Here at the Big Idea Center, we offer a variety of different programs and services to help students dive into the wonderful world of innovation and entrepreneurship, such as our Big Idea Blitz 24 hour idea-to-pitch competition, the Randall Family Big Idea Competition (where students can win the grand prize of $25,000!), our summer Blast Furnace student accelerator program, and much more. While all this sounds awesome, we would really like to think that our greatest asset is our entrepreneurs in residence (commonly referred to as EIRs)!
Our EIRs are seasoned entrepreneurs – in other words, they have years of experience leading startups/corporations, creating and growing their own businesses, working within innovative divisions of corporations, and continue to play an active role within the entrepreneurial community outside of working part-time at the Big Idea Center. Additionally, our EIRs come from a wide array of industries such as retail and consumer products, biotechnology and health, education, social innovation, technology/AI, and much more! Throughout the year, our EIRs use their wealth of startup knowledge to help Pitt students not only get their idea up off of the ground, but also help it grow and develop into a lasting and successful business venture. View a current list of our EIRs here.
So why should you work with our entrepreneurs in residence? Here’s a few important reasons for you to consider:
1. You’ll receive a ton of practical knowledge about innovation and entrepreneurship, which is tailored to YOUR needs, from top-tier business experts.
By connecting with our EIRs, you are interacting with industry professionals who have experienced the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur, and therefore can share helpful tips on pursuing your idea/creating your business as well as help you avoid making the same mistakes that they’ve made!
Most EIR-student meetings are done individually or with a team (if you have one already created), so you’ll be receiving valuable, customized attention and guidance about your entrepreneurial journey. Whether you are just starting to dip your toe into the world of innovation and entrepreneurship or already have a pre-existing idea for a business venture, our EIRs are able to help you regardless of what stage you’re at in your entrepreneurial journey.
Some things that our EIRs help with include but are not limited to: brainstorming, how to conduct customer discovery, business canvas (aka business model) creation, how to pitch to potential investors, marketing tactics, how to create a financial model/calculate and understand financial equations, product testing/development, etc.
2. They provide consulting services free of charge!
This is a huge perk for you to take advantage of! Like I said before, our entrepreneurs in residence are industry professionals with years upon years of business experience. Most of them have even held executive positions within their workplaces. If you were to have a consulting meeting with someone of this caliber in any other context outside of the Big Idea Center, let’s just say you would be paying a *very pretty penny* for their services.
However, here at the Big Idea Center, we offer private consulting sessions with our EIRs at no cost to Pitt students! It’s important that you are equipped with the knowledge you need in order to have your idea and business venture set up for the highest chance of success, and we know that a college student’s budget is fairly tight, so please take advantage of this opportunity to receive free business consulting while you still can!
3. They can help expand your network.
An added bonus of working with our EIRs is that they can connect you with those in their network to further develop your idea! For example, if you have an idea about a medical device designed for hospital use and want to reach out to doctors or hospital administrators for customer discovery purposes, but don’t have such connections, chances are high that one of our EIRs knows someone in one of those roles (either through a personal or professional connection). Getting in contact with the right people for customer discovery is crucial in the beginning stages of your idea. Our EIRs can help streamline the process by helping you connect with those that are in their network that fit the criteria you are searching for. (And better yet, you won’t be making as many of those dreaded cold calls!) Also, having these high-level contacts will pay dividends for you throughout your career in ways that you can’t even imagine!
Of course, this list is not all inclusive of all of the wonderful things about working with our entrepreneurs in residence. If you are curious about innovation and entrepreneurship, we highly encourage you to set up an appointment with one of our EIRs! You do not even have to have a business idea in mind to talk with them.
How to Set Up an EIR Appointment:
To set up an appointment with one (or more) of our entrepreneurs in residence, please fill out or contact form here, tell us about your business idea (if applicable), and select “Set up an appointment with an EIR”.
After you have completed the contact form, a Big Idea Center staff member will get in touch with you about matching you to an EIR and setting up a meeting time.