It may sound cliché, but building a business really is a journey in which you take small steps every day down a road to reach your destination. For many years I was wandering, and while not all those who wander are lost (as I was still creating content and building my network), I was not sure if I was heading down the right path. In retrospect, when I did finally make decisions regarding my career path it was not opportunities that I sought out, but rather the people presenting them that approached me. I did, however, seize those opportunities and made the most of them. But there was always something incomplete that left me wondering if this was “it”; did I really want to continue in whatever role I was in for the rest of my professional life?

It has been over a decade since my return to the tri-state area from Israel after completing my army service, and before that an undergrad degree from a reputable academic institution in Boston. I cannot say that New York is a great place for an entrepreneur, but it is a place where perfect people who get perfect grades look to level up to their next corporate position. However, there is an energy to the city, and there are opportunities for those who want to seize them. In reflection, I have always been an entrepreneurial type of personality, and some environments are conducive to that while others are not. I cannot say I will remain on the path of running a content marketing agency for the rest of my life, or that it is the summation of my work experience. But there are valuable lessons I have learned that I believe are relevant for those looking to start their own business, whether that be an agency, small business, or startup.

Every task can be broken down

Initially I feel as overwhelmed as anyone else but feeling this way is not going to get me the results I want when I start a project. The most important thing is to write all of it down so that you get it out of your head, and just focus ferociously on the task in front of you. “Focus like a Roman” as the saying goes...for example: if I were going to answer email, I would allocate 52 minutes to it and put on my noise-canceling headphones with focus music. Then I would lock my email so that no incoming mail comes in, and of course, all other notifications would be shut off, and I would complete as much as I could in that time frame.

I am a disciple of “winning the day”, and if you just concentrate on the day ahead, I believe you will be able to move your business forward. I can say that I would need some assistance with a 6-month plus plan, but some lifestyle entrepreneurs such as Tim Ferriss might claim I am missing out on the razor’s edge of opportunity by being too rigid. I would also add that all bets are off during this period as we really do not know where things are headed with the pandemic. That is why just looking at winning every day (completing 3-5 major tasks) is so important and focusing on optimizing the experience.

Consistency above all

This may sound like heresy, but I believe being consistent with content is more important than it initially being ‘good’. This is a hard pill for some to swallow, but you only get good by doing. And the reason most people fail is that they do not actually try. They wait for the perfect post, the perfect article, and they just sit on it. As Sheryl Sandberg famously stated, “shipped is better than done”, or going back to Voltaire, “perfect is the enemy of the good”. The uncomfortable truth is that you are not as good as you think you are. I certainly was not, and I had to produce a lot of content and take feedback to get to where I am today.

You can probably beat most of your competitors simply by showing up every day. Many people get intimidated knowing that their competitors are going to keep showing up and creating content, come hell or high water. That is why consistency, discipline and the resilience associated with these qualities are so important. I have seen this in my own work: I keep showing up, pushing hard, and producing more content while under lockdown. Meanwhile, I see others in my space spending time feeling sorry for themselves and complaining on Instagram, all while generating bad content.

Guard your focus time

I do not think I am a lazy person, but I do not have a lot of willpower, so that is why I set up systems to make sure I win. You only have so many hours of your day to move along what you want to work on. One email or text from a client can send you on a wild goose chase and before you know it, the day is over. For those gurus who just tell you to sit and do it, it is not that easy, and even for the most committed, you need a daily system.
Personally, getting up early, not checking my phone (this is essential), and getting my 1 or 2 most important tasks done first thing in the morning kick-starts my day. That, planning the most important tasks I want to complete, and spending some time thinking and visualizing the night before. This is where the importance of breaking tasks down into their smallest bits are important so that you do not get overwhelmed. If you cannot focus, then you probably will not be able to accomplish that much.

Find a reliable way to make decisions

One of my pet peeves, and what seems to be the one reason many businesses fail is poor decision making. We are irrational creatures, and as countless studies show we make emotional decisions first, then look to justify those choices with “logic”. If you think you are immune to this type of behavior, you are mistaken. Do I think I am more emotional than other people? Perhaps, but my emotions certainly come on strong, and I have learned to create distance between my feelings and actions before deciding.

