STL Entrepreneurship. Economic Impact. Startup Experience.
The Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) partners with the startup community through three programs:
CEL Entrepreneurial Consulting Team (CELect)
Research from Mattermark concluded that St. Louis is one of the top five fastest growing cities for startups. Olin’s entrepreneurial programs are an integral part of the St. Louis startup community. From LockerDome to Sparo Labs, St. Louis startups are capitalizing on the opportunity to engage with WashU student-led consulting teams.
Engaged, Educated, Exceptional
The CELect program connects you with talented WashU students to consult on your early-stage business challenges. These semester-long consulting projects, focused on enterprises in the startup ecosystem, are student-led and faculty-supervised. These four-to-six person teams define key issues and set the project direction and timeline. Project areas are comprehensive and range from high-level strategy to detailed analysis in specific areas.
CELect students want to work on challenging research-oriented management consulting projects for high-growth St. Louis area startups while getting the opportunity to engage with the founders and senior leadership.
Does Your Startup Qualify for CELect?
Your startup may be eligible if you:
- Are an early stage company
- Have employees beyond the founders
- Have a project where the students will work directly with the founders
- Have secured outside funding or are currently raising funds on term sheet
CELect by the Numbers
Diverse Thinking
Business, Law, Engineering
Testimonials for CELect
Founded in 2012, Hatchbuck is a fast-growing marketing automation software company for small businesses.
“We engaged the team to learn how we could best grow Hatchbuck. We asked them to evaluate our marketing, analyze the competitive landscape, and determine acquisition targets.” — Don Breckenridge, Co-founder and CEO, Hatchbuck
Read more about the project (pdf).
Metrics Clinics in Finance and Marketing
Focused on enterprises in the startup ecosystem, Metrics Clinics provide you with fresh thinking and strategic recommendations from talented WashU Olin students.
Metrics Clinic in Finance • Teams of 4 to 6 students tackle your business challenges—from high-level strategy to detailed, in-depth analysis in specific areas. These consulting projects help you understand and build financial metrics to drive your business forward.
Metrics Clinic in Marketing • Teams of 2 to 4 students dig into your marketing challenges and answer questions about the growth of your organization. The areas of focus include market and need opportunity, customer value, product and business model, and branding and marketing. To participate, your startup must currently be generating revenue.
Metrics Clinic by the Numbers
Testimonials for Metrics
“The CEL Metrics Clinic is an obvious choice for startups. There is no better way to affordably have investor-ready financials prepared for your company.” — Marc Bernstein, Co-founder, Balto
How It Works
Step 1 Getting Started
Projects are conducted in fall and spring semester. To kick things off, fill out our application. If you have questions, contact the Center for Experiential Learning at cel@olin.wustl.edu or +1-314-935-4512.
| | Fall semester | Spring semester
|
Project Scope Defined
| » | August
| January |
| Team Starts Project | » | September | February |
| Final Recommendations | » | December
| May |
Step 2 Student Consulting Begins
- Students will choose the selected projects within the first week of each semester.
- Your team of four students will contact you to kick off the project, which includes setting expectations.
- Throughout the process, you have access to the CELect director and CEL personnel as needed.
Step 3 Final Presentations
- Your student team submits a written report and presents its conclusions and specific recommendations to you and the class at the end of the semester.
- You have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to help the CEL continuously improve our services while also helping students improve their skills for future endeavors.
CELect Has Partnered With:
