CAN ENTREPRENEURS BE MADE OR ARE THEY BORN? Chatham/Madison Natives Ted Bogdanski, Geoffrey Gill and Michael Lucciola Find Out as They Take 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 Chatham/Madison’s own Ted Bogdanski, Geoffrey Gill and Michael Lucciola—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.

“Entrepreneurship interests me because there are so many different directions I can take it. As of yet I don’t have a revolutionary idea—not many people do as a sophomore in college—but I want to develop my skills and understanding of how one goes about solving these problems,” said Gill. “I hope to graduate Lehigh’s IBE program, giving me both a business and engineering degree, which I believe will give me a great foundation for entrepreneurship. I will have a background in both the technical and the business, and if used correctly I believe could be a powerful tool when beginning a startup.”

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 Ted, Geoffrey and Michael and we will be keeping an eye on them to see where their entrepreneurial dreams take them.