Guides: Global Entrepreneurship Week @ Pitt: Resources for Entrepreneurs

Resources for Entrepreneurs

Tracking business news, trends, and ideas is crucial to business success. Industry magazines and newspapers, podcasts, blogs and books are great resources for learning the lingo and following the stories of highly successful entrepreneurs.

Use the tabs to access our recommended magazines and newspapers, Pitt and local resources, web resources, and library services to get you started. This list of resources is not exhaustive.

Pitt

Office of Research
Assists faculty, staff, and students in their efforts to promote and secure sponsored research funding.
Center for Medical Innovation
Focuses on stimulating and promoting the development and commercialization of technological innovations to improve health care
Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The University's hub for activities that promote and foster innovation and entrepreneurship on campus and throughout the Pittsburgh region.
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Works with businesses of all sizes and at all stages. Resources include workshops and free consulting services which help establish and grow small businesses
Big Idea Center
The Big Idea Center is an on-campus, inclusive innovation catalyst that develops the innovative and entrepreneurial skills of the Pitt student community.

Pittsburgh Accelerators/Incubators

AlphaLab
A nationally-ranked start-up accelerator program that focuses on the technology industry.
AlphaLab Gear
A hardware and robotics start-up accelerator. They help entrepreneurs make rapid progress through the early stages of product and customer development.
Ascender Pittsburgh
Serves as a premier incubator/accelerator for early-stage startups from across all industries.
Idea Foundry
a non-profit innovation organization focused on creating jobs in the life sciences, entertainment and education, social enterprise, advanced materials, and water sectors
InnovationWorks
Invests capital and business expertise into Southwestern PA's technology economy.
Life Sciences Pennsylvania
Life Sciences Pennsylvania’s mission is to ensure Pennsylvania is the United States hub for the life sciences by creating a business and public policy environment which fosters life sciences growth and success.
Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation
The PHDC Business Incubator is a multicultural space where Hispanic entrepreneurs can meet with experienced staff who speak fluent Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and who understand the perspective of a Hispanic in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. PHDC guides entrepreneurs to create business plans, cash flow projections, balance sheets, and market analyses, and to identify financing strategies.
LifeX
LifeX is on a mission to drive the development and growth of life sciences startups in Pittsburgh and across the country.

Pitt Libraries

Library Resources and Guides

Entrepreneurship Resources @ Pitt
by LaMonica Wiggins Last Updated Sep 11, 2024 2217 views this year
Resources for Community Entrepreneurs
by LaMonica Wiggins Last Updated Sep 5, 2024 474 views this year
STEM Library Services @ Pitt
by LaMonica Wiggins Last Updated Nov 25, 2024 180 views this year
Nonprofit Research @ Pitt
by LaMonica Wiggins Last Updated Nov 25, 2024 765 views this year

Spaces and Services

Business Research Clinic
One-on-one business research assistance to help entrepreneurs gather information about their customers, competition, and industry to better understand the opportunities and limitations of their business idea. Click the link to schedule a consultation.
Open Lab at Hillman
Offered in collaboration with Teaching and Learning, The Open Lab is an inclusive environment that welcomes faculty, staff, and students to experiment with 3D printers, 360 degree video cameras, virtual reality, and more. This service is great for those interested in prototype design and development.
GIS Work Lab @ Hillman
Due to the renovation of the ground floor in Hillman Library, the Data Lab is not available. There are four stations on the First Floor and five stations on the Second Floor of Hillman with several GIS applications installed: ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Google Earth Pro.
Coworking Spaces
Available by reservation, these technology-equipped meeting spaces allow teams to work collaboratively on classroom and business projects.

Pennsylvania Public Business Libraries

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Small Business Guidance
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh offers small business guidance in the form of books, business databases, and expert assistance. A CLP library card is free to all Pennsylvania residents.
Free Library of Philadelphia: Business Resource and Innovation Center
Assist entrepreneurs in the for-profit and nonprofit arenas at every stage, helping to improve their skills through public programs and individualized guidance in research and planning. A FLP library card is free to all Pennsylvania residents.

PittCat is the main searching tool for all of the materials owned by the University Library System (ULS), including articles, books, ebooks, journal articles, ejournals, audio and video, digital images, government documents, microfilm and movies.

Pittcat
Access PittCat directly or use the ULS homepage. Search for newspapers, magazines, journals or more on the topic of entrepreneurship using the library's catalog, Pittcat.
Entrepreneur
Inc.
Forbes
Fortune
The Economist
Wired
Business Week
Wall Street Journal
Trade Publications by Industry

Podcasts

How I Built This with Guy Raz
Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.
Side Hustle School
It's a daily podcast, a traveling workshop series, and an action-packed book—all designed to help you create a new source of income without quitting your day job.
Masters of Scale
Masters of Scale is an original podcast hosted by Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn and Investor at Greylock. In each episode, Reid shows how companies grow from zero to a gazillion, testing his theories with legendary leaders. Masters of Scale is the first American media program to commit to a 50-50 gender balance for guests. It won the 2018 People’s Voice Webby for Best Business Podcast.

Online Communities

Big Idea Center's Slack Group
Looking to connect and collaborate with other Pitt student & alumni innovators all year round? Join the Big Idea Center group on Slack!
Startup Nation
Web-based community of business owners and entrepreneurs who share advice and stimulate debate about business startups.
Startup Grind
Local entrepreneurs networking groups.

Information Portals

Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship's Innovation Commercialization Resources
For those innovators new to commercialization, the guide below is intended to help you better understand some of the terminology and the processes used in moving innovations from the lab to the market
Edward Lowe Foundation: Entrepreneur's Resource Center
a not-for-profit organization that promotes entrepreneurship by providing information, research, and education.
Entrepreneurship.org
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation created Entrepreneurship.org as an online resource to help entrepreneurs grow great ideas. The site provides innovative educational tools and informative resources covering the latest issues and insights affecting entrepreneurs.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

Global Entrepreneurship Week @ Pitt

Entrepreneurship Librarian

Resources for Entrepreneurs