5 Before South Florida blew up, everybody had been working hard on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Melissa Medina was a driving force, along with many leaders across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. This is before Miami Mayor Francis Suarez famously tweeted “How can I help?” for tech companies looking to relocate. I had the opportunity to serve on a panel with Michael Udine, vice mayor of Broward County at the time, along with John Wensveen, NSU chief innovation officer and executive director of the Levan Center of Innovation. We immediately had an affinity for each other. Our mission became clear. We needed all parties to participate—government, private sector, and entrepreneurs—to support a facility for start-ups to build and thrive. John invited me to tour the Levan Center of Innovation. When I toured, it was still concrete. Today, it is the largest entrepreneurial playground in the world, serving all stages from ideate to post-accelerate. It is a great opportunity for the community to give back and be part of something that will serve our community and our citizens for decades to come! I sat on a board of directors with Lil Roberts, and she mentioned she was going to serve on the Levan Center of Innovation’s board. I came to tour and was blown away, both by what they have built and by the vision and brilliance of how it is being executed. Now, we sit on both boards together. Really, it’s about the students. Seeing the light bulb go off, or a connection made with other students, teachers, or through collaboration, in general. Witnessing those sparks is a big reason we are all here. I also feel that I have learned as much from the cohorts as I have taught them. I love entrepreneurship and expanding my mind while helping those around me do the same. The cross-pollination of ideas is another positive. A related by-product is collaboration across different business disci- plines like finance, robotics, and biotech, but also across entire sectors. Here, ONE YEAR LATER academia merges with government and entrepreneurs in active businesses. Entrepreneurship is as much art as it is science, so theory must be taught alongside common practice if new leaders are to push things forward and solve humanity’s growing problems. There can be elements in the start- up community that are predatory. NSU isn’t like that. It is a great place for start-ups to grow. When you’ve decided to play “all in” and invest time and resources, you are serious about what you’re building. Cohorts are on time. They ask questions. They come to everything. Theory is interesting intellectually, but every part of this is experiential. I started my own thing with very few resources. I know what some of those struggles at every stage of business feel like very deeply and authentically. When I was coming up, a lot of accelerator programs excluded law firms or accounting firms. Why? Don’t law firm owners need to know about business? At NSU, there is diversity in the type of business it will admit. And that’s just one more way the Levan Center of Innovation is great. One of the weeks that I teach in addition to the legal one, and it’s probably my favorite, is building and growing a high-performing team. But teaching a program on sales is on my to-do list. I don’t know what made me look up. I was touring the NSU campus with my daughter, who was a high school senior, and I saw something on the top floor of the library. We took the elevator up. The doors were locked, but a sign read, “Innovation Center.” At that moment, someone came out and gave me the pitch. I said, “I want in. I’ve been waiting 20 years for this in South Florida. Where do you need help?” They said, based on your experience with pre-IPO, start-ups, and corporate America, we’d say facilitator, and based on your digital expertise, service provider. So, since day one, I’ve been teaching Ideate and Incubate Program sessions and serving as a service provider to give back. It changed my life. I’ve incubated a passion project. Now, my daughter starts college at NSU in the fall. I’m there three days a week and every weekend. I get exercise by riding a go-cart that John hides near his office. I also speak for NSU’s colleges of business and law. When I heard the mission, I said, “How can I support this?” We started bringing in technology partners to make the journey a little less bumpy than if entrepreneurs were on their own. Because there are four programs, I get to see everyone from “Hey, I think I have an idea, but I haven’t written anything down” to “I have a successful business, and I just got a bunch of cash. Now what?” It’s invigorating to see an organization on the precipice of something amazing. I love how tech-forward people are. I love how people are attacking real-world needs and not just things that are not addressable in the market. I share as much information as I can so they can be successful. And I get excited seeing them grow and progress through one, two programs. Once you’re connected to the Levan Center of Innovation ecosystem, you always come back in some way, shape, or form. It gives you this collaboration you can’t get anywhere else—noncompetitive, open, and transparent communication from people who have been there, done it. And you can even tie into the NSU network. LIL ROBERTS Sample Specialties pitch decks and investor presentations KRISTEN CORPION Sample Specialties business law and building teams BENJAMIN MARKS Sample Specialties ROI and creative deal structuring SCOTT LOGVIN Sample Specialties business automation and custom websites ROB PETROSINO Sample Specialties selection, marketing, and technology
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