SYRACUSE — Syracuse University formally opened an experiential entrepreneurship program for all students and faculty on April 19 at Bird Library. The 625-square-foot, glass-encased room, called the Blackstone LaunchPad, is in the center of the main floor of the library. “We are developing a pipeline for students to learn critical thinking, planning, and design,” Linda […]
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SYRACUSE — Syracuse University formally opened an experiential entrepreneurship program for all students and faculty on April 19 at Bird Library.
The 625-square-foot, glass-encased room, called the Blackstone LaunchPad, is in the center of the main floor of the library.
“We are developing a pipeline for students to learn critical thinking, planning, and design,” Linda Hartsock, executive director of the Blackstone LaunchPad project, says. “The growth in startups is explosive, and this allows students to be a part of the economic landscape.”
The construction of the Blackstone LaunchPad in Bird Library was fully funded with a $900,000 grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, a New York City–based foundation devoted to supporting entrepreneurship globally, and allows the space to be fully funded for three years. Syracuse University’s Office of Planning, Design, and Construction planned and created the facility.
Students of all majors and years can walk in to the glass cube to develop their entrepreneurial skills, whether it’s pitching a new idea or growing an existing company. The space is multi-faceted, with students using it for workshops, group projects, and networking events.
“The room is designed with flexible furniture and has nooks for personal meetings, couches and chairs that can be rearranged, whiteboards for collaboration, and is adaptable to big and small groups,” Hartsock says. “That is the most valuable part; it can be used for so many purposes.”
Besides the flexible working space, students can meet with mentors who have years of entrepreneurial experience in the Central New York area.
“We have community mentors, faculty mentors, and young SU alumni are really jumping in to work with students,” Hartsock says. “We want to hear from them [alumni] and expand the network.”
The LaunchPad is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Hartsock says she is looking to expand the hours until midnight by hiring Blackstone fellows. The fellows will be comprised of upper class and graduate students who are interested in entrepreneurship and are willing to mentor younger students.
“It got off on a flying start,” David Seaman, Syracuse University’s Dean of Libraries says of the LaunchPad. “The place is packed and is finding an immediate home within the entrepreneurial student population.”
Seaman credits the location of the LaunchPad to its success. “We deliberately put it in Bird Library for students who may not have a class or center in their school like Whitman or Newhouse does.”
The busy Bird Library is a hub for Syracuse students to pass by before making their way to their next class, and the visible glass cube was designed to catch students' attention. As it is a neutral location for students, students across disciplines and cultures can come together to collaborate on a startup, says Hartsock.
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced last year that it would offer five New York universities a chance to build their own entrepreneurial center and announced the winners on Oct. 23, 2015. Blackstone LaunchPad has been accessible to more than 500,000 students globally since 2015, according to its website, and has marked its place at New York University, University at Albany, University at Buffalo, and Cornell University, in addition to Syracuse. All told, Blackstone LaunchPad can be found at 17 universities in the U.S. These universities are all connected through a network for students to share ideas and pitches as well as partnerships.
All services at the LaunchPad are free including one-on-one mentoring, online resources, and networking events. Anyone using the services can rest assured that their idea won’t be stolen as Blackstone LaunchPad and Syracuse cannot have a stake in a student’s idea. All mentors sign a non-disclosure agreement with Blackstone LaunchPad so student-ventures are protected and solely their own.
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation started in 2007 as part of the investment firm, the Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX), which has $336 billion in assets under management and more than 2,000 employees worldwide.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Blackstone LaunchPad took place the afternoon of April 19 at the Blackstone LaunchPad in Bird Library, where the winners of the CompeteCNY business plan competition were announced.