The Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship offers various programs and services to meet the needs of entrepreneurs wherever they may be on their journeys. They envision three main components of the entrepreneurial journey: discover, build, and launch. With this in mind, the Carlsen Center has created the Virtual Masterminds Cohort Program. This program is a 12-week long, spring virtual incubator for students and is a crucial part of the Carlsen Center’s build phase of the entrepreneurial journey. This program will ultimately work with students and their nascent businesses to give individualized support that is most applicable to the stage of their venture and address their biggest challenges.
The Virtual Masterminds Cohort program offers a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability, community support, and mentorship in a group setting to sharpen business and personal skills. This program’s pillars include Milestone Creation, Content Sessions, Peer Mastermind Discussions, Assignment of Lead Consultants, and One-on-One Mentor Matching. These Cohort members challenge each other to set strong goals through these workshops and to accomplish them.
The success and usefulness of the cohort rely on all of its members to be active participants. Participants are expected to be focused on assisting their peers in progressing through their milestones, as well as being committed to advancing their own skills with minds open to constructive criticism and new ideas.
The Carlsen Center’s 2021 Mastermind Cohort
Cohort members had prior engagement with the Carlsen Center as part of the College Pitch Competitions, the Virtual Entrepreneurship Toolkit Series, and virtual Office Hours.
Here is a summary of the startup ventures of the cohort members:
Ethicli - Ethical shopping browser extension
- Founder: Billy T. Hernandez leads a team that sources ethical products; studying Computer Science at Sac State.
- Status: Won $1,000 in UC Davis’ Little Bang competition
Sunexis (Formerly Ko’A Care) – Environmentally responsible sunscreen, enabling customers to be at peace with the sun.
- Founder: Deepak Vijay, student research at UC Davis
- Status: Won two prizes at UC Davis and was accepted into the UC Davis Venture Catalyst
Protechtor – Pepper Spray Taser
- Founder: Joselyne Sandoval, studying Communications and Public Relations at the College of Arts and Letters.
- Status: Joselyne is now one of the student fellows in the 2021 FourthWave cohort.
Sub7 – Microplastic filtration system to address plastics problem hiding in our oceans
- Founders: Tanish Gupta, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Sac State and Bryce Rhodes, student of Mechanical Engineering, Sac State
- Status: The team is currently exploring a patent.
Traditional Glow – Handcrafted, organic skincare that addresses aging, acne, psoriasis, and other troublesome skin conditions.
- Founder: Angelia Lee, Business major at Sac State
- Status: In discussions with Trader Joe’s and Sac Coop
Painted Deer Brewing – Modern, farmhouse-inspired microbrewery
- Founder: Anthony Doyle, Accountant graduate, and Veteran
- Status: Currently working at Burning Barrel to learn more about the brewing industry
Buteo – Advanced kite technology that collects data for more accurate information gathering for fires and farming.
- Founder: Armin Baboldashtian, Engineering Student at Sacramento State
- Status: Working on building a prototype and is pursuing the project for Senior Project
ReMart – Platform for students to buy and sell goods and services in a safe environment.
- Founder: Abubeker Hussen, Engineering Student at Sac State.
- Status: Adding team members and working to design the app.
The Hive, Sacramento State Student Entrepreneurship Club
Founder: AZ Nicdao and Keshav Sharma, former co-leaders of the Mastermind program.
Entrance into the Masterminds Cohort is determined by an application process. After acceptance into the program, motivated individuals and companies will be reviewed and vetted by program organizers.
More info re: the Mastermind Cohort program
Two students, AZ Nicdao and Keshav Sharma, were co-leaders of the Mastermind program. This served as a start to the Hive, the student entrepreneurship club.
Entrance into the Masterminds Cohort is determined by an application process. After acceptance into the program, motivated individuals and companies will be reviewed and vetted by program organizers. With this program, we will work with students and their nascent businesses to give individualized support that is most applicable to the stage of their venture and address their biggest challenges.
Main Pillars of the Program:
Milestone Creation
Cohort participants will create and track progress on milestones centered on furthering their individual skills, as well as next steps for their businesses. Each team will define what milestones are most important for their progress. Success in the program will be measured against the accomplishment of those self-defined milestones.
Content Sessions
Roundtable discussions with subject matter experts that can answer specific questions about their businesses will be conducted on a weekly basis. For example, discussions will include the effects of investment on partnership agreements, how and when to patent an innovation, where to find the best market research, the different types of financing available, how to do financial projections, etc.
Peer Mastermind Discussions
Weekly virtual peer-to-peer interaction will create a community for entrepreneurial students, facilitate peer-to-peer accountability, and provide an opportunity to support each other with goals and roadblocks.
Assignment of Lead Consultant
Cameron Law and Jessie Becker Alexander serve as Lead Consultants for Cohort participants. Assigned when the student is accepted into the Masterminds Cohort, teams meet with their Lead Consultant at least twice per month to follow their progress. The Lead Consultant will perform an assessment of the idea, stage, needs, etc., and connect the student with community mentors, technical resources inside and outside the University, opportunities for customer validation through direct customer interaction, and whatever else is necessary to guide progress toward venture launch. The “work plan” that results and evolves during this process is supplementary and complementary to curricular opportunities and provides a hands-on learning by doing experience.
One-on-One Mentor Matching
The Greater Sacramento Region is home to many successful business people and entrepreneurs. The Carlsen Center matches each Cohort team to a mentor that will follow them throughout the program and provide real-world learnings and advice.
Entrance into the Masterminds Cohort is determined by an application process. After acceptance into the program, motivated individuals and companies will be reviewed and vetted by program organizers.
More info re: the Mastermind Cohort program
Two students, AZ Nicdao and Keshav Sharma, were co-leaders of the Mastermind program. This served as a start to the Hive, the student entrepreneurship club.
Entrance into the Masterminds Cohort is determined by an application process. After acceptance into the program, motivated individuals and companies will be reviewed and vetted by program organizers. With this program, we will work with students and their nascent businesses to give individualized support that is most applicable to the stage of their venture and address their biggest challenges.
Main Pillars of the Program:
Milestone Creation
Cohort participants will create and track progress on milestones centered on furthering their individual skills, as well as next steps for their businesses. Each team will define what milestones are most important for their progress. Success in the program will be measured against the accomplishment of those self-defined milestones.
Content Sessions
Roundtable discussions with subject matter experts that can answer specific questions about their businesses will be conducted on a weekly basis. For example, discussions will include the effects of investment on partnership agreements, how and when to patent an innovation, where to find the best market research, the different types of financing available, how to do financial projections, etc.
Peer Mastermind Discussions
Weekly virtual peer-to-peer interaction will create a community for entrepreneurial students, facilitate peer-to-peer accountability, and provide an opportunity to support each other with goals and roadblocks.
Assignment of Lead Consultant
Cameron Law and Jessie Becker Alexander serve as Lead Consultants for Cohort participants. Assigned when the student is accepted into the Masterminds Cohort, teams meet with their Lead Consultant at least twice per month to follow their progress. The Lead Consultant will perform an assessment of the idea, stage, needs, etc., and connect the student with community mentors, technical resources inside and outside the University, opportunities for customer validation through direct customer interaction, and whatever else is necessary to guide progress toward venture launch. The “work plan” that results and evolves during this process is supplementary and complementary to curricular opportunities and provides a hands-on learning by doing experience.
One-on-One Mentor Matching
The Greater Sacramento Region is home to many successful business people and entrepreneurs. The Carlsen Center matches each Cohort team to a mentor that will follow them throughout the program and provide real-world learnings and advice.
For more information, please email Cameron Law at c.law@csus.edu.