Joe Constancia and his classmates enjoying a meal together in South France.

Are your classes missing a certain Mediterranean flair? That’s what I thought around this time last year when I decided that I was going to study abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. My name is and I am a senior at the studying management and entrepreneurship. Last summer, I knew I wanted to go somewhere with amazing food, access to the beach and a class I would be interested in, and New Venture Creation did just that. Aix-en-Provence is just north of Marseille, but make no mistake, you are in the Mediterranean. The weather is warm, and life is taken at a relaxed pace. It is the epitome of slow living. The adventures you will have on this journey will be with you for years to come.

Joining the in the heart of Europe was the best decision I’ve made at Leeds. The French way of slow living is a different pace than we are used to here in the United States, but time flies when you’re having fun!

What is New Venture Creation & Internship (Aix-en-Provence, France)

The global seminar is an 8-week program consisting of New Venture Creation & Internship (ESBM 4830) taught by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Faculty Director Brad Werner. This class will test your business skills in every way imaginable. It is the real deal! During the course, every student pitches a business idea and your classmates choose the top four ventures that became the focus of the class. Once the ventures are decided, Brad creates teams to support them. This is where the work really begins. For the remainder of the program, you and your team are immersed in the ideation, validation and projection exercises that transform the idea into a startup.

While there is plenty of work, you still get to explore France. The best moments from the program came from our expeditions and guest speakers. Our trip to Saint-Tropez was a highlight of the trip. We spent the day perusing the spectrum of designer boutiques such as Gucci, Valentino, Channel and many others. Even if fashion isn’t your thing, the marina was full of sailboats and yachts just off-shore. My team and I got to explore the markets where we snatched up hard-to-find vinyl and art before hitting the beach and soaking up some sun.  My favorite day was our trip through the Rhône Valley, exploring the wine industry and trying wine in one of the most historic wine regions in the world. We had a great tour through an upstart vineyard, where we learned about different grapes and other products they were producing like honey and some of the most amazing olive oil I’ve ever had. I loved it because we walked through the property and helped tie the vines together all in the gorgeous French countryside. It was a movie-quality backdrop and a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life. 

When we weren’t exploring the south of France, we were introduced to European and American entrepreneurs. These guests were nothing short of world-class, prime examples of why validating your idea is so important. Entrepreneurs ranged from distillers of American bourbon made for the French palate, to a former fashion buyer who created a sustainable leather made from grape skins. They all emphasized how many potential customers they interviewed and why it was important to be adaptable for your business to succeed. One entrepreneur conducted over 3,000 taste tests before settling on her final product. Never before have I been introduced to this caliber of entrepreneur in my time at Leeds whose stories directly correlated with what we were being taught in class. These interactions were one of a kind and offered a glimpse into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs on a global scale.

In addition to class time and tours, everyone experiences a unique internship with New Venture Creation. I was lucky to work for a startup called . Timao is a consulting firm that introduces private industry organizations to the lucrative world of French public works projects. France spends more money on their public infrastructure than any country in Europe. Timao specializes in aligning companies and their resources to obtain valuable government contracts. A 216 billion Euro per year market. My classmate Will and I learned to analyzed and visualized data that our supervisor used to attract clients. Will's Excel skills broke down huge amounts of data into manageable information while I created dynamic dashboard that showed the market potential, potential competition and a heatmap that revealed underserved cities and cities that had large amounts of competition. It was an amazing experience utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to create solutions to our problems. I am so proud of the work we accomplished for Timao!

Start Your Journey

Are you interested in expanding your horizons this summer? Reach out to Brad (Brad.Werner@colorado.edu) or attend his office hours at on Wednesdays from 1 pm to 2:30 pm until the end of the fall 2023 semester. Brad loves meeting and hearing from anyone interested! He will tell you everything you need to know to prepare for the class and trip. You can also reach out to me at Joe.Constancia@colorado.edu with any questions or to learn more.  

exceeded my expectations and has made me a savvier entrepreneur. If you are seeking an adventure that goes beyond the ordinary, one that will not only shape your business mind but create lasting memories and connections, then look no further. This program is a catalyst for personal and professional growth and a journey that will resonate throughout your college experience and beyond.

