The University of Maryland (UMD) has rapidly grown into a fierce competitor in the tech sphere, fostering the growth of young, innovative minds intent on creating the next big thing. While the school already boasts an impressively robust series of entrepreneur programs, it has just been missing one invaluable feature: a space where creativity can roam free and futuristic ideas can be bounced around to develop something unique, something great. UMD has been missing the place for a select group of driven 20-somethings to convene, a youthful laboratory dedicated to those interested in redefining the image of "cool," bringing into existence products that could even have the potential to rival Google Glass. But now with UMD's brand spankin' new student-run startup incubator Startup Shell, that void has been filled, a solution found.
Inspired by StartX, the renown Stanford student startup accelerator, three students from UMD came together May of 2012 to brainstorm how best to create their own student incubator on Maryland's campus. It began with Justin Searles, Eric Rosenberg, and Deonna Hodges, all big advocates of open source entrepreneurship and startup creators themselves.
The original group of three quickly grew to 12 students brainstorming what a good incubator should look like, what components are necessary to devise a home for young startups that have, until now, been homeless. And slowly, but surely, their dream became a reality.
"UMD has always had great entrepreneurship programs, but nothing that could really identify as an incubator where you had these resident companies helping each other out, measuring each other's progress," explained Searles. "We have entrepreneur office hours where you can explain your idea to experienced faculty, but we needed more."
The incubator given the oh so affection name of Startup Shell (a clever play on UMD's mascot of Testudo the turtle), "is that space where student companies can come and work and be each other's motivation," Searles said. "It's a lot easier to work when you have like-minded people around you working on something they think can save the world."
Though an initiative spearheaded by students, the Startup Shell has been welcomed onto campus by many prominent members of the school's community. Dean Chang, Associate Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UMD, and Craig Dye, Director of the VentureAccelerator program at the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) in the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, have both been highly supportive of the idea since conception. They even donated a space to Startup Shell within the Technology Advancement Program (TAP) building on campus.
UMD's President Wallace Loh has also been key to Startup Shell's progress thus far. Searles explained that "President Loh is really into entrepreneurship so it makes all of our initiatives that much easier."
As Startup Shell stands today, it's not much more than 700 square feet of space with a couple of scattered monitors and chargers left in various odd corners of the room. I assume there are also some easels with incomprehensible scribbles of pure genius laying around. But while the room may look rather bare, the incubator founders intend on stocking up on funds for more tech savvy additions to come. Clearly they've been bootstrapping, but Searles made sure to mention that "if we build, they will come," and honestly, after just checking out the descriptions of the student startups cooped up in the incubator, there's no doubt in my mind that they will come. They will come in hoards, begging to be a part of the brilliant projects created on UMD's campus by talented, driven, youthful innovators.
But it's not just the space that is so attractive, so invaluable to the first batch of resident companies currently calling Startup Shell their home, it's the fact that they have support. Searles put it best: "If you need help, we'll totally hack together your prototype and see if we get something working," a dream for any student startup on a budget and dealing with a time constraint. In fact, they actually did this for Daniel Noskin's fledgling business Parallel Tracks back in January.
Searles and the rest of the bright minds behind Startup Shell are trying to stand up and be that student body that encapsulates all that's happening in entrepreneurship at UMD and so far, though very young, they've already begun to make their presence known.
Residents of StartupShell have hosted a variety of tech talks in the space so far (unofficially referred to as "How to Fuck with" talks. And yes, I had to include that. Sorry, Justin). They consist of one member teaching the rest of the batch a new skill or about a "cool" technology. So far they have already had three of these talks with two more scheduled before Spring Break. The topics both covered and scheduled include: Using the Chrome Developer Tools, Introduction to 3D Printing, Introduction to Illustrator, Getting Started with Amazon Web Services, and Introduction to Arduino.
I expect nothing but greatness to come of Startup Shell, an incubator sure to be a great resource for all prospective UMD entrepreneurs to tap into if not join. Searles, Rosenberg, Hodges, and the rest of those responsible for the creation of Startup Shell have a lot to be proud of. They have taken the initiative, done something to improve an already very active entrepreneurial campus and accomplished something that not many other 20-somethings can boast of. In creating Startup Shell, they have ensured that UMD sustains its name as one of the most innovative schools this country has to offer.
Check out the first batch of resident companies at Startup Shell below and then make sure to catch a glimpse of their new site to learn more about the brilliant student-run incubator on UMD's campus.
