In 1999, University of Utah student Stuart Fetzer had a vision – to start a business plan competition modeled after competitions offered at MIT and Stanford. Along with Seth Shaner, Fetzer created the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge (UEC), a business-plan competition for college students across the state of Utah. Fetzer and Shaner both graduated from the […]
Category: Alumni
We have a thriving alumni community. Learn what’s new by reading about alumni news, announcements and opportunities. Go Utes!
Q&A: A History of the Lassonde New Venture Development Center
Scott Holley was the first student director of the Pierre and Claudette MacKay Lassonde New Venture Development Center, a division of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah, and one of the first student leaders at Lassonde. He graduated from the University of Utah in 2002 with a BS in finance. The New […]
U. of Utah Announces Entrepreneur Program for Alumni
The University of Utah announced a major new program today to support all alumni interested in entrepreneurship. Lassonde for Life is open to all alumni of the university, from every department and major, who want to start or grow a business. It is provided by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-10 ranked division of the […]
Lassonde Alumni Receives Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award
A Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute alumni Josh Eckman recently received an Ernst & Young’s 2022 Entrepreneur of The Year award for its Mountain West region. Eckman is a co-founder and CEO of Carterra, a medical device company founded on University of Utah technology that helped develop COVID-19 therapies. We took the opportunity to catch up with […]
Sathya Vijayakumar: Healthcare Executive and Mentor to Entrepreneurs
Since its establishment, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute has built a community that caters to creation and connection. Sathya Vijayakumar embodies these traits; as a healthcare expert and entrepreneurial guide, she mentors student entrepreneurs through her knowledge and network. Vijayakumar feels grateful for the years she has spent at Lassonde and cherishes her continued involvement with student […]
Campman: An Online Marketplace for Outdoor Gear
There’s rarely such a thing as an immediate success story, and University of Utah David Eccles School of Business alumni Chris Holt definitely knows this. After graduating with an MBA in 2005, Holt became a medical technologist, but dreams of starting his own business stayed present after his experiences with what is now the Lassonde […]
How Jared Pieper ‘Entrepreneured’ His Apple Career
In his senior year of undergraduate degree at the University of Utah, Jared Pieper realized something was missing in his engineering program. “The concepts were interesting, but the type of work I realized I might be doing didn’t fit my personality,” he said. “I wasn’t excited by the prospect of doing simulations by myself, sitting […]
Attend Demo Day, Get Seeded Final Event & Alumni After Party on April 29
Join us at Demo Day on Monday, April 29, at Lassonde Studios. The main event will be 5-7 p.m. followed by an Alumni After Party at 7-8 p.m., where you can connect with old friends and meet some new ones. Demo Day is our wrap-up party for the academic year, the final Get Seeded pitch […]
VIDEO: David Pinnock Student Leader Feature
Get to know David Pinnock, a former Lassonde student leader who is using the skills he learned managing our Make Program. Learn more about the Make Program: lassonde.utah.edu/make
How to Construct a Culture in Your Startup
One of the most common things I notice from employee surveys (the ones with flashy titles like “What Millennials Want from Their Workplace”) is the focus on culture. If you’re just starting out, you might ask yourself, “How do I create this culture everyone is talking about, why does it matter, and what does it […]