Space in Global Seminar: New Venture Creation & Internship is limited. to start your journey and expand your horizons.

Meaningful impact and an expanded perspective, that’s what did for me. My name is , and I am a sophomore at the studying molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the College of Arts and Sciences while pursuing a minor in business from the Leeds School of Business. Last summer, I spent six weeks in Cape Town, South Africa, making a difference for small-business entrepreneurs. But this decision and journey didn’t just fall into my lap. Through my participation in , my team and I were visited by two EESA alumni who shared their stories and inspired me to start the journey because EESA:

1. Delivers real, meaningful impact in the community we serve (townships in Cape Town, South Africa) in a short but intense six-week period, and

2. Encourages participants to stretch themselves, expand their perspectives and change their lives.

Through this article, I hope to inspire you too.

Learning in the Field

EESA has a unique experiential learning framework, which is structured as half classroom time each morning and half field work, directly supporting local entrepreneurs (your clients), each afternoon. This structure allows you to apply everything you learn to the businesses you work for. To that point, I had never been in a course where I could apply classroom content to real-world situations almost immediately, making EESA a truly unique learning experience for me. During the program, I was assigned to a team of seven other American and South African students, or should I say business consultants, from , the , the , and the in South Africa. We then received two business clients from South African townships facing various challenges to their businesses, including growth, development and operations. Once you have your clients, each business consulting team then works closely with the clients to analyze their businesses, get to the roots of their problems, uncover major issues and provide recommended solutions. For six weeks, your full attention is on the client. As EESA’s motto goes, you are there to “serve the client.” That being said, you still get plenty of time to explore South Africa to venture off campus by participating in safaris, wine tastings and hikes to experience the local culture.

Profound Impact on Me

The EESA experience helped me develop both academically and personally. My world opened up to the geography of South Africa, and ESSA exposed me to the history and culture, including the differences in the local Cape Town regions and the remaining legacy of the apartheid or the policy of racial segregation that existed in South Africa from the 1940s until the early 1990s. These topics weren’t discussed or taught in the classroom. Instead, the American students had the opportunity to experience those topics while out in the field, interacting with our clients or learning from the South African students we worked closely with throughout the summer.

Experiencing the townships firsthand opened my eyes and helped me gain perspective on the hardships and struggles locals have experienced throughout their lives. Despite these challenges, South Africa contains some of the most selfless and community-oriented people I have ever encountered. Even those who came from humble surroundings give themselves to help others. They cherished their community and treated everyone as family. One of our clients even over-hired and overpaid the staff in her nail salon because she wanted to help everyone work their way out of the townships, despite this practice causing her business to lose money.

As a college student focused on learning and growing, I applied to the EESA because it allowed me to have a significant positive impact in the world. Through EESA, I watched my clients' lives change from that first week to the final week and realized the positive impact I and my classmates had on their future. The EESA clients live on very little. By helping them solve the challenges their businesses face, you are changing the trajectory of their lives and the lives of their families and employees. In the grand scheme of things, you also help the South African economy by building up the businesses in the townships and decreasing the gap that the apartheid created.

I learned so much about myself and others from EESA, and you can too! Apply to be part of the 2024 EESA cohort by December 1st, 2023, and gain the tremendous experience I did by working with a team from different backgrounds and developing your leadership, communication, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills.

Thanks to EESA, I approach the world differently and have more gratitude and less selfishness. EESA not only empowers you and your client but changes lives for the better. Ready to have your life changed?

Earning an engineering degree can be draining. After three years of college, I have become accustomed to wandering the halls of the CU Boulder Engineering Center with bloodshot eyes trying to make it through the next laborious homework assignment, mind-numbing midterm, and textbook reading quiz. All in the hopes that my diligence will keep me on the right side of the grading bell curve, where I will eventually graduate with a degree and a fat paycheck. School and hard work can be demoralizing, but after participating in , I realized that it doesn’t have to be that way.

