CAN ENTREPRENEURS BE MADE OR ARE THEY BORN? Mahwah Native Thomas Potenza Finds Out as He Takes Part in Weeklong Entrepreneurial Immersion

Early-stage entrepreneurship is at its highest level of popularity since Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) began tracking it in 1999—and programs like LehighSiliconValley are helping students interested in embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor. The weeklong summit through Lehigh University’s Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation (ranked one of the country’s Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs by Entrepreneur magazine) brings 60 Lehigh University students—including Mahwah’s own Thomas Potenza—together with entrepreneurs, inventors, CEOs, venture capitalists and others who play key roles in the building of new enterprises from seed to startup to expansion and exit stage.

“Entrepreneurship has been a consistent theme in my family for generations; my father is an entrepreneur, as was his father before him. Listening to their stories and experiences has ignited a burning interest in entrepreneurship of my very own, which I have been preparing myself for at Lehigh,” said Potenza.

The question remains: Can entrepreneurship actually be taught? Two of last year’s participants, Jake Huber and Greg Horn, think so. Since attending LSV last year, Huber and Horn moved to Silicon Valley and created Gigawatt, an online crowdfunding platform for colleges that engages young alumni. Only time will tell if they end up as the next Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker. But stories like theirs are inspirational to Thomas, and we will be keeping an eye on him to see where his entrepreneurial dreams take him.