As the famous Viktor Frankl quote goes “between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” The reality is that you are going to be assaulted by exceedingly difficult emotions when you launch your own business, especially when things go awry, and they will. That is why my daily workout regimen (with plenty of sleep and healthy eating), journaling my thoughts in the morning, and meditation to give my emotions space all help me make clear-headed decisions. I am not saying I always make the right decision, but I feel going into the decision that it is the right one given the information I have.

Persuasion is key, and it is not just about “sales”

What separates those entrepreneurs who can get an endeavor off the ground or raise venture money from others is that they can persuade. When investors state that they love passionate entrepreneurs, it is because they are taken by the entrepreneur’s persuasive energy. That does not mean you need to be a natural-born salesperson. I certainly was not, and I do not think you will be taken as seriously if you are too ‘salesy’, but you need to know how to persuade.

Here are where things get interesting. You can be a persuasive relationship developer (what I focused on when I started), a convincing public speaker, or a good writer. But you need to be good one-on-one, build trust, and be likable, which are things you can learn. Having a skill, product, and service is important but you need to learn how to persuade to have a business. For those who think sales is slimy, it does not need to be. You need to get that out of your lexicon and learn some form of persuasion. Sales ability, in my opinion, is the hardest and purest skill as the results can be measured, but it is a lifelong journey.
Those are my humble views and what I have learned. And in 5 years’ time I will make more mistakes and learn different things, and who knows, maybe I will reverse some of these views. I chose this path, and while I was scared when I started, I wish I had embarked on this journey earlier in life. But it could be worse, I could have started this later in life, and not self-actualized now nor leaned into my truest self. This is my personal journey, and if you have any questions, I would be happy to offer my advice.

Jonathan “Yoni” Frenkel has been involved in the New York-Israeli tech community for many years, mentoring startups on marketing, hosting events connecting investors with startups, and publishing on the topics of tech and venture regularly. Professionally, he heads a content marketing agency, YKC Media, focused on engaging millennials, Gen Z, and tech professionals through written content and social. You can follow his thoughts on Linkedin here.

We find ourselves in a period in which we are all going to have to row the same boat when it comes to reopening the economy and leading with the next generation of business. What is normal, or what was normal before the beginning of this year is no longer relevant, and things will most likely never return to that state. Additionally, trends that were already progressing have accelerated because of COVID-19, with education being one of the areas that will see the most disruption. The writing was on the wall, and it is something we are going to have to face immediately.

Regarding education and bucking the trends, some of the most successful entrepreneurs either dropped out of college or did not go through the well-trodden path of parlaying higher education to climb through the corporate ranks. For students today that first wave of highly visible entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson normalized the idea that one can build their career via entrepreneurship. While strong academic institutions and learning how to learn certainly helped successful entrepreneurs, we could be entering a period in which a strong academic curriculum could be the difference between success and failure. There are several advantages of enrolling in an academic program before launching your endeavor, whether that be an undergrad degree or MBA. Having a degree could prove to be an advantage as “according to a CNBC/Survey Monkey survey, only 26% of small business owners said they had a bachelor’s degree. Only 17% went to college, 20% graduated high school but did not go to college, and 5% didn’t graduate high school.” Regardless of the hype around entrepreneurs who drop out of school and encourage others to do the same, there are significant advantages to pursuing a degree.

Learning the basics

Many entrepreneurs just go on instinct and look to build from what they know. They keep pushing and learning from their mistakes, and learning from the toughest school there is, the school of hard knocks. Savvy entrepreneurs, however, spend time self-educating and speaking with people who are further along than them. Learning in one form or another is the basic philosophy of many successful entrepreneurs; they are “students of life, for life.”

There is something to be said about learning business by doing, and that has been the #1 criticism of newly minted MBAs: they do not have experience when it comes to the ways of the business world. However, a formalized education in understanding what you are doing could cut years off your learning curve. Of course, programs that are a combination of theory and actual practice are ideal. Theory, and learning how to learn is important as well, and good entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes. There is also the benefit of taking a deep dive into more corporate classes like finance and accounting that many entrepreneurs, unless they are solving problems in that space, would not be exposed to.

