The Derby Center aims to develop an entrepreneurial mindset through mentorship and hands-on learning.
It is 2026, and the start-up landscape is booming after a decades-long slump. Amid mass layoffs and the ready assistance of AI chatbots, it’s become significantly easier for a bright idea to become a working reality. For college students, the start-up scene can seem like a bunch of computer-savvy dropouts camping out in a Bay Area condo, hatching the next world-flipping technology while swimming in millions in venture cash flow (all references attributed to “The Social Network”). Many others picture rockets flying into space and(now foldable) iPhones. Yet the Derby Entrepreneurship Center advocates something similar but far more achievable: the entrepreneurial mindset.
Located in the Joyce Cummings Center, the Derby Center is Tufts’ hub for all things entrepreneurial.Its website highlights undergraduate programs, hands-on learning experiences and equity-free funding. Derby’s resources and impact, though, go beyond that through mentorships and a growing legacy of entrepreneurial spirit at Tufts, which is shaped by a shared understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset. As Elaine Chen, professor of the practice in entrepreneurship and director of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center, puts it, this means an active approach to addressing problems and a continuously learning, flexible mentality.
“I really think about the entrepreneurial mindset as a bias [for] action. You can see a problem, you can analyze it, but the entrepreneurial person takes the first step to try to solve it,” Chen said. “It also includes redefining success as learning and not being right, because you can’t be right all the time. You’re always going to be learning from the market, and you need to be able to iterate.”
These traits show up in the experience of Jonathan Chang (LA‘20), a Tufts alum andco-founder and CEO of Markit AI.Though Chang was already building an application platform with active users, he said the Tufts Entrepreneurship Center’s 2021 100k New Ventures Competition was the first time he seriously considered the business side and the platform’s larger potential. Coming froma computer science and engineering background, Chang was surprised that his finished and functional product failed to reach the finals. But the results made him reflect and helped him discover the multiple dimensions that constitute a successful business that remain highly relevant.
“[I was] realizing that building something like a true business is about more than just building a product. It’s just even more true today as the barriers to building a product and an app have gone down more and more,” Chang said.
Despite his unsatisfying finish, the center reached out to Chang and encouraged himto participate in that summer’s Tufts Venture Accelerator — a full-time, 10-week summer program designed to help student entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground.Chang recounted that the VentureAccelerator’s summer funding gave him the mobility to focus on his start-up full time and, withguidance and support from members, catapulted the app into a serious businesswith around 10,000 users. When Markit re-participated in the Tufts 100k the following year, they placed second on the general track, “abig jump” from their previous results.
“I do think entrepreneurship and startups [are] one of those kind[s] of weird things where you have to do it yourself in order to truly learn,” Chang said. “That’s why it’s great to have things like the Venture Accelerator. You can actually build on an idea for the entire summer and be paired with mentors.”
The application platform Chang submitted was calledMarkit AI, a texting platform for sharing content built to help turn followers into text subscribers, publish newsletters and sell products. According to Chang, it currentlysends over a million texts a month, with customers ranging from A$AP Rocky to The Comedy Store in West Hollywood. Throughout Markit’s development, Chang has continued to host summer internship opportunities supported by the center,allowing Tufts students to experience start-up culture firsthand and develop entrepreneurial leadership skills applicable to any job in a low-stakes environment.
“Interning at a startup can be a good thing because you can realize [if] it’s not for you. … It’s great that the Derby Center has these resources, because rather than quitting your job [and] running your own business post-graduating, you can do it … in a university setting where there’s lower stakes and still get that experience,” Chang said. “Doing a startup is risky. You’re going to often use up savings, and you’re not going to be paid as much with the hope that the small percentage of your startup will be a big success.”
Successful alumni like Chang make up the center’s steadily growing support system for current students and offer valuable insights into the entrepreneurial landscape. For senior Jahir Islam,president of Jumbo Ventures, the club’s partnership with the center has allowed him first-hand experience with potential mentorship programs, courses and an established connection network. As a participant in the most recent Tufts Venture Accelerator, Islamnoted valuable advice from seasoned mentors and weekly guest speakers who held one-on-one office hours with each team.
“There was a dedicated coach who we could go to when we were navigating our primary market research and deciding what product to actually build. So that was very helpful,” Islam said.
Beyond solid feedback and experiences, Islam saidhe formed some of his closest friendships in the center’s entrepreneurial classes.According to him, the center helps build the soft skills he considers vital in entrepreneurship.
“I deeply believe that a big part of entrepreneurship starts with … the people component,” Islam said. “[The] Derby Center really teaches someone the skill of being mindful of the people around them [and] connecting with more people. Ultimately … you are selling to people, you are pitching to people and you are building with people,” Islam said.
Sinceopening in January 2022,the center has expanded its scope of support to students with diverse interests, notably the School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University community and small business ventures. In the long run, Chen said thatthe center is eager to reach more studentswhilecontinuing to broaden the definition of entrepreneurship.
“I would love for Tufts students to really be very on top of the resources available to them. Take advantage of all the resources that are available at [the] Derby Entrepreneurship Center and beyond,” Chen said. “Do one thing that actually gives you a taste of an entrepreneurial way of working and then see where it leads you.”
