The Student Entrepreneur Survival Guide

At the TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo 2025, the spirit of student innovation came alive inside the Charles Carroll Room at The Hotel at the University of Maryland. Moderated by Sephora Saint-Armand and Jalaycia Lewis of TEDCO, the session “Student Entrepreneur Survival Guide: Building While Balancing” offered an unfiltered look at how young founders are navigating academics, business challenges, and personal growth.

The panel featured three powerful voices: Markus Proctor, Executive Director of Innovators of Progress; Selena Shirkin, Co-Founder of Fetal Therapy Technologies; and Andres Londono, Co-Founder of GoPanda LLC. Together, they unpacked what it means to persist, adapt, and lead as a student entrepreneur in Maryland’s rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem.

Persistence and Enterprise: The DNA of Student Founders

TEDCO’s session inspired students to combine enterprise with personal passion and purpose.From the moderators’ perspective, two defining traits distinguish successful student founders: persistence and enterprise.

Persistence reflects the determination to keep going despite rejection or setbacks. Enterprise represents the creativity and initiative to use every available opportunity to move forward. The moderators emphasized how these driven individuals go beyond expectations, using every campus resource from grants to competitions long before others even realize those opportunities exist. When asked for 25 customer interviews, they complete 50. That relentless drive and initiative form the foundation of their success.

Maryland’s Moment: The Best Time to Be a Student Founder

Markus Proctor reflected on how much Maryland’s entrepreneurial landscape has evolved “This is the best time to be a student entrepreneur,” he said. “When I was in school, a $50,000 non-dilutive student grant would have been a dream. Now, that’s a reality and it’s going directly to students, not professors or research labs.”

He applauded the progress but pointed out a missing piece: post-graduation support.

“What happens after you leave school? We need more venture studios and early capital for recent alumni to keep building momentum. The ecosystem does a great job of helping you start but we also need pathways to help you stay in the game.”

Baltimore’s Strength in Collaboration and Its Growth Gaps

Selena Shirkin praised Baltimore’s collaborative and accessible startup community. “Everyone here is connected somehow, and people genuinely want to help you succeed,” she said.

Yet, for deep-tech and biomedical founders like herself, the challenge lies in local infrastructure.“Our microsurgical device prototypes had to be made in California because we couldn’t find the right technical manufacturing partners here,” she explained. “There’s a growing ecosystem, but we still need more specialized, precision-based fabrication resources in Baltimore.”

Community and Mentorship at the Core

For Andres Londono, building community is as critical as building a business. “The knowledge and support from programs like Startup Moxie are unbelievable,” he said. “You’d be surprised how many people actually want you to succeed. Build your network early, it’s your safety net.”

He also offered simple but essential advice: “Don’t feel like you have to figure out everything alone. Ask for help. Someone else has faced your same problem and can help you get unstuck faster.”

Authenticity and the Courage to Pivot

Selena delivered one of the afternoon’s most emotional moments, sharing her personal motivation for founding Fetal Therapy Technologies.“I was born preterm. That experience drives me,” she said. “Investors told me to drop the fetal surgery mission because it’s not profitable yet. But I won’t. Our mission hasn’t changed only the path has.”

Her story resonated deeply, reinforcing a theme repeated by several panelists: authenticity matters more than trend-following. “Don’t lose your purpose,” she said. “Be creative, pivot if needed, but stay true to your ‘why.’”

Building Teams That Last

When the conversation turned to teamwork, Selena emphasized three key traits she looks for in team members: passion, initiative, and time commitment.“You can teach skills, but you can’t teach motivation,” she said.

Londono described how his founding team grew organically through university collaborations. “I knew who I wanted to work with because I saw their work ethic in class,” he said.

Markus, drawing on his experience mentoring young founders, reminded everyone: “Investors bet on teams more than ideas. A weak team produces weak results — your job as a founder is to build a rockstar team.”

Lead with Purpose

Wrapping up, Markus urged student founders to “talk to customers, find problems worth solving, and take the responsibility of being a founder seriously.”Selena urged the audience to keep connecting: “Talk to three people you didn’t know before today. You never know where those conversations can lead.”

As the session ended with applause, it was clear that Maryland’s next generation of entrepreneurs is not just building companies. They’re building communities of purpose, resilience, and innovation.