Building a network

Whether it is “who you know”, “who knows you”, or another one of Dale Carnegie’s quotes, what really matters is a strong network. Just attending networking events and telling people you are an entrepreneur does not cut it, but there is a lot of value in developing authentic give-first relationships. As the African proverb states “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It is a part of folklore for a reason: humans need to cooperate with others to build anything of real substance. As this Forbes article states on the importance of building a network as an entrepreneur “growing a network facilitates business opportunities, partnership deals, finding subcontractors or future employees. It expands the horizons of PR and conveys the right message on all fronts.”

It does not matter what point in your startup you are, there is going to come a time where you need to pick up the phone and call someone for assistance. There is a reason Greek life and other organizations succeed on college campuses; the same goes for military service in one’s late teens and 20’s. While business school classes do attract a more competitive type, that does not mean they are a bad place to develop relationships. There are untold stories of startups that came out of undergrad or MBA programs, such as Facebook, Snap, and Warby Parker. Another benefit is the alumni network as well as sources of angel money. Years after you graduate you will be pleasantly surprised by the response you get when you cold email an alumnus from your institution and they reply positively.

Trying out your idea

As we have covered in previous articles, failure can be harsh, and it is something to avoid at all costs when building a company. Do not avoid trying but avoid failing by ultimately pushing through to see your idea to fruition. University programs offer competitions where different teams can compete on an idea. Furthermore, you can start your business on the side, and later go on to grow it. While you are in school, you will be enveloped in a learning environment and can test out ideas in practice as you learn them.

If there is a forum where you can test out your idea, ideally with other people’s money, then go for it. You will learn about yourself, how you deal with pressure, and how you work with a team, ultimately leading to a positive experience. Think of this as bootcamp, and the world after graduation as the battlefield. That may seem harsh, but best to get your feet wet, and learn from your mistakes in a supportive environment such as school. When you get out in the real world you do not know if you will be able to find or create that same environment. Additionally, more programs are working directly with accelerators and VCs, so you will be able to understand how investors think before you even enter the real world.

Exposing you to different ideas and people

People assume when they launch their own endeavor they will automatically be exposed to different ideas and people, but that may not be the case. You may build a business focused on one subset of the population, resulting in a smaller pool of people with whom you will be interacting. We also tend to socialize and learn from people in our immediate circle, thus limiting our exposure to different ideas and people.

Diversity is an important aspect of a college education, and when you are in class with people from different backgrounds you have a chance to interact and learn from them. College creates a safe place where you can make mistakes and have your ideas challenged. Best of all, the cost of making a mistake is much lower than in the real business world. Once you start on your endeavor you will be so focused on the day to day survival of the business you will fall back on old mindsets you did not know you had. That is why being in an academic setting and being exposed to diversity is so important before you launch your business.

You develop a base of skills which will help you succeed

It is likely no one told you how important public speaking and writing are for your business. The ability to communicate effectively is probably one of the greatest indicators of whether you will succeed as an entrepreneur. If you cannot communicate your value proposition effectively and convince your customers to buy the product, you are basically dead in the water.
Like many things in life these skills can be learned, and what better place than in an academic classroom where you will be able to speak in front of your peers and improve your written form? Writing is one of the most important skills to have these days and can be used in any industry to stand out from your peers. It also helps you clarify your thinking. All these skills lend to creating future leaders, as what good leaders know how to do is communicate. As author and cartoonist Scott Adams famously developed regarding his concept of “skill stacking”: “it’s easier to be in the top 10% for a range of skills than to be the very best in the world in one skill. It is about having a variety of skills that work well together. Your specific combination of well-developed skills allows you to offer unique value.”

When you pursue an education, you are investing in yourself, and while some business gurus on social media suggest you drop everything right now and launch a business, know it is a cost-benefit analysis. You will look back upon these years and appreciate what you learned, the people you met, and how these experiences prepared you for the future. There is no rush to start a business and enrolling in an academic program could help you stack the odds more in your favor.