EESA is a six-week study abroad program where students become business consultants and learn the complexities entrepreneurs in Cape Town face. �鶹��Ժ are put in teams with the sole mission of helping their clients. How do we help the clients? That’s what we had to figure out. With guidance from instructors from the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Florida, teams learn everything they can about the business. Then we create accounting systems, marketing tools, employee training, or anything else to accelerate the success of our clients’ businesses.

Before going into EESA, my understanding of business was slim. An ECON 101 class and a Shark Tank marathon aren’t a robust background. To say that I got thrown into the deep end would be an understatement. Classes were held for a few hours in the morning where I got a relentless crash course in marketing, accounting, economics, leadership, and much more! But unlike a normal class where material is taught for a test, we would meet with our clients in the afternoon and apply what we learned. I found it refreshingly engaging to sit in class and pay attention to what my professors had to say because the more I learned, the better consultant I became.

Granted, the fast-paced nature of EESA is something felt by every student, not just the non-business majors. The entire goal of the program is to help empower entrepreneurs in limited time, so the pressure is on for everyone! My team spent countless late nights writing reports, designing logos, and sifting through company records to make the biggest impact we could. I spent most of my time stressed and burnt out, but the work was worth it. Normally, I throw out my homework the second my grade is posted, but contributing to a deliverable for a client was worth the strain! I knew the later I stayed up and the harder I pushed, the bigger my impact would be for my clients.

But EESA isn’t just grueling work. Woven into the late nights are unforgettable days of adventure. We went wine tasting, bungee jumped off the second tallest bridge in the world, saw the world's only warm water colony of penguins, hiked mountains, went out with friends, and so much more! Cape Town is a breathtaking city of culture and beauty, and EESA was an incredible way to immerse myself in all it has to offer.

Even with all these amazing adventures, my favorite experience was working in the townships of Cape Town. Tourists are told to stay away because they can be unsafe and hard to reach, but the people I met in Khayelitsha and Mfuleni were incredible. I spent hours talking to my clients about their business and learned so much about the lifestyle, the hardships, the culture, and the community they cherished. Though I am thousands of miles removed, I see my clients as friends.

The thing I miss the most after returning to school in the states is the sense of fulfillment I found in EESA. I spent hundreds of hours with my team, our clients, and the professors, but everyone was so committed and motivated to help the entrepreneurs that staying up late working on a report or designing a website was what I wanted to do. I stopped caring about my letter grade and focused on how I could contribute to my team. It felt liberating when the work I had to do and the work I wanted to do were the same.

Traveling to South Africa has been the best college experience! The skills I learned will transfer to the rest of my education and career. I’m not sure when or how, but I’m going to find my way back to South Africa. Cape Town might be the most amazing place on planet Earth! I know that whatever I do with my career, I will devote far too much energy to helping people and loving people with whatever I do.

If you are ready for your next great adventure, apply to be part of or reach our to me at alexander.ayala@colorado.edu to discuss the program. Apply for EESA now! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Entrepreneurship experts visited Israel to help scientists and researchers to recognize breakthrough ideas. ​​

Experts from Leeds' Deming Center for Entrepreneurship visited the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel, to help researchers and scientists better understand the business applications of breakthrough discoveries. From left, Brad Werner, Sharon Fireman and Erick Mueller at the Weizmann workshop. Below right are scenes from workshop sessions being led by Mueller and Fireman.

If you’re in business, the word “entrepreneurship” has many associations—founders, startups, visionaries, people who look at problems differently and find solutions in improbable places. 

If you are more technically oriented, “entrepreneurship” may not be in your vocabulary at all. 

And for Erick Mueller, executive director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, that’s a problem, because technical professionals are often responsible for the kinds of innovations that can be game-changers in business. 

“Teaching scientists and researchers how to better recognize and evaluate ideas from an entrepreneurship lens offers huge potential for positive impact—whether that’s a breakthrough medicine, a cure to a horrible disease or better security protocols to keep kids safe online,” Mueller said. 

That’s what brought the Deming Center to the Weizmann Institute of Science for a workshop in entrepreneurial thinking for staff scientists at the Rehovot, Israel, research university. 

