Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room as a Harvard-exclusive networking site. Now, it connects over 3 billion people. Bill Gates bet big on microcomputers before most people even knew they existed. At Harvard, he and his team reworked a programming language for personal computers. That little college side-hustle turned into Microsoft.
Between never-ending assignments, a mountain of extracurriculars, the social juggling act, squeezing in a gym session and — oh yeah — eating and sleeping, the thought of launching a business sounds almost impossible.
But here’s the thing: You don’t have to do it alone. Located in suite 390 of the Joyce Cummings Center, the Derby Entrepreneurship Center is built to support ambitious students and alumni, offering the resources, mentorship and guidance to turn bold ideas into real ventures.
To cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, the DEC offers a range of resources designed to help students think and work like entrepreneurs. One of its key offerings is the entrepreneurship minor, which allows students to take six courses, many of which are taught by award-winning entrepreneurs and investors. These classes provide valuable insights into innovation, problem-solving and business development.
Beyond the classroom, the DEC hosts a dynamic lineup of speaker series, workshops and conferences, creating opportunities for students to gain inspiration, make valuable connections and spark ideas for their own ventures.
For students looking to develop their own businesses — whether fully formed or still in the early brainstorming stages — the DEC offers one-on-one coaching sessions with its entrepreneurs-in-residence. These seasoned professionals help students refine their ideas, tackle logistical challenges and create actionable business plans. No matter what kind of idea a student has, the DEC is equipped to provide support and guidance.
“We have three entrepreneurs-in-residence and between all of us we cover a great many sectors, from retail to digital marketing to nonprofits to high core startups and [biotechnology] and life science startups,” Elaine Chen, director of the DEC, explained.
In addition to in-house expertise, the DEC connects students with a network of alumni mentors eager to share their knowledge and experiences.
“We oftentimes refer students to an [alum] who is an expert in the area that they’re working in,” Chen said.
Following an initial coaching session, students can apply for a small, equity-free grant through the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund. This funding provides support for early-stage resources and development.
One of the most anticipated funding events of the DEC is the Tufts New Ventures Competition, where teams of students, faculty, staff and recent alumni pitch their startups in three categories: healthcare and life sciences, general entrepreneurship and social impact.
The competition builds momentum through multiple rounds, culminating in high-energy live pitch events during the semifinals and finals. With over $250,000 in cash prizes and in-kind services up for grabs, the competition provides a platform for bold ideas to take off.
Junior Duncan Johnson started BX Coding with his friend Elliot Roe in Roe’s dining room during the summer of 2019. BX Coding is a computer science education nonprofit that offers summer camps for ages 7–14, builds open-source curriculum and develops free educational technology to transition middle school students from block-based coding to text-based coding.
Johnson and Roe loved it so much that they kept offering the camp every summer. Eventually, they expanded — first by moving from the dining room to a real classroom, and then by refining and growing their curriculum.
Looking to scale BX Coding even further, Johnson entered the Tufts New Ventures Competition. BX Coding found success, winning first place in the social impact sector of the competition.
Johnson explained that this contest was instrumental in BX Coding’s growth; through their winnings, their company was able to expand.
“We got pitch support, business plan support, mentorship … and then money, which we then used to hire more software developers to keep building,” Johnson said
The $12,000 grant was given to BX Code to support their software, Patch, which transitions young computer science students from block-based coding to text-based coding.
Recently, Johnson embarked on a second business venture called Verse, which involved developing voice-based assignments that are powered by artificial intelligence. Once again, he turned to the DEC for support — a testament to how much students value its resources.
“Whenever there’s some sort of big pitch coming up or big thing we need to prepare for, I’ll book time with [Chen] or one of the other mentors,” Johnson said.
Johnson and his team are not the only ones who see the DEC as a vital resource. Senior Neelofar Tamboli, another Tufts entrepreneur, has also leveraged the center’s resources to bring her vision to life. Tamboli developed a technology called Talk Motion with her brother Faraz Tamboli.
Tamboli explained that the technology “translates voice to sign language and vice versa.” Talk Motion was developed to help people who don’t know how to sign communicate with those who are deaf.
“I first got introduced to the Derby Entrepreneurship Center … through Professor Jerry Brightman, who was at that time my Change Leadership professor,” Tamboli said. “He encouraged me to apply for the Tufts … New Ventures Competition two years ago.”
Her team made it to the finalist round, an achievement that further solidified her passion for entrepreneurship. Most recently, Tamboli was awarded the DEC’s Montle Prize, a prestigious $10,000 grant recognizing perseverance and determination.
She credited the DEC with providing “invaluable mentorship from the professors.” They have also helped her refine her pitches and prepare for high-stakes competitions.
“Professor Elaine Chen is always available to go through even my pitches … and applications, helping me refine the overall end product,” Tamboli said.
Reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Tamboli emphasized that beyond the funding and competitions, the most meaningful takeaway has been the relationships she’s built.
“I can say that the connections I’ve made, the people I’ve met, have been the most valuable thing that has come out of this,” she noted.
While the DEC provides the tools, mentorship and funding to help students succeed, the real driving force behind these ventures is the passion and determination of the students themselves.
“I was sold on the students. I met a lot of people who are so passionate about making a difference in the world,” Chen said, speaking about what drew her to Tufts.
For Johnson, that passion started with a love of coding and video games.
“I taught myself to code in middle school. … I wanted to code video games,” he explained. “During the summer after my freshman year of high school, my mom told me I needed to get a job or do something other than sit around all day. … So rather than go and scoop ice cream like my friends were doing, I decided to start a summer camp for kids.”
For Tamboli, the inspiration for Talk Motion came from a personal encounter that left a lasting impact. At a school for the deaf in New Jersey, she met a young girl and her father who had difficulty communicating because he didn’t know sign language. After that encounter, she wanted to find a way to bridge that gap, leading her to develop Talk Motion.
At the DEC, passion isn’t just encouraged, it’s harnessed and transformed into something tangible. Whether it’s a summer camp that teaches coding or a tool that breaks down communication barriers, the DEC provides the resources and mentorship to turn bold ideas into reality.
