Talking Innovation With Melissa Kaufman

Innovation is at the heart of the robotics industry.

Many of the students in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Robotics (MSR) program arrive on campus wanting to use robotics to improve the world around them. That desire to improve daily life is the same aspiration that Executive Director Melissa Kaufman sees among students at The Garage, the hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation at Northwestern. It is an entrepreneurial mindset that drives innovators to press forward — even in the face of failure. 

MSR students have taken advantage of The Garage and all it has to offer ever since it first opened in 2015. Sofya Akhmametyeva (MSR ‘17) co-founded a startup called Augmented Intelligence Resource (AIR) during a pre-accelerator program at The Garage. Her team developed a holographic staging app for Microsoft’s HoloLens and actually placed first in the pre-accelerator's pitch competition. Other students like Chainatee Tanakulrungson (MSR '18), who today is a robotics software developer at Olis Robotics, routinely visited The Garage to hear industry speakers and startup pitches. 

As for Kaufman, she is a startup veteran and entrepreneur with a decade of experience at consumer technology companies in Silicon Valley. She recently took time to talk about innovation, her role at The Garage, and why students should learn to be resilient.

What common traits have you found among entrepreneurs? 

Many, if not all of the student entrepreneurs I’ve met at Northwestern are inspired to make our world better through their ideas. But being an entrepreneur isn’t easy, is often lonely, and is a winding path with tons of twists and turns. Entrepreneurs need to be flexible, great with managing their time, and develop the ability to get back up again after hearing “no.” Resiliency is essential to success. This, combined with the desire to work hard — for example, student founders at The Garage are often working in the space in the middle of the night — and a willingness to learn are some of the common traits I’ve found among student entrepreneurs. 

You've said in the past that "a diverse ecosystem is a healthier ecosystem." Why do you think that is? 

A diverse ecosystem is important for so many reasons. Being able to ask a question of a peer sitting at the table next to you, and knowing they may have a different set of perspectives and experiences, is so often the key to solving a problem. At The Garage, we seek to create a diverse community of student founders. We also seek out diversity in the types of ventures we accept into our Residency program because we genuinely believe student founders can and should learn from each other, even if their ideas are worlds apart. We also ensure our students represent different schools, different majors, and different levels of study from across Northwestern for the same reason. 

When it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, how important is understanding to accept and learn from failure? 

Learning from failure is one of the vital pillars we hope to teach students at The Garage. At our weekly Family Dinners, we invite students to share a recent failure and what they learned from it, and then they pop a confetti popper to celebrate. It might seem silly, but in a culture of needing good grades and pressure to follow linear paths, it’s important for students to understand that making a mistake not only leads to learning, but to resiliency. 

What excites you about your job at The Garage? 

What excites me most is the opportunity to give students an unparalleled, hands-on experience in entrepreneurship through doing and building. From funding opportunities like VentureCat to incubating alongside Thomas and Andrew Parkinson, co-founders of Peapod and entrepreneurs-in-residence at The Garage, I enjoy providing the resources students need to build their ideas. If a student learns entrepreneurship isn’t for them, that lesson is just as important as finding out it’s what they want to do forever. I really enjoy mentoring students as they navigate their entrepreneurial paths and fostering an open community where it’s OK to make mistakes, to ask for help, and to grow. 

What advice would you give to students in the MSR programs? 

If you have an idea or want to explore entrepreneurship, do it while you’re a student. You’re surrounded by free resources like space and faculty who’d love to help. You can participate in university-based business competitions to gain access to capital and you’re part of a community. These types of resources can be difficult to find after you graduate.