Want to start a company? Try a new business model? The business community impact of the UW Foster School of Business Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) is measurable by companies launched and leaders who positively impact the economy. Many alumni emerge from the center’s programs ready to make a difference, challenging the status quo to bring an idea to life. Here are a sampling of success stories.

Alumni who make a difference


“The Business Plan Competition was fundamental to the creation of TeachTown. We didn’t win the competition—we finished second. But the event helped us focus on our business plan, attract attention to both autism and TeachTown, and make valuable networking connections. Our goal—then and now—is to create products that not only grow with the autistic child into adulthood, but across other populations with developmental disabilities. The idea that TeachTown could really help hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in a fundamental way—and be rewarded for it—is pretty powerful.”

Sven Liden
MBA 2004
Co-founder, TeachTown

“There are dozens of successful companies that have spun out of CIE and the UW. That has created a real community.  They're my friends, my associates, my peers.  They are people I can call to ask advice.  There's a lot of value in that community.  Because, fast forward 10 or 15 years, and all of a sudden you are going to have hundreds of companies that have been spun out of the Univeristy of Washington through CIE.  That’s legacy.”

Pete Findley
BA 1997
Founder, GiantCampus

Get involved with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship via student programs or business & community connections.