Lindsay Siegel
Executive Director, Zahn Innovation Center
City College of New York
Field-Trip to Long Island Vineyard
3rd Agricultural Geophysics Workshop at Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center
Reflections
Innovation Unedited
Kenneth Arrow: 1972
Nobel Prize in Economics
Robert Aumann: 2005
Nobel Prize in Economics
Julius Axelrod: 1970
Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology
Stanley Cohen: 1986
Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology
Gertrude Elion: 1988
Nobel Prize in Physics
Herbert Hauptman: 1985
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Robert Hofstadter: 1961
Nobel Prize in Physics
Jerome Karle: 1985
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Arthur Kornberg: 1959
Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology
Leon Lederman: 1988
Nobel Prize in Physics
Arno Penzias: 1978
Nobel Prize in Astrophysics
Julian Schwinger: 1965
Nobel Prize in Physics
Rosalyn Yalow: 1977
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Lindsay Siegel
Executive Director
Zahn Innovation Center
City College of New York
Elizabeth Vilchis
Operations
Homer Delivery
Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D.
Director
Science & Tech Studies Prog
Associate Professor, History
Stevens Institute of Technology
Aaron M. Socha, Ph.D.
Director: Ctr for Sust Energy
Professor: Department of Chemistry
Bronx Community College, CUNY
Theo Vassilakis, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
Metanautix
Everybody talks about successes – what were some of the failures (failed ventures) that came out of the Zahn Center? Were there any products/ideas that were anticipated to be successful but that didn’t actually work out? Why did they fail? How did the teams recover from or learn from failure?
Is there a GPA or experience requirement to get into the Zahn center?
Hi Amanda,
No GPA or experience requirement! Just a commitment to your venture.
Thanks,
Lindsay
What is the criteria for your idea to be chosen at the Zahn center?
Hi Anna,
Please check out the Admissions page on the Zahn Center website for details. http://www.zahncenternyc.com/admissions/
Thanks,
Lindsay
Does the Zahn center network with other local New York entrepreneurship organizations? Perhaps to organize a super-incubator or mini-conference?
Hi Bethany,
Yes, this is definitely something we are interested in. At this point we are building a network of university incubators in the city and working on some shared programming. But it would be fantastic to offer a collaborative program – contact me if you’d want to help us build this!
Lindsay
Are there any projects in the arts that have come out of the Zahn Center? Were they successful?
Hi Lisa,
We have two teams that are working on arts-related ventures. yaHeard is an online invitation platform for music artists (http://www.zahncenternyc.com/startups/yaheard-2/) and Museum of Your Art is a GPS-based, crowd-sourced arts tour app (web page coming). They are working on various challenges at the moment and have tremendous potential for growth. Let me know if you’d like to get involved!
LIndsay
How does someone start working with the Zahn center? How does someone submit an idea or project to get involved in ‘the incubator?’
Hi Casey,
Visit our Admissions page on the website for this information:
http://www.zahncenternyc.com/admissions/
Thanks,
Lindsay
How can the Zahn center help with creating an app? With hardware, the team in the incubator has access to tools and 3D printers, are there similar tools to help with creating software? Can you give some examples?
Hi Tiffany,
We work with mentors and advisors with significant experience developing and launching apps, and we are hiring now a tech director to specifically support both the hardware and software startups. We offer services like Microsoft BizSpark to our teams, and have close relationships with TI among other firms.
Best,
Lindsay
As a student, it’s difficult to be taken seriously in the competitive business market. How does the Zahn center help students create a viable network from scratch?
Hi Sharon,
Network building is one of the essentials for startups. We start with bringing relevant leaders to campus and encouraging our startups to attend various industry events, competitions, hackathons and the like. We provide some training on network development methodology, but beyond that it’s a lot of trial and error!
Best,
Lindsay
Very often, what someone might believe to be a new idea has already been thought of by someone else. How “innovative” do our ideas need to be?
Hi Allen,
The first thing is to do a bit of market research – know the space you are trying to enter and determine if there are other products or services that are already trying to meet that need. They may not have the perfect answer and even if there is competition, this may not preclude you from pursuing your idea. But you want to know what’s already out there. An innovation can be a better product to meet a need, an improved service on what’s available, or even a more efficient process or delivery method. We support all kinds of innovative ideas and our main goal to get our teams to become more creative problem solvers.
Lindsay
Can you be a non-CUNY student on a Zahn Center team of other CUNY students?
Hi Tiffany,
Teams entering our competitions, or startups that are admitted to the incubator, must have a City College affiliation – some tie to this campus as faculty, students or staff. Other CUNY or non-CUNY students are welcome to partner with the City College members on their ventures, and would also be admitted to the incubator as long as there are CCNY team members as well.
Best,
Lindsay
At what point, if there is one, are successfully incubated startups cut off from the Zahn center to become completely independent?
Hi Maxwell,
Teams at the incubator must continue to show dedication to their startup and as long as they continue to make progress, evolve and advance their idea, they continue to have access to our resources. But we are working on a better way to handle those teams that have reached a milestone of “launch” in which they graduate from the Zahn Center and must seek other means of supporting their idea (through other incubators/accelerators, angel investors, foundations, competitions, etc).
Have there been products envisioned at the Zahn center that have gone viral or become popular in the mainstream markets?
Hi Shariq,
We are still in early days of our development, so the types of successes we could have to do with reaching revenue goals, winning significant funding through other competitions or early investors. We have one team about to launch their first crowd-funding campaign (facebook.com/EkickCo) so you can help them to go viral!
Lindsay
How is a group’s new idea assessed by the Zahn Center judges? Are there clear expectations given in advance to the participants in the competition? Also, are there professors willing to help students make their idea come to life? Do they share their experiences with students?
Also, after how many failures should a team give up on an idea?
Hi Fadi,
With any of the competitions we post all of the criteria by which the ideas are evaluated. After the competitions launch on Oct 2, please check the Competitions section of our website for more details. We have a number of faculty and industry leaders with whom we work closely to help coach and mentor teams. If students are looking for support, chances are we can point them in the right direction! I would not want to quantify failures – startups and any other risky endeavor find a path to success only through a series of failures. What’s most important is to be open and learn from the advice and take lessons from what goes wrong along the way. Then persevere.
Lindsay
Why does the Grayston Bakery allow ex-cons to work for them? Why doesn’t the management have any fears about hiring those people?
Hi Fadi,
The Open Hiring model at Greyston Bakery is core to their investment in their community – it is entirely intentional that they are providing a non-judgmental employment opportunity regardless of an individual’s past mistakes. Their founder developed this process on a Buddhist model and there are many other businesses that also incorporate similar tenets in their design. Open Hiring has worked tremendously well for Greyston. Check their website to learn more.
Lindsay
What tools does the Zahn Center have to aid any ideas for a social enterprise a student may have?
Hi Laura,
Social enterprises can take many shapes – from basic legal structures to the sector or challenge they aim to address. So the Zahn Center provides guidance and mentorship no matter what the intention is of the social venture. And if technology is involved, we also bring in our resources on the tech side to support the social impact objectives. Ultimately, our greatest resource will remain our network and the mentors and coaches we make available to help teams advance with their venture. If you have an idea, come to the Center and see how we can support you!
Best,
Lindsay
[…] To view the video interview visit the course page: Science and Technology in NYC. […]
Can you reapply over again if your team doesn’t make it the first time (of course with a different idea)?
How the Zahn Center grown and developed over the years as people ome and go off with their ideas
How exactly does the center help to grow ideas from conception to market?