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Innovate State Speaker Series

The Innovate State Speaker Series at MSU is a collaborative program designed to connect forward-thinking speakers with students and professionals interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. Topics include startups, new business creation, leadership and team-building, customer acquisition, fundraising and other special topics.

2014 – 2015 Speakers Series

April 7, 2015: From Physics to Software: the iDoneThis Story | Rodrigo Guzman, CTO & Co-Founder, iDoneThis Rodrigo is the CTO and co-founder of iDoneThis. Before iDoneThis he was pursuing a PhD in Physics at Northwestern University. During that time Rodrigo started doing freelance software development with the aim of eventually starting a software company...

2015 – 2016 Speakers Series

September 23, 2015: Christen Rochon She is known as an influencer, public speaker, media personality, and entrepreneur. Rochon is the Digital Lifestyle maven behind Divasanddorks.com, the first technology lifestyle community for multicultural audiences across the globe. Although she resides in NYC, her roots are in Detroit, MI. October 13, 2015: Henry Balanon @balanon Balanon received...

2016 – 2017 Speakers Series

September 13, 2016: Brad Hoos @bhoos Brad is the Chief Growth Officer at The Outloud Group. A proven marketing innovator, Bradley is responsible for developing client relationships and making new business models come to life. Prior to The Outloud Group, Brad founded Grand Circus, a Google For Entrepreneurs Tech Hub and Coding Bootcamp Business in Detroit. Bradley...

2017-2018 Speaker Series

Spring Session January 17, 2018: Max Schmidt @1701Bespoke Max Schmidt is the founder of 1701 Bespoke, a custom menswear boutique based in Detroit. He’s been active in startups and entrepreneurship since graduating from Michigan State University with a BA in Advertising in 2009. He cut his teeth in entrepreneurship with a tech startup that operated out...

2018-2019 Speaker Series

Fall September 18, 2018: Shaniqua Davis | CEO & Founder, Noirefy October 3, 2018: Jeff Ellman | Founder, Urbanbound and Hireology October 16, 2018: Marissa Siero | Workplace Director, Lodgic Everyday Community November 7, 2018: Justin “Bugsy” Sailor | Founder & Owner, Upper Peninsula Supply Co., LLC November 20, 2018: Denise & Mike Busley | Founders, Grand Traverse Pie Company Spring January 23, 2019: Dave Zilko | CEO, FUEL Leadership...