12: Campus Technologies: Part 2

“It’s not just about a return on investment… It’s really about a return on relationships” -Rei Wang

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One of the benefits of being an on campus student is the infinite amount of resources available to you at your university. You have access to professors who have been through it all, are surrounded by students full of energy and eager to get things going, and now more and more companies funding innovations.

Companies like Dorm Room Fund and Verizon Ventures have been reaching out to campuses to find the newest up and coming talent. They are funding students, and letting them take the reigns on projects that would normally be just a dream.

The support doesn’t end when students get their degrees. In fact, it’s the contrary. The students who join these programs become life-long members of a support group that will continue to help and nurture their ideas and companies. It’s a very exciting time to be a university student.

Download this episode today to hear more about on campus integration from the leaders of top companies like Dorm Room Fun, Verdigris, and of course - Verizon Ventures.

Our guests include:

• Lemu Coker, who is the partnerships lead on the open invitation team at Verizon. He works with campuses to bring in talent, product, and insights into verizon.
• Mark Chung, the CEO of Verdigris Technologies. Verdigris Technologies makes the world’s most intelligent energy monitoring systems for high end commercial building.
• Rei Wang, the Director of Dorm Room Fund, which is dedicated to funding student entrepreneurs.

“You don’t give them (students) the guard rails, you let them create the guard rails and create the structure...” -Lemu Coker

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Highlights

• Being a student on campus means you have access to infinite resources.
• Stanford’s program is supportive well beyond graduation.
• Every year Dorm Room Fund does a giant summit where alumni and founders stay connected.
• Value is created through on campus integration by providing support.
• Giving students the resources to create their own systems is a stronger tactic than forcing them into events and situations.
• Your first five hires need to be complicated and skill specific.
• On Campus Integration gives students access to real world problems a lot of university students never get the chance to deal with.
• There can be a lot companies are missing by going to the administration and not directly to the students.

“What I’ve seen be very effective in providing a nurturing environment is creating frameworks for experiential learning” - Mark Chung

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Resources

VerizonOpenInnovation.com

Verdigris.co

DRF.VC

Full Show Notes at: VerizonVentures.com/Episode