The University celebrated the launch of the Foundry, a student center for entrepreneurship, Oct. 2 with a faculty panel, a speech from University President Jim Ryan and a presentation from keynote speaker Marty Weiner, former chief technology officer of Reddit. Located at 9 Elliewood Ave., the Foundry is the newest resource provided for University students interested in entrepreneurship as part of U.Va. Innovates, a platform designed to catalyze entrepreneurship across rounds.
The launch of the Foundry coincided with the University’s Fall Entrepreneurship Week, designed to generate and encourage students’ entrepreneurial interests through a variety of interactive events Sept. 28 through Oct. 4. These events included the Oct. 1 Founder’s Fair, in which students networked with potential investors and the Sept. 28 Entrepreneurship Escape Room Tournament at the McIntire School of Commerce, where students were tasked with solving problems related to AI startups.
The launch event started with a speech from Professor of Business Administration Mike Lenox, who oversees the new U.Va. Innovates platform. According to Lenox, the University is seeking to empower students to pursue their creative ambitions by providing a space for young entrepreneurial minds to meet and discuss ideas.
“The heart of the Foundry is entrepreneurial thinking — a way of having agency, a way to create future human vision, a way to improve the world around us,” Lenox said.
President Ryan also spoke in support of this initiative, stating that some people believe entrepreneurs are born with their skills, while others believe anyone can become an entrepreneur through experience. According to Ryan, while some people may have innate entrepreneurial talents, it is possible to work hard and develop entrepreneurial skills through learning.
“There might be some people who are more creative or more resilient than others, but it doesn't mean that they have nothing to learn, nor does it mean that someone who's really determined can't learn enough to become a successful entrepreneur,” Ryan said.
Questions around the most effective ways to encourage student entrepreneurship — and the efficacy of current entrepreneurial efforts on Grounds — have been the subject of discussion in recent months. Board of Visitors Member James Murray voiced concern over the cost of the Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative, stating that entrepreneurship skills cannot be taught and that the University should instead focus on educating students in skills related to the liberal arts.
Conversely, Professor of Business Administration Saras Sarasvathy said that while not all students can succeed as entrepreneurs, they can still benefit from entrepreneurial skills.
Sarasvathy was one of three University faculty members, alongside Professor of Public Policy Christine Mahoney and Commerce Lecturer Adam Kerpelma, who spoke at the Foundry’s opening event and answered students’ questions on topics including generative artificial intelligence, marketing and how to deal with failure. During this panel, Sarasvathy compared entrepreneurship to science and said that it should be taught using the scientific method.
“Most people will never, ever become scientists,” Sarasvathy said, “But what the benefit of teaching everybody is is that we end up creating a world where science and technology have beautiful side effects like democracy, because we now start using reason on solving all problems, not just scientific or a technological problems.”
After a ceremonial ribbon cutting performed by Ryan and an open house of the Foundry to show students and faculty the new facility, students listened to a presentation from Marty Weiner, former chief technology officer of Reddit and founding engineer of Pinterest, on how to create a mission and vision for new ventures.
In his presentation, Weiner also discussed his experience at Reddit, stating that he helped transform a work office of 72 employees in 2015 to a “much happier” team of 140 employees by 2018. According to Weiner, one of the key ways to ensure the success of a team is creating a fun and collaborative work environment by prioritizing diversity and inclusion among staff members.
“We're in our workplace more waking hours than we are with our family and friends. That's kind of another family. I just want it to be a fun place that great things happen, and people love to go to,” Weiner said.
Second-year College student Semony Shah said that the frameworks, theories and applications she has learned from taking entrepreneurship courses have been among the most useful takeaways she has had from her education at the University. Shah said having a central location for facilitating ideas will be helpful for students like her who are interested in entrepreneurship, and that having an understanding of innovation and entrepreneurial skills is useful for everyone.
“I'm really interested in learning more,” Shah said. “I just think everyone should know what innovation is and how they innovate in their field or in their world.”
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