Stories & Updates

VDC Community Sessions Mentor, Mike Meola explains why everyone should stop by on Wednesday nights!

For anyone at University of Delaware who is interested in entrepreneurship, the Community Sessions at Horn’s Venture Development Center should be the number one stop on Wednesday nights. VDC Community Sessions are for students looking to develop their entrepreneurial skills, join a community of like minded creators, get feedback on a current idea or even to get inspiration for their next. The meetings are designed to promote growth by allowing students to give and receive feedback on their ideas, as well as share with each other some lessons that have pushed them in the right direction. Exercises such as idea creation, goal planning, and constant feedback help to blossom creative energy and innovative thinking. Meetings occur every Wednesday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at the Horn Entrepreneurship’s Venture Development Center during the semester. 

Horn Entrepreneurship and eClub will host the 2022 Spring Pitch Party. A hybrid format will take place, with the event as in-person for those registering as presenters.  The larger audience of spectators will remain virtual. It all takes place on March 23, from 6 - 8 p.m.

Three alumni dish on their experience in a NYC startup

A few years ago, the startup company Stadium was delivering dishes from different restaurants together as a single delivery to businesses all across New York City. The company was growing quickly and had endless possibilities ahead of them. Out of nowhere, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and New York shut down in an instant. Suddenly, people were working from home with no need for in office lunch delivery. The team put their heads together and created SnackMagic, which saved their business and was the best pivot response to the pandemic.

University of Delaware’s Devin Landers, Entrepreneurship ‘23 transitioned from a small town in Maryland, and never seeing a palm tree until the age of 19, to traveling across the world to places like the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait during his military service as a Marine Sergeant.

How bias affects pitching competitions

Dr. Daniel Lee is one of the newest and most intriguing professors at Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware. Professor Lee earned his B.A. in math and economics from Emory University, as well as his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Georgia State University. His economics start led him to entrepreneurship because he wanted to see how economic theory would translate into the real world, where people were actually starting up businesses and requesting funding. Dr. Lee saw a lack of public data and focused on finding results to help future entrepreneurs. Dr. Lee is currently studying the effects of free time on entrepreneurship.

This article is part of a series describing how UD Horn Entrepreneurship assists teams in moving their inventions and innovations into the marketplace, a process known as commercialization. Each team receives a customized blend of resources, including training, mentorship, and funding, through the Blue Hen Proof of Concept Program.  Mentorship and support is also provided by Horn Entrepreneurship partners, including the Office of Economic, Innovations and Partnerships and Delaware’s Small Business Development Center.

Lan Wang was a UD graduate student and postdoc, now Versogen’s Director of New Chemistry and Cofounder, who led the effort to scale the world’s leading polymer membrane technologies for converting water into green hydrogen.

The last six months flew by! But our community was anything but quiet. Check out all of the accomplishments - and give kudos to your friends. Smile knowing that you are part of a community making an impact on the world. 

This article first appeared on the UD Lerner College's News and Events, Seeing Opportunties Page.

Grace Fritz, Class of 2023 operations management and marketing double major with a minor in entrepreneurship, spent her summer interning as a marketing intern at the World Trade Center Institute.

The basis of entrepreneurialism is to make life easier for the community. By bearing the process of creating a startup, an entrepreneur finds solutions to an issue, which makes someone’s day a bit easier. Through the University of Delaware Horn Entrepreneurship, students can pursue new ideas while receiving world-class education and advice to help their ideas flourish. No idea is too big or small, too niche or broad. 

Meet Felicia Harrington. Joining the Horn team at the University of Delaware in a new position as Program Manager for EntreX Lab, a K-12 dual enrollment initiative. Felicia brings her compassion for understanding K-12 educational challenges, along with years of working with high school youth as a teacher, administrator and innovator.