Venture Visionaries

On November 16, 2022, the Venture Lab hosted a Fall Feast for all ELC (Entrepreneurship Learning Community) students. A full spread turkey dinner was served while students in the ELC discussed better ways to collaborate and increase engagement. ELC members who were asked why they initially joined said because of the convenient location, as most of their classes would be in Kyle Hall. They also explained that joining brought like-minded people together and they had an easy time meeting new people and making friends.  The ELC students were most excited about having fun together through ice cream socials, hot cocoa nights, charades, and more. Members also loved the idea of Maker Monday activities like business-themed tie dye and paint nights. Another idea to get members more involved was to have prizes or a points system for the ELC events.  The Venture Lab plans to host “fireside chats” with Entrepreneurial Alumni beginning in the Spring 2023 semester. ELC members said they ...

Radford University Entrepreneurship Professor, Dr. Steve Childers, invited the Venture Lab to host an innovative workshop for Brazilian students and faculty working in cyber security. The Innovation Workshop was held in the Venture Lab Thursday, November 10, 2022.  The engineering students and professors are from SENAI - Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial or National Service for Industrial Training in English, which is the largest institution of professional and technological education in Latin America. With the guidance of Dr. Sam Steidle, the Director of Venture Lab, the engineers completed a Design for Change workshop to help create solutions to challenges while developing self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.  We asked Brand Ambassadors and ELC members Jackie King, Mason Forsyth, and Jackson Hughes about their experience as freshmen. The engineers created an empathy-led connection with the Brand Ambassadors and wor...

Samantha Steidle - Director of Venture Lab The Venture Lab's Director is Dr. Samantha Steidle. Dr. Steidle has a Bachelor of Accounting from Radford University (Class of 04'). Since 2010, she co-launched six different start-up spaces. Venture Lab is the seventh.  Steidle decided to join Radford's Davis College of Business and Economics in 2021 to support the Venture Lab's  post-COVID re-launch and the amazing business and social entrepreneurship students across campus. She is  now a professor of entrepreneurship in the Department of Management. As a Junior in college at Radford, she started her first business so it's quite fulfilling to support student entrepreneurs and innovations taking similar paths,  regardless of whether they intend to be entrepreneurs, employees, or a hybrid of both. Innovation is a powerful  tool for all career paths.  Bradley Persons - Lead Brand Ambassador Bradley is a senior Finance major who loves ska...

Giant Jenga, cornhole, and pizza, that’s what students want! Some of the freshmen at Radford University participating in a survey and over 80% said they wanted to get outside and play games. They want to have fun. On October 26th from 12pm-3pm, the Davis College Freshman Year Experience (D-FYE) and the Venture Lab hosted a game day with over 240 students that were engaged to provide an opportunity for students to socialize and have fun.  Radford University has a goal of improving retention rates and the Venture Lab’s mission is to support the institution’s goals. With the Covid-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, the Venture Lab is trying to help students reemerge from the pandemic in a mentally healthy way. Students across the globe struggle with mental health and belonging post-pandemic. The Venture Lab took that information and based this game day on student demand. The game day was a celebration of successfully surviving midterms and encouragement to finish the semester out st...

Need a 1-credit course to reach those 120 hours? There will be a new class offered in Spring 2023! Join us in the Venture Lab next semester for a real-world learn-by-doing course that expands the students mind through creativity.  The course is offered as a 1 credit course but students may choose to take three consecutive semesters of the course, for a total of 3 credit hours.  During Spring 2023, students will meet one time a week in the Venture Lab (M 2-2:50) and will work separately as a group to move progress forward at a time and cadence convenient for those group members. Entrepreneurial Living-Learning Community (ELC) students are highly advised to register for this course, as they are required to take 3 credits before the end of their second year.  The Applied Venture Lab course provides an opportunity for students to take concrete steps toward launching a real business, social enterprise, or innovation project.  Students will work in teams and choose to eit...

Millenials and Gen Z were the largest share of eligible voters in 2020, but according to campusvoteproject.org , those that actually voted were few. Radford University’s Venture Lab is trying to change that by motivating students to serve as a force for good in society. A great first step to voting is getting registered to vote. On Wednesday, October 12 from 11-3, the Venture Lab hosted a registration drive which resulted in registering over 40 students to vote. Voting is one of the most basic and important things people can do to help guide the futures of their communities.    Venture Lab is an interdisciplinary learn-by-doing lab for innovation and entrepreneurship.  It includes social innovation and the sustainable development goals. By giving students the chance to register to vote, the lab gave them access to have a voice through civic engagement.   The Brand Ambassadors were trained to teach students how to register and walked them through all the steps. They...