Last week we discussed HOW to get an idea, but what do we do once we have one. Well the answer is not simple, this is because going about the idealization, creation and distribution of a product or company requires resources and expertise.

Here is the the MSU Hatch comes to play. The Spartan Community is composed by roughly 50,000 students at any given time. These are people who came here to learn and develop their minds, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that many of them come up with solutions that could become products.

The Hatch is the place where these ideas come to life. Students can submit an application with their pitch and ideas. If the team of entrepreneurs and professors see merit in it, they advance the student through workshops focused on building a product from the idea.

These workshop range from idealization to actually setting up a company and distributing the product. The money needed to finance this operation is given by MSU and various sponsors.

The Hatch is much more then just a hangout for entrepreneurs; sometimes students’ ideas are already present in the market or they are simply not feasible. Instead of leaving these students out of the program, the Hatch involves them by allowing them to be part of the support team.

Every startup needs a well focused team to support the business. While the creator of the company might be only one with the vision, it is thanks to the collaboration of passionate people that a company can sustain itself.

I first went to the Hatch my freshman year of university. I was taking a class on intro to entrepreneurship and one of the requirements was to explore the area.

The first thing i noticed was the floor plan. It’s an open space so it gives a chance for people to talk and interact with each other. While personally I am not too big on the whole open space working environment, I do see some merits in it and appreciate how communication may be central in the Hatch.

The rest of the office is made up of small rooms for meeting and working with few exceptions made for 3D printing and other technologically focused situations.

During my latest visit I was also given a chance to pitch an idea for a media company. Now, the excitement that comes from being able to speak in front of people never seems to get old with me. So I tried to make the most out of it.

My idea was simple: a better way to personalize news through a backhand tool or process. Even as broad as this statement was, the idea seemed to interest people as I know that news customization is a great problem for many.

The pitch was 60 seconds and after answering some questions from my peers it seemed to have gone well. This opportunity gave me a sense of what the people who develop their products at the Hatch might go through on a regular basis.

Getting a sneak peek into this world is exciting and motivational for me to try to better myself.