Marketing Maniac
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Special thanks to Founder of Influncers@ Spencer Bramson for speaking to us tonight! Spencer went through his drop out story and explained how his passion for marketing was the catalyst for his decision. Even though he has a ball pit and a wall of Nerf guns in his office, he said that they have professional fun (which the the Influencers@ culture). Spencer concluded that although it may be nights of Ramen at first, the steak dinner in the end will be much sweeter.
Tonight was the kickoff of our semester long, E-pod challenge! Throughout the semester, E-pod groups will build companies and create models for their businesses. Every week there will be a focus on a new skill-building activity & new members are encouraged to join!
Member Spotlight
David Kroopnick
What entrepreneurship means to David: To me entrepreneurship was never something I saw myself doing until I ended up at Entrepreneurs Club. It took on a completely new meaning when I became involved in the Husky Startup Challenge as an entrepreneur myself and I’m loving every minute of it. The freedom to do whatever you want and address a problem that affects you personally and you feel is important is pretty awesome.
Your Passion: As cliche as it sounds my passion is trying to make an actual difference and impact on the world. It’s not about how much money you make or how famous you are but what you do with it.
Your Interests: Watching and playing sports, playing piano, DJing, and coaching
Your Future plans: Ideally I’d love to be the general manager of a professional sports team and that’s the dream job. Realistically, I have no idea, maybe still working on my website, maybe back in pre-med, it will be interesting how it plays out.
Something interesting about David: I coach a 13 and under Basketball team for the Yawkey Boys and Girls club in Roxbury, and we’re looking to win the championship
Connecting the Dots
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Huge thanks to NU Alum and founder of Greenhorn Connect Jason Evanish for speaking to us tonight!
Jason taught us 10 things they don’t teach us about entrepreneurship in college – check out his awesome slide deck here! From learning how to send a proper email to maintaining a network, Jason passed on some very tangible advice. Jason’s stressed the importance to learn how to handle failure, as failure is engrained in the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
Member Spotlight
Annika Morgan
What entrepreneurship means to Annika: Independence, innovation and the ability to stray from what is conventional and start something new.
Your Passion: Seeing the good in everyone and everything.
Your Interests: Photography, traveling, running, meeting new people, backpacking, cooking, eating, and innovation.
Your Future plans: Not a clue. I would love to do something involving photography, social entrepreneurship, and travel, but we’ll see.
Something interesting about Annika: I can’t sit while I watch TV or movies, so I knit, but I have never actually completed anything.
Local Launcher
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Special thanks to Director of Terrible Labs and Co-Founder of Dart Boston Cort Johnson for coming out to speak to us tonight! Cort walked us through all the steps of his first attempt at a startup, and explained all of what went wrong. One of his main failures was that he built in so much unnecessary functionality, that it ultimately diluted the value to the user. Cort left us by saying that the importance of reaching out and engaging in the entrepreneurial community.
Member Spotlight
Eileen Han
What entrepreneurship means to Eileen: Not only preparing for getting the chance to be successful but actually getting the opportunity to fully shine my light and that of others.
Your Passion: Facing challenges and being adventurous that make me feel fearful for the first time but that bring me a great joy of accomplishment. This is the biggest reason I came to the States.
Your Interests: Meeting people, cooking and baking, playing the piano, taking pictures, traveling, and learning different cultures and languages.
Your Future plans: I want to be a great mentor so that I can give advice and support someone to live up to his/her potential.
Something interesting about Eileen: I picked my name, Eileen, from Google (My actual Korean name is Hakyung Han).
Startup Superhero
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Huge thanks to Mike Dreese CEO and Founder of Newbury Comics for coming out to speak to us today! Mike humored us with his stories of his involvement with Newbury Comics and how it became a multimillion dollar business. Beneath the humor, he stressed the point of taking risks and not fearing mistakes. In fact, one associate at Newbury accidentally put in an extra order for Pokemon cards, which gave Newbury Comics 25% of all Pokemon Cards in the United States at one point! Mike concluded by stating that in order for startups to succeed, there must be team players willing to take risks and learn from their mistakes.
