This Friday, February 20 kicks off a new event series for the entrepreneurs of Columbus. Fndrz (pronounced founders) introduces The Hive, an all-inclusive meeting of the entrepreneurial minds. The event will be held from 12:00 – 8:00 p.m. at CCAD‘s MindMarket.
“I’m really hoping to make entrepreneurship available to more people,” says event organizer Guy Jacks. “Anyone is welcome.”
Jacks aims to unite entrepreneurs, mentors, advisors and really anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship through the event. The model is not to filter anyone out.
“When you filter people out, you end the conversation flat out,” Jacks says. He’s keeping it open because even if an individual doesn’t have a business idea themselves, they may be a valuable asset to another group.
As it gains momentum, the format will be relaxed and open. The tone will be more conversational versus gathering a bunch of people in a room to listen to a speaker.
“Ultimately the idea is that people come in with their laptops and set up shop and there will be people around them that they are constantly bouncing ideas off of,” Jacks says. It’s almost a hybrid between an incubator and a coworking space.
Jacks is excited to be partnering with the MindMarket on the space for the event as they foster the entrepreneurial mentality as well.
“The idea of bringing the best minds from OSU, the best minds from CCAD, the best minds from the community all together in the same space is where the entrepreneurial magic can happen,” says Elaine Luttrull, head of the business & entrepreneurship department at CCAD.
The event is also open to CCAD students. Luttrull is finding it to be another compliment to their specialized business programming at the university.
“Partnering with Fndrz allows our students to have intimate access with community members who are succeeding in a creative entrepreneurial space,” she says. “The ability to connect what our students learn in the classroom to what creative entrepreneurs in Columbus are actually doing distinguishes the business and entrepreneurial education they receive at CCAD from other business and entrepreneurial programs.”
Jacks hopes to make the event bi-monthly to weekly as interest grows.
Attendance to the The Hive is free. For more information, visit fndrz.com.
