Business as (Un)usual

An innovative new program invites student entrepreneurs
to build businesses into bachelor’s degrees

Written by Erik Esckilsen
Photographs by Jordan Silverman

Student entrepreneurs Jason Nikel (left) and Sean Gutierrez review merchandise from Nikel’s Third Shift clothing line at a press conference announcing the BYOBiz program.

Only Bill Gates knows for certain whether he regrets dropping out of Harvard University in 1977. But surely there must be professors or administrators who wonder what they could have done to keep the Microsoft cofounder in school. Still, that Gates chose his own unconventional path to the top of the world’s entrepreneurial pyramid arguably testifies less to Harvard’s shortcomings as an institution than to the character of many entrepreneurs. They are often defined as “idea people” driven to innovate -- to develop new solutions. They are typically most stimulated by the process of discovery, not the products. They are excited by inspiration, but they also know that inspiration’s strike is unpredictable. Bluntly stated, the traditional college classroom is not always where entrepreneurs do their best work.

In its more than century-long history of providing careerfocused programs of study, Champlain College has set generations of graduates on the path to entrepreneurial success. Early into his first academic term as College president, however, David Finney began to question how well a Champlain education supported student entrepreneurs already running businesses. What if the next Bill Gates were enrolled at the College? Would his or her studies kindle the entrepreneurial spirit or fuel restlessness and boredom?

As Finney recalls, questions like these were actually prompted by student entrepreneurs at Champlain College. During his regular open-door sessions, when students are invited to sign up for one-on-one meetings, he became aware that a corps of entrepreneurs with viable businesses were already enrolled at the College. Finney shared his discovery with faculty members, who confirmed his impression of Champlain as a potential hotbed of entrepreneurship.

The question then became one of what the College could do to foster entrepreneurship among current students. The answer, formally announced at a press conference in June 2006, is the Bring Your Own Business program -- BYOBiz, for short.

Curriculum and Connections

BYOBiz is not a major per se, but a program through which entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs can take courses and tap resources valuable in developing or launching businesses.

On the academic side, a variety of business-building courses, such as entrepreneurship and small business management, allow students to integrate their businesses, whether they are in the actual or conceptual stages, into their coursework. “When a student wants to participate, we’ll identify what courses a student can take to work on their business,” Charlie Nagelschmidt, associate professor of Business in the undergraduate and graduate programs and codirector of BYOBiz, says. He emphasizes that the program is not just for Business majors. “It’s intended to go across the spectrum,” he says. “There’s an easy leap to say this is a perfect fit for a Business major, but look at the Multimedia & Graphic Design major. … We’re actually hoping that we’ll find students in virtually all majors that have some interest in this program, any program that has an entrepreneurial aspect.”

Because real entrepreneurship involves real-world connections, BYOBiz also offers students contacts in the business community that can provide support and guidance ranging from strategic, financial, legal, and management advice to funding sources. Every fall, as student entrepreneurs enter the program, they will each be surrounded by a “board of advisors,” a team that will act as a sounding board for their business plans and challenges. These mentors are a coordinated network of Vermont business people, College faculty and staff, and fellow BYOBiz students.

Periodic business reviews with advisors will ensure that the students’ business goals are set and advanced. The lessons that area entrepreneurs have learned will be invaluable to the students, and a network of faculty will shepherd entrepreneurs through the early days of their businesses. Additionally, by working alongside other entrepreneurs, these students will learn together and bolster one another’s efforts.

Dave Winslow ’00, the founder and president of Web analytics firm EpikOne in Williston, was one of the first professionals to sign on as an advisor. “As a growth-oriented entrepreneur myself, I’m excited to be a mentor and contribute to the success of these students,” Winslow says. “At EpikOne we participate in Champlain internship programs and have hired several graduates; becoming a mentor is an excellent way to continue the momentum.”

The BYOBiz program will also include a speaker series, a new entrepreneurs’ club, and, ultimately, space where participants can meet to work on their businesses.

According to BYOBiz codirector Dave Binch, who also directs the Champlain College–based Vermont Information Technology Center, a recent feasibility study indicates that, while other institutions, such as the University of Iowa and Babson College in Massachusetts, are pursuing similar programs, none is so actively encouraging student entrepreneurs to bring their businesses to school. “What we’ve learned—and it was a pretty exhaustive study—is that there are loads of colleges and universities that have loads of entrepreneurship courses, but none of them seems to have all of the elements that Champlain is considering,” he says.

