On most days, you can find Mason Mincey in his garage, living his dream. There are no cars or woodworking tools here. Mincey wears booties to ensure everything, including the garage floor, stays as clean as the inside of a bubble.
麻豆精品 S淲hat we 麻豆精品 S檙e doing in here is what you 麻豆精品 S檇 find Ph.D.s doing in expensive labs, 麻豆精品 S� Mincey says about his three business partners and himself. 麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檝e learned to work with whatever resources we have available. 麻豆精品 S�
Mincey, who 麻豆精品 S檚 on track to graduate from UCF in 2023, studies plant-based fibers at the nanoscale on one side of the garage. On the other side, the fibers are used for the research and development of high-performance athletic clothing. That 麻豆精品 S檚 the differentiator for Mincey and his co-founders of Soarce USA: Their shirts, socks, underwear, and headbands will be derived from plant materials.
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Mincey enrolled at UCF as an aspiring aerospace engineer. During his freshman year, he discovered the university 麻豆精品 S檚 Blackstone LaunchPad program and a path to entrepreneurship.
麻豆精品 S淢ason exemplifies the kind of student who comes into the program, 麻豆精品 S� says Cameron Ford, founding director of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. 麻豆精品 S淏lackstone is the investment company behind our LaunchPad. They share my belief that people who develop an entrepreneurial mindset will be better prepared to take risks and adapt, no matter what they do for a career.
麻豆精品 S淭hink about it. One student takes classes, graduates, and interviews for a job. Another student takes the same classes, but also had an idea for lip balm, developed a prototype and a website, and tried to market the product. If I 麻豆精品 S檓 an employer, that second candidate has me spellbound, whether they succeeded or not. 麻豆精品 S�
Ford has seen 500-600 students in the LaunchPad center every year since it opened in 2013. Volunteers from the business community mentor students in skills like accounting, marketing, and how to apply for patents.
麻豆精品 S淭his is real-world business development, 麻豆精品 S� says Ford, 麻豆精品 S渂ut it isn 麻豆精品 S檛 just for business students. You can see that from the alumni who have used the LaunchPad. 麻豆精品 S�
Chemistry alum David Nash 麻豆精品 S�11 麻豆精品 S�14MS 麻豆精品 S�17PhD helped launch IDem Systems in 2015 to help law enforcement agencies quickly detect the presence of illegal drugs. Health sciences grad Victoria Weiss 麻豆精品 S�16 co-founded Rope Lace Supply in her dorm room with industrial engineering grad Eric Delgado 麻豆精品 S�16 and sold $250,000 of shoelaces online in their first year. Managementalum Jesse Wolfe 麻豆精品 S�15 created O 麻豆精品 S檇ang Hummus, received mentoring in the LaunchPad, pitched his product on Shark Tank, and is one of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 most recognized entrepreneurs.
麻豆精品 S淎nd now, 麻豆精品 S� says Ford, 麻豆精品 S渉e comes into the LaunchPad to mentor other students. 麻豆精品 S�
Like Mason Mincey.
Mason Mincey, co-founder Soarce
Soarce is the fourth idea that Mincey and his partners hatched. They learned valuable lessons from each swing and miss. As freshmen, they developed a drone to help farmers locate patches of dying crops in massive fields, and even took it into the semifinals of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Joust competition.
麻豆精品 S淥ur pitch didn 麻豆精品 S檛 go well, 麻豆精品 S� says Mincey. 麻豆精品 S淲e went back to LaunchPad and began to understand that creativity and drive aren 麻豆精品 S檛 enough to build an actual business. 麻豆精品 S�
Next, they built a 13-foot rocket as vehicle for organizations without NASA-size budgets to collect scientific data. At a demonstration in Alabama, the rocket blew up at takeoff. Small portions of their own carbon fiber stayed intact, however, and would inspire number-three: a racing drone.
麻豆精品 S淲e had fun and sold some drones, but there wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 a big market, 麻豆精品 S� Mincey says. 麻豆精品 S淧lus, it was a toy. I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 see it as a business that would make a positive impact. 麻豆精品 S�
In the LaunchPad, Wolfe shared some entrepreneurial wisdom from his trials and errors during the early days of O 麻豆精品 S檇ang. For example, you can 麻豆精品 S檛 build a business on passion alone.
麻豆精品 S淗e said, 麻豆精品 S榊ou need to think from the customer perspective, a product perspective, and a business perspective. That 麻豆精品 S檚 the three-legged stool. And you need to be willing to adjust your original idea, 麻豆精品 S� Mincey says.
Mincey says without those lessons, and without pro bono help from attorneys, designers, and marketing specialists, Soarce wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 have made it past three months, and he wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 be wearing booties in his garage or using plants to perfect textile fibers a million times smaller than a human hair.
麻豆精品 S淟aunchPad got us on the right track, 麻豆精品 S� he says, 麻豆精品 S渁nd now we 麻豆精品 S檙e onto something cool. 麻豆精品 S�
Brandon Naids 麻豆精品 S�14 麻豆精品 S�16MS , co-founder Talon Simulations
It 麻豆精品 S檚 been said that the Blackstone LaunchPad is a great program for UCF students who have always dreamed of starting a business or those who never could have imagined it.
Brandon Naids 麻豆精品 S�14 麻豆精品 S�16MS is among the latter group.
麻豆精品 S淚 was just a na茂ve engineering student trying to come up with something interesting for my senior project, 麻豆精品 S� he says of the virtual reality flight simulator he and four other UCF students created. 麻豆精品 S淎nd I thought it would look good on my resume. 麻豆精品 S�
At the Senior Design Showcase in April 2014, local industry leaders and UCF faculty saw the compact nature of the simulator and heard about the lower cost to make it. Their feedback sparked a fire that changed Naids 麻豆精品 S� career path before he 麻豆精品 S檇 taken his first step on it.
麻豆精品 S淓very person at the showcase told us to check out the LaunchPad, 麻豆精品 S� Naids says. 麻豆精品 S淚 planned to look for an engineering job, but once we met with an advisor at LaunchPad and heard about the help available to turn our project into a product, we thought, 麻豆精品 S榃ow, we 麻豆精品 S檙e really doing this. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�
Instead of pursuing job interviews, Naids pursued his master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree while shifting from an engineering mindset to an entrepreneurial ethos.
麻豆精品 S淲e learned that as business owners you can 麻豆精品 S檛 just submit plans and wait for results, 麻豆精品 S� Naids says. 麻豆精品 S淵ou have to set goals and then be accountable to meet each one of them. A mentor also told us that passion alone isn 麻豆精品 S檛 enough to build a business, but it will help you through the tough times 麻豆精品 S� because those time will come. 麻豆精品 S�
During those times, Naids would nervously sit in parking lots for up to an hour before meeting with prospective clients of Talon Simulations. Now, with a real business sitting firmly on a three-legged stool, he sees his team 麻豆精品 S檚 simulators used in arcades, malls, 150 Dave and Busters locations, and for U.S. Army recruiting events.
麻豆精品 S淚 never imagined this until we went to UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 LaunchPad, 麻豆精品 S� Naids says. 麻豆精品 S淯ntil then, I thought I 麻豆精品 S檇 be doing 3-D modeling behind someone else 麻豆精品 S檚 desk. I 麻豆精品 S檓 grateful everything turned out this way instead. 麻豆精品 S�
