Abigail Van Gelder was named executive director of the Portland State University Center for Entrepreneurship in late 2022.
The center works with student entrepreneurs from across the university to help them hone ideas, create a roadmap to bring the ideas to life and identify the resources they might need along the way.
The center also runs two big entrepreneurial programs. The PSU Cleantech Challenge allows university students from undergrad to doctorate levels to compete for $10,000 in grants and prizes. InventOR is an innovation competition for students at universities statewide. (Scroll down for more details.)
Working with student innovators gives Van Gelder a unique perspective on a new generation of founders and executives. We caught up with her to hear about what she has learned from Gen Z entrepreneurs.
What has stood out to you about this work, either things that you expected or were unexpected? I didn’t expect how invested the community is in the success of student entrepreneurs. I mean, I knew that people volunteered their time, I knew that people volunteer their resources. But, people are having an emotional and financial investment in making sure that the students get a chance to try entrepreneurship and get a chance to make their own way that I didn’t expect. What I did expect was the wild, awesome things that (students) come into my office with. The ideas that come forward, I knew (students) were going to be thinking of things that I could never even fathom because they live different lives. That was the most unexpected part that my socks were going to get blown off all the time.
What are some of these things? It’s everything. (A student) sees a waste byproduct and (says they) want to try to turn it into a usable material but not in a way like they want to work with plastics. It’s more (they) want to work with kelp and create a 3D printer filament. Or create new fabrics. (They) want to bend a love of art and fashion and sustainability into a business. (They) want to use technology in a different way. It’s not egalitarian, but I think there is a truly inclusive way that up-and-coming entrepreneurs view the world. They are seeing things from a point of view of sustainability in a way that a generation before them didn’t. They are also seeing it in an equity lens of, “yes, I want to make money. I want to earn a living, but I don’t want to hurt anyone else while I’m doing it or I want to help someone else while I’m doing it.” It’s really beautiful.
What is your vision for the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship? I want to provide additional platforms for entrepreneurs of all type to be highlighted and showcased. I want to make an easy gateway for our community to give the time. Everybody talks about mentorship but it goes beyond mentorship. It goes into providing job opportunities. How many startups in Portland would love to have an intern that comes in that helps them but also learns from them. We work with students who have an incredible amount of empathy, and I think it’s important that the community listens to them a little more. We’ve got a generation that has been through things that we won’t ever understand, (like) what it’s like to be 17, 18, 20 years old and go through a pandemic when you’re just trying to form relationships. We have to have a lot of empathy as they’re entering the market and view their experience as valid and pull from that.
What do these younger entrepreneurs bring to entrepreneurship? One thing is just the view of technology. A lot of Gen Z entrepreneurs view technology very differently. They are more comfortable with technology, not that they just view it as a different kind of tool, but how it integrates. I see a lot of young entrepreneurs aren’t looking to build technology solutions that are new, they’re looking at how technology can be integrated, how you can build bridges between two things that already exist. Creating businesses that are being a connector between two different resources. There are folks, particularly in the tech world, that are often very heads down and go their own path. It’s cool to see young folks coming in who’ve grown up with all these resources and have seen one thing that just doesn’t flow right and doesn’t connect people in a one-on-one personal basis and they’re finding new ways to bridge those gaps. And the absolute 100% investment in sustainability, not just environmental sustainability, but personal sustainability.
What do you mean by personal sustainability? Seeing somebody who’s 20 years old and starting a business and setting boundaries for themselves is pretty phenomenal. You know they are hard working, they are brilliant, but they also don’t want to be 25 and have complete burnout and not be able to sustain this life.
Are you seeing any sort of trends in the entrepreneurial pursuits that come through your door? A lot more are working on small scale things. I think we went through a phase of everybody having to come up with the brand new, the never seen before, the big idea, the $1 million idea. And I just see a lot more student who are like, I just want to be able to run my own business. It may only serve a small group or it may be something that (they) just truly love but they aren’t looking to bust the world and completely break the mold.
That's interesting, so it’s not necessarily chasing that "We’re going to build a unicorn" mythos. I think there’s a bit of an equalization where you know the VC world was looking for those $10 billion unicorns, (but) there’s a whole lot more (companies based on), “Yeah, I have a good idea but it is only going to serve so many people that are coming to the market.” So, there's going to be a leveling off I think.
Closer Look
PSU Cleantech Challenge
What: A pitch competition that highlights products and tools that can have a substantial impact on the market, the environment and in people’s lives?
When: Started in 2012
The Numbers: In the most recent, finals six teams competed for $10,000 cash prizes, plus each team received $1,500 prototyping grants. The top two teams advanced to InventOregon
More info: https://www.pdx.edu/cleantech-challenge/
InventOregon Collegiate Challenge
What: A competition for college and university students with ideas for inventions to address today’s most pressing problems
When: Started in 2017
The numbers: In the most recent finals (2023), there were 34 students on 15 teams participating from 10 different schools statewide. They competed for $30,000 in cash prizes, plus each team received $2,500 prototyping grants.
More info: https://www.inventoregon.org/about
