During January, the LaunchPad network conducted its first biannual report collection of 2020, covering July 2019-December 2019 activity. This updated report featured a simplified form focused on student engagement, active participation, and events, and offered the LaunchPad University Checklist - a new tool to help guide entrepreneurship center administration, programming, communications, data management, and more.

For the first time, LaunchPad schools were also asked to provide records of the stewardship council membership, grant budget, program/events, and student ventures in whatever file format was easiest to provide.

Please find this summary of the biannual survey metrics from this first 2020 report.

PARTICIPATION AND ACTIVITY METRICS

Student Engagement: Average Number Engaged in 2019-2020 as of February 1st: 2,700

"Engagement" is defined as any touchpoint with LaunchPad programming or messaging. This may include in-person engagement in one-on-one meetings events or center drop-ins, email, enewsletter, and social engagement, and more. LaunchPad network schools reported a total of nearly 50,000 student awareness experiences.

Types of Engagement

Program Participants: Average Number Participating in 2019-2020 as of February 1st: 630

“Participation" is defined as the number of people who have actively participated in two or more events or opportunities. LaunchPad network schools report a total of nearly 11,000 active student experiences.

Average Number of LaunchPad Events in 2019-2020: 24

This number of events includes collaborations or co-sponsored events with other campus entities, as well as experiences appropriate throughout the entrepreneurial lifecycle. For example:

SUPPORT AND FUNDING METRICS

Stewardship Councils - Average Committee Size: 12

Of the 24 LaunchPad network schools, 8 provided a full list of their advisory council members. (Others provided # of members, meeting agendas, schedules, and minutes, but chose not to - or were unable to - report actual individual participants.) All the councils included the expected participation from entrepreneurship, business school, and other subject-matter Professors, as well as business, engineering, applied sciences, and other school Deans and Assistant/Associate Deans. Several stewardship councils included representatives from university Provost’s offices, Research departments, Libraries, and even Chancellor’s and President’s offices. 

Interestingly, one school included a student on the board (perhaps helping “bridge the gap” between academic figureheads and the target audience of LaunchPad). And a single school included university communications and university development staff on their advisory councils. No schools included external/non-university staff or administration on their advisory councils.

Additional Funding - Average Amount Secured Since Founding: $1,371,000*

The average amount raised since establishing the LaunchPad program was nearly $1.5 million. In terms of strategies, approaches, or methods to achieve this, notable responses included:

• Leveraging the Blackstone and Techstars brands when approaching local businesses, governments (interested in economic development), and private foundations. 

• Offering sponsorship of pitch competition/other marquee events and programs, and inviting donors to participate.

• Applying for university activity/auxiliary funds.

• Seeking matching private donor gift challenge opportunities.

• Funding from a blend of philanthropic gifts and sponsorship, proactively reaching out to center alumni and other benefactors in support of specific programs/initiatives (versus support of general operating expenses).

• We hold monthly meetings with the Development team to strategize on fundraising. And building strong relationships with alumni donors from our college of business and entrepreneurship.

• As our website is redesigned, there is a page that outlines giving opportunities specifically to support the LaunchPad.

• Former student donations have provided a significant amount. Working with development staff to track participants and seek gifts following graduation. 

*Excluded 2019-2020 year network expansion schools.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

D&I Statement/Policy 

Encouraging 95% of respondents have a Diversity and Inclusion policy or statement for their entrepreneurship center. Most centers indicate that these statements are expressed regularly through events as well as physical and digital representation and communications. 

Schools also report a number of effective strategies to increase diversity in their program participants. The most selected strategies for this include promotion of offerings in diversity-focused publications and student groups, hosting events in partnership with specific affinity groups, and inviting involvement from diverse speakers, mentors, and leaders.

D&I Statement Communication

Successful D&I Recruiting Efforts

OTHER NOTABLE TRENDS

Program Trends

When asked any program trends you have noticed (e.g., increases or decreases in certain participant populations, venture types, business models, sectors, student interests, etc.) the following are a selection of responses:

• The newly established Entrepreneurship Law Clinic has been a great resource for our students… Our collaboration with the local Techstars ecosystem has afforded us access to individuals interested in working with our ventures… In addition, our students are serving as ambassadors, we have experienced an increase in interest in our on-campus internship program to support our programming operations

• We have seen a visible increase in the diversity of the student population visiting tour center and participating in our programs.

• Hosting a Startup Week in September 2019 brought in a new critical mass of freshmen and sophomores to the LaunchPad program, a key goal as student ventures graduate. We are seeing very active continued engagement by our alumni who have graduated from the LaunchPad and are still actively being mentored as they launch successful products into the market and pursue external capital… Original LaunchPad ventures remain engaged four years later through “The Founders Circle” which demonstrates the power of community building.

• Increases in student interest in social impact focus ventures, opportunities to work with student/faculty teams on commercializing University IP for that faculty.

• Increase in immigrant founders related questions, and IP related questions.

• More interest in sustainable business practices and ideas that will "change the world."

• Focus is on practical application to entrepreneurship and the social/community component to our programs.

• Access to potential capital is of huge interest to our ventures and thus this ]Life’s a Pitch] competition [in partnership with our Office of Technology Commercialization and Business Development and SmartInvestVentures], allowed us to attract both more mature ventures but also elicit the interest of earlier stage ventures as there is promise of future funding available and a path through the university.  

Interested in more metrics, measures, and benchmarks, to help successfully guide your entrepreneurship center? Be sure to keep the LaunchPad University Checklist handy and reference it often for quantitative goals related to mentorship, onboarding, promotion, content, and events! (86% of respondents indicated that they are generally accomplishing items on LaunchPad University Checklist!)