MORE: Inside Deming's Rural Entrepreneurship Workshop series

“Bringing that innovation and entrepreneurship lens to scientists is maybe not the first community that comes to mind when thinking of our workshop participants,” said Mueller, who designed the Idea to Action with his Deming Center colleague, Brad Werner. “But there’s so much potential for these researchers to create impact that truly changes the world for the better.” 

High potential for impactful business activity

Mueller and Werner were tasked with teaching the career researchers at Weizmann’s BINA unit—short for Bridge-Innovate-Nurture-Advance—the business side of the life-altering discoveries they already make, hoping these scientists will become more adept at recognizing the big ideas that can impact humanity, and developing them into life-changing applications.

With its high ratio of entrepreneurs and venture capital in proportion to the population, Israel is known in the tech world as “the startup nation,” making it an ideal environment to plant the CU Deming flag and offer scientists ways to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and realize their technological potential.

“From my experience, I know ventures have the highest chance of success when you have a talented group of business as well as technical leaders,” Mueller says. “You can’t have a successful venture without those two disciplines. The cross-disciplinary nature of business creation always results in a greater chance of success.”

“Teaching scientists and researchers how to better recognize and evaluate ideas from an entrepreneurship lens offers huge potential for positive impact​.”

Erick Mueller, executive director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship

Weizmann is mentioned alongside schools like Harvard and MIT when it comes to research, but the workshop “aimed to shift our focus from the basic science that we do in the lab towards understanding how to take our unique idea and turn it into a product,” said Gili Ben Nissan, an associate staff scientist in Weizmann’s biomolecular sciences department. “We learned the various aspects of commercialization, and we were inspired to fly with our imagination to higher grounds and realize that if we have a good idea and the ambition to make a difference, it is possible.”

That’s exactly what Sharon Fireman, who heads BINA’s translational research and innovation unit, was looking for in partnering with Deming. BINA, she said, wants to “assist the staff scientists in expanding their knowledge in this field, expose them to basic concepts in the industry and enable them to create a network that allows collaborating on new innovative projects.”

At Deming, that’s all in a day’s work. 

“Entrepreneurship is a mindset, not just a job description,” Mueller said. “By definition, entrepreneurship is solving problems in the world and empowering people to have a great life.” 

  Why Leeds     Deming Center for Entrepreneurship     Leeds Centers of Excellence

A sense of fellowship and belonging with others is important for a happy life. Finding and becoming a part of a community provides support and perpetual growth. This need for community becomes increasingly stronger in college, especially for international students. 

is a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) earning a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. As an international student from India, he struggled to find social groups that were a good fit for him. Pradyumna yearned for an on-campus organization that supported students of South Asian descent. He believed he was not alone in this struggle and began searching for an organization to bring to CU Boulder.

In August, Pradyumna opened the first college chapter of the at CU Boulder. Currently, the chapter has over 200 members and is committed to empowering students of Indian origin in academic and professional success!

Pradyumna’s Journey with AAEIO

Pradyumna was born in Thirthahalli, a small village in India, and was raised in several places across the Middle East as a result of his father’s job. As an adult, Pradyumna decide to expand his horizons and traveled to the United States where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, he first experienced a lack of representation for South Asian communities within American student-run organizations. He elaborates,

“There was no overarching organization for international South Asian students or students of Indian origin.”

Once Pradyumna’s brother began undergraduate studies, the idea to build a community for South Asian students grew. Pradyumna watched as his brother encountered similar struggles finding on-campus South Asian or Indian communities. So, Pradyumna decided to take matters into his own hands and support his brother in navigating college life. Pradyumna comments,

“At that time, I was thinking ‘Why can't there be an overarching professional community for South Asian international students?’. There are huge organizations that have conferences every year, with chapters at universities across the United States. So, I decided to try starting one for India to see how it goes.”

Pradyumna researched organizations and came across the . At the time, AAEIO was exclusively a professional organization with no presence on college campuses. Pradyumna contacted the organization and shared a three-part vision he created for the integration of AAEIO into college campuses:

Part 1: Create a fully operational chapter at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Part 2: Begin one additional AAEIO chapter at another university campus within two years.

Part 3: Expand to 15+ AAEIO chapters across various colleges and universities in the United States within five years.

