Aiding entrepreneurship

Business owner Gene Freidman '92 helps students become business owners too. Having donated $25,000 to the cause, he convinced friends Joel Lubin '92 and Marc Rice '91 to help him judge a winter "shark tank" contest where students applied for help in launching student-centered or campus-based businesses. The alumni were so impressed with the applicants, they declared them all winners, entitling them to funding help as well as seats in a three-credit independent study in entrepreneurship taught by Harder Professor Cathy Hill and business lecturer Robert Braathe this past spring.

The Freidman/Lubin/Rice Entrepreneur teams:

• SavesWaves Designs, featuring hand-crafted ocean-themed jewelry by Melissa Hillberg '13, who donates 25% of the profits to ocean conservation; her motto: "Buy a bracelet, save a wave."
• East Coast Lacrosse, a custom athletic-apparel company started by Seth Berger '14; begun out of the trunk of his car after high school, it's now "something viable that can be much more than a side business," he says.
• Eco You, water bottles made from eco-friendly plastic with built-in filters and a Skidmore logo; founders Nick Barra '15, Stefani Mladenova '14, Eileen Nardoza '15, and Caroline Schiff '14 promise, "We are keeping our customers in mind."
• Serious Internships, an online resource for students searching for internships, complete with reviews and ratings of internship sponsors; Sean O'Brien '13 and Seth Seeman '13 want to help students find "the perfect internship by allowing them to search for the characteristics they value most."

During the semester, Braathe witnessed the students learning to interact with and rely on others: "They became more interdependent and utilized resources such as virtual interns, faculty, and outside vendors to provide support." In a late April expo, the four startups drew about 100 curious students, according to Braathe. Bottles were sold, bracelets and jerseys modeled, and internship subscriptions gathered. For photos and more, click here.

Hill says, "Gene's funding and inspiration helped our students find their inner entrepreneur. He challenged them to start and run businesses, not just talk about it. He made running a business a tangible experience-this kind of learning couldn't be delivered in any better way."

Indeed challenge and inspiration define his story. When young Evgeny Freidman and his family immigrated to the US from Russia in 1976, his father drove a cab and had a small fleet. After Skidmore, law school, and jobs in law and venture capital, Gene Freidman "saw a lot of opportunity and growth in the New York City taxi industry." But he didn't just mean those yellow Crown Victorias; he meant newfangled gas-and-electric Ford Escapes. The first taxi company in the city to use hybrid-fuel cars, his green fleet quickly gained publicity, fuel-cost savings, and customer goodwill. He has now expanded to Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

He reflects, "Joel, Marc, and I got involved because we wanted to help raise the profile of student-run businesses on campus. We loved seeing how hungry the students were to pursue their start-ups. It's clear that, as in our day, students in business and many other majors have a strong entrepreneurial streak." Freidman adds that he's eager to keep helping Skidmore to nurture future entrepreneurs.