As we look back over the past couple of years there is no doubt about the entrepreneurial spirit that is catching among tech savvy Net Geners entering the workforce. Young people like Mark Zuckerberg, Dalton Caldwell 27, Hooman Radfar and Austin Fath both 26, Andrew Frame 27, are creating and utilizing social networks, and word of mouth to successfully develop businesses.
The University of Waterloo has taken notice and is currently building a “Dormcubator” to link 70 of their best and brightest tech students together. According to an article in PC World the University of Waterloo is revamping one its dorms to make room for these students. The $400,000 project is designed to give them a place to live and interact with other like minded individuals.
There is some debate about the necessity for a physical space-based incubator. In the article, Raymond Luk, founder of the Montreal-based business start-up and business consultancy Flow Consulting explains:
“When it’s a physical space-based incubator, there can be a disconnect between the physical presence and what it actually requires to build a company. The challenge for incubators with a physical presence is against empire-building, where (the incubator administrators) just want to protect the infrastructure, which is different than the needs of the entrepreneur. They don’t need office space, Internet access, or Foosball tables–what you really need is people and money, which is what’s lacking in Canada. You need mentors and other successful entrepreneurs–that’s what will be worth everything.”
During the time the article was written, the program was also considering high school student applications depending on their technical ability. This is one more example of people taking the age off innovation.
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