Businesses born at Babson

Andrew Weesner wants to protect you from foul weather. Ken Accardi wants to make it easier for you to store your stuff. And Christi Andersen and Derek Ohly want to help women buy bras that fit.

All are students on the entrepreneurial track at Babson College in Wellesley, sharing nearly $60,000 from the school to launch their fledgling student companies. But these aren't just school projects: The students hope their start-ups blossom into real, money-making operations.

In the most recent round of seed funding, Babson, similar to what it does each year, awarded money to 13 student companies. The grants typically range from $2,500 to $7,500. To each of the businesses, the money was a welcome windfall. The students' plans to spend it are as diverse as their companies.

Weesner, 34, who received a $7,500 grant for his company, Tosh Foul Weather Gear, said the idea for his firm grew out of a mundane pre-Babson experience -- the act of going to work every day.

''My office was in downtown, and I used to walk in the rain or snow, and overshoes aren't that good," said Weesner, who worked in real estate development before coming to Babson to earn an MBA. ''There's Burberry's, but they're 800 bucks, and London Fog is for old guys."

So Weesner's efforts are focused on launching a better line of foul-weather products for urban professionals. He describes his gear as a cross between Burberry and Patagonia.

As is the case with many of the students, the Babson grant is only a fraction of how much Weesner has spent of his own money. (He won't say exactly, but allows that ''you could buy a nice Harley-Davidson for the amount that's been put into it.")

Accardi, 40, who will graduate from Babson's MBA program in May, his business partner, and a third outside investor have put a combined $100,000 into their business, Storage Evolutions Inc., which aims to be a full-service storage company.

''Before our company, you'd rent a storage room and pay them a monthly fee and you'd have to rent your own truck and haul your stuff there. But what we've done is made this a full-service company," Accardi said. ''We'll come to your house, store [the items], and if you need it back, you call us and we bring it back."

''Babson's seed fund is not meant to provide the only investment in the business, but to support other work the students have done," said Julian Lange, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at the school. ''The purpose is to help them tangibly with some small amount of funding that will bring them to the next level, and encourages students to think through and revisit their plans for their company -- to move forward."

But moving a business forward often takes more than just money. To smooth the path, many students get their start in what is know as the hatchery, located in the basement of Coleman Hall on campus. There, students are provided with minimal resources -- a phone, desk, computer, and a physical location where they can come and begin their business.

Babson seniors Gabriel Schaffzin and Katie Jerden received $3,500 in award funding and are operating their business, gaboosh.media inc., out of the hatchery. They plan to continue their business -- selling customized student planners -- after graduation. (Students are eligible for funding while at Babson and up to one semester afterward.)

''We're in the hatchery, we got the seed fund [money], and we've really taken advantage of all the integrated opportunities at Babson," Schaffzin said. ''It's exciting, and I don't think we could have done that anywhere else."

Babson does not track the number of student start-up companies that continue after graduation, but one success story is Fossa Medical, a medical device company started by 2001 graduate Gloria Ro Kolb.

''It was a very safe environment to start the company, and that was good," Kolb said. ''When I graduated that summer, I got $7,000 [in seed fund money], which wasn't a whole lot of money, but it was helpful. It helped me make some prototypes."

Lange said he is not aware of any exhaustive statistics on whether student entrepreneurship in college is a growing trend. He said more schools are offering similar programs, and that the population in general has been thinking more about entrepreneurship.

Phil Weilerstein, executive director of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, a national nonprofit based in Hadley, said the group works with more than 200 schools around the country to provide opportunities for students and encourage entrepreneurship.

''Is there more [student entrepreneurship]? Yes. It has to do with a number of things," he said. ''There are more educational programs rooted in the universities that support students, more business plan classes, and more courses in entrepreneurship -- and they're getting better."

Common traits among student entrepreneurs, Lange said, are creativity, ingenuity, a willingness to take risks, and to think of new things and act on them.

''I've always had this side of me that wanted to do my own business, but it's scary starting it," Weesner said. ''You really have to put your neck out there and take some big risks, and I made that decision to go for it. Now it's my whole life. . . . All I think about is making this happen."

Recent Babson graduate Christi Andersen, who has started a company called Riot with business partner and fellow graduate Derek Ohly, said she wouldn't want it any other way. With $7,500 in seed fund money, Andersen and Ohly are in the exploratory phase of their business -- targeting ways women can find bras that fit them well, and customizing bras for them. The two are seeking a fun way to respond to data showing that most women hate bra shopping and often end up picking out wrong-size bras.

''The idea of sitting in an office doing a corporate job is more frightening than taking a leap and doing something on our own," Andersen said.