Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative

• This page is referenced in Rice Entrepreneurship

The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative, also known as Entrepreneurship@Rice and REI, is a collaborative effort of students, professors, mentors and the Houston entrepreneur community to foster innovative entrepreneurial spirit and help launch successful ventures through education, guidance and connections.[1]. The initiative is led by Yael Hochberg, Head of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, and Abby Larson, Director of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative.[2].

Calendar of Events

The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative maintains and updates a calendar of campus and city wide events relating to entrepreneurship.

Team

Leadership

• Yael Hochberg, Head of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship
• Abby Larson, Director of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and Lecturer in Entrepreneurship

Faculty

• Eric Floyd, Assistant Professor of Accounting
• Haiyang Li, Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation
• Doug Schuler, Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy
• Danielle Supkis-Cheek, Adjust Professor
• Al Danto, Lecturer in Management – Entrepreneurship & IT
• Michael Evans, Lecturer
• Aziz Gilani, Lecturer in Management
• Tom Kraft, Director Technology Ventures Development - Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Lecturer in Management

Rice Alliance

• Brad Burke, Managing Director
• Mary Lynn Fernau, Director of Marketing
• Lea Aden Lueck, Director of the Rice Business Plan Competition
• Quynhmai Nguyen, Director of Operations and Event Planning
• Noy Shemer, Program Specialist
• Kerri Smith, Associate Managing Director

Advisors

• Kazimir Karwowski, Executive Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
• Amy Kavalewitz, Associate Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
• Maria Oden, Director, Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
• Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Director, Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health Technologies, Director, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering

Website

The | website provides resources for faculty and students. A list of undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and EMBA courses relating to entrepreneurship are provided.[3]

Events

The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative organized its first event on October 22-25, 2015, where students from Rice University and the University of Houston participated in the 3 Day Startup held at TMCx. Rice Launch collaborated with the REI.[4]

Other events include:

• Rice Business Plan Competition, the "world's largest graduate-level student startup competition"[5]
• Rice Undergraduate Elevator Pitch Competition, a 90-second product pitch contest supported by the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK), Rice Alliance, and Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL)
• Owl Open, a campus-wide business plan competition and qualifier for the Rice Business Plan Competition
• OwlSpark, a 12-week summer accelerator program

Entrepreneurship Clubs and Organizations

• Rice Launch
• Jones Graduate School of Business Entrepreneurship Club - Open to current Jones Business School students
• Rice Alliance
• OEDK
• RCEL
• Rice University Office of Tech Transfer, (OTT)
• Rice 360˚ Institute for Global Health
• Jones Graduate School Entrepreneurs Organization, (JGSEO) - Open to current and past Jones Business School students