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Babson Wins Big at BostInno 50 on Fire

BostInno 50 on Fire

The Babson College Summer Venture Program (SVP) and its Director, David Chang, were honored not only as winners in BostInno’s 50 on Fire, but also as ‘Inno Blazers’—trailblazers in Boston’s innovation scene. SVP is an annual, sought-after program in Babson’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship.

Alumnus Mark Bollman ‘10, Founder and CEO of Ball and Buck, was also named a winner at this year’s event, highlighted by BostInno as a leader “shaping the way we buy and sell goods within our community through new consumer concepts.”

Each year, “BostInno’s 50 on Fire honors the hottest companies, organizations, and people from across a number of categories, each one operating within or around the city’s innovation economy.”

Babson Summer Venture Program and David Chang

The Summer Venture Program at Babson College is a 10-week intensive experience designed to accelerate the development of student entrepreneurial ventures.

The program supports the most promising graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurs from Babson, F.W. Olin College of Engineering, and Wellesley College. Approximately 15 teams are chosen to participate in the program each summer. Teams receive housing, work space, advisers, a speaker series, and other resources to develop the entrepreneurs’ skills and accelerate their businesses.

At the culmination of the program, the Summer Venture Showcase, the teams present their accomplishments to investors, and members of the Babson and local startup communities.

David Chang, an influential Bostonian, entrepreneur, and angel investor, joined Babson College in early 2017 to lead Summer Venture program and help empower young entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses.

Mark Bollman ’10, Ball and Buck

Ball and Buck is an outfitter tailored for the sporting gentleman with a retail store and barbershop on Newbury Street in Boston. Its mission is to build products and experiences that set the benchmark for quality and become more valuable with age.

Founded in 2008 when the U.S. economy was at its worst, Mark Bollman created Ball and Buck as a way to help support American jobs while setting the benchmark for high quality products.

Mark Bollman comes from a long line of outdoorsmen and sportsmen. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather all share a supreme love of the outdoors, something they shared with him from a very young age. From hunting ducks in Michigan, fly fishing the great rivers of the West, and camping in the Smokey Mountains, the outdoor lifestyle is not just an inspiration for Ball and Buck, but rather is baked into every product and decision the company makes.