Our entrepreneur club invited 2 guest speakers to talk on their experiences and challenges. First up was 2 newly grad students building software. They managed to secure a contract with a university, as well as grants from the government, to fund their endeavors. The most important advice they had was to go out and talk to as much people as you can. Network. If you have an idea, don’t keep it a secret, you want feedback from other people, and shouldn’t worry about others “stealing” your idea.
The second speaker was several years out of school, and founded a very successful advertising and promoting company. He sold wristbands to students during frosh week. The wristbands gave students full access to participating nightclubs across the city for a week straight. But it wasn’t such as smooth ride. He worked hard to convince clubs to participant, negotiated deals, promoted to students, worked with lawyers and fended off competitors. Usually during the start of the year, this man would only have a few hours of sleep per night, often working straight through the nights.
