The Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business has appointed Jeff Hui as its first Entrepreneur-in-Residence, paving the way for additional opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration within and outside the 10-campus UH System.
Hui will teach entrepreneurial concepts and processes. On top of that, Hui will provide valuable one-on-one advice to PACE entrepreneurs to help them reach their startup goals. Interested students can sign up for his weekly office hours at the Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center.
He will also serve as the instructor for PACE’s Summer Startup Launchpad, a six-week accelerator program for serious founders who want to start a company. Throughout the program, Hui will challenge teams to formulate feasible business models by practicing customer discovery activities, and build their minimum viable product. A limited number of teams will be selected to participate. UH students from any study or discipline are encouraged to apply. The application deadline for the 2024 program is April 30.
“I’m passionate about helping students build and launch new ventures,” Hui said. “In my experience working with high growth companies, the University of Hawaiʻi absolutely has the talent to create companies of a high caliber. It’s my job to build confidence in these budding entrepreneurs to believe they can start something amazing.”
Hui has taught a pair of PACE entrepreneurs bootcamps, interacted with student leaders at the PACE Leaders summit, and is the lead advisor for team GOALL (Great Online Activities for Language Learning), which won the 2022 UH Venture Competition.
Leadership, developing the business mindset
As an experienced entrepreneur, Hui will provide mentorship, instruction, guidance and strategic leadership to students, faculty and staff interested in innovation and developing the entrepreneurial mindset. He aims to bridge the gap between academia and the business world, offer real-world experiences for PACE students and drive student success.
“We are fortunate to welcome Jeff to our team. His deep experience working in the startup scene and his genuine enthusiasm for working with students make him the ideal candidate to inspire and grow successful entrepreneurs and startup teams at UH,” PACE Executive Director Sandra Fujiyama said. “I’m honored to be working with him.”
Hui is an entrepreneur and startup consultant with more than 20 years of experience in driving growth for businesses of all sizes through effective sales and marketing strategies. He is the Founder and CEO of Jumpstart AI, a generative AI agency. Previously, he advised on member engagement and marketing strategy for a wide variety of companies. Additionally, he’s headed growth teams for companies including Facebook and Instagram. He earned a MBA from Columbia Business School and BS degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.
