Published: Jan. 15, 2019

Jenna Palensky

What's the best way to share stories about student startups? Well, to hear directly from the student founders, of course. This is what the new podcast miniseries called Students and Startups aims to do. 

The Innovation Action Team, a group of student leaders within the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, have been scouring campus and interviewing current students and recent alumni who have founded companies.  Through these conversations, listeners will hear the triumphs and pitfalls that students face while trying to be a first time founder and a student.  The University of Colorado Boulder has produced many successful startups founded by students, faculty, and staff.  Yet, the student stories are not as well known.  The Innovation Action Team is remedying that by capturing and talking to these spirited and awesome young leaders.

The first episode is an interview with Jenna Palensky who was part of the founding team of Specdrums, an app enabled ring that turns colors into sound.  The company was recently acquired by Sphero, where Jenna now works.  Jenna was studying ethnomusicology and working on her PhD in Musicology when she met founder, Steven Dourmashkin.  In her conversation with interviewer, Rachel Sharpe, she explains what it was like to join Specdrums after only a handshake and spontaneous conversation with Steven.

Listen on Soundcloud or on iTunes.