Bob Randall, far left in the photo above, with son Brett, daughter Robin, and Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher at the 2018 Randall Family Big Idea Competition, is on the Pitt Board of Trustees and founder of the Randall Family Big Idea Competition at Pitt. He previously had a successful career as an entrepreneur, serving as CEO of Traco, a window manufacturer that he sold to Alcoa several years ago. At this year's awards ceremony, Mr. Randall announced that he was providing a $2 million seed gift to establish the Big Idea Center for student entrepreneurship at the Innovation Institute, and will be assisting in raising additional funds for the new center.
We caught up with him to get his thoughts on why teaching entrepreneurship is important and the evolution of entrepreneurship education at Pitt.
Let’s go back to the beginning. What was your vision for investing in innovation and entrepreneurship with Pitt in the first place?
My association with Pitt was from a board standpoint. It occurred to me that we were turning students out to the real world like a deer in the headlights. We discussed that with the University development office over a year or two, and we fleshed out the Big Idea Competition. We decided, why not support these young students from a business standpoint and give them exposure to what the real world really demands and how business is done? How do you put together a business plan? What makes you fail? What makes you win? We believe that exposure to that kind of experiential education would serve Pitt students well.
As it turns out, it was a big idea and good things came from that and it grew over the years, to where it is today where we are now positioned to do even bigger and better things in this arena.
How has the Big Idea Competition grown compared with your expectations?
I had multiple visions of what this could turn into, and as it turned out the quality of the students and the quality of not only the ideas, but also the presentations and the cross-pollinated teams from school to school was the biggest surprise we all had. The value of that interface between those students in different disciplines was dramatic and exciting and that helped leverage it even further.
Why is teaching entrepreneurship important? Why should we do it at Pitt?
Small business is the backbone of our country, and for the last 15 or 20 years, it's been in decline. We need to continue the growth of small business through entrepreneurship. It is a must for our country. We need more.
Can you talk a little bit about the Innovation Institute and your own role in it, where it started, and where it's going?
Six or seven years ago I wrote what I would call a white paper pointing out that there was a duplication of efforts and a lot of silos that were occurring in the areas of entrepreneurship education and technology transfer through the University. Different schools were doing their own thing. My white paper was based on getting rid of the silos and trying to put everything under the provost to consolidate and simplify and leverage that strategy. Patty (Beeson) was very receptive. She got it and just took it and ran with it. I'm very pleased. The result has been dramatic, but it's just the beginning. It's just four years in its infancy, and it has a long way to go and grow.
What led you to expand your commitment with your gift to help establish the Big Idea Center for student entrepreneurship at the Innovation Institute?
Young people in our country are exciting, and they're our future. So why not put our money where our mouth is, so to speak, and support the young people in a way that will make them successful? No matter what discipline they're in, cultivating an entrepreneurship mentality is significant and it leads to success, and of course it leads to failures. That's part of the deal. So you win some, you lose some, but you can't lose in the long run.
How is the culture of entrepreneurship changing at Pitt?
Well, I think that's already happening. It's slow but sure. I think the Innovation Institute is the catalyst. The more awareness that we are able to generate, the more we will be successful in getting students to understand what the opportunities are with clarity. Better communication will lead to a better usage and even a much higher participation in the opportunities that are within the Innovation Institute.
What about students that don't want to become entrepreneurs? What do we do with them?
I would say many students don't want to become entrepreneurs, and I respect that. Being exposed to entrepreneurial techniques and entrepreneurial ideas, however, helps everyone, no matter what they want to do in life. To be able to take a raw idea and develop it into something of value is a worthwhile pursuit. So being exposed to that cannot hurt at all.
The Big Idea competition is now an experiential learning program that takes place over of a couple of months. Are you pleased with this evolution to a more rigorous program?
Well, it's a major commitment for the students and I respect that. They've got their normal academic workload, and for them to take on that additional commitment is impressive. That demonstrates to me that there's a high level of interest in entrepreneurship among Pitt students, and I think that the more we market it and the better we can promote it and create clarity in that marketing, the more people we're going to attract.
Of the 10 years of the Big Idea Competition, what are you most proud of?
I'm most proud of the embrace and the passion of the people involved. I'm most proud of how the leadership of the University has recognized the importance of entrepreneurship education and are behind it 100 percent. I think where we go from here with the launch of the Big Idea Center will be even more exciting. Everybody likes to support success and I believe the Big Idea program has been a success. I think it can lead to a lot more than that, and so I'm still staying supportive of it in a big way and I'll continue to do that as long as it continues to grow.
If you are interested in learning more about student entrepreneurship at Pitt or would like to support the new Big Idea Center, contact Babs Carryer, Director of Education and Outreach at the Innovation Institute at bcarryer@innovation.pitt.edu.