It may sound passé that if you love what you do you do not have to work a day in your life, but it is a popular expression for a reason. Life goes by so quickly regardless of whether you are enjoying what you are doing, so you might as well make the best of it. The reality, however, is that you are not going to love every moment of work. There are going to be days when you feel like getting out of bed is a chore, times when you must deal with difficult customers, and annoying mind-numbing tasks to which you must attend. But on a day to day basis, if you feel what you do is giving you energy rather than diminishing it, you are probably on the right path.

Reframing our view of happiness here in Western culture, Americans on average work more than most other countries, and signs of leisure such as cafe culture are not seen as status signs. According to this article “Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.” Does that make us the happiest nation? No, far from it, but there is a cost for the output the country produces. Additionally, it is important to define happiness. We look at our lives as aspiring to be a constant cascade of positive and pleasant emotions without any obstacles or struggles. But how is that realistic? As we are finding out during a pandemic life comes at you hard and fast sometimes, and there is so much out of our hands. A way to optimize for living is to not only appreciate the difficulties but to embrace them, and if we are going to spend the bulk of our lives working, we may as well find meaning in it.

There is no better feeling than seeing the mountain from the bottom and going through the process of climbing it, and by our fingernails if need be, to reach that peak. Through the champagne glass tinted view of success many entrepreneurs look back and state unironically that they had the most fun on their journey to success. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but it can be a deeply spiritual endeavor as it will force you to bring your best to build something of value for the world.

You are building something of value

People who gravitate to entrepreneurship are driven by the idea they are building something to solve a pain point for a segment of the population. This desire to create, to build something is part of our human DNA. While historically our species may have had a shameful past in some cases, overall, we have built and created what is today’s modern society.

In America’s case, entrepreneurship has been a part of the DNA that has propelled the country to thrive as a tech and business powerhouse. I can state from a personal perspective that building and creating was always something that gave me meaning and was the reason I got into building my own business. It may be the restless energy or the need to prove myself but even when I encountered setbacks and licked my wounds I bounced back and started a new project. There have been times when I have had to do something difficult, like land a customer or give a difficult speech. After I overcame the obstacle, I was struck by an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. Nothing could take away that feeling of winning that hard-fought war with myself. When people state that they are chasing a feeling and not money, that is what they mean.

You are employing others and contributing to society

When you are building something, a business, an agency, or any endeavor where you need to hire skilled and talented people, just remember that you are not just providing your customers with a solution but also employing people. This is a strong reason to get out of bed in the morning, and to continue on even when you don’t feel like it; you’re not just taking care of yourself but also of the people who work for you and their families. Entrepreneurship and building small businesses help employee millions of Americans across the country, “small businesses employ 58.9 million people, which makes up 47.5% of the country’s total employee workforce.”
Organizations that have an intense level of caring in their DNA, real ones, not toxic work cultures who throw the word ‘family’ around, become a second home for their employees and give meaning to their work. The reality is that you can ascribe meaning to anything, and I suggest that you remember you are helping provide someone’s livelihood as it will give you something to lean on when things get tough.

Particularly during COVID times, entrepreneurs who can create successful endeavors can be a part of this wave of businesses that rise from the ashes of those who had to close because of the coronavirus. As we are living through history right now is the time to consider what role you will play in helping get the economy back on its feet.

You are learning new skills

There are several soft skills that you will not learn until you start your own business, including selling and marketing, building thought leadership (which means communicating effectively), and leading people. There are natural strengths that you may parlay such as creativity, but at the end of the day even if you fail at your business, you are still the wiser for having tried. As the saying goes, “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”

Personally, the idea of building a consultancy was straight forward. I was not wed to the idea of being a full-on entrepreneur, I was very much OK working in a company whose culture I admired. I made a list of companies I wanted to work for, reached out, and realized that I would not be a good fit. At that point I planned out 6 months from that point, thinking either I would spend the time looking for a job, or start my own endeavor. One of the factors for me to start my own agency was the knowledge I would accrue from the experience of building a business.

And that did come to pass, as I learned more about improving sales, different forms of digital marketing, and how to build effective partnerships. Experience really is the editor of mistakes, and there is no substitute for going through the process. How else would I be able to make the decisions I made or have the experience to make the choices I make daily? These are not things which can be read in a book; you need to just live them to understand what to do.

