By: J.D. Ross
(315) 443-3094
A group of fifteen Syracuse University students joined four School of Information Studies (iSchool) faculty and staff members for a trek across Manhattan last week, to learn about the entrepreneurial ecosystem of New York City.
The trip, the culminating event to a semester-long course called “EntreTechNYC,” brought students to sixteen startups and early stage companies. Many of the firms featured Syracuse University alumni as hosts and guest speakers for the group.
“Our intention was to immerse the group into the digital landscape of the city for a week,” explained Barbara Settel, the iSchool’s executive director of alumni relations. “We wanted them to see how New York is creating its own startup culture.”
The program was open to both undergraduate and graduate students across the University, and was modeled on the iSchool’s successful Spring Break in Silicon Valley trip, that has been run for the past three years.
iSchool graduate student Katherine Hudson was appreciative of the program’s ability to connect her with Syracuse alumni in the city.
“It was an incredible opportunity to see the New York tech scene and meet with founders and really get a better understanding of the incredible alumni we have in the city,” Hudson explained.
For iSchool senior Ryan St. Pierre, the program allowed him to focus on tactics for his own startup company.
“Hearing stories [from founders] helped me to think about my own startup in new ways, as well as my own career path,” said St. Pierre.
Companies that participated as hosts in the EntreTechNYC program included:
- 2U
- Arkadium
- Bitly
- Charity Water
- Constant Contact
- Foursquare
- Gilt Groupe
- Huffington Post Live
- Lux Capital
- Night Agency
- Rain
- Rebelmouse
- Shapeways
- Sixteen Handles