How does g.e@ubc define entrepreneurship?
What do we mean by an Entrepreneurial State of Mind?
At g.e@ubc, entrepreneurship transcends a financial goal. We define entrepreneurship as a pathway that allows researchers to mobilize their discoveries out of the lab and into the real world, which we loosely define as ‘uptake’. Entrepreneurs are individuals who identify a change that needs to happen in their lab, community and/or society, and have come to the realization that they are the ones who need to bring that change forward.
genomics.entrepreneurship@ubc offers our partners alternative ways to look at problem-solving. We offer tools to diagnose a challenge and to mobilize the resources required to see the opportunities that lie beyond the challenge. Our goal is to empower our research partners to be in charge of their own destiny, whether they are navigating complex grant requirements, trying to transfer their discoveries from the lab to the market place, or attempting to gain support from stakeholders to remove outdated policy barriers to impactful research.
By our definition, entrepreneurship includes a transformational element that is radical and accessible to those who want to be drivers of change. It is both a methodology and a state of mind. Today more than ever before, universities are under pressure to connect with the societies in which they are embedded. Entrepreneurship is a translational piece that bridges this gap. In the ‘Entrepreneurial State of Mind Series’, we interview our team members, collaborators and partners about what ‘entrepreneurship’ means to them.
What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
Innovation Expert Jeremy Hall: Is Entrepreneurship Beneficial or Harmful to Society?
Jeremy Hall (D.Phil., University of Sussex) is a Professor at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, a technology and innovation management journal. Read more.
Principal Investigator Steven Hallam on Entrepreneurship: “I want to be in charge of my own destiny”
Steven and his student, Cameron Strachan, co-founder and CEO of MetaMixis, participated in g.e@UBC’s Lean Launch Pad (LLP) for Genomics sessions. Steven and Cameron are excellent examples of successful researchers addressing the commercial challenges of transferring their research from the “lab” to the “field, “and thus benefitting Canada’s social and economic development. Watch the video interview here.
Katie Verigin, g.e@UBC Intern: “Entrepreneurship is an enabling force”
This past summer, our intern Katie Verigin participated in Sauder Social Entrepreneurship – Kenya (SSE – Kenya), where she had the opportunity to apply skills she learned during the Lean Launch Pad. “Entrepreneurship, for them, was an enabling force that would allow them to make their lives a little better.” Watch the whole video interview here.