Partnered with TechTown, I am working on three projects with my site partners, Becca and Xin. As an incubator and accelerator for local and tech-based startups, TechTown helps the Detroit entrepreneurial scene through services ranging from assisting with ideation to scaling established businesses. TechTown has two areas of focus: the first is with local brick and mortar retail businesses, the second is with technology based startups. Our three projects span both of these areas. Our first project is with regard to alumni of TechTown programs (both tech-based and place-based). The second project is helping TechTown partner with Wayne State to create an innovation studio, much like Duke’s own Innovation and Entrepreneurship program. Lastly, we are expanding on TechTown’s current professional service network (PSN) to specifically accommodate developers, with the hope that these developers will eventually become chief technology officers of startups.
In terms of our alumni networking project, we are analyzing alumni survey data to see what programming TechTown can provide to keep alumni engaged. Currently, TechTown does not engage with the alumni besides sending out an infrequent newsletter, leaving little room for communication between TechTown and these alums. By analyzing two sets of data for place-based alumni and tech-based alumni, we are examining the preferences of these alumni and providing recommendations to TechTown on how to better engage with them. These programs will also serve as events for entrepreneurs to meet and better get to know each other, allowing for ideas to get shared.
For the Wayne State innovation studio, we are expanding on a current plan developed by Jenifer at TechTown. By researching into top entrepreneurial programs at colleges and universities around the nation (e.g. Arizona State, Michigan State, Duke), we developed several incentives and events meant to attract, engage, and train aspiring entrepreneurs at Wayne State.
Finally, we are developing a framework upon which to build a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that is designed to match developers with startups. This CRM will be an expansion on the standard from of TechTown’s current PSN. We are adding separate questions that will categorize developers based on educational background, development experience, and programming language mastery. Using these criteria, we are thinking of ways to pair them with startups who need a developer in their ranks. We also hope to be able to provide training to these developers to eventually become the CTO of their matched startups.
Through these projects, we hope to help improve the status of Detroit’s economic landscape.
In terms of our alumni networking project, we are analyzing alumni survey data to see what programming TechTown can provide to keep alumni engaged. Currently, TechTown does not engage with the alumni besides sending out an infrequent newsletter, leaving little room for communication between TechTown and these alums. By analyzing two sets of data for place-based alumni and tech-based alumni, we are examining the preferences of these alumni and providing recommendations to TechTown on how to better engage with them. These programs will also serve as events for entrepreneurs to meet and better get to know each other, allowing for ideas to get shared.
For the Wayne State innovation studio, we are expanding on a current plan developed by Jenifer at TechTown. By researching into top entrepreneurial programs at colleges and universities around the nation (e.g. Arizona State, Michigan State, Duke), we developed several incentives and events meant to attract, engage, and train aspiring entrepreneurs at Wayne State.
Finally, we are developing a framework upon which to build a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that is designed to match developers with startups. This CRM will be an expansion on the standard from of TechTown’s current PSN. We are adding separate questions that will categorize developers based on educational background, development experience, and programming language mastery. Using these criteria, we are thinking of ways to pair them with startups who need a developer in their ranks. We also hope to be able to provide training to these developers to eventually become the CTO of their matched startups.
Through these projects, we hope to help improve the status of Detroit’s economic landscape.
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