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'''University-led Initiative'''
[[File:VcusquaredLogo.png|frame|right|VcusquaredLogo.png]]
<div>VCUSquared is currently an umbrella group that brings three separate student entrepreneurial clubs together, with a fourth 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 communities.</div>
=== <span style="line-height: 24px"><span style="font-size:medium">SEED - Products</span></span> ===
SEED is a student entrepreneurship group dedicated to pursuing medical and technology-based 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">[[File:SEEDlogo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|SEEDlogo.jpg]]</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> ===
<span style="line-height: 24px">[[File:StartupVCU.jpg|thumb|right|300px|StartupVCU.jpg]]</span>StartUp VCU is the club for entrepreneurially-minded students at the University. Made up of thinkers, dreamers and makers from all academic disciplines and walks of life, the club is a network of students interested in bringing innovative business opportunities to life! At Startup VCU, officers and members foster creativity and encourage taking chances, while alumni advisers are on deck to connect and consult with project teams. The founders of Startup VCU understood that the process of starting a business is never easy, which is exactly why they created a fail safe environment to test ideas and vet new concepts. From the undergraduate level through (and beyond) graduation, Startup VCU members are prepped for and grounded in the ever-changing world of entrepreneurship and innovation.
'''Contact Information:'''
=== <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.jpg]]</span>ArtUp's 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 to give 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:'''
== <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 student groups by interests, you are taking a large group of people with limited interest in entrepreneurship 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 because this is the whole point of interdisciplinary collaboration.</div><div><br/></div><div>Bringing future entrepreneurs together under the umbrella group and then segmenting by interests allows the organization to run like a business. Students have to ability to carry out the job best suited for them, but ultimately work for the larger organization. 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 every student fits the same mold, and by allowing the interests of the students to drive the focus of the organization, it supports additional students to get involved at different levels.</div>
= Academic Support =
1. Students are very interested in topics relevant to their interests, as well as topics that they have at least heard of. Reach out to those that are interested. The most popular activity ideas will come from the students 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 their 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|Douglasrushkoff.jpg]]
2. Students enjoy producing things (aka hands on activities). Activities should have a takeaway, something for the student to keep.
[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]]