What You Missed at the 1st-Ever IDEA Kick-Off Event
After years of supporting entrepreneurs and risk-takers, IDEA kicked off their 10th year by hosting their first-ever Kick-Off Event. The program was filled with guest speakers and exciting updates.
IDEA Updates:
Joanna Moore, the Venture Director, introduced the IDEA Blueprints workshops which will consist of six sessions taught by NEU faculty. These classes will focus not only on key entrepreneurial skills but what it takes to go through the different stages within the process. The first class was held on Wednesday, September 18th which focused on customer discovery. The next two sessions will focus on solution design and prototyping.
Jordan Lin, the Community Operations Director, introduced the IDEA Venture Hub Slack which will allow people and ventures to network and connect with each other. Furthermore, IDEA will be hosting a Hack our Alexa event on Thursday September 26th. The launch of “BRIGHT IDEAS”, a new Spotify podcast hosted by Jake Willis, an Events Associate, will cover interesting conversations about startups, entrepreneurship and IDEA’s support system with the staff, professors, and ventures.
Fireside Chat:
IDEA hosted a “fireside chat” moderated by Sophie Gechijian, the founder of f(x) foods, a venture that makes functional snack bars that are both healthy and tasty. Sophie was joined by Jack Yao and Annika Morgan. Jack, the co-founder of Mobile Pixels, created the product through his recognition of a lack of productivity by using just one laptop screen. His co-founder Steve is currently in China overseeing the production of the next set of screens as well as a new product, a dual monitor portable accessory. Annika Morgan co-founded About Fresh with her co-founder Josh after they realized that many people were facing health problems because they lacked the right nutrition. They began by targeting areas that didn’t have access to affordable healthy foods. Fresh Truck was introduced to make weekly visits to deliver nutritious food to many communities in Boston, and has helped create year-round healthy food security. Fresh Truck’s strong success has allowed About Fresh to expand their services to patients at MassHealth. Prescribing food as medicine has made food an integral part of how health providers care for their patients.
The ventures stressed the importance to persevere and fight through challenges. Jack talked about the manufacturing issues that he and his partner initially had and tackling the problems head on really allowed them to overcome and grow as a company. Jack said, “Even if you think everything is going to fall apart, if you calm down and collect yourself maybe there is a way out.” As a business, there are also moments to rejoice. Sophie shared a personal experience while she was rollerblading, trying to get an Instagram story of her bars, some people shouted out praising f(x) foods for how tasty they are. Sophie, along with the other entrepreneurs agreed that it’s the little moments that count.
Closing Remarks:
The event was a great success, drawing surprise attendance from D’Amore McKim Business School Dean Raj Echambadi and President Aoun. Abhishek praised how strong the entrepreneurial community has grown over the last decade and how this year will set IDEA up for generations to come. President Aoun gave a statement, thanking the entire university for their collaborative efforts to bring many disciplines together to create something that is unique to Northeastern. He said, “IDEA is the jewel in the crown of entrepreneurship here at Northeastern because it represents everything that we are. IDEA is something so special at Northeastern.”
If you are interested in getting involved with IDEA or learning more about us, please visit this page and sign up for the next New Venture Information Session!
