Alumni Support Startup Tech Central

The opening of Startup Tech Central, a new hub for New York Institute of Technology’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy, could not have happened without support from university leadership as well as external partners, providing both confidence in the success of the project as well as the financial means to pay for it.

With a $25,000 gift from Eric Sanders (M.B.A. ’06), along with backing from several corporate sponsors, New York Tech renovated a building on the Long Island campus to create a place for students to dip their toes into the world of entrepreneurship. Complete with makerspaces, mentorship programs, and startup training, Startup Tech Central is now the space for budding entrepreneurs at the university and, hopefully, across the region one day.

“I wanted to support these students because people should pay it forward when they have success,” says Sanders, founder of the consultancy firm eCloud Managed Solutions and now managing partner of OptimumTech Services. “I want to support the next group of students going through New York Tech with time or money or both.”

Indeed, Sanders has done both—in addition to his generous financial support of the university, he’s also been mentoring New York Tech students for more than a decade.

Sanders reminisces about one particularly memorable occasion years ago when a New York Tech basketball player reached out to him for advice. “I think athletes relate more to other athletes,” says Sanders, who played basketball, golf, and lacrosse as an undergraduate student. “We connected within 30 seconds. I told her, ‘Take all your hard work and put mind over body. When your body is ready to quit but you push through, you have to do that when you’re interviewing.’ She ended up getting a great job, and I helped her negotiate her pay.”

In addition to the physical space where entrepreneurs can work and collaborate, there is a board of mentors who will advise and guide students and alumni hoping to start their own businesses. Sanders plans to continue his commitment to mentorship at Startup Tech Central. “I think these students need coaching,” says Sanders, who has coached many youth sports teams. “They need that positive influence. You can give them feedback about what they did well or not well, and you can also assure them that everyone makes mistakes. My education at New York Tech helped me avoid fatal business mistakes.”

Among the corporate sponsors of Startup Tech Central are three companies that will also serve as experts on the board of mentors: business law firm Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone; accounting firm Cerini & Associates; and digital marketing agency the EGC Group.

Peter Goldsmith, M.B.A., director of Startup Tech Central, also hopes to procure a bank to support Startup Tech Central with financial advice for entrepreneurs. These professionals will provide knowledge in every area of business planning for students trying to hone their startup proposals.

“I want the students to have practical experience and guidance to actually do this and help them gain the confidence they need, so that if they have an idea, they can pursue it and not be paralyzed by fear of failure,” Sanders says. “We can help them understand the resources that are available to them: people, processes, capital, mentors they can turn to, programs they can lean on. Maybe we can help flesh out their idea, going through the process of figuring out whether the idea is good or coming up with another idea that they could build a business around.”

Sanders isn’t the only New York Tech graduate supporting current students. Alumni working at H2M architects + engineers, which has a long-standing relationship with the university, also helped to turn Startup Tech Central into a top-quality space for student entrepreneurs.

“We have a good relationship with the Board of Trustees, and they approached us to get our feedback on how we could help with the Startup Tech Central project,” says Kevin Paul (B.Arch. ’88), senior vice president and director of private sector architecture at H2M. “A team from my group in interior design, including several New York Tech graduates, updated the presentation space and gave the interior a complete facelift appropriate for an innovation startup center.”

Whether it’s time, money, or elbow grease, New York Tech alumni are enjoying seeing the fruits of their investment in the future of student entrepreneurs.

“I look at the students at New York Tech; they have so much energy and are so bright,” Sanders says. “These students are brilliant. This new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy is going to be incredible.”