From online course concept to startup success: Alumna helps launch new entrepreneurial pathway
Rebecca Crocker ’24W (MS), a graduate of the Warner School’s higher education program, knows she was a challenging student. She said as much in a recent letter to her former professor Eric Fredericksen, who taught Designing Online Courses (EDE 486) — a letter announcing a new venture stemming from the work she accomplished in his class.
“I questioned how we were doing things—and why we were doing things—a lot,” recalls Crocker, now a senior department program specialist in entrepreneurship at the Ƶ’s . “But I think I did better work in his class because I was trying to prove to him that I could do it. And I think I do good work now because I have his words in the back of my head all the time.”
From Coursework to Real-World Impact
Part of Crocker’s current work has been to help create a virtual pre-accelerator program called the , launched in December 2024.
While building online modules to help entrepreneurs become skillful at systems thinking, customer discovery, strategy, and innovation, Crocker repeated Fredericksen’s lessons: Be straightforward. Maximize content and minimize bells and whistles. Make sequencing logical.
“You have to have consistency because that makes people feel comfortable,” she says.
The virtual, self-paced Ain Foundry has three modules. The first is about an entrepreneurial mindset and the way to think about and approach problems in innovation. The second helps with understanding the value proposition and requires developing both a short elevator pitch and a longer, more detailed pitch for potential investors. The third focuses on a business plan and includes cultivating networking skills, as well as seeking out venture capital opportunities. Each module ends with a capstone project.
“Then the Ain Center sends them on to a real incubator in Rochester,” Crocker explains.
A Pathway to Startup Success
Ain Foundry has already led to the launch of 33 startups. One of them is KUBA AI, a pre-seed startup using artificial intelligence to help software companies achieve a bug-free product release.
“For somebody like me, who has been an entrepreneur before, going back and being finite about the things that I need to do — especially about stuff I missed in the past — was absolutely wonderful,” says Kakpindi Jamiru, co-founder of KUBA AI.
Jamiru appreciated how the “thorough” course, which he took in early 2025, took him from the germ of a thought to an idea worth pursuing as a business.
“There’s this check-in piece to it, too — you don’t just do this in a vacuum,” Jamiru continues. “We met with Rebecca each step of the way, our submission was reviewed and graded, we got feedback, and now we can use all of that to make tangible decisions within our company.”
Another perk was being matched with successful entrepreneurs, who record videos for each module, adds Jamiru: “You get to lean on somebody who has done this at a very high level, and they’re advising you on steps you should take — and validating your idea. That’s huge.”
Growing Momentum and Expanding Opportunities
Validating the Ain Foundry has led to an increased interest in competitions for seed money. In spring 2025, involvement in the program led to 14 entries in the Ƶ’s Forbes Pitch Competition, compared to four entries the previous year. There were also 14 entries in the regional New York Business Plan Competition, which showcases the most innovative student-led startups statewide; four of those moved on to the statewide competition.
“What I’m seeing is that the Foundry Program is working, and it’s working in a really strategic way,” Crocker says. “The students enjoy this because it’s more guided and scaffolded, so they have everything ready for those competitions.”
The evolution for Crocker’s original course — titled the Ain Entrepreneurship Course when developed in Fredericksen’s class — directly informed the creation of the Ain Foundry, which has a distinct curriculum that Crocker said was inspired by Ain Center for Entrepreneurship Executive Director Roberto D. Colangelo.
Because students like to showcase their successes on LinkedIn, they can earn badges for finishing each module and for completing the entire course.
And now, with the Ain Foundry launching a 2.0 version in the fall of 2025, gamified features include simulations with typical customers, unlocked achievements, and a progress dashboard. This allows students to try out their hypotheses on AI-generated personas before interacting with actual customers.
“This helps them test the waters with the interview process because they don’t typically enjoy it,” says Crocker. “It’s a baby step, and we’re making it fun.”
Embedding Entrepreneurship Across Career Paths
When it comes to instructional design and the development of online courses, successful projects take persistent review and revision, says Fredericksen, associate vice president for online learning at the Ƶ and professor of educational leadership at the Warner School: “One thing I emphasize to students is that in some ways, they’re never done. We do our very best to create the best version of our course for this upcoming semester we’re going to teach it, but there’s another dimension to this, which is about continuous improvement.”
Fredericksen describes Crocker as “very smart and passionate,” and says he’s “not surprised that the work she’s doing is benefiting lots of other students.”
Jamiru explains that the Ain Foundry made him feel more certain about pursuing his latest entrepreneurial project: “Knowing that you have this community of people who have done this before gives you a secure feeling. And if I didn’t have that, it would be more tough, like walking in the dark. I’d be second-guessing myself. Now I can say, ‘Ok, I’m doing the right things.’”
Before the Ain Foundry’s existence, students often would learn a bit about entrepreneurship and then move on to other things, says Crocker.
“Now we have a system that’s easy to navigate,” she explains.
That system is supportive of all kinds of career paths. Instead of becoming an entrepreneur, for example, some graduates may become an intrapreneur, working in research and development for a major company in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor, or technology sector.
“The idea of entrepreneurship should be fused into what you’re doing, and it can be used in everyday jobs,” Crocker said. “The Ain Foundry is a literal train that takes you where you need to go.”
Learn more about how the Warner School’s higher education and online teaching programs prepare graduates to lead in their fields.