The SELL Incubator is an 8-week program designed to help student-run social businesses test and develop products to reach MVP stage.
INCUBATOR SPOTLIGHT
POP Social App
Yoon Lee, the founder of POP Social App, went through the Incubator Fellowship in Spring 2019, where he tested his idea and began to build a team for his social venture. In 2020, Yoon and his team launched POP nationally.
INCUBATOR SPOTLIGHT
H2Lotto
Chris Roper, the creator of H2Lotto, went through the Incubator Fellowship in Fall 2019. Chris is passionate about clean water access; he used his time in the Incubator to test whether or not people who don't have access to clean water will buy bottled water given an incentive.
Elements of the Incubator Fellowship
The second stage of the fellowship is an opportunity for fellows to test the ideas they developed in the Ideator. Once accepted into the Incubator, Junior Fellows must complete the following to become Senior Fellows.
After completing the Incubator Fellowship, Senior Fellows have the opportunity to scale their venture in the third and final stage of SELL Fellowship: the Accelerator.
Product Testing and Development
Incubator fellows are guided through the product testing and development process – iterating proof-of-concepts and prototypes to ultimately reach Minimum Viable Product stage.
Workshops
Incubator workshops, where SELL curriculum is taught, are twice per week for two hours each. The workshops are broken down into the following categories: Enterprise, Product, and Launch. First, fellows learn the practices and business fundamentals needed to build out an idea into a sustainable enterprise. Alongside building a fellow’s entrepreneurial acumen, they learn the essential principles of product design and development needed to build out Proof-of-Concepts, prototypes, and MVPs. Then, fellows are introduced to the tools and experiences that are common components of launching early-stage ventures.
In the spring, Incubator workshops are Monday and Wednesday from 6:00-8:00PM. In the Fall, Incubator workshops are Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00-8:00PM.
Breakout Sessions
Breakout Sessions consist of three different types of one on one meetings. The three types of Breakout Sessions are:
- Navigation Sessions: hour-long meetings for personal development with a SELL Officer or Executive Board member.
- Development Sessions: hour-long check-ins with the Ideator Fellow Development Lead to go over where Junior Fellows are in the SELL curriculum.
- Mentorship Sessions: meetings with external SELL partners and alumni to help Junior Fellows learn about the entrepreneurial world outside of SELL and receive further guidance.
Breakout Sessions provide Junior Fellows with an opportunity to gain individualized guidance and mentorship from an experienced SELL Executive or Officer Board Members or Community Mentors.
Events
Multiple networking events entitles Changemakers Connect, are held to help SELL Junior Fellows find potential team members and co-founders to add to their growing social businesses.
SELL Your Impact: Pitch Competition
SELL Your Impact Pitch Competition is April 13, 2023
SELL Your Impact:
Pitch Competition
At the end of each semester, SELL hosts a pitch competition that is open to all UT student-run social ventures. This competition, SELL Your Impact (SYI) is where social ventures have the opportunity to earn non-dilutive funding.
Applications to compete at SELL Your Impact Pitch Competition will open in March.
The Incubator Team
From curating curriculum to handling the logistics of SELL Your Impact, the Incubator Fellowship wouldn't be possible without this team.
FELLOW DEVELOPMENT LEAD
Tej Reddy
FELLOW DEVELOPMENT LEAD
Kumail Imam
INCUBATOR DIRECTOR
Isabella Hsu
