Life in School and Startup

After having completed 1 full year of North Carolina State University’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, the experience I undoubtedly tell people about is the incredible introduction to networking that you are able to take advantage of. As with many opportunities, this one does not come pounding on your door, and is very much something where you have to put yourself out there to be successful. These friends consist of a wide variety of individuals ranging from program alumni (and now part-time entrepreneurs), to REAL LIFE BLOOD THIRSTY VENTURE CAPITALISTS IN THE FLESH (OH NO!). The class speaker series and volunteer trips to local RTP companies provide for instant contacts, introductions, and possible mentors for budding entrepreneurs like myself. Not only did I end up meeting a lot of amazing people who I have something in common with, I dont think there has been one person yet to turn down going for coffee or doing a phone conversation to answer some questions (all for free, mind you).

The title of this post is a mashup of “getting plugged in” and “1 foot in the door”. I cannot stress how many subsequent opportunities networking will present you with – the community as a whole is very receptive to new players trying to get in the game. From aspects of recruiting to product develoment, monetization efforts to strategic partnerships, market trends to building your swagger as a yuppie, many people have covered (extensively) some aspect of your new business that you will inevitably have questions about.

The following are some tips to help you start or continue your journey as a student entrepreneur

• Take entrepreneurship classes (business or engineering major) at your respective school. Make sure to really get involved with your professor and ask them to introduce you to connections of theirs that may be of some help. If they’re no help, drop the class and move to another one.
• Get involved with your school’s entrepreneurship program. Chances are that students there will have already started to begin to build their professional network and will be able to talk to you about your own networking efforts along with making introductions for you.
• Be on the lookout for community events put on by seasoned entrepreneurs looking to give back to the community. Steve and I just last week attended Calling all Entrepreneurs NC where we met with a VC and a CEO on his third company. It was a great experience to talk about what we are currently looking to pursue and get candid feedback all in a matter of 20 minutes. Where you live will determine the nature and frequency of these events.
• Use the fact that you are a student to your advantage. You shouldn’t be extorting companies for consulting hours on the facade of giving them karma points for helping a school project, but you’ll find that many individuals are interested in the young talent coming out of the school systems and what these students bring to the table. Contacting alumni and telling them you are attending their alma mater is almost sure to get them fired up enough so to give you an hour or two.
• Re-read the previous bullet point.
• Be prepared. Youre going to have a tough time being an entrepreneur if you can’t set your own schedule and push your own ideas forward among peers in the community. Networking does not mean getting told what to do. Make sure you have questions to ask and let them do as much of the talking as they want. Their time is worth a lot, dont spend it talking about yourself.

Keep in mind that the fundamental point here is that you need to assert yourself.  Don’t feel like you’re under the gun to come off looking like you know what you’re talking about, or that you need to have a bunch of experience to get some face time with serial entrepreneurs.  Don’t email Mark Cuban or Steve Jobs, but try to look a little beyond your peer network when possible.  Put yourself out there, you’ll be surprised at the results.

Megatrends have come and gone since consumer society has been around.  All of the sheeple walking here and there, to and fro, to stay up with the latest fashion trends, social networks, employment booms and busts, etc.  Though “active” participation in society does not require one to stay up with the bleeding edge fashion or social networks, there exist other megatrends that eventually weave themselves into the fabric of our daily lives – ones that society will deem required for “normal” participation.  After much deliberation and study, I’ve decided to refer to these phenomena as “lifestyle revolutions” due to their revolutionary change on the lifestyle habits of people  Just as the advent of the Model T, large-scale farming, Jesus, and the internet forever changed the way we conduct our day-to-day lives, so will the current rise of talk and data via mobile phones.

As if everyone in society isn’t completely “last minute” yet, we sure as hell are all going to be flying by the seat of our pants by the time my kids are having kids.  Everyone and every”thing” is now at the fingertips of consumers able to place a phone call and view internet data whenever and wherever they do so choose.  Yellowpages and libraries are much less popular, payphones are disappearing at an alarming rate, and mobile accessories are on the rise due to the increasing amount of lifestyle reliance on our mobile phone.  I would hate to be in Rand McNally’s shoes right now.  Why, though, is the mobile phone revolution going to persist longer than other fads such as Friendster and the Pet Rock – persist much like Microsoft Windows and the Petroleum industry has?

