The Cube is one of several programs offered through PSU's Center for Entrepreneurship that helps students explore what it's like to be an entrepreneur, innovator, or inventor. The four-month-long program, designed to help student-led companies prepare for launch, has already shown promise in its first year.
Juan Barraza, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, said that the idea for The Cube came about two years ago when the center was given an office space for students to use. He realized that students wanted to use the space, but they were also seeking more assistance with their business ventures.
Housed in the PSU Business Accelerator, The Center for Entrepreneurship can help students at any stage in their entrepreneurial journeys through a range of co-curricular opportunities.
“If you're just thinking about entrepreneurship and want to explore that, all the way to wanting to launch a business, we have programs that are implemented every single step of the way,” said Himalaya Rao-Potlapally, the center's assistant program manager.
The PSU Kickstart Weekend is an intensive 48-hour session that helps students evolve their ideas with the help of PSU mentors. Student entrepreneurs and innovators focused on finding solutions to environmental issues can participate in The PSU Cleantech Challenge, a prototyping competition. The Invent Oregon Collegiate Challenge is another prototyping competition, now statewide, that PSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship developed in 2017 in partnership with The Lemelson Foundation and Business Oregon.
"At the end of every one of our programs we have a couple or one team [of students] that wants to continue moving forward and they start asking ‘what else is there? what resources do we have?’” Barraza said.
A year ago, Rao-Potlapally came on board and helped implement a high-touch curriculum for The Cube. "In the last year, it's been really exciting to be able to watch these companies grow. It was very interesting to see, in this first cohort, students of all different types in terms of where they were in their progression," Rao-Potlapally said.
The Cube hosted its inaugural Demo Day event virtually on November 6th, which featured presentations from six cohort founders. Demo Day showcases the teams chosen to participate in The Cube’s cohort and the progress they’ve made during the program. Attendees can also network with the founders and learn more about their companies.
"Two of them have been approached by private investors already and another two are doing really well in terms of doing their second phase of testing because they have a longer road in terms of going to market,” Rao-Potlapally said.
PSU student-entrepreneur, Omar Waked, presented Raedam, a parking solution that uses sensors to help drivers quickly find a spot. Waked first developed the idea as a PSU freshman, when running late to a final after struggling for thirty minutes to find parking. Waked said that in addition to cars, his company wants to provide parking solutions for those who use other forms of transportation too.
"I'd advise anyone interested in developing a product or a service or see some sort of inefficiencies in whatever they experience: Don't be scared to work on it and try providing a better system,” Waked said.
Another PSU student, German Ochoa, also founded his own company, Go North Imports, which aims to “diversify the snack aisle with a better infusion of South American flavors,” as stated on The Cube's webpage. For this cohort, Ochoa presented his first product, WOPPA!, which are Argentinian cookies known as Alfajores.
"It was great to see that there were people interested in what I was doing in terms of my brand and what it means to be an immigrant, trying to make something with no capital and still being able to somehow raise some capital to get this product ready to market,” Ochoa said.
Barraza said one of the things The Cube is most proud of is the support it offers students who may experience fewer opportunities and more difficulties in pursuing a business.
"Being able to tap into that group of mentors and knowledge will help them to eliminate barriers and overcome any challenges that otherwise we'll see with first-time founders, like not having a business background or family or not having the generational wealth that other students benefit from having,” Barraza said.
Rao-Potlapally said she believes that the progress and lessons gained from the last cohort will help improve the next one. "With this very tailored curriculum and more structured eligibility criteria, we ensure that every single Cube cohort founder is ready and able to be in the market and speak with investors within four months,” Rao-Potlapally said.
Rao-Potlapally said that the center is also figuring out other ways to support student entrepreneurs, including accessing grant money for the program.
Long term, Rao-Potlapally said, "We hope that The Cube can be a symbol of what PSU can offer, to say, 'This is where you can come if you actually want to learn how to launch a business and actually leave PSU with a business in the market.'"
Waked and Ochoa both said that their PSU education and experience with The Cube has contributed to their success as entrepreneurs. "I thank anybody from the PSU community for supporting me the way that they do, because I don't think I would have gone this far without their support," Ochoa said.
Waked urges fellow students and aspiring entrepreneurs to take advantage of the many resources PSU and The Center for Entrepreneurship offers.
"Reach out to people, especially reach out to The Cube. They're all amazing sources who really care about this innovation and helping students learn," he said.
To learn more about The Cube, visit the webpage on PSU's website.
Learn more about Raedam: raedam.co
Follow Raedam on Instagram: @raedam.co
Learn more about Go North Imports: gonorthimports.com
Follow WOPPA! on Instagram: @Woppa.usa