ZIP Launchpad, an incubator and entrepreneurial community at SDSU, just wrapped their first-year grant with BQuest. The goal of The Aztec Cooperative Fund grant was to help a wider population of students access the benefits of being part of a ZIP Launchpad team.
Students hiring students
Using the Aztec Cooperative Fund, student startup teams were able to hire other students for services such as marketing and graphic design. Through these collaborations, startups were able to pay for a needed service and students that had not previously been a part of ZIP Launchpad were able to gain real-life experience to add to their resumes while getting paid!
The Fund also provided a stipend for one student to participate in a startup team. ZIP Launchpad can be a time-intensive experience that working students can’t always afford to participate in- this stipend allows working students to benefit from the skill building that happens through being a part of a startup at ZIP, including communication, team building, presenting pitches, prototyping products, and creating go-to-market strategies.