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BIDDEFORD, Maine

President Danielle Ripich selected to share her insights on entrepreneurship with the Babson Entrepreneur Experience Lab

University of New England President Danielle N. Ripich, Ph.D., recently shared her experience as an entrepreneur with the Babson Entrepreneur Experience Lab, a partnership between Babson College and the Business Innovation Factory (BIF).

She was selected to participate in this study from a large pool of very qualified applicants across numerous industries because of UNE's entrepreneurial successes under her leadership.

President Ripich's insights into entrepreneurship, along with those of colleagues from around the nation, are being shared through videos on the Babson Entrepreneur Experience Lab website. (See Below)

The Babson Entrepreneur Experience Lab is a platform that puts the voice and experience of real world entrepreneurs at the center of an ongoing effort to design, develop and test new education and support solutions for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

By deeply understanding the experiences of entrepreneurs and engaging them in the conceptual development of wholly new experiences, the Lab is developing solutions through the lens of entrepreneurs themselves and in the process, creating a platform for experimentation.

President Ripich was one of several entrepreneurs that the Babson/BIF Lab team engaged to create a first person, national characterization of the new venture creation experience. Insights emerging from the work reveal opportunities for intervention and innovation.

Watch a number of short videos in which President Ripich and her colleagues share their insights. Each photograph of President Ripich on these pages links to a short video.

Stories/Team

  • About being part of a team
  • How you help others see their capacity
  • The importance of building a team

Stories/Storytelling

  • Getting people to buy in to your vision
  • Your leadership style within the organization
  • The need for positivity in entrepreneurship

Stories/Ecosystems 

  • Your entrepreneurial personality as a good fit for the organization

Stories/Voice of the Entrepreneur

  • Getting people to buy in to your vision

Elements/On the Inside Looking Out/Searching for My Tribe

  • Finding like-minded people outside the university

Stories/Identity

  • Navigating Criticism
  • Compares the terms entrepreneurial and innovative to each other

Stories/Community

  • Finding like-minded people outside the University

Stories/Social Capital

  • Describes her role within the organization

Stories/Learning-Relearning

  • Talks about early experiences contributing to her current skills
  • Tells a story learning to discover opportunities throughout her life
  • Talks about characteristics of being a strong entrepreneur

Stories/Uncertainty

  • Making big decisions early on by building a case on the data
  • Initial decision to build a program and being prepared for failure
  • Being prepared for pushback on ideas
  • Your team helps you decide when the timing is right
  • Navigating decision making

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.