On Monday, February 5, The Weinert Center of Entrepreneurship, INSITE, Startup Learning Community and Transcend came together to host an event, inviting entrepreneurial-driven students to attend Winning Ways, a workshop to learn about the different competitions on campus and PartnerUp! where students pair up and connect over ideas for startups.
To kick off the event, Dan Olszewski,, director of the Weinert Center, acknowledged the Wisconsin Forward Partners sponsors. Sari Judge, Program Manager of the Startup Learning Community, provided a brief overview of all the entrepreneurial competitions across campus and encouraged students to get involved and participate. In addition, we had Abby Krause, president of Transcend UW, discuss this year’s Innovation Competition that will occur in April.
The spotlight then shifted to PartnerUp, an interactive session where students who have an idea for a startup are able to pitch to audience members who want to be part of a team. The objective is to create connections and explore collaborative opportunities that can push their ideas to becoming an actual venture. The range of ideas spanned from real estate development to academic chatbots to an on the go pooper sprayer. Every student who pitched their idea received a bowl of candy which served as an invitation to others to speak with them about their idea.
Witnessing their creativity and passion firsthand was inspiring to all students within the room. All students that attended the event left with a deeper insight on entrepreneurship contests available on campus and support for an idea or a potential collaboration.
The Weinert Center hosts this event every fall and spring encouraging entrepreneurial-minded students the opportunity to foster their startup ideas and ventures. By connecting these students, the Weinert Center serves an important role in driving the growth of entrepreneurship on campus.
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