{"id":7846,"date":"2017-11-06T14:53:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T19:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=7846"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:20:11","slug":"hatch-student-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/hatch-student-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Entrepreneurs Hatch Great Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Student Entrepreneurs Hatch Great Ideas\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

We live in an age of big ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how exactly<\/em> do you transform a great concept into the next global business empire, or at least the next thriving side hustle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every entrepreneur defines success differently, but all of them face similar challenges to achieving it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton\u2019s Hatch program<\/a> helps students prepare themselves to rise to the occasion. The student-led program works with budding entrepreneurs to develop their business plans and connects them with investors, partners and a community of like-minded peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hatch helped Cole Miller land a $150,000 investment on Dragon\u2019s Den<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the launching pad that helped Cole Miller and Twelve Barrels<\/a> whiskey land a $150,000 investment on Dragon\u2019s Den, and set Mallory Rowan and Josh Reyes\u2019 powerlifting apparel brand LVD Fitness<\/a> along the path to $1 million in annual revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve generated amazing entrepreneurs,\u201d says Melissa Vong, Hatch\u2019s director and lead organizer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given students almost $300,000 in grants through Lead to Win<\/a>, Ontario Centres of Excellence<\/a> and other programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Word is Getting Out About Hatch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Hatch\u2019s first event of the year \u2013 a meet and greet featuring Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson — Vong\u2019s excitement is palpable. She\u2019s been building the student incubator for three years and word is starting to get around. More than 100 students signed up on Facebook to attend the session. And last year\u2019s team of two directors and two marketing managers has ballooned to a volunteer staff of 15.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

For Vong, it\u2019s not only about fostering entrepreneurship on campus, it\u2019s about developing her entrepreneurial skill set.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI ran my first business without much experience,\u201d she says. Vong launched a travel start-up during her first year at Carleton, but her inexperience (and the challenge of running a start-up while studying full-time) caught up with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Melissa Vong was featured in Carleton’s CU75 Campaign in 2015 for her entrepreneurial leadership.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite strong revenue, the business encountered challenges. Vong shuttered it, at least temporarily. Since then, she\u2019s invested in real estate and is managing multiple rental units, but she\u2019s not ruling out getting back into the travel business down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKnowing that in our first year we made almost $100,000, that\u2019s just incredible for having no experience.  With the experience I\u2019ve gained, I know that we can just blow that up. Through Hatch, I\u2019ve gained so much knowledge. I know that the next business I go into, I won\u2019t make those same mistakes. I have connections. I have a great network, a support system, a board of advisers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Building a Network for Student Entrepreneurs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Building a broad network wasn\u2019t always straightforward. Hatch\u2019s roots are in the Sprott School of Business<\/a> and at first, Vong was mostly connecting with other business students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo a business, it doesn\u2019t matter what program you\u2019re in,\u201d she says. \u201cYou need an entrepreneur, a software engineer, a graphic designer. This year, we have a huge engineering presence. We\u2019ve been branching out to different faculties and getting ourselves into different events like hack-a-thons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Vong brought on an engineer to serve as co-director. Rayhan Memon is a biomedical and electrical engineering student, and he\u2019s helping connect the \u201cideas\u201d people with their more technical peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople have ideas for apps, websites, other technically inclined things,\u201d Memon says, \u201cbut they aren\u2019t necessarily technically inclined themselves, so they need people to help them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rayhan Memon networks during the Hatch Green Carpet event in September 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hatch has 10 grants of $1,500 available to help top entrepreneurs with the expenses associated with starting their businesses, and it connects into one of North America\u2019s top university start-up ecosystems, the award-winning Lead to Win accelerator.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cLead to Win is for when your company is more than just an idea,\u201d says Tony Bailetti, the program\u2019s director.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cCompanies accepted into Lead to Win are aiming to hit $1 million in revenue within three years. Hatch is one of our feeder programs. We\u2019ve had a variety of companies come through it, and they\u2019ve done very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Lead to Win, students are eligible for programs like the Nicol Internships \u2013 which offer $7,000 to $7,500 and office space for four to six students each semester \u2013 one more stepping stone on the path to profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as I tell people what Hatch does, they tell me about their business idea and ask what it can do for them,\u201d says Memon.  \u201cEveryone wants to take advantage of Hatch, but very few know it exists. That\u2019s something we want to change.  We want people to know that Hatch is a \u2018thing\u2019 on campus, a path they can take. There is so much fear starting a business.  You have to put yourself in environments where it is the new norm. In Hatch, I see no fear, with all of these people starting businesses, all this talk about entrepreneurship. It\u2019s an amazing thing; it makes it seem so normal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it is.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship Enters the Mainstream<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The way that business is done has shifted dramatically as we\u2019ve entered the digital age. Entrepreneurship has become the norm.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cAs the online environment has evolved, so has the opportunity for people to create new futures for themselves,\u201d says Rowland Few, an instructor in Entrepreneurship<\/a> at Sprott who supports the Hatch program.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With more than 30 years of business experience, Few believes that entrepreneurship has become an essential part of business education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Carleton University Women in Business networks at the Hatch Green Carpet event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything is online now. Whereas before it was traditional to go work at a large company, now you can build your own. You could work somewhere and build a company on the side. You can do it whilst you\u2019re studying, and you could finish your degree with a viable business and significant revenue. You would never have to look for a job again. We have a responsibility to educate and share, to show how the world has changed and is changing. There are significant opportunities ahead, if you look at entrepreneurship as another discipline in management and business. Yes, there are risks, but every company is around today was once an entrepreneurial venture and most still are. If you don\u2019t innovate and you don\u2019t think in an entrepreneurial fashion, you can\u2019t compete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We live in an age of big ideas. But how exactly do you transform a great concept into the next global business empire, or at least the next thriving side hustle? Every entrepreneur defines success differently, but all of them face similar challenges to achieving it. Carleton\u2019s Hatch program helps students prepare themselves to rise to the occasion. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":7855,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25,1917],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-7846","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_type-the-new-economy"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98090,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7846\/revisions\/98090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=7846"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=7846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}