Director's Message
Welcome to Ciocca Center at Santa Clara University! Recently I’ve been watching a series on TV called “Genius” about Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. I am struck by how both Einstein and Picasso viewed the world so differently than their contemporaries and how so many of our social institutions (parenting, friend groups, school) seem implicitly designed to create conformity of thought and behavior.
What if more people grew up feeling free to explore the world around them without the constraints of the status quo? In my experience, an Entrepreneurial Mindset is often guided by an ability to think differently, coupled with a willingness to take risks. In this issue, we have three interesting perspectives that offer insight into our willingness and ability to accept and manage risk.
And speaking of risk, we are coming up soon on Earth Day (April 22nd), which is a good time for us all to consider our impact on our only habitable planet! I find the time around Earth Day to be a good opportunity to examine my own commitment and efforts to ensure our planet remains habitable. You might find the video series on energy that I created last year to be an interesting starting point: Earth Week.
Finally, we’ve got a little fun coming soon in the form of a Virtual Escape Room that will test your knowledge of SCU and your problem solving skills!
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We are excited to bring you these stories and we welcome your feedback.
Keep reading,
Chris Norris, Executive Director
Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
Perspectives  | Professor Kat Saxton, Associate Professor (Biology Department and Public Health Program) focuses her research on the ways in which social experiences affect biology and health. This past year, she has offered Covid-19 insight in a weekly video series. She believes that an understanding of others' experience with risk will lead to better public health policies. Read the article. |
 | Steven Bucher '20 Computer Science and Engineering likes exact answers. He hates risk. However, he's learned that risk is always an element in business, so he's trying to develop a tolerance for it. Read the article. |
Broncos, Actually  | Double Bronco Courtney Robinson '12, MBA '15 started her company Caramel Caravan with a great product and a business plan. Shortly after partnering with a fellow MBA grad, the pandemic happened. She shares how her tolerance for risk has grown throughout her experience as an entrepreneur. Meet Courtney on May 11th! Watch her interview here. |
Student Stories  | Do you have a business idea? Do you love competitions? Ciocca Center's Business Pitch Competition is the week of May 17th, with workshops and practice sessions leading up to it. SCU students from all disciplines are welcome! Multiple prizes are being awarded - including Most Interdisciplinary and Greatest Social Benefit. Apply now! |
 | Idea School is back, starting April 28th! This 6-week program teaches the tools you need to turn your idea into a business plan. Idea School is open to anyone in our SCU community, and is about what happens before you start developing your product, before you incorporate, maybe even before you choose a name. All you need to have is your idea! Register now! |
 | Tired of Zoom? Grab some friends and sign up for Ciocca Center's virtual escape room. Journey across campus via rocketship, gathering clues and solving puzzles along the way. Can your team launch? Sign up here. Please contact cioccacenter@scu.edu with any questions. |
 | Congratulations to graduating seniors and Student Advisory Board co-chairs, Sameehah Hussain '21 MIS and Steven Bucher '21 COEN. As inaugural co-chairs, they created a structure for, recruited, and led a 23 person interdisciplinary board. Amazing! After graduation, Steven will work at Microsoft as a Program Manager and Sameehah will be a Business Analyst at Ernst & Young. |
 | Accelerator Prep School graduation is taking place May 6th. All are welcome. Event will be livestreamed!
SCU's Bronco Venture Accelerator will be taking place this summer. Applications will open in May. Learn more here. |
A Well Lighted Place  | Interested in Design Thinking? Ciocca Center is sponsoring SCU faculty and staff for enrollment in any of 3 intro Design Thinking courses through IDEO U. Courses are online, asynchronous, self-paced, and estimated to take less than 10 hours. Enrollment is free, and upon completion of the course, participants may be eligible for a $200 stipend. Learn more. To participate, contact cioccacenter@scu.edu. |
 | Santa Clara Law's Entrepreneurs' Legal Advising Clinic pairs law students with volunteer attorneys to solve real legal problems for startups and local businesses. Ciocca Center's new program expands on this model by adding undergraduate business students and alumni mentors to the team, giving students real-life, hands-on business experience. Learn more here. |
Upcoming Events
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Open for Business
5 p.m., Lucas Hall Santa Clara University
Ciocca Center is holding our annual Open for Business! event on Thursday, October 24th from 5-6:30 pm for all of the students in the Fall BUSN 70 (Contemporary Business Issues)!
Register Here!
