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 […]
Category: Alumni
We have a thriving alumni community. Learn what’s new by reading about alumni news, announcements and opportunities. Go Utes!
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 […]
From Lassonde to Genentech
Not all students working at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute become serial entrepreneurs. Some develop valuable skills that they apply to many other industries and professions. Katherine Aiello is one of these students. Aiello participated in the Pierre and Claudette Lassonde New Venture Development Center in 2016-17, while pursuing a Ph.D. in bioengineering at the University of […]
From Poverty to E-commerce Mogul in Tanzania
When Bonaventure Mhonda was a child in rural Tanzania, it would have been impossible for him to think he would do anything like graduate from the University of Utah with a master’s in finance and become an e-commerce entrepreneur. Most people in his local area are poor, families struggle to feed themselves, and children walk […]
Doxy.me: Turning Risk into Reward
For some entrepreneurs, taking an unexpected opportunity all the way really pays off. Doxy.me is an online platform created by Brandon Welch that allows doctors to visit with their patients online through video calls, for free. In 2012, Welch was a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah in biomedical infographics. While working on a […]
Diversity, Hiring & Why It Matters: 3 Lessons
I’m a 20-something-year-old, Caucasian, American, male living in Utah. Diversity is not the first thing anyone thinks when they meet me. And rightfully so. I’m part of the most privileged class of people in the world. Not only was I born in a developed country, am I college educated, come from Caucasian descent but I also […]
Building Your First MVP with Limited Funds
A common thought among early entrepreneurs and product designers is to build the final version of a product or software before they start selling it. This is wrong. My goal is to walk you through three examples of how I built a minimum viable product, an MVP, to gain feedback and even sales without ever […]
Q&A: Breaking into the Big Data Industry
If the startups that entrepreneurs created were reflections of their minds, Mark Pittman’s Blyncsy – a company that generates and aggregates big data from any internet-connected device – would fit the bill. It’s because of Pittman’s desire to make sense of an interconnected world that Blyncsy successfully secured $2.6 million in venture capital from Pelion Venture […]
Lassonde Studios Now Open!
It’s now open! The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah opened the doors in August to the $45 million Lassonde Studios, a one-of-a-kind facility where students can live, create new products and launch companies. A dedication and open house will be held on Thursday, Sept. 22. Public tours will be from 12:30 to […]