First Founders Fair draws together college student entrepreneur community
Inaugural event brought student founders from 22 universities to Oxford
First Founders Fair draws together college student entrepreneur community
Inaugural event brought student founders from 22 universities to Oxford
Fridays are often a kind of slow day in Oxford, but the Lee and Rosemary Fisher Innovation College@Elm was busy across all three floors on a Friday earlier this month for the first Founders Fair.
“The whole point of this is to bring together students that are all building things, bring together students that are siloed in different areas across the state. Because there's one really important thing we've learned about entrepreneurship and surrounding yourself with a community of people that are willing to help each other out – it gets really, really hard if you don’t have that community,” organizer Zach Carlo told attendees.
The event was designed to bring together student founders from across Ohio and the broader Midwest, representing nearly two dozen universities. The goal was to put highly motivated student builders in the same room with experienced operators, investors, and mentors for a day of meaningful conversations and connections. Founders were selected through an application process based on traction, ambition, and commitment.
“Being an entrepreneur is one of the hardest things to do. It's like jumping off a cliff trying to build a plane before it hits the ground. It's not for the faint of heart. I actually recommend most people don't do it,” keynote speaker Jon Dale said. “But if you're going to do it, continue to suspend disbelief. Do things that nobody else in the world does. Do them better. Continue to dream big.”
The event also featured a mentor panel, a speed mentoring event, and a lot of opportunities for networking with mentors and other founders.
Six student entrepreneurs were chosen to make pitches for their businesses, including Emilio Sese, founder of event management app Kloob and a University of Cincinnati computer science student.
“I could tell the team put lots of work into the event planning leading up to it. The volunteers and the team were also very cordial and helpful throughout the day, making sure myself and others were accommodated. I liked the style of student-first and got to connect to many others – there were many networking opportunities,” he said.
Zain Alzuhairy, an Ohio State finance major and president of Vestige LLC, said he enjoyed the sense of community among the fair’s attendees.
“People all around us outside this fair always seemed to be different than me. But with this event, I found that once you get the right people in one room, you begin to understand how they are and how closely minds think alike,” he said. “I had a great time and met some great people. It was a valuable use of my time.”
While this was the first Founders Fair, Carlo said he doesn’t intend for it to be the last.
“I want to grow this. I want to expand this. The model that we've created opened up my eyes to an energy among a student population that sees the opportunities with where the world is at right now,” he said. “The energy there is so palpable, and I want to bring that to as many people as I can, because it's inspiring. It's motivating.”
“Opportunities are endless. It's about getting in the right rooms and finding the right people to provide that energy for you and give you that chance to succeed,” Carlo said. “That is what's so exciting, and that's what we want to do moving forward.”
