Still, building a startup is challenging, no matter how robust the technology behind the product. 

It’s a lesson Hills knows all too well. As a high schooler, Hills was the founder of a custom apparel startup, and he later gained “phenomenal” experience as a Kogod undergraduate student as part of one of the first cohorts to participate in the AU Center for Innovation’s Entrepreneurship Incubator program. 

Housed in a state-of-the-art facility in the Don Myers Technology and Innovation Building, the program helps students and recent alums build and scale for-profit and non-profit startups from the ground up, offering participants expert advice, mentorship, and, sometimes, grant funding. 

While at AU, Hills sought to challenge Craigslist with his startup, Sinbad, by providing students a “safer place to buy and sell goods.” 

Ultimately, though, he encountered a challenge faced by many entrepreneurs: building a team to carry out the founders’ mission. In the case of Sinbad, finding engineers to make the product proved to be the largest proverbial landmine. 

But Hills’ experience in the incubator ultimately proved to be an invaluable trial run as he now navigates the early days of Hey Iris, which is currently about halfway to its fundraising goal.

It’s a similar story for many incubator alums, who have gone on to build groundbreaking companies following their first go-around as a founder. (That is, of course, to say nothing of the $20 million-plus in aggregate revenue generated by active, graduated incubator startups). 

“So much of the entrepreneurial journey is really about applying the scientific method to business,” noted Kogod Department of Management professor Bill Bellows, one of Hills’ mentors during his time at AU.  

“We develop an idea, test it, learn from our tests, make adjustments based on our findings, and test again until we get it right,” Bellows said. “The key is for a founder to find people with complementary skills and build a culture that fosters mutual respect, collaboration, transparency, trust and a preference for action over whiteboarding.” 

Indeed, having the opportunity to trial and error such ideas and skills while studying as an undergraduate is deeply intertwined with Hills’ success today. He says it’s why he encourages current students to take advantage of programs like the incubator. 

“Right now, post-college, as an adult, if I have an idea for a problem I want to solve, it takes money to get to a solution. I can’t just walk into a lounge and find the kid on my floor who knows how to code,” Hills said. “You don’t have an opportunity, other than when you’re in college, to have such a low-risk, high-value experience.”