WRITER: Alejandro Najera-Acosta, a_najera@nmsu.edu
SOURCE: Carlos Murguia, cmurguia@nmsu.edu
The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center is inviting NMSU students to apply to Talent Lab, a six-month fellowship that prepares aspiring entrepreneurs to build venture-ready careers in New Mexico’s advanced energy economy. The Hunt Center will sponsor selected NMSU students to participate in the program.
Talent Lab is a program from Dangerous Ventures designed to find, nurture, and accelerate entrepreneurial talent across New Mexico, with a focus on candidates from Native and underserved communities. The fellowship combines Design Thinking methodology with the rigor of a top MBA curriculum, hands-on startup experience, executive coaching, and a Silicon Valley capstone immersion. Selected participants are known as Entrepreneurs-in-Training.
The fellowship is structured around five core experiences. The Mini-MBA curriculum delivers weekly microlearnings for venture-readiness, covering finance, product, go-to-market, leadership, and sales and marketing fundamentals, alongside guest expert speakers and a book club. Through one-on-one executive mentorship, fellows receive monthly coaching sessions, peer-to-peer group sessions, a StrengthsFinder assessment, and a personal development roadmap. The Design Thinking Bootcamp grounds fellows in empathy, problem framing, ideation, and rapid prototyping through hands-on learning exercises. In a paid apprenticeship, each fellow is embedded in a venture-backed startup, contributing to real projects and delivering an end-of-internship outcome while being paid throughout the program. The experience culminates in a Silicon Valley capstone immersion that includes visits to Stanford University, Apple, Google, leading startups, and Sand Hill Road venture capital firms.
Talent Lab’s second cohort will include six Entrepreneurs-in-Training and is focused on entrepreneurship in energy, climate, and sustainability. Apprenticeships are most likely to take place with companies in the Dangerous Ventures portfolio, which is centered on the advanced energy transition. The program runs for six months, with two cohorts each year.
Carlos Murguia, director of the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, said the partnership with Dangerous Ventures expands access to high-quality entrepreneurial training and paid career pathways for NMSU students working at the intersection of energy and innovation.
“New Mexico has the research, the capital, and the natural resources to lead in the advanced energy economy, but we need more venture-ready founders and operators on the ground to turn that potential into companies and jobs,” Murguia said. “Talent Lab gives our students a structured, paid pathway into that work, and it strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem we are building across southern New Mexico and the Borderplex.”
Talent Lab is open to NMSU students interested in building entrepreneurial careers. While the program centers on energy, climate, and sustainability, the fundamentals of entrepreneurship taught through the curriculum apply across industries. The selection process begins with a 30-minute conversation followed by a short written application that asks candidates to reflect on their story, how they operate, and an idea they have been turning over in their mind.
Applications for the upcoming cohort are open through June 15, 2026. NMSU students interested in applying or learning more can contact Carlos Murguia at cmurguia@nmsu.edu.
The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship is part of NMSU’s Arrowhead Center and serves as the primary hub for entrepreneurship programming in southern New Mexico and the Borderplex region. Through initiatives including Studio G, Aggie I-Corps, and the Bold Idea Challenge, the Hunt Center equips student and community founders with the tools, mentorship, and global connections needed to turn ideas into impactful ventures.
For more information about the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, contact Carlos Murguia at cmurguia@nmsu.edu or visit https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/the-hunt-center/.