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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BEACH Kick-off
5 p.m. BEACH provides an Advisory Service for startups and small businesses to benefit from no cost legal and business information and resources. This experiential program is an opportunity for SCU students to work in cross-functional teams while gaining real-world hands-on experience navigating, researching and advising clients on legal or business concerns. Clients receive free information and resources from BEACH backed by research, review of findings complete with valuable recommendations and additional resources. |
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Idea Lab - Design Thinking
All Day
Be Empowered through Design Thinking @ Idea Lab - the SCU Community of graduate and undergraduate students, alumni, faculty and staff are ALL Invited to attend Bronco Ventures Idea Lab, an experiential no-cost program focused on the core concepts of design thinking, customer-centered problem analysis to Ideation and the Pitch!
Idea Lab is offering its Ideation module as a Saturday Workshop. The workshop will provide the attendees with the tools and techniques to empathize with the customers, deeply understand their pain points, generate human-centered solutions, and test the feasibility of potential solutions. The content presented in these modules leverages the core concepts of design thinking to empower students with the skills to define, approach, and solve problems in a creative manner, and complements technical content presented in a wide variety of courses.
Our goal is to help You create a team and a viable, feasible, and desirable business idea to continue beyond Idea Lab!
Upon completion, attendees will receive a digital certificate and badge.
Idea Lab is free and lunch will be provided.
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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Prep School Application Deadline
All Day The Bronco Venture Accelerator’s Prep School offers the opportunity to experience a supportive, dynamic, hands-on environment that will spark innovation and prepare you to push your venture forward. You will learn how to take your business idea and expand it through roadmapping, problem solving, and pitch development. Accelerator Prep School will help you get ready to apply to the full Bronco Venture Accelerator or other great Silicon Valley accelerators like Y Combinator, Alchemist, or 500 Startups. |
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Prep School Kick-Off!
All Day
The Bronco Venture Accelerator’s Prep School offers the opportunity to experience a supportive, dynamic, hands-on environment that will spark innovation and prepare you to push your venture forward. You will learn how to take your business idea and expand it through roadmapping, problem solving, and pitch development. Accelerator Prep School will help you get ready to apply to the full Bronco Venture Accelerator or other great Silicon Valley accelerators like Y Combinator, Alchemist, or 500 Startups.
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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Storytelling Workshop
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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Idea Lab - Design Thinking
All Day
Be Empowered through Design Thinking @ Idea Lab - the SCU Community of graduate and undergraduate students, alumni, faculty and staff are ALL Invited to attend Bronco Ventures Idea Lab, an experiential no-cost program focused on the core concepts of design thinking, customer-centered problem analysis to Ideation and the Pitch!
Idea Lab is offering its Ideation module as a Saturday Workshop. The workshop will provide the attendees with the tools and techniques to empathize with the customers, deeply understand their pain points, generate human-centered solutions, and test the feasibility of potential solutions. The content presented in these modules leverages the core concepts of design thinking to empower students with the skills to define, approach, and solve problems in a creative manner, and complements technical content presented in a wide variety of courses.
Our goal is to help You create a team and a viable, feasible, and desirable business idea to continue beyond Idea Lab!
Upon completion, attendees will receive a digital certificate and badge.
Idea Lab is free and lunch will be provided.
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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Business Pitch Competition
3 - 9 p.m.
Ciocca Center’s Business Pitch Competition takes place each spring. We use a virtual portal called Pitchtape, an asynchronous online platform where companies can record their pitches.
SCU students of all majors are encouraged to apply for a spot in the competition!
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Bronco Ventures Accelerator Early Application Deadline
All Day
The Bronco Ventures Accelerator (BVA) empowers Santa Clara University entrepreneurs with the tools, accountability, and community to develop and grow for-profit businesses with competence, conscience, and compassion. The accelerator is industry- and stage-agnostic. The cohort system used by the BVA provides a terrific platform for a small set of teams to attend high-energy, interactive classes and workshops, led by industry leaders. Participants truly have the opportunity to hone their entrepreneurial skills.
BVA concludes with Demo Day - an exciting shark-tank-like event at which BVA teams pitch to investors - each October.
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Ugrad and Grad Commencement Weekend
All Day
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Ugrad and Grad Commencement Weekend
Midnight
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BVA Cafe
6:30 p.m., 3230 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95053
WHAT: We call it “BVA Cafe” where CAFE stands for: Calling All Founders & Entrepreneurs
Meet and mingle with fellow BVA entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and entrepreneurship-curious. Enjoy small bites while hearing updates from BVA Alumni and meeting new startup founders.
WHEN: The third Thursday of each month (except November and December when it is on the second Thursday), at 6:30 PM
WHERE: BVA House, 3230 The Alameda (2 doors North of the Hut, across from 7-11). We frequently adjourn to the Hut for adult beverages afterward.
BVA CAFE is open to all and free of charge; but, Registration is required.
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