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== VCUSquared Student Club Examples<br/> ==
=== Venture Creation University (VCUsquared) <br/> ===
'''University-led Initiative'''
[[File:VcusquaredLogo.png|frame|right|VCUSquared]]
<div>VCUSquared is currently an umbrella group that brings three separate student entrepreneurial clubs together, with another club in development.</div><div><br/></div><div>[http://www.squared.vcu.edu/resources-at-vcu/student-clubs/ VCU Squared] is a unique university-wide initiative launched by [http://www.research.vcu.edu/ott/ VCU Tech Transfer] and [http://www.davincicenter.vcu.edu/ VCU da Vinci Center]. VCU Squared is charged with continuously evaluating VCU’s entrepreneurial environment, developing new programs and coordinating related activities around the University. The team also works to understand the regional environment, and collaborate with external partners so that VCU and the local business communities can leverage available resources and expertise. With an understanding of our larger entrepreneurial ecosystem, the VCU Squared team works to enhance the culture of entrepreneurship at VCU and harness the talent of our student, alumni and research community.</div>
=== <span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size:medium;">SEED - Products</span></span> ===
SEED is a student entrepreneurship group dedicated to perusing medical and technologically-oriented products and businesses. Students go through a process of discovery, design, and implementation in project teams to build working products that solve real-world problems.<br/><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br/>[[File:SEEDlogo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|SEED]]</span><div><span style="line-height: 24px;">'''Contact Information:'''</span></div><div>Elliot Roth – seedatvcu@gmail.com</div>=== <span style="line-height: 24px"><span style="font-size:medium">StartUp VCU - Services</span></span> ===
Carmine Di Maro (President) – Dimaroc@mymail.vcu.edu<br/>Jake Greenbaum (Vice-President) – Greenbaumjs@mymail.vcu.edu
=== <span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size:medium;">ArtUp – Creative Entrepreneurship</span></span> ===
<span style="line-height: 24px;">[[File:Artup.jpg|thumb|right|300px|ArtUp]]</span>Our goal is to unite students from all departments within VCUarts that are interested in translating their skills and passions into creative entrepreneurship. Through collaboration on small and university-wide projects, ArtUp plans to bring artists together in giving back to the Richmond community while establishing a networking foundation profitable for their careers and learning to better sustain their own work. This will be done through industry specific field trips, guest speakers or hosting workshops alongside a specific collaborative project that the group chooses to work on. ArtUp will focus on taking change as an opportunity for innovation in order to aid students in preparing for a successful future in the arts.
'''Contact Information:'''
<div><div>Alexander Kreher (President) - Krehera@mymail.vcu.edu</div><div>Anna Shcherbakova (Vice-President) - Shcherbakoay@vcu.edu</div></div>
=== <span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size:medium;">Social Entrepreneurship</span></span> ===
A new aspect of entrepreneurship to consider is that of social entrepreneurship, for those interested in helping people. An organization to bring in students that are interested in the sociological ramifications of entrepreneurship are drawn to this type of work. They will form their own club while still collaborating with the other groups at VCU.
== <span style="line-height: 24px;">Separate but Connected</span> ==
<div>Elliot Roth states, “Entrepreneurship is a varied subject and each student has their own wants and needs. You cannot appeal to everyone with a broad “entrepreneurship” club. Students will soon lose interest if the subject matter is not related to their own interests. There are four very broad categories of businesses (Health, Motion, Perception, Communication) and two types (Products, Services). We are only just beginning to form groups centered on these categories.” By segmenting the group by interests you are taking a large group of people with minimal interest and creating smaller passionate groups of people with real belief in the goals they are trying to accomplish. It is still very important to keep the passions connected and working together however, as this is the whole point of interdisciplinary collaboration.</div><div><br/></div><div>Bringing the future entrepreneurs together under the umbrella group and then delegating by interests allows the organization to run like a business. Everyone does the job they are best suited for but ultimately works for the larger body. Communication among the groups should be frequent whether through co-sponsorship of events, partnerships, working under an entrepreneurial council of combined group members, or even the simple but powerful method of meeting in the same physical location. Allowing the students to teach workshops or classes to one another also opens up communication. It allows artists to teach more creative skills to those less artistically inclined and gives artists the chance to be exposed to prototyping, management and organizational skills, or more business oriented topics. Not everyone fits the same mold and allowing the interests of the students to drive the focus of the organization allows more people to get involved at more levels.</div>
= Academic Support =
1. Students are very interested in things that are relevant to their interests as well as things that they have heard of. Communicate with those that are interested. The most popular activity ideas will come from those most likely to participate.In Spring 2013 Washington State University, Vancouver brought [http://www.rushkoff.com/ Douglas Rushkoff], author of [http://www.rushkoff.com/program-or-be-programmed/ Program or Be Programmed], to campus to shed light on the university core read all students in the CMDC program had participated in. The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vbDdytXk20 speaker] produced a large turn out and gave students something to be passionate about.
[[File:Douglasrushkoff.jpg|frame|right|300px|Douglas Rushkoff]]
2. Students like producing things. Activities should have a takeaway, something for the student to keep.
= Lessons learned and tips for others<br/> =
<span style="font-size: 12px;">When starting an organization there are things that will not work. Things will fail or results may not come quickly. When forming an interdisciplinary organization this is particularly true. Interests may clash and concepts may initially be blurry between different people but the key is to change and remember that great things start small. It takes time to become a big organization. A small group of really passionate people will produce great results if they truly believe in the goal. The group will start as a small circle, then a small organization. The members become the best resource to infect other organizations. Disciplines will communicate and students will bridge the gaps. The members will become ambassadors for the organization. Allowing students to showcase what they love and develop new interests will create positive feedback that will spread by word of mouth and by social media. Student to student interaction is the best way to bring artists and engineers together. </span>
= Elliot Roth =
[http://elliotroth.com/what-i-learned-from-running-an-entrepreneurial-organization-this-past-year/ Elliot Roth] is currently a junior in biomedical engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. He helped plan a local TedX for his university and enjoys writing and art. He believes in the importance of bringing artists and engineers together for successful entrepreneurship.
[[Category:Guides]]