Having turned the humble hamburger into a recipe for success, Flinders graduate Rob Dean will share his entrepreneurial secrets at a business information and networking event run by the New Venture Institute at Flinders University tomorrow (Tuesday, February 4).

Entrepreneurs in Conversation, a speaker series which began in 2013 with the launch of the New Venture Institute (NVI), aims to unite entrepreneurs from across Adelaide and Australia to share their entrepreneurial journey, taking an intimate look at their feats, failures and personal journeys.

Inspired by the scores of mobile eateries lining the sidewalks in the US and Canada, Mr Dean and Dan Mendleson, both sociology graduates of Flinders, opened Adelaide’s first food van Burger Theory in 2011 – paving the way for a new culinary craze that eventually prompted the City Council to cap the number of pop-up food vendors in town and enforce new operating regulations.

Renowned for their drool-worthy burgers and long queues, the boys at Burger Theory have since opened their first bricks-and-mortar diner on the corner of Ebenezer Place and Union St in the city’s East End, and for the past year their burgers have been on the menu at Pearl’s Diner in Felixstow, a space they share with restaurateur Aurélie from La Waffle.

Aurélie, who has also opened Adelaide’s newest lunch and dessert cafe The Naughty Spot on Hutt St, will also be a guest speaker at tomorrow night’s Entrepreneurs in Conversation.

The event will be held at Hub Adelaide, a new organisation with branches in Melbourne and Sydney that provides shared work spaces, learning opportunities and collaborations across a range of sectors and disciplines.

The NVI has just become an official “community partner” of Hub Adelaide, allowing the Institute free use of the hub’s Peel St locale for events, activities and programs such as Venture Dorm – an entrepreneurial education and training course for potential and existing start-ups that began in 2013 by Flinders Partners, the commercial arm of Flinders University, and resumes in April.

The partnership will also allow the Institute to tap into Hub Adelaide’s diverse membership base for collaborations, networking and marketing.

NVI Director Matt Salier said he was thrilled to join forces with Hub Adelaide.

“A key aim of the NVI is to work collaboratively with the start-up and entrepreneurial community, and by connecting with Hub Adelaide it’s about Flinders saying through the NVI that we are playing a really active role in this space,” Mr Salier said.

“The partnership means we’ll also have another city presence and can use the Hub in unison with the Flinders campus in Victoria Square,” he said.

“In a way, our first Entrepreneurs in Conversation for 2014 will signal the launch of the collaborations we’ll be making with the Hub, week in week out.”

Entrepreneurs in Conversation – ‘Food for Thought’ – is on Tuesday, February 4, from 5.30pm to 8pm at Hub Adelaide, 5 Peel St. Tickets cost $8.50.

For more details or to book visit the NVI website.