On Saturday, October 26, student entrepreneurs and alumni mentors reconvened on campus for a daylong session focused on customer discovery and making forward venture progress. This was the second of six on-campus weekend sessions for this year’s TIA Incubator.
Customer Discovery with Mentor Marvin Vilma ’14
The morning session focused on customer discovery, facilitated by Marvin Vilma ’14, an entrepreneur and social impact strategist. Marvin spoke about how his entrepreneurial journey began as a student participant in TIA with an idea for an event planning company. Marvin credited TIA for unlocking his entrepreneurial potential and building skills that he has used throughout his professional career.
Marvin began the customer discovery session with a panel discussion featuring student entrepreneurs Porter Comstock ’26, Vivian Jiang ’26, and Bill Luo ’26 and alumni mentor and entrepreneur Andres Echenique ’83. Each shared unique perspectives and methods for understanding customer needs and motivations:
- Andres emphasized the importance of seeing through the eyes of others. “Understanding someone else’s perspective is fundamental; you can’t be the only person that will buy all of your products.”
- Vivian encouraged attendees to embrace outreach, advising, “You need to put yourself out there,” starting with friends and expanding to broader networks.
- Porter addressed the reality of facing rejection, saying, “It can be uncomfortable to hear someone say no, but it’s getting you closer to your answer.” He offered practical tips, like testing out cold-calling skills within the Colgate community to build confidence.
- Bill reminded participants of the value of honest feedback, sharing, “When you’re speaking to people, you’re looking for their honesty. Take all information as analytically as possible.”
Marvin then segued into customer discovery basics with interactive exercises where participants practiced key elements of customer discovery. They began by writing down assumptions about their target audience, structuring questions to verify these assumptions, and reflecting on how to collect and organize responses. Marvin shared his golden rule for follow-ups: “Always ask, ‘Who else should I reach out to?’”
Venture Pitches and Breakout Discussions
After the customer discovery workshop, participants dove into a Shark Tank-style session featuring ventures Telemetree, founded by Chris Cherniakov ’24, and Farmstead 1868, founded by local entrepreneur Monica Cody. They each presented to a panel of mentors: Madeline Bayliss ’76, Alex More ’99, Peter Bertone ’20, and Marvin Vilma ’14. This rapid-fire session allowed founders to practice their pitch in a real-life setting and offered everyone a close-up look at pitching under pressure.
The day concluded with mentoring breakouts, where venture participants and mentors engaged in focused conversations. These smaller, more personal discussions provided a chance for attendees to deepen connections, share reflections, and set actionable next steps for their ventures.
We are grateful to our mentors, participants, and organizers who made this day so impactful. Whether it was exploring customer insights, refining pitch skills, or simply connecting with like-minded individuals, every attendee left with renewed energy and a clearer path forward.