In addition to this proposal, Pradyumna actively sought out a faculty advisor at CU Boulder to assist him with the development of the CU Boulder AAEIO chapter. He found Debanjan Mukherjee, a professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder. 

CU Boulder's AAEIO chapter pillars are entrepreneurship, professional development, and advocacy. AAEIO serves as a resource and community for all students of Indian origin. The chapter’s is comprised of both students and faculty who have extensive engineering backgrounds and professional experiences. Members of AAEIO can utilize each other’s networks, knowledge, and resources as support to achieve academic and professional success. 

Pradyumna’s struggle to find a community through his academic studies inspired his creation of the CU Boulder AAEIO chapter. He is encouraged to continue building AAEIO for his family, and comments,

“My grandparents were very adamant about making the most out of yourself and your profession. Creating AAEIO makes the most sense to me.”

Pradyumna’s grandparents were heavily involved in the Thirthahalli community. Even though they are both gone, their legacy lives on, and Pradyumna is reminded of their community ties whenever he returns to India. Creating this program and building a community is a tribute to Pradyumna’s grandparents.

Pradyumna’s Advice

Pradyumna provides the following advice for anyone else trying to build a community or organization, 

 “Keep trying. I think that most institutions are designed so that success is awarded while failure is not. Understand that you are going to fail and that embracing failure will be much more valuable than any success.”

AAEIO’s Upcoming Events

On November 14th, from 5 pm-6 pm, AAEIO will be hosting their Engage Series 2022! At this event, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with panelists: 

Amar Vattakandy: Principal Electrical Engineer at Microsoft Inc.

Naveen Mysore: Principal Engineer, Intel Corp

Sandeep Bhushan: Director at Seagate Technology & CU Boulder Alum

Divya Bhat Bellur: Senior Software Engineer at Salesforce & CU Boulder Alum

Sreesha Nath: Assistant Teaching Professor at CU Boulder

Reena Kuni: Senior Test Engineer at Keysight

To attend this event at the BOLD Center at CU Boulder, be sure to !

If you are interested in joining the AAEIO community, you may contact the chapter via email at aaeiobuffs@colorado.edu or . You can also follow along on to see upcoming events!

We traveled 5,000 miles and could not be farther from home.
Away from friends and family and everything familiar.
But we were all where we needed to be for that moment in time,
And we could not be closer to changing the world.

We started as students. Adventurous ones at that, but still students; ranging from freshmen to upper graduates. All with hopes of traveling, learning, and making a difference. Over six short weeks, our teams of hodgepodge students from all over the world grew together to become professional consultants and mentors who inspired brilliant entrepreneurs. We guided and helped build the foundation for them to better their businesses and set them up for success.

Thirty students from the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Florida joined our peers from the University of Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa. Now consultants, we were matched with township-based entrepreneurs in the early stages of building their businesses. Working with low-income entrepreneurs, we were pushed to think creatively to solve unique problems. Carefully, we analyzed the companies and came up with tangible solutions (or deliverables) to improve business aspects, including customer acquisition, marketing, customer relations, sales, accounting, inventory management, employee contracts, and organization. We also helped our clients prioritize aspects of their business that deliver the greatest return on their time and energy. Classes were taught by passionate professors from across the United States every weekday morning and provided knowledge and insights on how to become better consultants. We watched ourselves and our friends work harder than we ever thought possible. But when you care so deeply about what you are doing and who you are doing it for, it makes it worth it.

By far, the most memorable part of this adventure was getting to know the South African students and our clients. Their stories are inspiring, and we could not have made the difference we did without their aid in translating the languages and culture. They showed us cool places, introduced us to interesting foods, and were our most trusted guides. The friends we made there were one of the most exciting parts of the adventure.

Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa was not all hard work. Many times we were able to enjoy the beautiful waterfront and all-day weekend adventures. We scaled the side of Table Mountain, visited penguins, had a 4th of July BBQ celebration, went wine tasting, and enjoyed many of the wonderful places Cape Town has to offer. If you are ready to change your life and make a difference, this program is for you. After weeks of hard work and dedication, this is what I wrote in my journal….

July 22 - Day 42 - Final Day

Not sure where to even begin. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I changed lives. I learned about myself. Realized I’m okay with being alone sometimes. Met extraordinary people. Had beautiful times. Saw beautiful things. Was inspired deeply. Mostly by our wonderful professors but also by my peers and clients. Saw things and places I will never forget. Learned about caring for myself but also how to lean on others. Without a doubt longest and shortest 6 weeks I’ll ever experience. I'm glad I came and met these people in this place in time. I'm glad I came. I'm glad I inspired as much as I was inspired. I thank the universe for this experience.

If you are ready for your next great adventure, apply to be part of .

Meet , Founder and CEO of , makers of lightweight, packable, inflatable boats suitable for outdoor sports enthusiasts. 

Originally from Lima, Peru, Mariana moved to Colorado in 2015, where she instantly fell in love with the local nature and outdoor activities. When Mariana began packrafting with her husband Mike in 2019, she quickly noticed a lack of minority representation within the sport, inspiring her to make a difference. Soon after, Mariana and Mike started Alluvia Packraft; manufacturers with the purpose to donate three percent of profits to creating a more inclusive, diverse, and safe outdoor community!

About Alluvia Packraft

Mariana and Mike began Alluvia Packraft in 2019. Based in downtown Grand Junction, Colorado, Alluvia Packrafts are lightweight, packable, inflatable boats. These rafts can pack down to the size of a roll of paper towels and weigh less than eight pounds! 

Currently, Alluvia Packraft has two raft options available on their :

• The Dirty Devil is highly versatile and suitable for Class II waters. 

• The Gunny Gorge is slightly larger and more suitable for challenging whitewater rafting.

Alluvia Packrafts are limited. Be sure to purchase yours now, before it’s too late!

Keep up with Alluvia Packraft on , , and to be one of the first to see the new products.

Challenges Faced

Alluvia Packraft experienced major supply chain delays as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mariana reflects,

“Our manufacturer is overseas, and being unable to visit them is extremely difficult because you want to know who you’re working with. So, we had to become resourceful and conduct research on our own to find someone.”

Demystifying Entrepreneurship Series

In the summer of 2021, Mariana attended StartUps to ScaleUps and Shore Up, part of the Deming Center’s ! She comments on her experience,

“I knew the topics were going to be valuable for our company, so I signed up right away. It was extremely useful to take a step back and look at the business as a whole. In the StartUp to ScaleUp workshop, I realized we were missing many things that we needed in order to scale up”

She continued,

“In the Shore Up workshop, we learned a lot more in-depth about marketing, human resources, hiring processes, and operations.”

Since attending Demystifying Entrepreneurship Workshops, Alluvia Packrafts placed first in , and are preparing for the in May. 

If you are considering starting a company or currently running a small business, register now for this summer’s Demystifying Entrepreneurship Workshops! Check out the upcoming schedule:

 | May 13 & 14 | Ignacio, CO

 | July 22 & 23 | Sterling, CO

 | September 30 & October 1 | Telluride, CO

 | October 14 & 15 | Hayden, CO

Meet , a teacher at the University of Colorado Boulder and Co-Founder of Techstars. has a mission dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed! They offer a variety of accelerator programs that allow startups to connect with mentors, receive funding, and participate in educational workshops.

David attended McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he received a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. While in college, he spent a summer working for a startup company and fell in love with the idea of being his own boss. He then knew that his dream was to start a company of his own. Soon after college, David set off to become a serial entrepreneur and found great success during his tenure with Pinpoint Technologies (which was later sold to) and Techstars!

Currently, David is sharing his entrepreneurial knowledge and experience as a teacher of Entrepreneurship with the University of Colorado at Boulder, Leeds School of Business.

About Techstars

In 2007, David and his business partner, David Cohen, began Techstars. Prior to Techstars, David began a handful of other companies. One of these companies was Pinpoint Technologies which was eventually sold to ZOLL Medical. He later founded an app for cell phones called iContact that launched in 2006, which was prior to the release of the iPhone. This app allowed users to share locations with each other. However, the company was ahead of its time and David decided to abandon the project to focus on other opportunities.

After their experience navigating the highs and lows of the startup world, the duo decided to create Techstars, a company dedicated to helping entrepreneurs! Techstars is a three-month accelerator program that brings together investors and startups aiming to deliver scalable impact. These startups are surrounded by mentors that provide guidance and mentorship on how to be successful.

Since its founding in 2007, Techstars has invested in over 2,500 startups and has launched accelerator programs worldwide. The program is highly competitive and accepts only 2% of the total applicants for each program.

Recently, David stepped down from his CEO role at Techstars. He believes that bringing in a new CEO will help optimize the future potential of the company. David is still highly involved with Techstars and serves on the board of directors.

Challenges Faced

David faced challenges while leading Techstars during the financial turndown in 2009, which was not long after beginning Techstars. This was a difficult time for the company as investors retreated from investing in startups. The duo overcame this challenging time period by proposing alternative ways to persuade investors to participate in the program. 

David believes that the challenges he faced with Techstars, and the failures he endured prior to its conception, taught him humility.

Upcoming Projects and Events

This semester David will be teaching a class at the Leeds School of Business! He spent the entire fall 2021 semester as a coach preparing to teach this spring. David has been excited about the opportunity to teach students entrepreneurship and share his experiences for quite some time.

Additionally, David previously led a “Startups & Sandwiches” event hosted by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. This series provides students with a unique opportunity to meet and network with executives and founders alike, and participate in a presentation, challenge, or discussion facilitated by each guest.

Check out the upcoming Spring 2022 Startups & Sandwiches lineup !

Advice for current students

David Provides the following advice for current students,

“I think many people try to start businesses because they have an idea that they think will make them a lot of money. The truth is, if you’re driven by money then it’s probably not the right idea or role. If you see a problem in the world or something that just drives you crazy and you want to solve this problem through entrepreneurship... the odds of success are much, much higher”

Meet , Co-Founder of the Colorado-based composting and recycling company, . 

Steven is currently studying Management and Entrepreneurship with an emphasis in Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the Leeds School of Business. Steven was raised in South Africa and moved to England in 2011 where he served in the U.K. Royal Marine Commandos for six years. In 2017, Steven moved to Colorado where he decided to return to school. 

Upon moving to Denver, he met other South Africans who shared the same passions and environmental concerns. Together, they created Next Use. Next Use aims to make waste management easier for households through their door side services, designed for people who don’t have access to municipal composting and recycling services.

About Next Use

The idea for Next Use was conceptualized in 2020 when Steven and his South African friends came together and began planning ways to help the environment. Steven and his co-founders all shared a passion for the environment and wanted to do something that could make an impact for the better. They determined that they should enter the waste diversion industry because not many programs currently existed to empower people to compost and recycle.

Next Use provides at-home recycling and composting services in Denver, Broomfield, and Westminster. Their goal is to limit the amount of waste that goes into landfills. Surprisingly, the landfill diversion rate in Colorado is only 15.9%, with the national average at 32.1%! Through their door side services, Next Use can provide access to composting and recycling to those who do not usually have access, such as apartment buildings or new communities.

In Denver, only 9% of households have signed up for the city’s composting program. Next Use is working to create a more accessible and efficient model with the current city program. With door side services and a variety of services to choose from, the team aims to make waste diversion easier for households.

This past March, Next Use officially launched their waste diversion operations. Steven elaborates,

“It's been a slow but steady growth. We are so humbled that people are signing up with our service and we're trying to spread the word. We are currently focusing on educating the public as much as possible about waste diversion and how easy it is to be a part of the solution. We want to make our services accessible to a wider range of customers which is why we are more affordable than our competitors.”

Next Use is comprised of two Co-Founders, Steven Winterbach and Ross Blount. Ross assists with operations and financial management. , another team member, assists with marketing strategy and growth. They currently have two teams located in Denver and Broomfield/Westminster and are focused on expanding in the near future. 

Upcoming Projects/ Events

The Next Use team is partnering with and creating package deals with their products and Next Use’s services to provide zero waste goods to clients and a reduced carbon footprint.

Next Use is also focused on expanding their services in the near future, by connecting with local recycling centers to dispose of other waste such as hard to recycle items. They want to continue educating communities on the proper ways to dispose of various items and limit the amount of waste in landfills. 

