob Gold ’80 and Wills Hapworth ’06, and support from President Jeffrey Herbst, he is ready to accept more students and make the institute a thriving entity on campus.

The institute is accepting applications (until April 8th) from students who want to be involved next fall, and also is looking for more alumni to become mentors. The non-credit course meets for five hours one Saturday a month, and mentors offer additional support through Skype and e-mail.

Greenfield (above), a serial entrepreneur and founder of Greenfield Consulting Group, a qualitative marketing research firm, said entrepreneurs often have “scars” from failed ideas, but if they are truly passionate about a project, they can make it happen.

He said he is buoyed by the growing entrepreneurial spirit among Colgate’s students.

“The world is changing. Young people coming into the real world can’t just say, ‘We’re at the mercy of a bad job market.’ They can control their destinies to a large extent and succeed by design, not by happenstance,” he said.

“And the skills that they learn through Thought Into Action are only useful for everything they will do in life.”

Rebecca Michlin ’12 is taking what she learned in this year’s program and starting a nonprofit organization called A Pack on the Back.

She is raising funds so that beginning next fall, her nonprofit can provide essential school supplies to underprivileged students in the Waterville, N.Y., school district.

“Andy has continuously put aside hours to help me plan and brainstorm effective ways to communicate with potential donors and faculty from the Waterville schools,” she said.

Another member of the TIA program, Ryan Smith ’13, is launching a business that will sell environmentally friendly products to universities.

More

• Thought Into Action Institute brochure (PDF)

• Institute application for students

• Summer camp at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (PDF)

• A Pack on the Back (website under development)

• Colgate’s Entrepreneurship Club

And Maggie Dunne ’13 established a nonprofit corporation and is conducting a camp this summer for about 40 students from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

“I loved the course because not only did I form connections with alumni who have all had experience in entrepreneurship, but also I had the captive audience of a diverse group of Colgate students who all had their own ideas that they were passionate about.

“The course was a success for me because I was able to turn my ideas into reality, and the camp is going to happen,” she said.

That is just what Greenfield wants to hear, from even more students next fall.

“This institute is about helping kids learn the craft of doing so they can accomplish what President Herbst has said is one of the key components of the university’s mission: preparing our students to make a difference in the world.”

One of many business ideas the club has, the test went well, and yielded a substantial profit that will go toward future ventures. The club is always coming up with ways to meet demands they see in the Colgate and Hamilton communities, all while learning about what it takes to start a business.

“We view the club as a learning experience,” said Harrison Gillis ’13. “We want to get our minds around the practical ideas of starting and running a business, so that if we do have plans to start one, it’s not the first time we’ve dealt with these concepts.”

In addition to executing ventures, club members meet with local entrepreneurs, hold classes and seminars on different aspects of entrepreneurship, and speak with alumni who have successfully launched their own businesses.

Those alumni contacts have begun to play a major role in the club’s programs. One has them following the endeavors of Nick Kokonas ’90, whose restaurant Alinea in Chicago was recently ranked best in the nation by S.Pellegrino. Kokonas also is working on a book about the restaurant business, so he has experience in the publishing world, too.

The club members will follow his efforts, pose questions to him about what he’s doing, and then Kokonas responds in unique ways.

Bharadwaj Reddy ’12 explains, “Nick gets back to us in a high-tech fashion — e-mail, Twitter, blogs, because he can’t get here, so we’re maximizing the time for this opportunity. He’s going to be Skyping with us whenever possible, e-mailing us, teleconferencing, etc.”

In addition to following Kokonas, some club members are participating in a seminar called “Thought Into Action,” a class taught by alumni and offered to about eight students on campus.

One alumnus participating is Wills Hapworth ’07, an entrepreneur himself and the founder of DarkHorse Investors, a company that invests in college students’ start-up businesses.

“There is a serious interest in entrepreneurship at Colgate that needs to be answered and nurtured,” said Hapworth. “Creating a great culture for start-ups and turning thought into action is difficult but essential, and the students, school, and alums all seem to be making steps in the right direction.”

The number of ventures the club has in the works is indicative of how the entrepreneurial spirit is starting to thrive at Colgate.

Whether selling Indian and Chinese food at the Coop or hosting an “idea raffle” at Winterfest, the club’s members are always thinking of creative ways to meet the demands of the Colgate community while putting their business knowledge into action.