Bring on BYOBiz

“We’re crazy if we don’t figure out a way to market this,” Finney remembers thinking around the time of his early discussions with Binch and Nagelschmidt. “These students bring so much to the classroom. They’re so full of energy.” He went a step further than inviting students into his office for a chat, inviting student entrepreneurs to dinner. Last April he hosted a banquet where, according to Nagelschmidt’s count, at least one student entrepreneur sat at each of the dozen or so tables. The evening featured presentations about the BYOBiz program as well as student testimonials about how the College is nurturing, and can continue to nurture, entrepreneurship.

Several of the students who had attended the dinner were on hand on June 15 when Finney gave a press conference to formally launch BYOBiz. Among them was Business major Ben Kaufman ’09, founder of Mophie, Inc., a developer of Apple iPod accessories. Mophie’s 2006 Best in Show in Innovation award at the Macworld convention had garnered local, regional, and national media attention. While going to school full-time, growing his business, and being a good sport as journalists hounded him for interviews, Kaufman also managed to secure more than $1 million in venture-capital funding from Fresh Tracks Capital of Middlebury.

Striking a balance between school and work was not always easy on the freshman from Long Island, New York, who was, and will continue to be, constantly moving between the worlds of business and academics. “As much as I want to work nights and weekends, the real world works from 9 to 5, and I want to be able to communicate with the real world,” he says. “I can do both with what Champlain College is giving me.” With funding in place to take Mophie to the next level, however, Kaufman anticipates that juggling school and work will become more difficult, not less. Unlike some of his famous entrepreneur forebears, however, he’s committed to staying the course. “More than anything, I do want a college education,” he says. “I think it will be a really powerful thing to have a multimillion-dollar business and have a college education. I want to be that person. Secondly, I promised my family that I’ll get through it, and I take those promises seriously.” Kaufman has become an unofficial spokesperson for BYOBiz, but he is hardly alone. Jason Nikel ’07, a Multimedia & Graphic Design major and owner of Third Shift Clothing, a line of apparel sold in Burlington retail stores and online, was also at the June BYOBiz press conference. The student from Shelburne, Vermont, is eager to leverage BYOBiz to kick his business into high gear. “The education at Champlain, coupled with the support and direction of faculty, staff, and other business people, is positioning me to grow my business as I gain experience,” he says.

For Pete Jewett ’06, the hands-on approach to business -- especially e-business -- that defines so much of the Champlain College curriculum is what drew him to Burlington from Leeds, Maine, with his start-up eBay consignment business, GoTradingPost.com. “I don’t think I would be as interested in school without my business,” he says. Jewett and business partner Peter Bruhn ’06 from Bloomfield, New Jersey, also a Champlainer, have seen their sales grow steadily, thanks in part to being able to draw on actual, on-the-job business challenges when completing course assignments and projects. “I know exactly what the professors are talking about because I’m doing it right now,” Jewett says.

Good Businesses Make Good Neighbors

Kaufman may be right to praise Finney’s vision for BYOBiz as “killer.” It’s an opinion he apparently shares with local and state officials holding a stake in Vermont’s entrepreneurial future. Governor Jim Douglas and Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss both attended the BYOBiz press conference. The gesture was more than symbolic. An aging population, limited job opportunities for new college grads, and continued dependence on a few large businesses, such as IBM, find Vermont in an economically vulnerable position. “For Vermont and for northeastern states,” Finney says, “recruiting businesses is a big deal, and it’s really hard to do.” In his view, if Champlain College can help strengthen the Vermont economy, it will. “We’re deeply interested in trying to do whatever we can to make Vermont healthy and vital,” he adds. “Over decades and decades, Champlain College has a remarkably strong track record in being able to do that.”

No single program -- or single college, for that matter -- is likely to solve the state’s economic problems. In Finney’s view, though, BYOBiz appears well matched to this particular state. “We think this will work because Vermont is seen, for better or worse, as the land of small businesses,” he says. The community where Ben & Jerry’s Homemade and IDX Systems Corporation were born is now home to a growing list of entrepreneurs with ties to Champlain College. With BYOBiz, the College is modeling, through its curriculum, the very behavior that has propelled these and so many new businesses to success: innovation.

For more information on the BYOBiz program, visit www.champlain.edu/byobiz. To become a BYOBiz mentor, email alumni@champlain.edu.

-- with additional reporting by Kris Surette