Entrepreneurship Lab seeks students

Published October 17, 2013 This content is archived.

As part of UB’s first winter session, students with business ideas can apply to enroll in the Entrepreneurship Lab, a class in which they’ll draft business plans and make calls to potential customers to test the viability of specific product and service ideas.

“Faculty members across the university are encouraged to invite their students to apply,” says Yong Li, associate professor of operations management and strategy in the School of Management, who is teaching the class along with Robert Genco and Martin Casstevens from the Office of  Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR).

“It’s not a traditional course. Students will be focusing on real business ideas that they have, and we will be helping them understand how far they can take those ideas,” says Li, who is also academic director of UB’s Entrepreneurship Academy.

About 20 student teams will be accepted into the course, and two to five will receive a minimum of $5,000, along with some free professional services, to help start a company. The prizes will go to the student entrepreneurs whose proposed businesses show the most promise, as determined by a panel of judges.

Interested students must submit an application to the Undergraduate Academies’ website by 5 p.m. Oct. 25.

Applicants will be notified of their status on Nov. 1, and those who have been accepted must then register for the course, which is listed as MGO 493 for undergraduate students and MGO 695 for graduate students. All accepted students will receive a $300 break from their winter session tuition, Li says.