You will be challenged and learn about yourself

Do not start a business as an experiment in self-development. There are plenty of other ways to learn about yourself. But a side ‘benefit’ of launching and building a business is that you will face a lot of difficulty and learn how to act under pressure. There is the idea that the grittiest survive, and that it is just about being the last one standing. If that is the case then you are going to deal with a lot of sleepless nights, thinking about how you make payroll, what will happen if the funds dry up, and especially what people might say if things don’t work out.
Your confidence may be shaken, there are real human aspects to this journey, and you should embrace the idea of the Hero’s Journey which is key to giving your struggle meaning. I recall listening to a recent podcast where Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang spoke about how it took him a year to regain his confidence after one failed endeavor. One year! That seems like a long time and is about right. But the important thing is that he did recover, he did get back up, and he put one foot in front of the other. The question you need to ask yourself is: are you really leaving it all on the field? If the answer is yes, then you will be OK with whatever the outcome is, as you know that you will rebound.

Not many people look at building a business as a deeply spiritual or philosophical pursuit, as something with religious dimensions. For some it is about the money, the prestige, or even the freedom of self-actualizing and doing what they want to do. But it is a lifestyle, something that can be done successfully. You need to devote most of your waking hours to really get anything off the ground. And you need to be OK with the high chance of failure, the lowest lows, and some highs that do not come often enough. But that is why all the fun is in the journey itself.

COVID-19 has pushed many institutions that would not have normally cooperated to work together in facing the global pandemic. During this period, alliances that might have taken years to assemble under less dire circumstances have been forged in a fraction of that time. An example of a country that has been on the forefront of battling this threat has been Israel, the Startup Nation. Israel has a unique history of bringing seemingly unrelated organizational structures such as the military, academia, business, and the political world together in order to achieve a common goal.

Before the world’s resources were focused on fighting COVID-19 there were many institutions who aimed for the literal stars and worked on plans on how to reach them. Israel has been working on a number of big picture ideas; an example of how different organizations work in unison has been the race to land a spacecraft on the moon, making it the fourth country to do so after the United States, Russia, and China. While Israel has excelled in satellite technology for surveillance purposes, and the Israeli Air Force is one of the most powerful in the world, going to the moon has been a major leap for such a small country. Aside from the chutzpah required to attempt such a feat, Israel’s goal of landing a spacecraft on the moon was a solid example of academia, business, philanthropy, and government collaboration and should act as a case study for us in the United States.

Cross pollination

If there is one thing that makes the Startup Nation unique it is the idea of cross pollination. Israel is a tight-knit society and people are usually acquainted through familial, military, and business ties. Furthermore, the informal nature of the country is also a contributing factor. The Israel Defense Forces plays a key role in this idea as most young Israelis are conscripted to serve mandatory time in the army, thus strengthening those bonds and expanding their social network. What happens after the military is equally important as many soldiers go on to do reserve duty, particularly in highly technical roles such as the Intelligence Corp. Civilians put on their military garb and bring back ideas to the army they learned from their startups, and vice versa.

As a result, there are no real walls or siloed organizations preventing cooperation. The mindset is that everyone needs to cooperate for a common cause, a reminder that for many years Israel’s existence was not guaranteed and such collaboration was essential. That fear certainly pervades much of the Israeli leadership’s thinking as they grew up in an era of existential dread. As such, projects such as SpaceIL’s attempt to land on the moon epitomize the Israeli organizational narrative.

How the different parts worked together

What started close to ten years ago in order to raise awareness for the sciences morphed into a national race to land a spacecraft on the moon. In this case, non-profits, academia, private foundations, business, and government-supported industries all worked together in order to literally get this spacecraft into orbit and on its way to the moon. Traditionally, all these institutions would not have associated with one another, but given the scope, ambition, and chutzpah of the mission they came to rely on each other.

