Tanner Nott (Mktg’24) planned to work in finance after graduation. But everything changed when she enrolled in Assistant Teaching Professor Brad Werner’s New Venture Creation class.
“A year ago, I totally thought I knew what I wanted to do,” she said. “Once I got in the startup space and had Brad as a professor, it completely changed my outlook and made me realize I had skills that I had never really been encouraged to put to use before.”
Nott decided to pursue an entrepreneurship certificate. Since graduating, she has continued working on Solii, the health food company she created in Werner’s class.
Like Nott, many recent college graduates have become entrepreneurs instead of pursuing nine-to-five jobs. A 2022 Intelligent.com survey of new college graduates found that 17% of respondents already ran their own businesses. An additional 16% of respondents “definitely” planned to start a business after graduation.
Founding a startup is becoming increasingly popular, and at Leeds, abundant resources empower students to launch their ideas.
Werner, who teaches in the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Operations Division, said CU places a larger focus on entrepreneurship than when he started seven years ago.
“Bottom line is for our students, all you want to do is create options, give them the options to live whatever life they live,” he said. “I believe that developing this type of thinking helps them create more options.”
Full story: Propelling Sustainable Startups | Leeds School of Business | University of Colorado Boulder
