“THIS experience GIVES YOU A
fearlessness — A FEELING THAT
if something doesn’t exist,
WE CAN MAKE IT EXIST.”
ALLEN MASK
Co-founder, Vinyl Records
Turning Ideas into Enterprises
Experiential Education • Research • Venture Creation
www.unc.edu/cei
The summer before his sophomore
year, Allen Mask played in a band,
promoted its shows, produced its
recordings, and booked new gigs.
“I thought, what if there was a service
that would do this for student musicians
so they could concentrate on their
music,” said Mask.
The drive to create such a service led
Mask on a journey that connected him
with UNC’s network of innovators—
students, faculty, staff, and alumni—
and a wealth of cross-campus programs
available because of the Carolina
Entrepreneurial Initiative.
Mask found artistic entrepreneurs in
departments across campus, developed a
business plan in the Carolina Challenge
and entrepreneurship minor, received
seed funding from a CEI grant, and
honed deal-making skills through real-
life venture consulting projects and a
student-managed private equity fund.
With their help, Mask co-founded
Vinyl Records, a nonprofit student-run record label and booking agency
that develops and promotes UNC
musicians.
Mask graduates in May with a
degree in media management from
the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication, minors in music
and entrepreneurship, and a job
on Wall Street as an investment
banking analyst.
“I definitely see myself in my
own business 10 years from now.
CEI has given me a framework for how
to be successful,” says Mask.
“This experience gives you a fearlessness
—a feeling that if something doesn’t
exist, we can make it exist.”
GIVE TO CEI.
