As a result of this Rose Scholars activity, I was lucky enough to experience one weekend full of exciting entrepreneurship discussions, talks, and events. The Cornell Entrepreneurship Conference introduced me to the strong and active entrepreneurship culture at Cornell. I met passionate graduate students starting a plethora of different innovative and exciting businesses developing products pushing boundaries in several fields.

My favorite event was the final startup competition winner ceremony and showcase. Because I want to protect the products developed by the graduate students, I would prefer not to discuss the innovations in detail here. Instead I will provide a broader description of the particular startups I really liked.

One student is creating a new spin on coffee using healthy and tasty foreign herbs. I got to sample her coffee as well as learn about her experience as a business graduate student at Cornell. I enjoyed trying out her product and learning about her background and process in developing her product.

Another student is developing an exciting new tech platform to help users gain money with very little additional work. I thought her platform was creative, innovative, and intriguing. I really enjoyed discussing her product with her and learning about how she came up with such a clever idea.

Overall, through this event I learned about Cornell’s startup culture, the creative and technical processes involved in starting a company, and the backgrounds of several Cornell University business students. I also learned about Cornell’s business graduate student program and the career opportunities available as a result of pursuing a degree through this program.