A campus-based experiential entrepreneurship program open to students, alumni, staff and faculty, of
Blackstone LaunchPad is an experiential, campus program open to students, faculty, staff and alumni, designed to introduce entrepreneurship as a viable career path and develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through individualized coaching, ideation, and venture creation support. Based on a successful model started at the University of Miami, and further developed by the Blackstone Charitable
Foundation, the program is currently available to more than 500,000 students at campuses globally. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of Blackstone and its founders, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation is directing the firm’s resources and intellectual capital to support entrepreneurship and economic development. For more information, visit www.blackstonelaunchpad.org
The Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University is located on the main level of Bird Library, placing entrepreneurship at the center of academic life, and incorporating it into the resource network of the prestigious Syracuse University Libraries. The Blackstone LaunchPad complements and coordinates with Syracuse University’s rich array of entrepreneurship initiatives, and connects them to a national network providing support for aspiring entrepreneurs. Housed in glass cube space, the LaunchPad is designed to be very versatile and can be used for ideation workshops, team meetings, co-working, networking events, mentorship meetings, coaching and training sessions, venture demos and product launches, as well as other collaborative activities. The Blackstone LaunchPad program at Syracuse University features:
• Campus-wide accessibility, open to all students, regardless of major, that enhances the university’s robust ecosystem of entrepreneurial resources, programs and activities;
• One-one-one mentoring that cultivates entrepreneurial thinking and problem-solving across many platforms and disciplines. The platform can be used for-profit and non-profit enterprises, and can help facilitate innovation within existing organizations as well as new venture development. It can assist across all stages, from startup to acceleration;
• Unique technology platform that adds value to campus entrepreneurial resources and helps facilitate exchange between academic programs, institutions and industry partners;
• Specialized applications and tools to help get startups off the ground and scale, along with resources and deals to get ventures started and supported, from software to on-line courses;
• Interdisciplinary team-building that fosters an innovative team approach to ideation, and fosters the development of collaborative creative communities;
• Access to world-class content developed by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, including speaker videos and other materials from across the Blackstone LaunchPad initiative;
• Regional, national and global connections to university programs and venture leaders to share best practices, engage with successful entrepreneurs, expand networks, and find partners;
• Blackstone LaunchPad events and programs such as Blackstone LaunchPad National Demo Day and exciting campus challenge events that provide opportunities for students from across the network to connect and innovate.
