CAN ENTREPRENEURS BE MADE OR ARE THEY BORN? Claremont Native Rachael Schiffris Finds Out as She Takes Part in Weeklong Entrepreneurial Immersion

Early-stage entrepreneurship is at its highest level of popularity since Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) began tracking it in 1999—and programs like LehighSiliconValley are helping students interested in embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor. The weeklong summit through Lehigh University’s Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation (ranked one of the country’s Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs by Entrepreneur magazine) brings 60 Lehigh University students—including Claremont’s own Rachael Schiffris—together with entrepreneurs, inventors, CEOs, venture capitalists and others who play key roles in the building of new enterprises from seed to startup to expansion and exit stage.

“In my first entrepreneurship class at Lehigh, we had to come up with a product that does not exist yet. Before college, I thought that everything had been created, and if it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be the one to discover something new. This class has about 40 students in it, and there are usually two classes per semester—that’s a lot of students coming up with new products every semester,” said Schiffris. “My product may not have been the best—or even the most doable—but it was something never created. I am fascinated in entrepreneurship because there is so much out there to be discovered, whether it is a new product or company.”

The question remains: Can entrepreneurship actually be taught? Two of last year’s participants, Jake Huber and Greg Horn, think so. Since attending LSV last year, Huber and Horn moved to Silicon Valley and created Gigawatt, an online crowdfunding platform for colleges that engages young alumni. Only time will tell if they end up as the next Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker. But stories like theirs are inspirational to Schiffris, and we will be keeping an eye on her to see where her entrepreneurial dreams take her.