The answer is not that one person’s daily life relies on a mobile phone for communication and internet.  The answer is that the vast majority of society will soon rely on the abilities of mobile devices.  When adults tell me they don’t have a mode of transportation, a mobile phone, the internet, etc, I begin to wonder why.  It’s not necessarily that each person needs these items for his or her own personal use, but rather to effectively participate in American society.

I can see in 30 years everyone having a mobile phone with internet access.  People will consider it a lifestyle necessity, and will be severely impacted should damage or loss occur.  In the meantime, let’s just sit back and ride the wave of an enormous industry growing to support this mobile revolution.

As I sit in Dunkin Donuts reading CEO blogs and “the long tail theory” I’m trying to figure out how I can refocus my time thinking about a startup venture.  Until now, It’s been nothing but going through raw options of “what service can I offer” – this has not been fruitful for the past four weeks.  I’m starting to believe that this path may not lead me to the pot of gold, and that a major shift in thought process may be necessary to bring this “think tank time” to fruition.  To illustrate where I feel I need to be heading, let me tell of a story that offers great analogy to life and learning.

One day, while rock climbing, the person in charge of making sure I didn’t splat against the ground was talking me through a particularly tough face of the wall.  He had been up it many times and was overall a more experienced climber than myself.  I was new and was particularly stuck at a certain junction – trying incessantly to make the “jump” and grab a prayer of a ledge to keep up the wall.  Just in passing, he mentioned to me the following – “hey dude, head sideways, can’t always think about heading straight up the whole time”.  I followed suit, and completed the climb relatively easy after a tiny sideways scoot.

All poetic sap aside, the concept of positioning frequently comes up in my infant entrepreneurial efforts, and it seems that repositioning my thought process is going to be necessary to ideate in the proper direction.  Time to start thinking sideways.  Better yet, time to figure out how to think sideways in the first place.  I’m taking anyone’s two cents for thoughts in this area, and your whole bank account is certainly welcome.

I’m really starting to think school is more or less a waste of time. Maybe I’m studying the wrong subjects? I honestly don’t feel like I’ve learned anything in college I could qualify as a “marketable skill”.  My writing has improved, my critical thinking skills I guess have improved, but when it comes down to “what have you learned in your classes that qualifies you to do this” I’m drawing a huge pathetic and remorseful blank.  I know that humanities and Spanish classes offer little real world benefits and switching majors here and there hasn’t helped, but as I look back at my currently mutli-thousand dollar college education I think: the most productive thing I’ve done here is up my alcohol tolerance. I feel like for the things I want to do in life, I need to be taking Master’s level courses to learn how do it – or maybe there aren’t classes that teach it at all? How do you teach someone to be relentlessly resourceful or how to decide what problems are relevant that one can fix, and go one step further to determine how to monetize that remedy? Maybe I’m just not there yet in my college career/life, or maybe I’m missing the bigger picture; but I’m honestly starting to feel like I spend so much time on school work (and worrying about future work) that its become a damper on my creativity and general ability to think about the world.

Enough complaining -

So how important is school really and how should I go about handling my school work as a baby entrepreneur? One part of me says get good grades so as to be in a better position to get a job. But another part of me says “bump this” stuff; no one cares about the GPA you earned a couple years after you graduate. Should I devote more time to being active, with an open mind, and on the look out? Or should I make sure I get an A- instead of a B on my literary analysis of 1930’s Spanish plays? On one hand I feel like the decision has been made for me – position myself to succeed in the field I want to succeed in (i.e. slack off in school and network, read about the industry, get involved). But the answer isn’t so black and white. What am I not seeing? Help me clarify. I wish I could just fast forward a few years.
- Steve