Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium
On Wednesday, April 2, the Foster School of Business held its 2nd annual Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium. Neal Dempsey, the visiting 2013-2014 Edward V. Fritzky Chair in Leadership, hosted an interactive day where students and business representatives came together to discuss the latest challenges in design and innovation.
The symposium started with Christian Chabot, founder CEO of Tableau Software. Next, Salman Ullah of Merus Capital and Neal Dempsey gave an insightful talk and provided advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. Highlights included:
- It’s hard to be an entrepreneur. You have to fail to succeed. And after you fail, you have to get up and do it again.
- To be successful today, you have to work really, really hard—harder than those in previous generations. Why? Because the world is full of people who are also working really, really hard, and you’re competing against them.
- Raising money.
- There are many sources from which to raise money. Ullah made the point, however, that it’s good to raise money from traditional sources (venture capitalists) because they have a high bar, which is good for you and your business.
- The real work of an entrepreneur starts after you’ve raised money. Ullah said, “Have enough psychic energy to get past the initial euphoria of raising money.”
- Know how to do a discounted cash flow.
- Take responsibility for your own career path. Regularly evaluate your career to ensure it’s what you want. If it isn’t, make a change.
- In every job you have figure out who will give you air cover. In this context air cover refers to a person who will back you and your ideas up when you need it. This person could be someone you’ve done a favor for, your mentor or a colleague.
Learn more about all the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium sessions.