The catalyst for the SpaceIL program was the Google Lunar X Prize competition offering a 30 million dollar prize to the team capable of getting a spacecraft to the moon, and landing it successfully. As is typical of the “thrown together and figure it out along the way” style of many entrepreneurs in Israel, the SpaceIL team was one of the last teams to apply. However, instead of building the idea as a government or corporate-backed entity, they formed a non-profit. This enabled them to parlay a lot of “free” resources such as volunteers, raise grant money, and ultimately secure million-dollar financial commitments from major philanthropists such as Sheldon Adelson and Morris Kahn, an Israeli-South African billionaire who founded the software company Amdocs.

From the start the SpaceIL team parlayed institutions such as IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) and Israel’s Space Agency that fall under the umbrella of the defense industry (much of which is government connected) as well as academic institutions such as the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Academia played a large role as the team worked with Tel Aviv University's Engineering Department and had strong connections to the Interdisciplinary Center north of Tel Aviv. Engaging all the major academic institutions in the country helped in galvanizing volunteers as well as creating a national initiative around science education.

Capturing the imagination of the country and of pro-Israel supporters abroad was key. One of the project’s main funders Morris Kahn stated, "putting a spacecraft on the moon is a little bit of a weird project. It almost seems un-doable, and even if it was doable, it takes somebody with imagination to actually see why you would do it." From an entrepreneurial perspective this was the first privately funded voyage to the moon, which in the days of SpaceX and Blue Origin set a standard for how much technology has changed and emphasized that innovation does not rely solely on government support. This is not to say that government funding was not key in making this happen; it’s that this project began as a startup and only later sought government assistance.

Ultimately Beresheet, the spacecraft, crash landed upon its attempted landing on the moon’s surface. That does not tell the whole story; as with any big idea, the entrepreneurial journey is part of the process and learnings. There were lessons learned, and new technologies created along the way as well. Additionally, it’s also important to put things in context as such a project was not even imaginable a few years ago. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated after the disappointing outcome, “if at first you don’t succeed, try again.” For many in Israel there is faith the country will be successful in the coming years, and that “an Israeli spacecraft will land on the moon, whole.” Even if we look at the long tail of this endeavor, and this inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs, then it is a success.

What we can learn

There are lessons of what we can learn from this enterprise and take with us as we plan out our own ambitions. While the spacecraft crash landed on the moon, it was a failure of operations, and not lack of cooperation and organization. Israel’s ecosystem is unique and its institutions world-class, but the points covered below are applicable for institutions here in the US and globally.

Ambitious projects marshal resources and capture the imagination. We have seen this with the “moonshot” projects from Google and the aspirations of entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. This goes back to the 1960’s with America’s race to land a man on the moon that was a priority of national importance. Money wants to capitalize and fund big picture ideas. Academic institutions and the government would be wise to pay attention to this idea, as we have opportunities now to create solutions to COVID-19. As Elon Musk says when it comes to ambitious projects and urgency, “when something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

In order to achieve such moonshots, we must learn to be more open to cooperation with other organizations. This will not be easy as many organizations vie for resources, but we must learn to work together. Community plays such a significant role in parlaying and acquiring resources, and once people are behind an idea, they are more than willing to help pitch in.

Being open to and integrating entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs into our systems is essential for success. We must learn to say “yes” to new ideas and people, and not be fearful of the change they may bring about. If we are looking to truly create the next generation of entrepreneurs that will lead this country and business community, we must find ways to have them work within the system. SpaceIL succeeded because the entrepreneurs developed their idea outside the constraints of government and academia and brought them in to help build the project after the startup stage. The question we need to ask ourselves is why can’t we build a project like SpaceIL within our system?

As we’ve seen in Silicon Valley, the more ambitious the goal, the higher the stakes, and the more people believe in a brighter future, the more cooperation becomes essential. While Israel does have a unique ecosystem with members of the different organizations maintaining relationships, that does not mean it cannot be emulated here in the United States. Once we overcome this pandemic, we’ll see that some organizations collaborated in facing this threat quite naturally, which could serve as inspiration for future projects, whether they include travelling to the moon or facing the next pandemic.

Do you have an idea that you think could turn into a successful business? Do you want to work with others who do?

Sign up for Innovation Quest (iQ). Kickoff Workshop is Wednesday, February 10th!

http://innovationquest.uconn.edu/events/kickoff/

Advantages of Participating:

• Opportunity to win money for your start-up ($30,000 up for grabs)
• Make connections with successful entrepreneurs and business mentors
• Join or form a team! (You do not need your own idea to participate)
• Meet iQ mentors who can help you start a business!

About iQ

The Innovation Quest (iQ) Program fosters creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship across campus. Students who have new ideas for a product or service can compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to develop their idea into an operating company.

Past successes include:

Encapsulate, Flush Warranty, Land Maverick, Macroscopic Solutions, PartsTech, Phood, ProVelocity Bat, QRfertile, SimpliGreen, Smpl Bio, Sobrio/DashRide/EverTransit, The Momentum App, Veradermics, Voda/Elkay, VoltXon, Voxion, and YouComm, among others.

This is the perfect opportunity to stake your claim on your chance of winning a share of $30K, work with successful entrepreneurs, and join a team of likeminded students -- even if you do not have an idea of your own.

Success is everywhere. Why not you?

The Innovation Quest kickoff workshop will be held on Wednesday, February 10th , from 6:30PM – 8:00 PM

Sign-up for the Feb 10th Workshop and receive the ONLINE meeting Access point!

http://innovationquest.uconn.edu/events/kickoff/

Click here for more information on UConn Innovation Quest:

http://innovationquest.uconn.edu/

The economic outlook for the coming months does not look particularly rosy, especially for those who graduated this spring. There may not be a robust job market to enter, and as such, graduates may be thrust into the deep waters of having to learn how to create a career for themselves, by themselves. Youth does not need to be “wasted” on the young as many students will emerge from their studies with a more sophisticated view of the world than previous generations. And with time on your hands and lack of good job opportunities, you may now have the chance to launch that startup you’ve been dreaming about.

Realistically speaking, what starts out optimistically may not end as well, and the survival rate for early stage startups is dismal. A snapshot of “data from the BLS shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.” This is just a fact of life, and while businesses can fail for several reasons, at the end of the day a founder (or founders) of a startup must deal with the emotional fallout of this experience. There has been a trend that emanated from Silicon Valley to glorify failure as if it’s something desired, or even sought after. Sadly, failure is a painful process and should be avoided. As well-known PayPal founder and investor Peter Thiel states “every time a company fails it is not a beautiful working out of the Darwinian free market and it is not a fantastic educational experience for all involved. Every death is a tragedy and that is even true of deaths of companies.”

Building a business or doing anything worthwhile is difficult, and if one believes it’s a pleasant thing to blog about, they’re not in it for the long haul or the right reasons. A founder should push through and do whatever they can to make sure their business survives. Nonetheless, if you want to be an entrepreneur and do amazing things you need to accept that failure is a fact of life. You will have to stand on the mountain of no’s before you get one yes, so come prepared with the right mindset.

Know that it's OK, and you'll be OK

This may be the first time you’ve encountered a setback, the operative word being setback. Every single successful entrepreneur has dealt with failure and setbacks. However, it’s not that failure doesn’t happen, it’s about what the person does in response. Are they going to sit and feel sorry for themselves and give up? Or are they going to push through, learn from their mistakes and go on to do something bigger and better? Everyone deals with obstacles, but winners push through despite it all.

Dealing with what may seem like the end of the world, intense emotions happening within, and possible shame will be tough. But “this too will pass” and know that time and action, even small steps every day, taking care of yourself, and thinking about the day after will start to remedy what has transpired. History is littered with people with big egos who couldn't get out of their own way and did not let themselves pick up and try again. You do not need to be one of those people as you have the perspective to know that you are strong enough to bounce back by taking positive steps in the right direction.

Processing failure through self-care

Self-care is an important part of being an entrepreneur as you’re running a marathon and not a sprint. Sleeping enough, working out, and eating healthy are all part of managing your mental state when you’re going through the challenging process of building a business. When you’ve dealt with a failure like the closing of your business or being let go from a position there needs to be a way to process the difficult emotions that are likely to follow.

