bestseller lists and providing ghostwriting, editing, and marketing services. In 2021, he started his second company, Blockchain Life, and secured a patent for his invention: a proprietary technology meant to protect intellectual property that he named Instant IP™. But God’s plan for Oberbrunner wasn’t finished yet. ANOTHER OPEN DOOR Running two thriving businesses is enough work for anyone, let alone someone with a wife and three kids, but God had more in store for Oberbrunner. After his son decided to attend Cedarville, he went to a Christmas dinner in 2022 for the International Center for Creativity (ICC), a partner for Cedarville’s Industrial and Innovative Design program. There, he was approached by Travis Smith, a member of the business advisory council at Cedarville, to apply for the Berry Chair of Entrepreneurship, a position that had been open for two years. In this role, Oberbrunner would teach digital marketing and entrepreneurship courses, recruit entrepreneurs-inresidence to mentor students, and run the Entrepreneur Accelerator program to help students launch their business ideas. Initially, Oberbrunner cast the idea aside. “I actually forgot about it until the next morning, when an email came in fromDr. Haymond.” Haymond, the Dean of the Robert W. Plaster School of Business and Professor of Economics, wanted to chat about the position right away. The opportunity came at the perfect time. “I had been wondering how I could invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs. God had been preparing me.” Before applying, he taught a class during spring semester of 2023 to gauge whether a partnership between Oberbrunner and Cedarville made sense. That course met five times from 7 to 10 p.m. He remembers getting home past 11 after the first session. “I was so wired. I knew that this was exactly what I wanted to do.” That semester, the students affirmed him every step of the way. After working out the details with both Cedarville and his team at both companies, Oberbrunner accepted the job. “It's been a beautiful integration,” he says as he discusses the balance of teaching and running two businesses. “The students are amazing.” Oberbrunner has brought the same ambition to Cedarville that he has for his businesses. He immediately rebranded the entrepreneurial organization on campus, and under his direction, The Pitch, Cedarville’s Shark-Tank-style event, added a red-carpet preshow and livestreamed to over 10,000 people. He held over 100 “E-Sessions” with students who wanted advice on how to start a business, market their products, or learn more about business culture. Those sessions were so popular that Oberbrunner started CUE (Cedarville University Entrepreneurs) School, a four-week class to “equip and mobilize all students to become entrepreneurs who have a Kingdom impact through business.” Kingdom impact remains at the center of what Oberbrunner wants, his very heart for both his own businesses and his work at Cedarville. “My role is to give students the tools to be in the world but not of the world, to create so much value in the company that they earn the right to share Jesus with others.” It was a long journey to his current role, and even though he has kept his rejection letter, Oberbrunner sees God’s providence as he found his way, finally, to Cedarville University. “It was almost like Moses. I went out into the wilderness, and God brought me back.” Nicholas Carrington ’10 serves as Associate Professor of Communication. He earned his PhD in technical communication and rhetoric from Texas Tech University. NEW BOOK FEATURES CEDARVILLE ENTREPRENEURS Dr. Kary Oberbrunner’s latest book, You Are an IP Company: The 12-Step Plan to Increase Your Intellectual Property Influence, Impact, and Income, co-authored with Katherine Rubino, guides entrepreneurs in promoting and protecting their intellectual property to increase their companies’ value. Dr. Oberbrunner shares Cedarville experiences and examples of student entrepreneurs he has taught and inspired to illustrate the book’s main points. The book is now available wherever books are sold. This spring, Oberbrunner will begin teaching a new class at Cedarville based on his book. The elective, titled IP in Branding and Marketing, helps entrepreneurs identify their intellectual property and protect it. Drawing from real-life examples such as Play-Doh, LEGO®, CrossFit, Dr Pepper, Magnolia, and Apple, students will learn 47 practical ways of monetizing IP. 9
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