Exploration 2021: New Team, New Projects


# Exploration Team 2021
This is the first semester for the Exploration team; what was once two different teams (Discovery & Microgrants) was merged into one team on Founders to
combine our talent and focus on making an impact in the entrepreneurship community. Put simply,
> It's the job of the exploration team to stay connected with the entrepreneurship community, diagnose issues that exist among studnet-run startups, and identify solutions to those problems. *(from the [exploration](/teams/exploration/) page.)*

It's safe to say that after one whole semester of work, the exploration team has a lot of amazing work to show for themselves. Let's take a look at some of the
initiatives and projects that were spearheaded by the Exploration team in 2021 so far.

## Startup Consolidator
There are dozens upon dozens of student startups at UIUC, but there's no place for students and faculty at UIUC to get a glimpse into the entrepreneurship community. The Startup Consolation project aims to gather a master list of all (or, most) startups at U of I. The **R&D** team has created a *Startup Directory* to display all of these startups in one place.

## Ecosystem Map
The Founders Ecosystem Map project aims to refer struggling entrepreneurs to on-campus resources. Given a students' startup information, we can let you know
which resources will be most beneficial for your startup.

## VC Connections
This initiative focuses on working with student startups, professors, and industry professionals to coordinate unique workshops and experiences for the entrepreneurship community.

## Workshops
The Workshop team aims to create educational workshops, both virtually and in person, to provide year-round value to students interested in creating their own venture.

[Back to home.](/blog/)

Community 2021: Skyward, together.


# Community Team 2021

Spring 2021 was an incredible season for our Community team. With Josh James as the new team lead, we were able to identify and execute a pleathora
of awesome marketing campaigns and get started on a bunch of smaller projects.

## Branding Guidelines
With the addition of member Russell (Rusty) Green, Founders has created a new brand book! This details all of our new colors, typography, and more. You
can check it out [here](../Founders-Brand-Book.pdf).

## Marketing Campaigns
In an attempt to expand our social media presence, the Community team launched and sustained two seperate marketing campaigns: **#FINDFOUNDERS** and **#SKYWARD**.

**#FINDFOUNDERS** is a marketing campaign directed at entrepreneurs, giving them tips and other information about how to be successful in the form of Instagram infographics. The motivation behind this campaign in particular was to grow our brand, and push out more visual content. This allowed Founders members to crosspost the information on Instagram, growing our public image and reaching more people within the UIUC entrepreneurship community.

**#SKYWARD** is a campaign that's supposed to direct peoples' attention to Founders' new inititives and events. As our brand grows, our organization is headed "skyward". This also plays on the space theme that we're trying to emphasize on the website and on presentations in the future.

## Discord
What better way to stay connected to the entrepreneurship community than *creating* one yourself? The community team this semester, in additon to the other initiatives, created a **Discord** server to connect likeminded individuals that are passionate about entrepreneurship. This helps us to consolidate startups on campus, reach out to the community more directly, and provide a platform for communication among startups at UIUC.

## Community Team - Fall 2021 & Beyond
Now that the Community team has wrapped up everything for this semester, we'll be hard at work with our brand new event, **The Startup Career Fair**, as well as building our Discord even further. There's a lot more in the works, but we'll save it for the next Founders product drop!

[Back to home.](/blog/)

Spring Research Initiative: Measuring Our Impact


# Research Initative

## Our Goal
Hi everyone! We are the Founders Research Intitative Team. Our goal this semester was to gain a better understanding of the Illinois startup community. We wanted to determine which challenges prove to be the most difficult for startups, and identify which resources Founders could provide to help. Additionally, we wanted to measure Founders' impact on the entrepreneurial community, and see if there were any ways for us to better engage and connect with startups on campus. 

## Methodology
We designed a questionnaire in order to collect data from startups and students interested in entrepreneurship. This helped us understand which part of the entrepreneurial process startups were struggling with as well as general statistics about the makeup of the Illinois startup community. [The form can be view here!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1I9eGhQ9PO7K4WhTjkhI1W5VG_jxrGgBDb-s787Wqric/edit)

While we waited for the results of our questionnaire to come in, we generated a mock dataset to build and test functions needed to analyze and visualize the data. This will allow us to quickly import the real data we collect into useful statistics and visualizations.

## Findings

We are still actively in the process of collecting data, however by aggregating data collected at past Founders' events and workshops we can confidently say Founders has had a significant impact on the Illinois startup community -- helping over 200 startups over the past few years. 

[Back to home.](/blog/)

Founders Events: What Makes Founders So Special


# Events @ Founders

Founders helps students create businesses from the ground up. The Founders Startup Curriculum is a series of events that drives startup innovation by turning your ideas into a reality. Events range from several days to several weeks, but they all foster the creativity and entrepreneurship that you need to start your very own venture.

The **Founders Startp Curriculum** is the series of events that helps students wanting to start their own business, learn more about entrepreneurship in general, or find jobs at already existing startups. The curriculum is as follows: **Startup Bootcamp**, **54.io**, **Forge**, and **Startup Career Fair**.

## Startup Bootcamp
![Startup Bootcamp](../startup_bootcamp.png#thumbnail)

Startup Bootcamp is an 8-week workshop series designed to lay the groundwork for student entrepreneurial success. Lectures will be delivered by leading university faculty and successful members of the entrepreneurship community alongside supplemental office hours and assignments.

## 54
![54](../fiftyfour.png#thumbnail)

54 is a 3-day event where students from different backgrounds come together to form teams and launch a successful startup. No experience required. Just bring yourself, some friends and good ideas.

## Forge
![Forge](../forge.png#thumbnail)

Forge is a 2-day conference to bring together the entrepreneurship communities across the Midwest. Over a weekend in Chicago, you'll meet other student entrepreneurs from all of the top schools in the region.

## Startup Career Fair
![Startup Career Fair](../careerfair.png#thumbnail)

Startup Career Fair is a day for startups to register with Founders and find students to work for them. Students interested in working for startups can bring their resume and their best suit to get a chance to work with these companies.

[Back to home.](/blog/)

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Blog

Exploration 2021: New Team, New Projects

Amaan Abbas

Apr 28 2021

Community 2021: Skyward, together.

Davis Keene

Apr 27 2021

Spring Research Initiative: Measuring Our Impact

Adith Narayanan

Apr 26 2021

Founders Events: What Makes Founders So Special

Davis Keene

Apr 20 2021