Hotter weather arrives with many hot events in our thriving ecosystem!
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 15-16: Princeton Materials Institute Symposium
April 20: Princeton Robotics Inaugural Symposium
April 22-24: eMerge Americas | Miami (Jim Barrood speaking)
May 13: INNOVATE100 Celebration | State Theatre
May 14: Mission Meets Machine: AI Workshop for Nonprofit Leaders | Trenton
May 15: Cake Party and Board Games at 1435 Capital I Skillman
May 20: ILSE Entrepreneur Training Program Info Session I online
May 20: Cranium AI Summit + Headbangers Ball | Jersey City
May 28: NJ FAST Expo 2026 I Hoboken
Here’s a reminder that the JTI website offers many resources for entrepreneurs and innovators; there is also now a LinkedIn page, so please follow.
Entrepreneurial Support
Government/EDA/SIC Hubs
Capital Resources
University Innovation
Hope to see you soon!
Good podcast re job market young people from Plain English
Speaking of young folks, many can relate to this piece, courtesy of AXIOS:
The Final Countdown
Raising a child means having lots of tough conversations. What no one ever tells you is that the most enraging exchange of all will be: "So, have you picked a college yet?"
If, like me, you have a high school senior at home, May 1 — the commitment deadline — looms like a slow-motion train wreck, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.
📚 The big picture: It seems simple: Here's the list. We know the locations, we know the costs, now pick one.
Our college commitment norms assume your child has a rational and orderly worldview at 18.
In reality, you could have a kid whose primary criteria are:
🛜 Is the Wi-Fi strong enough?
🧱 Are the dorms too brick-y?
🥣 How is the soup in the cafeteria?
Friction point: The soup. The soup is the friction point.
Our bundle of joy, our firstborn, the heir to our hopes and dreams, wanted us to spend $40,000 a year on the basis of whose chicken noodle is best.
Between the lines: To be fair to the kids, picking a college is a big deal, especially if you're the kind of person whose natural strength is not big choices.
About 76% of college applicants consider selection a "decisive moment" in their lives, according to a 2023 study from the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
About 3 in 5 reported feeling overwhelmed.
😩 Yes, but: The colleges carry some blame when it comes to the stress of the process.
One university that shall remain nameless emailed our son more than 60 times over the course of two months, sometimes as many as four times a day. (He never wanted to go, and didn't get in anyway.)
⏱️ Then there's the wait-list scenario — kiddo wants to go somewhere, but can't quite get in, but hasn't quite been rejected either. Academic limbo.
The bottom line: It's enough to make you weep, and that's before the first bill even comes.
If you're in the same boat, I feel your pain. Here, have some soup.
