Over the past couple months we have been examining entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech and the resources that are available to students. What might not be apparent to budding entrepreneurs is who to talk to and where to go for support. As a result, I decided to compile a list of resources as a guide to anyone affiliated with Georgia Tech. I hope these help anyone out there interested in entrepreneurship. If you see this and you have any questions, please reach out to the great people at VentureLab. They are here to support entrepreneurs on campus and are passionate about doing so.
I'll also add that if you have any questions about this information, please please please reach out to us through our contact form. We are here to help and love to see students interested in entrepreneurship.
Student Groups:
Many undergraduate and graduate student who might be interested in entrepreneurship have no real sense of where to start. I hate that this might be a reason for someone to put off pursuing a business idea. Many student groups have been founded to try and address this by gathering like minded students on campus for networking and education. I've listed a couple here but there are many more that aren't mentioned here. If you run a student group not listed, I'd love to add your info so please reach out.
The Black Market - https://gatech.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/theblackmarket
Entrepreneur's Club - https://gatech.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/ec
Venture Capital Club
Entrepreneurship Club - Run by students in the MBA program
Education:
We have some fantastic courses available for entrepreneurship education. Now for many students this might not fit into their curriculum plans or might delay their graduation date. If you are interested, dual degree programs are available for enrollment.
Undergraduate:
Scheller offers an Entrepreneurship Certificate which covers a total of 4 classes - https://www.scheller.gatech.edu/degree-programs/undergraduate/courses-curriculum/certificates/entrepreneurship.html
Graduate:
TI:GER Program - I can personally attest to the value of the TI:GER program for interested entrepreneurs. For the first semester of the program the focus is on the technology commercializtion process with special attention paid to customer discovery. This is an absolutely crucial part of the entrepreneurship journey. Professor Giuliano is also one of the most open and helpful people you will ever meet.
Guidance:
We have a pretty comprehensive overview of programs and purpose here:
VentureLab - https://venturelab.gatech.edu
ATDC - https://atdc.org/overview/
I-Corps (Obviously)
If in doubt, reach out to anyone at one of these groups and they will help you.
Prototyping:
Say you have a product idea, where do you even go to start making this thing? Luckily we have some resources on campus to help out with that. Each of these maker spaces has slightly different capabilities so take a look to see what fits your needs.
Flowers Invention Studio - https://inventionstudio.gatech.edu
Aero Maker Space - https://ams.gatech.edu
BME Maker Space - https://bme.gatech.edu/bme/bme-design-shop
MSE Maker Space - https://www.mse.gatech.edu/content/check-out-mill
Van Leer Design Commons - https://news.gatech.edu/news/2018/09/27/georgia-tech-opens-newest-student-makerspace
Licensing:
We actually have a new head of commercialization at Georgia Tech who is hyper focused on creating a better ecosystem for tech transfer, check out this link to find out more about that. If you ever need help with licensing your research you should get in contact with the technology licensing team: https://licensing.research.gatech.edu
Make sure you fully understand the licensing rules and requirements for technology developed at Georgia Tech when you’re starting a company.
Funding:
First things first about funding. A common myth about entrepreneurship is that venture capital is the best or only way an entrepreneur should get funding for their idea. This is one of many myths propagated by the silicon valley startup culture, and while VC funding can be useful there are plenty of downsides as well. Now with that being said, you have a ton of options for funding as an entrepreneur at Georgia Tech.
Goodie Nation - https://goodienation.org
Atlanta Technology Angels - https://www.angelatlanta.com
Tech Square Ventures - https://www.techsquareventures.com
Create X - https://create-x.gatech.edu