“The Power of Entrepreneurship” at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business

One of my greatest sources of joy is being able to get into the classroom and interact with groups of smart, ambitious, idealistic people.  I love the energy, the passion and creativity that awesome academic institutions like Georgetown foster among their students.

I was invited by my good friend, Professor Jeff Reid, head of Georgetown University’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at the McDonough School of Business to speak to his MBA class today about the “Power of Entrepreneurship.”  Jeff is a national leader and pioneer in Entrepreneurship education, having built one of the world’s top entrepreneurship centers at UNC; and now he’s building an amazing entrepreneurship program at Georgetown.

Jeff (@hoyapreneur) tweeted “Identify a real painful problem and solve it“pic.twitter.com/W9iUVk8t when I talked about how and why I started Unitel/CyberRep.  (Short version: My co-founders and I worked in sales and we HATED making cold calls.  We figured that if we found making cold calls very PAINFUL, then many others would too, so why not start up a business that specialized in making cold calls? That’s what we did!)

Georgetown U presentation Sept. 26, 2012

The class consisted of about 40 MBA students, about 2/3 of whom intend to start their own business either now or in the future.  I only got through about 20% of my originally planned remarks because of the questions and great dialog that ensued.  We covered a lot of ground including making a go/no go decision on starting a company, sacrifice and hard work, life balance, challenges of growth, dealing with employees who can’t keep up, getting inspiration to start a business, doing business in Brazil…and China, etc.

I am fortunate to speak at MBA and undergrad classes at Georgetown and Maryland relatively often.  Just last week, I spoke in Professor Will Finnerty’s class on Entrepreneurship, one of the highest rated and highest demand classes at the McDonough School.  Will teaches as much about life as he does about business, with a focus, passion, and attention to detail which I have rarely seen in a classroom.

Always, I end my talks in the classroom with a slide entitled “Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.”  Here are the bullet points:

Integrity

Do it now

Great people

Focus (on your customer)

Be flexible

Build a culture early

Be persistent

Overcapitalize

Have FUN!

More details on these bullet points can be found in two of my prior Blog posts:  Winning Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Part1 and Part 2.

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DC “Networking Jackpot” – Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Fall Forum, September 13, Tysons Corner

LORE SYSTEMS is pleased to host our quarterly Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum, one of the most exciting angel and entrepreneurship networking forums in the DC Region on September 13, 2012 at the Tysons Corner Marriott.

InTheCapital called our June Forum “The Best Networking Event in DC.”

We also appreciate InTheCapital’s latest article on our upcoming Fall Forum: “Three Reasons Why You Should Attend the Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum.”

Please come out!  CLICK HERE to Register via the Eventbrite link.

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur FALL Forum is a “NETWORKING MASHUP” of 210+ of the DC Region’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.  Most of the attendees are “INVITATION ONLY,” and we are limiting service provider participation in order to maximize the experience for our Attendees and Sponsors.

Presented by LORE Systems, this UNIQUE EVENT is like NONE OTHER in our region, due to the high quality of our attendees and participants, as well as our program and unprecedented networking.

Come see what happens when you put a group of “A List” business leaders and entrepreneurs in one room for a few hours!

Program Highlights:

• Over 210 attendees, includng 120+ CEOs/Presidents and 40 angels/VCs
• Conversation with CEO, VC Advisor, & Angel Investor Christopher M. Schroeder
• Discussion with UBER Tech Entrepreneur David A. Steinberg
• SHOWCASE of Emerging tech companies
• NETWORKING sessions before, during, and after the event

The venue is the Tysons Corner MARRIOTT.  A plated breakfast and unlimited coffee are included.

FINAL AGENDA

7:00–8:00 am – ARRIVAL / NETWORKING

 

8:00 – 8:10 am – WELCOME

 

8:10 – 8:45 am – Conversation with Christopher Schroeder,

Renaissance Man, Entrepreneur, CEO, Advisor, Angel Investor, and Author

Advisor, Polaris Venture Partners

Author, Arab Inc(ubate)

Co-Founder and CEO, HealthCentral, formerly DrKoop.com (an InterActiveCorp company)

CEO, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

CEO, LEGI-SLATE

 

8:50 – 9:25 am  –  Conversation with David A. Steinberg,

UBER Tech and Marketing Entrepreneur

Chairman & CEO, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp.

Chairman, XL Marketing Corp.

Founder, Chairman & CEO, InPhonic / Simplexity (NASDAQ:INPC)

9:30 – 9:45 am – NETWORKING BREAK

9:50 – 11:15 am – COMPANY SHOWCASE

Barrel of Jobs

Clear Government Solutions

ePurchasing Network

GCE

Glide

GrubBeat

Sade Clarity

TrustPages

11:30 am – NETWORKING

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS (partial list):

Over 120 CEOs/Presidents, plus 40+ angel and VC investors including New Enterprise Associates, Novak Biddle, Core Capital, CIT, Blu Venture Investors, Blue Water Capital, Dingman Center Angels, Neuberger & Co. Ventures, Saratoga Investment Corp., Washington DC Archangels, Angel Venture Forum, Fortify.vc, Endeavor DC, Maryland Venture Fund, National Capital Companies, Enhanced Capital, White Hall Capital,  MTECH Ventures, Mosaic Capital, Opus8, VentureCross Partners, McLean Capital, Starise Ventures, Blue Heron Capital, Duncaster Investments, Private Capital Network, Next-Stage Development Group, Berman Enterprises, Grindstone Partners, Next Stage Development Group, Atlantic Capital Group, Lancaster Angel Network, Harrell Partners, Stanford Venture Advisors, MD Center for Entrepreneurship, Skada Capital, Great Falls Capital, Bayberry Capital, Hafezi Capital, Keiretsu Forum, and CADRE.

EVENT SPONSORS:  

 

LORE Systems

BDO

Wilson Sonsini

Deloitte.

Cooley LLP

Meltzer Group

AH&T Insurance

McBride Real Estate

Ryan & Wetmore

Washington, DC Archangels

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Angel Venture Forum

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