Challenges Faced

Problem-solving was a common challenge Steven and his team faced. Each day, a new problem would appear, and together the team had to find a solution. Steven notes that moving through these challenges and generating solutions has been extremely rewarding, and it is a process that will continue throughout the entirety of their venture. 

Steven also mentioned that the process of getting started was extremely difficult, 

“I had in my mind this dream and vision of how I wanted the business to look, but with limited resources, I realized we just needed to start. People will grow with us. It’s important to know that nothing is going to be perfect from the outset.”

Advice for Current �鶹��Ժ

Steven provides the following advice for current students,

“If you're sitting in class or driving somewhere and your mind starts drifting -- and you're thinking about one specific problem or business idea, try to focus on that one thing. And if you're really fixed on something, you will find a way to make it happen. I would say that's the most important piece.”

Next Use Process and Ways to Connect

To sign up for Next Use, please visit their website to view their available . Once you register, a member of the Next Use team will provide you with information about your chosen service. Shortly after you touch base, compost and/or recycling bins will be delivered to your house. Every week, Next Use replaces your bins with clean bins for a hassle-free service.

For further reading, feel free to review an opinion published in the Colorado Sun written by Steven about the benefits of composting and recycling.

Follow Next Use on to keep up with upcoming events and education tips. If you have any questions about waste diversion or are interested in signing up for Next Use,  the team. They are happy to assist you!

Meet Visda Carson, CU Boulder Alumna, Leeds Professor, and CEO of , a children’s book series that highlights the joy that togetherness brings. Visda has lived in Colorado for the past 40 years and is a CU Buff through and through.  She attended CU Boulder, double majored in Molecular Biology and English, and also completed her MBA. Visda is currently a professor at the School of Business and is a Deming Catalyst Board Member! 

Recently, Visda released a  children's book titled, We Play Music Together, which has been in the making for almost four years! The book was published under her organization WAMA and aims to highlight the joy that togetherness brings. Visda was inspired by a Maya Angelou poem titled “Human Family.” Visda felt the need to create a story that would inspire younger generations to collaborate, listen, and understand each other. 

About WAMA

Visda refers to WAMA as her ‘passion project.’ Inspiration for WAMA came in late 2016 when she became concerned after noticing instances of hate and discrimination in our world. She thought about what she could do to share her own personal experiences about togetherness and collaboration to try to encourage change for the better.

The goal of her children's book series is to highlight the alikeness among human beings while celebrating the differences in our physical appearance. Each book represents boys and girls across all six continents. Visda's most recent book, We Play Music Together, is about music. The idea is to help children learn and take comfort in the fact that we all have a lot in common and to be tolerant of each other while appreciating our differences. 

Net profits from the book and merchandise sales will be donated to various nonprofit organizations. One of the selected non-profits, , is located here in Boulder! Parlando aims to share the love of music and collaboration with people of all ages and backgrounds. is the other non-profit organization and is located in Denver.  CCJA is dedicated to empowering youth to creatively express themselves through the language of jazz.

The WAMA team consists of Visda (Author and Creator), Maia Scott (the Illustrator), and Sara Heideman (Graphic Designer.) The collaboration of the WAMA team reflects the message that they are aiming to convey as a diverse group of women collaborating to create something beautiful.

The book is currently available on her and was released on May 4th. You may also contact Visda directly at wama.together@gmail.com. 

COVID-19 Implications

Visda notes that her book emerged as a silver lining from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Visda enjoys traveling and if it weren't for COVID-19, she would likely have been too busy to focus on her book. With the pandemic limiting all activities, Visda was able to fully commit to her children's book and actually work on the WAMA project.

Upcoming Projects

Visda’s next book will be titled “We Dance Together.” She plans to add more to the series and continue the common theme of togetherness.

Advice for Current �鶹��Ժ

Visda provides the following advice to students:

“Take the opportunity to connect with as many other students as you can in terms of listening to other perspectives whether it's in the classroom, clubs, or sports. When you add two plus two, you end up with ten, which is a lot more than four. Learn to listen to each other, and take other perspectives into consideration.”