Brown University's Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship has named local thought leader and CareerDevs CEO Arnell Milhouse, as well as investor and former Google manager Laura Thompson, as its entrepreneurs-in-residence for 2019-20.
Their roles will involve "mentor[ing] students and assist[ing] the Nelson Center in fostering and driving entrepreneurial outcomes at the University," a release on the move states. They will also host office hours, workshops and other events, consider applications for grant funding and more.
"Over the past two years the Nelson Center, myself and the CareerDevs Computer Science University have worked together on a number of projects and initiatives," Milhouse said of the move's impetus. "The Nelson Center selected me to be a bear [judge] in their annual Bear’s Lair pitch contest, and I’ve also spent time as a mentor for their student startups. The positive outcomes of those interactions have brought us to where we are today."
Milhouse added that he had been "amazed and inspired" by the work done by the Nelson Center team, and that he already had plans to add to its influence.
"I saw the role of entrepreneur-in-residence being an opportunity to share my counterintuitive views on scaling interdisciplinary entrepreneurship and help Brown, It’s students, graduates and powerful network have an even greater impact," he said. "I also see this as an opportunity to pave the 'Silicon Rhode' by building a closer tie and increase innovative win-win situations for Rhode Island, Providence and our collective citizens. People are going to be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes."
In addition to his work with Brown and CareerDevs, Milhouse serves as CEO and cofounder of Dracōdess Software Engineering, an entity "which specializes in software development for corporations," and will launch SeedXLerator in September 2019. It will be a Rhode Island-based accelerator and incubator.
Thompson echoed Milhouse's excitement about her role, emphasizing her excitement on encouraging students' unique perspectives as they develop as entrepreneurs.
"I’ve seen how much the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley today is a hindrance to innovation," she said. "I’ve been in too many conference rooms with homogenous groups of people trying to create innovations for our increasingly diverse world. It doesn’t work. When I was at GoogleX, no matter what the product was — self driving cars or delivery drones — the most diverse teams always had the most success. Since graduating, my favorite part of coming back to campus to speak or mentor has been supporting students who see themselves as outside what they consider 'the typical entrepreneur.' I love working with them as they see their uniqueness is the value they bring to the table."
Thompson added that the Brown's focus on instilling interdisciplinary excellence in students led to a continuing legacy of many alumni entrepreneurs.
However, "whether the students become entrepreneurs or not, I know the skills they’ll learn along the way — creativity, persistence, how to build strong teams and communicate an idea crisply and concisely — will serve them for the rest of their lives," she said.
