Startup Grind-Aggieland is a 2018 spinout chapter from the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, open to participants from the community and campus ages 18 and older. Our chapter is among the oldest chapters in the world, originally launched in 2014 at the globally-ranked Startup Aggieland accelerator by freshmen members of the Startup Living Learning Community at Texas A&M University. Based in Bryan, TX since 2018, the Aggieland Chapter has had an office at DesignSpark Innovation Center. since Jan. 2021.

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Startup Grind offers six to eight meetups annually with featured guest entrepreneurs or venture capitalists, generally from the Aggie Network in the tech sector but not always. Meetups offer networking, free beverages and occasionally appetizers or desserts. Meetups feature a Fireside Chat, moderated by Spencer Clements -- CEO of William Cole Co. and Managing Partner of Traditions Development Bryan LLC, owner of DesignSpark Innovation Center. William Cole Co. is based at the innovation center and manages the Traditions Golf Club and other parts of the 1,000-acre Lake Walk, TX, mixed-use development at the heart of a QOZ in the A&M Health Science Biocorridor and surrounded by Texas A&M on three sides. 

The live, work, play community within a community on the border between College Station and Bryan, TX, is designed for young adults and professionals who want a better quality of life near where high-paying jobs and tech startup resources are both readily available for Aggies and others at the heart of the Texas Triangle. The A&M Biocorridor is home to some of Brazos County's largest local employers, including FuiiFilm Diosynth Technologies, iBIO and ViaSat. Also located in this area is the Texas A&M University Men's and Women's Golf Teams, as well as the Texas A&M University Parson's Mounted Calvary. The Texas A&M Equestrian Center is across FM 2819 from the Biocorridor and A&M's Easterwood Airport is nearby. The entire area is officially designated as "Aggieland". Directly opposite Lake Walk Innovation Center is Cashion Park, a memorial to the late NFL Referee and Entrepreneur "Red" Cashion. 

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Startup Grind still offers student internship and leadership opportunities but is now managed by a volunteer team of entrepreneurs at Lake Walk Innovation Center, led by Director Shelly Brenckman and Assistant Director David Smith. The Aggieland Chapter has grown so large that the global headquarters in Redwood City, California, has designated our chapter as a Startup Grind X Chapter. We bridge campus and community to the global startup scene. Since 2013, Startup Grind has grown to 650+ chapters worldwide and offers two conferences. 

Startup Grind's motto: Make friends, not contacts. Startup Aggieland graduates Matt Lohstroh and Grant Weston served as student co-assistant directors in Bryan-College Station for 2019-2020. Prior to 2019-2020, student co-assistant directors for 2014-2015 were McCalley Cunningham and Brooke Byrum. In 2015-2016, student co-assistant directors were Austin Tankersley and Christopher Bybee. In 2016-2017, student co-assistant directors were Christopher and Claire McDougall. In 2018-2019, Adam Valenta and Grant Weston served as student assistant co-directors. In 2018-2020, Taylor Curran and Alon Farkas served as student officers. Student officers have included Omar Guzman, Lauren Smith and Travis Pfleeger. 

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Our chapter hosts an average of eight meetups annually plus several events. All events and meetups are free. No membership dues required. Student interns may qualify for free trips to the annual Startup Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley by volunteering their time to host events for the local startup scene. Non-students are also qualified to attend the Startup Grind Global Conference in California or England individually or with the chapter based on attendance and participation in events. More than 75 Aggies have attended the conferences. 

Startup Grind is available in most metropolitan cities, although many chapters charge admission. Our chapter meetup videos are available on the parent organization's YouTube channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/StartupGrindLocal/videos