Last fall four Duke University seniors launched an Internet incubator designed to give them the support they need. For student co-founders Matthew Weiss, David Huang, John Quintiliani and Brad Minsley, the concept is simple. StartEmUp has received big time press attention, including stories in the Wall Street Journal , CNBC , and The Boston Globe , in addition to local TV reports and newspaper articles. The buzz is understandable. Weiss says both students and venture capitalists will benefit from working with StartEmUp.
Business incubators are a growth industry.
According to Sally H. Linder, director of publications for the National Business Incubation Association, there is a real need to help student entrepreneurs with more than just funding. In fact, money can create an entrepreneur's worries, and there is a lot of it being thrown at these entrepreneurs, many of whom are very, very young and haven't really thought about what it's like to own a business and be responsible for lots and lots of things. While StartEmUp is not associated with Duke, some universities are actively involved in Internet incubator programs, which has some in the academic world voicing concern about expanding entrepreneur promotion on campuses. But these concerns are far from the mind of Duke freshman Ryan Kazanciyan. The Sarasota, Florida native was the winner from among the more than 50 entrants in StartEmUp's Duke competition.