Welcome to Our Entrepreneurial Leadership @ Clarkson Newsletter!
t Clarkson, our small size is our advantage; our students benefit from personalized faculty mentoring, an entrepreneurial global mindset and new national and international networking opportunities for their startups and professional careers. That’s why our graduates and faculty continue to make a big impact across the globe.
This issue of our newsletter highlights recent examples of exciting student startups that have benefitted from our faculty’s expertise and financial support from the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Reh Center for Entrepreneurship provides a positive impact on our students and society by delivering practical and useful knowledge to help solve the world’s most complex problems and transform them into entrepreneurial opportunities.
We also feature faculty-scholars who are distinguishing themselves in the classroom and through impactful research.
Stories include:
• PREPRK, an innovative student startup that is receiving funding and support from the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship to help the company founders diversify their investors portfolio to reach global markets.
• MARC COMPEAU, Reh Family Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice, whose first-year course challenges students to develop their own businesses as soon as they step foot on campus.
• Professor and Associate Dean BEBONCHU ATEMS, whose research into the impact of technology shocks on entrepreneurial job creation and destruction is helping to create a model to predict job losses and gains for different-sized companies.
• Assistant Professor ROHAN CRICHTON is working on research with co-authors from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland UK “Uncovering the Responsible Leader in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Pathway to Accelerating the Green Hydrogen Economy.”
I invite you to learn more about our educational approach, which seeks to develop graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset and a global perspective; about the influential research led by our faculty; and about our outsized influence in the world.
Enjoy the reading, keep tuned into our new developments and remember: Think entrepreneurship, think Clarkson!
Professor Christian Felzensztein, PhDReh Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership & Co-Director Reh Center for Entrepreneurship
THE INNOVATION PIPELINE
Clarkson has a long history of developing leaders and entrepreneurs who turn great ideas into game-changing technology, products and services, thanks to the University’s longstanding commitment to interdisciplinary and experiential learning.
For many Reh School of Business students, their first encounter with innovation and problem-solving occurs in their first semester on campus.
“SB113 is different from any course you will find at other universities,” says MARC COMPEAU, Reh Family Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice. “Today, everyone talks about the importance of experiential learning, but we actually do it. Our first-year students are challenged to develop and build a business. They have to think creatively and analytically, and work in teams, often with others who see things differently.”
It’s a business education by immersion. And what Clarkson students learn is the process of innovation: decision-making, leadership, team-building, market research, risk management, financial analysis, and, perhaps most importantly, working effectively under conditions of uncertainty.
The class culminates in a Shark Tankstyle pitch to investors. “Every year, we invite alumni who are seasoned investors and bank presidents to vet the business ideas. Every year, they are blown away by the students’ business pitches.”
First-year student SAVANAH PIERRE’S Just Pierre clothing brand, a venture she initially launched in high school, was one
of the businesses that benefited last fall from startup funds as well as Professor Compeau’s mentorship. But support for her as a business creator doesn’t stop there.
Students like Pierre are further supported through the University’s innovation pipeline. This includes the Clarkson’s Ignite program, which connects budding business owners with resources like rapid prototyping, as well as with other students, faculty, alumni and professional and community mentors. Students can also turn to The Shipley Center for Innovation for help with legal questions, like how to apply for a patent, and for opportunities to connect with prospective investors.
“Clarkson students learn how to turn challenges into opportunities,” says Professor Compeau. ”When they graduate, they leave here with experience, confidence and, sometimes, a successful business.”
justpierre.com
MARC COMPEAU, professor of practice, consumer & organizational studies, was recently appointed the Reh Family Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice. Professor Compeau joined the Clarkson faculty in 2000. He is the founding director, and current co-director, of the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship.
SAVANAH PIERRE ’26, Founder & CEO, Just Pierre Clothing
By the time I was 15, I had already realized I wanted to build a brand, but I was 17 when I finally did it. My passion for fashion and the power that clothing provides served as my sources of inspiration. Clothing may serve as protection and a confidence booster; through your clothing, you communicate who you are.
Coming to Clarkson has allowed me to expand my brand to new heights. I made a proposal to investors and get the money necessary to grow my business. Professor [Marc] Compeau and Reh School Dean [Diego] Nocetti have been very helpful, responding to my inquiries and even my worries. Clarkson gives me access to the expertise and the resources I need.
FUNDING SUPPORTS ENTREPRENEURIAL RESEARCH
The Reh Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership Research Grant program provides faculty with internal funding in support of entrepreneurial research. Two recently funded projects look at the impact of new technology on job creation and loss, and responsible leadership in a green economy.
Rohan CrichtonTechnological advances pave the way for economic progress and transform the way we live and work. Inevitably, however, there is fallout along the way, as older technology and jobs become outdated and industries fail.
It’s a process known as “creative destruction.”
“Creative destruction is the process whereby newly created, highly productive jobs replace conventional jobs rendered obsolete by a newer technology,” says BEBONCHU ATEMS, professor and associate dean of faculty affairs & research in the Reh
School of Business. “For example, streaming services replacing DVD rentals, or cellphones making watches largely obsolete.
“Technology ‘shocks’ occur when an unanticipated and novel technology suddenly supersedes an established technology and companies are not prepared for the transition.”
Professor Atems is interested in how technology shocks affect job creation and destruction. Working with Christine Gohl ’18, MS/MBA’22, he applied a proxy structural vector autoregression model to quantify and predict job losses and gains for companies ranging in size from a handful of employees to over 1,000. “We know that some jobs will be lost, and some gained as a result of a technology shock. But what is the overall impact?”
Their results suggest that there is a positive net job gain when all firms in the economy are considered. But when firms are broken down into categories based on size, there are differences in the rate of job gain and loss. “For companies that employ nine or fewer people, there is no effect at all. But as the number of employees rises, so does the rate of job loss.”
