Innovators Lean Into Change
If there’s one thing an entrepreneur needs to know, it’s how to shift gears. With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a wrench into their original plans, entrepreneurs with the Thought Into Action (TIA) Incubator have taken this mantra to heart, thinking on their feet and adapting to new circumstances.
During a virtual mentor meeting on April 4, Andy Greenfield ’74, who is a co-founder of the TIA Incubator with Wills Hapworth ’07, encouraged this year’s group to lean into change. “An entrepreneur’s path is strewn with challenges, problems, disruptions — that’s the sport you all have chosen,” Greenfield said. “The mark of an entrepreneur is how they deal with those problems. Do they attack them, or do they cower from them?”
The 2019–20 TIA cohort — consisting of 53 entrepreneurs — chose to attack their problems head on. Open to students, alumni, and community members, “the TIA program enables participants to go through the process of developing a solution to a problem or a challenge that they see in the world,” says Carolyn Strobel, the program’s director. “It teaches them the skills to build their own venture from the ground up and how to be flexible when things don’t turn out as expected.”
Usually, the program culminates in Entrepreneur Weekend, during which the participants showcase their products and solutions. During the demo fair, each team sets up a booth and presents its venture to alumni, parents, faculty, and staff in hopes of fostering future business connections.
This year, the program needed to adapt to the changing circumstances — in the true spirit of entrepreneurship. “In TIA, we talk about the need to be adaptable and resilient,” Strobel says. “As entrepreneurs, our students often find out that the solution they envision at the beginning is not where they end up.”
Michael Sciola, associate vice president for career initiatives, echoes this sentiment. “The whole TIA team has really been challenged to put our money where our mouth is, embrace disruptions, and create new solutions,” he says.
This year’s Entrepreneur Weekend evolved into an online version of the demo fair, or the Virtual Venture Showcase. The showcase, which launched April 18, highlighted the 2019–20 TIA cohort’s 32 unique businesses, nonprofits, and campus initiatives. On the showcase website, visitors could read about these ventures, watch their video pitches, and actively help these projects grow by clicking the “I Can Help” button. Participating ventures ranged from øats, an organic, waste-free, overnight oats brand developed by Alique Fisher ’22, to social media marketing services that Sheila Dunne ’20 and Luke Goodwin’s company, DunneGoodwin, provides.
The showcase was a success, hitting 1,500 visitors on the day it went live and then netting an average of 500 visitors per day. While TIA hopes to return to hosting the event in person next year, the virtual showcase will also be included. “That way, the world can join us in congratulating Colgate entrepreneurs,” remarks Sciola. “We’ve learned a valuable lesson — adapting to changing conditions without fear of failure is key to innovation.”
Despite the roadblocks, Sciola sees the format change as an opening for the spirit of entrepreneurship to shine through. “This has been a great opportunity for our teams to think, ‘OK, this is the way things are. How can we move forward?’”