Take that idea and run with it: Entrepreneurship on campus, part 4

Senior Ross Green and his roommate noticed a problem with the St. Louis nightlife their freshman year.

“There was no consistency,” Green said. “Some Thursday nights there would be nothing going on, others [there] would be four or five things happening. It didn’t work well.”

Deciding to solve this problem, the pair started 314 Events, which connects and transports Washington University students to parties and events around St. Louis. They spoke to lawyers about potential liability issues, sought advice from people doing similar programs and began networking to get the business off the ground. As business owners new to the game, Green and his partner had to do the work to get their name and their idea out there. The two built 314 to the point where it was most underclassmen’s link to nightlife off campus. Before their senior year, they decided it was time to sell the business.

“It was the best experience. I learned how to deal with all types of people, to adapt and to think on my feet. Sometimes we made money and sometimes we lost more than expected, but we were still getting experience.”

Have a Good Idea?

There are students with pretty awesome success stories walking amongst us every day. But how does that help any of us get our ideas off the ground?

One option to consider is Washington University’s Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Although located in Simon Hall, Skandalaris does not belong to any one school and acts as an interdisciplinary program for all students. Due to its nature and ties with many aspects of the community, Skandalaris has connections to a variety of fields and resources. It can recommend more than 38 entrepreneurial courses on campus with every college offering at least one class.

The Center also provides ways for students to get feedback on their ideas through IdeaBounce. Throughout the year anyone can post ideas at any stage of development on ideabounce.com. Five times a year, 15 to 20 people with ideas are chosen to come to IdeaBounce and give a two-minute pitch to community members, peers and a panel of judges. After all the pitches are given, there is a reception at which people can network and offer their services or suggestions to those that presented.

“It’s an opportunity for people to connect,” said II (Two) Luscri, student services coordinator of Skandalaris. “Without this there’s no synergy for ideas to move forward.”

The judges also offer feedback for all the participants. After IdeaBounce, students can enter competitions in hopes of winning money to develop their ideas. Skandalaris also offers Venture Mentoring Services in order to give students hands-on experience and advice from successful community members. These connections and experiences are what Luscri thinks helps make students who use Skandalaris successful.

“I used to have this line on my rŽsumŽ after working for a nonprofit that said I had gained an understanding of the complex nature and structure of the organization. It was complete B.S.,” Luscri said. “The students who go through Skandalaris really learn this type of thing and are better prepared.” And while there is no foolproof key to success, there are aspects that really help.

“Have a good support system,” Julie Brindak, a sophomore, said. “You need to be able to find people to work with who you trust, can rely on and know what they are doing. If you don’t have good people behind you who believe in your idea just as much as you do, then it’s not going to work.” Most, however,  also admitted that having a good idea is not enough.

“Ideas are a dime a dozen,” said Luscri. “You have to be able to talk about it and ask for help. And you need to collaborate with the right people to create a team to move the idea forward.” Jay Swoboda agreed, saying you have to be willing to ask questions.

“Find people doing something similar and ask how they got off the ground.” Having people to rely on doesn’t mean you don’t have to work, however.

 “You have to be motivated and determined,” said Green. “If you have set-backs, you have to ask, ‘What did I do wrong? Here’s what I can do better next time.’”

“There are no shortcuts in business,” said Jonathon Deng, a sophomore and Bears Cares owner, “and you need to do the work.”


This is the last in a series of four articles about student entrepreneurship on campus.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Verify you are human:

Enter the characters in the image above: