CAN ENTREPRENEURS BE MADE OR ARE THEY BORN? Falls Church Native Alex Valentino Finds Out as He Takes Part in Weeklong Entrepreneurial Immersion

Early-stage entrepreneurship is at its highest level of popularity since Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) began tracking it in 1999—and programs like LehighSiliconValley are helping students interested in embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor. The weeklong summit through Lehigh University’s Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation (ranked one of the country’s Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs by Entrepreneur magazine) brings 60 Lehigh University students—including Falls Church’s own Alex Valentino—together with entrepreneurs, inventors, CEOs, venture capitalists and others who play key roles in the building of new enterprises from seed to startup to expansion and exit stage.

The question remains: Can entrepreneurship actually be taught? Two of last year’s participants, Jake Huber and Greg Horn, think so. Since attending LSV last year, Huber and Horn moved to Silicon Valley and created Gigawatt, an online crowdfunding platform for colleges that engages young alumni. Only time will tell if they end up as the next Mark Zuckerberg or Sean Parker. But stories like theirs are inspirational to Valentino, and we will be keeping an eye on him to see where his entrepreneurial dreams take him.