Director's Message
Welcome to Ciocca Center at Santa Clara University! Recently I’ve been watching a series on TV called “Genius” about Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. I am struck by how both Einstein and Picasso viewed the world so differently than their contemporaries and how so many of our social institutions (parenting, friend groups, school) seem implicitly designed to create conformity of thought and behavior.
What if more people grew up feeling free to explore the world around them without the constraints of the status quo? In my experience, an Entrepreneurial Mindset is often guided by an ability to think differently, coupled with a willingness to take risks. In this issue, we have three interesting perspectives that offer insight into our willingness and ability to accept and manage risk.
And speaking of risk, we are coming up soon on Earth Day (April 22nd), which is a good time for us all to consider our impact on our only habitable planet! I find the time around Earth Day to be a good opportunity to examine my own commitment and efforts to ensure our planet remains habitable. You might find the video series on energy that I created last year to be an interesting starting point: Earth Week.
Finally, we’ve got a little fun coming soon in the form of a Virtual Escape Room that will test your knowledge of SCU and your problem solving skills!
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We are excited to bring you these stories and we welcome your feedback.
Keep reading,
Chris Norris, Executive Director
Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
Perspectives  | Professor Kat Saxton, Associate Professor (Biology Department and Public Health Program) focuses her research on the ways in which social experiences affect biology and health. This past year, she has offered Covid-19 insight in a weekly video series. She believes that an understanding of others' experience with risk will lead to better public health policies. Read the article. |
 | Steven Bucher '20 Computer Science and Engineering likes exact answers. He hates risk. However, he's learned that risk is always an element in business, so he's trying to develop a tolerance for it. Read the article. |
Broncos, Actually  | Double Bronco Courtney Robinson '12, MBA '15 started her company Caramel Caravan with a great product and a business plan. Shortly after partnering with a fellow MBA grad, the pandemic happened. She shares how her tolerance for risk has grown throughout her experience as an entrepreneur. Meet Courtney on May 11th! Watch her interview here. |
Student Stories  | Do you have a business idea? Do you love competitions? Ciocca Center's Business Pitch Competition is the week of May 17th, with workshops and practice sessions leading up to it. SCU students from all disciplines are welcome! Multiple prizes are being awarded - including Most Interdisciplinary and Greatest Social Benefit. Apply now! |
 | Idea School is back, starting April 28th! This 6-week program teaches the tools you need to turn your idea into a business plan. Idea School is open to anyone in our SCU community, and is about what happens before you start developing your product, before you incorporate, maybe even before you choose a name. All you need to have is your idea! Register now! |
 | Tired of Zoom? Grab some friends and sign up for Ciocca Center's virtual escape room. Journey across campus via rocketship, gathering clues and solving puzzles along the way. Can your team launch? Sign up here. Please contact cioccacenter@scu.edu with any questions. |
 | Congratulations to graduating seniors and Student Advisory Board co-chairs, Sameehah Hussain '21 MIS and Steven Bucher '21 COEN. As inaugural co-chairs, they created a structure for, recruited, and led a 23 person interdisciplinary board. Amazing! After graduation, Steven will work at Microsoft as a Program Manager and Sameehah will be a Business Analyst at Ernst & Young. |
 | Accelerator Prep School graduation is taking place May 6th. All are welcome. Event will be livestreamed!
SCU's Bronco Venture Accelerator will be taking place this summer. Applications will open in May. Learn more here. |
A Well Lighted Place  | Interested in Design Thinking? Ciocca Center is sponsoring SCU faculty and staff for enrollment in any of 3 intro Design Thinking courses through IDEO U. Courses are online, asynchronous, self-paced, and estimated to take less than 10 hours. Enrollment is free, and upon completion of the course, participants may be eligible for a $200 stipend. Learn more. To participate, contact cioccacenter@scu.edu. |
 | Santa Clara Law's Entrepreneurs' Legal Advising Clinic pairs law students with volunteer attorneys to solve real legal problems for startups and local businesses. Ciocca Center's new program expands on this model by adding undergraduate business students and alumni mentors to the team, giving students real-life, hands-on business experience. Learn more here. |
Upcoming Events
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