Rob White was a personal favorite speaker of mine. I related to his direct and organized presentation, learning lots from his tales of his experiences throughout his career and journeys in entrepreneurship.
After each "phase" of his career, he briefly reviewed lessons he learned from working there, and mistakes he learned from. Lessons From MWMW:
Lessons from Fallon:
A unique aspect of Rob's presentation that particularly piqued my interest was the way that he "turned the tables" by asking us what lessons we gleaned from his tales of his experiences. Themes / Lessons of Rob's Career Story
Rob's Advice
Chip Pearson was amazingly personable and professional, and will hopefully be back next year to speak with our club again. Chip began by discussing what "makes" an entrepreneur, placing special emphasis on one fundamental difference: their motivation. "Entrepreneurs are born, Business is learned," he said. This concept is integral in the thinking process that fuels an entrepreneur versus a businessperson. Entrepreneurs seek to solve problems, and they create their companies to do just that. He compared entrepreneurs and their ideas to the process and determination of "scratching an itch that won't go away"-- entrepreneurs are willing to do whatever it takes to "scratch that itch", even if, at first, that means losing money or going without salary to accomplish their goals while getting the business up and running. When asked about his advice on whether to work corporate and then start a business or jump right in, Chip acknowledged that for each person, it is different, but offered up the following words of wisdom: "You don't know what you don't know," explaining that with youth comes less responsibility in terms of family, relationships, and dependability in terms of being able to take such huge risks, like those associated with starting a new company. His presentation was chock full of important wisdom and advice on actual process of starting an actual business, as well as providing amazing insight into questions, problems, and situations posed by students. Chip's Guidelines to follow when opening your own business...
Chip's Guidelines for raising capital...
Kieran is a delightful Irishman, full of stories, humility, and passion for his businesses.
2 Gingers Irish Whiskey: Started by Foliard after weekly P&L analysis in his pubs revealed a huge unmet market demand for whiskey targeted at women. Foliard returned to Ireland and met up with long-time contacts in the industry, and described exactly what he wanted (double distilled whiskey, aged 4 years, without the "whiskey after burn", with a stronger whiskey taste that stood up more in the pubs' trademarked cocktail, the "Big Ginger"). With their help, 2 Gingers was made a reality. 2 Gingers was recently bought by Jim Bean, and Foliard is helping to launch the whiskey on a national scale (via a bus tour). Driven Donkey: A food accelerator program designed to help entrepreneurs in the food industry who make artisan quality products, on a larger scale. During his presentation, he repeatedly insisted that "there is no ONE strategy for success". Instead, listen to people, just go for it, and learn from everything that happens along the way. Recommendations from Kieran / "Nuggets of Wisdom" (as gleaned by Kate)
Kieran used the words "Field," "Sky," and "Grave" as main touch points.
Kate's Favorite Kieran Quotes:
-Kieran on having is epitaph already written, referring to his grave as "the box".
-Kieran about his career path.
Ann is the ultimate pocket-sized powerhouse, as well as business and tech savvy in the extreme.
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners: Co-founded by Ann in 1989, Hummer Winblad funds and mentors exclusively software companies, managing over one billion dollars annually. Ann describes her work in Venture Capital as being in "the business of NEW". Ann provided a wealth of information about the different types of funding and how to get them, as well as an assortment of overall business and entrepreneurial advice. FUNDING: Things to Keep in Mind
Seed Funding
Venture Capital
ADVICE & KNOWLEDGE FROM ANN:
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