CUNY Startups, an entrepreneurial program based out of Baruch College, has recently selected a new student cohort to join its New Venture Accelerator Program (NVA 1) for this fall semester.
Founded in 2014, the widely acclaimed program has a mission is to propel CUNY students across all 26 campuses toward developing a business idea through mentorship and hands-on learning.
As the associate director of CUNY Startups for the past four years, Adia Johnson accredited her motivation for serving in the program’s administration to her desire to help students balance college life and the constraints of growing a business.
“I know building a business is really challenging,” Johnson said. “So, I just really wanted to help students in that capacity and build out their businesses.”
Specifically, the NVA 1 program caters to students who are curious about developing new business ventures in a team-oriented setting.
The program runs for up to 10 weeks and includes team formation, artificial intelligence implementation and product refinement in preparation for a final Demo Day.
Angelica Flores, a senior at Baruch and one of the cohort’s members, said her decision to apply for the NVA 1 program was rooted in her passion for entrepreneurship.
“I actually am an entrepreneur myself, so getting ideas and the proper steps on how to build my photography business is one of the main things that I want to learn from the NVA 1 program,” Flores said.
In the program, Flores is part of a team that is developing a platform for small warehouses to track their inventory flow with ease.
With this idea in its earliest stages, Flores believes that the strong mentorship approach provided by CUNY Startups will help the company reach product-market fit after launch.“I would say one of the best things about CUNY Startups are the mentors,” Flores said. “It’s a whole bunch of different minds and individuals that give us incredible feedback and ideas on how to pursue what we’re trying to do.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Johnson emphasized the importance of mentorship in guiding students to continuously refine their business goals.
In fact, CUNY Startups’ reliance on digital platforms like Zoom allows for the mentorship component to be inclusive of entrepreneurs from other countries who are providing students with startup advice every step of the way. “Mentors from other countries are able to participate so it’s not just siloed to mentors who live in New York City or New Jersey,” Johnson said. “[Students] get to meet mentors who live in Paris or India.”
In addition to the mentorship resources available, CUNY Startups is aiming to provide students with extensive access to professional networking.
“We want to provide an opportunity for our students to have access to mentors to not only help them with a startup business idea, but to help them professionally wherever they want to go,” Johnson said.
Furthermore, CUNY Startups prides itself on training students to master both critical and analytical skills in the business world.
For prospective students who are considering joining the NVA 1 program, Johnson recommends visiting the nearest career center to stand out in the application process and learn more about entrepreneurship as a potential career.
Students from any major with a strong interest in startups are welcome to join and pitch their ideas to a team.
“Anybody in any field can have an idea that will help somebody,” Johnson said. “So why can’t they start a business too?”
