Cowboy Idea Hatchery assists students as they begin, grow their own businesses

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Spears School graduate student Tim McDonald is taking advantage of the Cowboy Idea Hatchery to grow his start-up business, Zulu Aviation Products.

The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship is looking for Oklahoma State University students with the desire to start their own business through the Cowboy Idea Hatchery. The hatchery has been helping students for several years to establish start-up companies, and is available for students in every discipline across campus.

One current OSU student is taking advantage of the expertise in the student incubator to develop his business by seeking help from professors and visiting guest entrepreneurs with experience in growing a start-up company.

Tim McDonald, a Spears School of Business marketing graduate student, is taking advantage of the hatchery’s resources to grow Zulu Aviation Products, LLC. McDonald created his business to improve the existing night vision goggle lens cover and lanyard assembly currently used in the military and civilian aviation industry.

“The hatchery has basically been the relationships I have had with the professors and all the people who help out on the hatchery,” said McDonald. “They’ve given me the guidance and experience that they’ve had growing their businesses to help me grow my business.”

The hatchery offers an effective office space for members of the program to enrich their products. Each growth venture has access to business consultation and interaction with fellow student entrepreneurs, local entrepreneurs, faculty, administrators and staff.

“Tim is an excellent example of the entrepreneurial spirit at OSU. With a wife and kids, a full-time job, and coursework to handle, he still managed to create a business. That is impressive and this is the type of student we are looking for to join the hatchery,” said Richard Gajan, Carl Thoma Distinguished Clinical Professor in Entrepreneurship and advisor to the Hatchery students. “Each of the teams in the Hatchery having unique business products and serves, and they benefit by sharing with each their experiences and challenges as student entrepreneurs.”

“We kind of help each other out,” McDonald said. “If I have a question about marketing that somebody else just went through, they are able to help me. We can feed off of each other and get that synergy going along with adrenaline and excitement. It’s a place to grow together, think together, have fun together and really grow your business.”

ZAP is currently developing a new lens cover for a specific brand of night vision goggles, the PVS-14 NVGs, which are used by military and law enforcement officers on the ground. The company’s future goal is to conduct research and development for lens covers to be used on expensive camera lenses.

The Hatchery’s focus is on ventures that student’s dreams will become something of value.

To learn more about the Cowboy Idea Hatchery, visit the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship website at https://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/riata/incubators/hatchery. To receive an application for the Hatchery, visit https://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/riata/incubators/hatchery/apply/.