{"id":95439,"date":"2024-09-06T12:46:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T16:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=95439"},"modified":"2024-11-22T11:07:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T16:07:21","slug":"grad-student-builds-business-skills-through-navigate-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/09\/grad-student-builds-business-skills-through-navigate-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad student builds business skills through Navigate program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The pathway for entrepreneurship can look different for graduate students.<\/p>\n<p>A significant turning point in Sarfaroz Yunusov\u2019s journey was discovering the Brock LINC\u2019s Navigate program at a networking event. Yunosov, who is pursuing a master\u2019s in Computer Science, decided to reach out about a business idea he was considering through his graduate program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe program is a unique opportunity for Brock students looking to commercialize their business ideas, and I was interested in how it would provide insight beyond my academic field,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Brock LINC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/linc\/navigate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Navigate<\/a> program is an 11-week intensive program that helps entrepreneurs test and develop early-stage business ideas through market research and feedback from potential customers. At the end of the program, participants pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win a $2,500 cash prize. The program is open to all Brock students, staff and faculty as well as local community members.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/linc\/navigate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Applications are open<\/a> for the fall cohort of the Navigate program. While there is no cost to participate, enrolment is capped to ensure participants receive personalized mentorship and support. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Brock LINC encourages students to commercialize their research, whether that\u2019s into a startup or by connecting to industry partners who could benefit from their ideas\u201d says Brock LINC Program Manager Cassie Conte. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see graduate students interested in entrepreneurship, especially when their business ideas are connected to their field of study and could make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yunusov \u2019s business is focused on MadeForMe.ai, software he created that uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to develop personalized stories based on interests, traits and hobbies. While working through the Navigate modules, Sarfaroz reached out to customers for feedback on the idea and also engaged with Brock LINC staff and external mentors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe importance of constant customer engagement and iteration at the early stages of an idea is extremely important. If I didn\u2019t engage with customers early on, I would not have received the validation I needed to improve MadeForMe.ai for the final pitch,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Navigate program expanded my knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, giving me hands-on experience to help me start a business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the program, email Conte at <a href=\"mailto:cconte@brocku.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cconte@brocku.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pathway for entrepreneurship can look different for graduate students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":95442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[188,55,41,1],"tags":[5067,13121,12268,13140],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95439"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95505,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95439\/revisions\/95505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}