Last spring, the McIntire School of Commerce celebrated their No. 2 ranking among commerce schools in the nation. Yet even at a top-tier university, it is not often that a student finds him or herself waiting in the Newcomb burrito line beside the next Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. In fact, students such as fourth-year Engineering student Pavan Gupta would go so far as to argue that students on Grounds lack the entrepreneurship of neighboring Ivy Leagues. Other students would beg to differ.
"U.Va., at least from my perspective, fundamentally lacks the spirit of entrepreneurship that our peer schools like Harvard, Penn, Stanford, MIT, etc. seem to have. And I'm not sure why," Gupta said.
The sheer quantity of students at the University, however, offers an opportunity for creative entrepreneurial ventures. These student innovators are not limited in origin to the McIntire School, but are at home in the College as well.
Fourth-year College student Waqas Ali said he surprised his friends by taking over a business endeavor founded by his father. As the operator of AmericanMedicalAids.com, Ali has begun to sell medical supplies to consumers and hospitals. Ali's father founded the business in 1982 but did not sell a single product. After watching his father pay taxes on the business for years, Ali said he decided to step in. He took over the business in 2004, turning it into a Web-based service. Selling products that range from stethoscopes and thermometers to wheelchairs and home pregnancy tests, Ali has managed to make the business a nationwide venture.
"I'm not quite ready to buy that yacht, but I do alright," Ali said.
Ali said he is constantly trying to find new customers in order to increase his success. Because Ali is a history major, and not a pre-med student, he said he takes random opportunities to spice things up.
"If a customer calls me asking questions about a defibrillator, I have to make small talk and pretend to be interested while I furiously Google the answer to his question," Ali said. "It's fun."
The South Asian Studies department has turned out an entrepreneur as well -- fourth-year College student Arpita Mukherjee. Mukherjee has created a non-profit arts organization named Broad Gauge Entertainment, whose mission is to provide minority communities opportunities in the arts through professional training and experience. The organization has four departments: film, drama, writing and dance. The departments focus on telling stories of minorities and including minority voices in mainstream works -- both classical and contemporary. Above all, Mukherjee said they encourage revisionist approaches to the arts that combine several cultural sensibilities and ideas.
"It's like my good friend Gaurav said, 'Why can't a South Asian play Hamlet?'" Mukherjee said. "He can. And he should."
According to Mukherjee, Broad Gauge Entertainment hopes to garner and nurture young talent, as well as create opportunities for their participants. While exploring race, gender and ethnicity, the group is striving for a more integrated stage.
Recently, Broad Gauge held a staged reading with Washington Shakespeare Company, in which several South Asian actors got the opportunity to perform with professional actors. They also launched the dance company Nautch at the local Miss India Pageant. The premiere performance was an interpretive dance inspired by the bomb blasts which recently shocked India, Mukherjee said.
Third-year College students Prescott Bailey and William VanDevender also caught the business bug. They spend their free time running a vending machine operation in Virginia and Louisiana called Specialty Vending Services. They purchase, place and service the vending machines for the locations, gaining an edge by offering goods their competitors cannot. Bailey said they began SVS two years ago as a way to generate extra cash while they were in school. According to Bailey, they wanted to pursue something they could concentrate on outside of school, but still have enough time to maintain focus on their education. Their operation allows them to work flexible hours which is necessary for them as students.
Bailey said he and VanDevender have been "extremely happy" with the progress that SVS, LLC. has made. They began the business with one vending machine and continually reinvested their profits in the company to cultivate its growth. Now they have 21 machines in operation, with plans for further expansion. Bailey said they have chosen to place their machines at high-volume locations in various business and living locations throughout the University area.
So how can other University students follow their own dreams?
"Mostly, just act like you know what you're doing even if you don't," Ali said. "The other day I put on a suit, wore nice shoes and sunglasses and went down to the U.Va. hospital and chatted up the lady behind the counter at their supply procurement department and gave her my card."
Mukherjee said students should remember the possibilities.
"If it seems impossible, then it's worth it, because the possible things have already been done," Mukherjee said. "This is how we inspire people in my area -- through cheap sentimentality. It always works."
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