An effective way to deal with any difficult emotions, and maybe even process the situation that has just transpired, is to work out. An intense workout, alongside a healthy diet, can help someone cope with the day to day initial regret that accompanies failure. Journaling and writing down everything are actions that help the brain process trauma other ways cannot. It’s not a magic cure but one may find writing down what happened makes it less painful and gives the mind a way to get all those negative feelings out on a piece of paper. As this article highlights “writing about anger, sadness and other painful emotions helps to release the intensity of these feelings. By doing so you will feel calmer and better able to stay in the present.”

Give things time and space

There is some truth to the “idea that time heals all wounds”; that what may seem intense and cause severe discomfort when it occurs will eventually fade. This is difficult as we often want these feelings to go away immediately or to occupy our time with something that masks those feelings. But time is necessary to process and make sense of what happened, as well as learn any lessons (see below).

Space is another important concept. It’s not about running away, but taking some space, a breather to collect yourself, could also prove to be beneficial. Some people change locations for a time, but if that’s not possible even taking a walk or changing your environment can help. Getting out of our heads by taking positive steps like journaling is one thing, but sometimes you

Look for the meaning and the lessons

Philosophers such as the Stoics prepared for the worst, and there are so many lessons to be learned from their experiences in ancient Greece and Rome. Throughout history, people have been able to overcome what seemed like life-ending failures, and they were able to use these setbacks as rocket fuel to propel them to greatness. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius stated “the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” These words encapsulate the essence of failure: it’s just another opportunity to learn.

It’s important to reframe failure, and to understand what risk entails. One does not fail; they succeed because they try. And not like “try” where everyone gets a prize for participating, but because you put yourself out there. We tend to tie our whole identities to one or two failures that happen in our lifetimes, when the reality is that we need to try things and really understand our life’s true mission. We embark on a path because society, our parents, our peers, etc. tell us it’s the “right” thing to do. It may be for them, but not for us. Failure is life’s way of nudging us towards where we need to be to truly complete our life’s mission.

Find a community

There can be no two ways about this. You will struggle with setbacks, and failures if you want to build something great. It is a lonely journey, especially if you’re an entrepreneur without a co-founder. A partner or co-founder can row the boat along with you when you feel you’re lost at sea. There are, of course, downsides in having a partner as well. But a community of people who help you and listen when you struggle is important.

Tenacity is a trait needed to persevere, but so are people who will join you on this marathon. Sometimes it is hard to bounce back, hard to start again, and be tenacious. That is why having a community that supports your efforts, whether that be a group of fellow entrepreneurs, a religious group, or even your peers from university is vital for your ultimate success and mental health. This idea of the lone wolf entrepreneur who flies against the conventions of society is maybe good content for an Ayn Rand novel, but is far from the truth. It does take a village, or a community, to help young entrepreneurs on their long journey, so it’s important to turn to your friends when you need solace.

Today, failure is approached in two ways, either as something swept under the rug or glorified. Both views are unhealthy as failure is a very normal and natural part of life, like death. It is not bad or good, it just is. When you learn to accept that, and lean into it, the ultimate outcome will be less debilitating. When it does not own you, you are free to truly go where you need in order to succeed. Upon reflection, world famous author J.K. Rowling stated it best that “it is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”

There has been a focus in recent years on the feats of tech entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that if you want to be a wildly successful entrepreneur, you need to build a tech company. It is true that high-growth, high-risk startups have made a disproportionate impact over the past 15 or so years. The same goes for the return on venture money these entrepreneurs took on to build and scale their companies. However, tech startups represent only one type of business model, and historically speaking most entrepreneurship in this country has been of the traditional kind: lone business owners building their businesses, every day, in what would become legacy brands. It wasn’t called entrepreneurship back then, but simply making a living.

As we’ve noted in previous articles, we may be entering a period in which you’re going to have to start your own business to survive. So, before you rush headfirst into a business model that is not ideal, you should understand what different business models look like. There are many factors one must take into consideration when they’re looking to build a company, and self-awareness and honesty are key before embarking on this difficult but ultimately fulfilling path. If you are not building a business in order to solve someone else’s problems and make money by offering value, don’t start one. Additionally, if your intention is something short of solving problems to make a living for yourself, seriously reconsider if you want to be an entrepreneur.

OPM: Other People's Money

Taking Other People’s Money can be the rocket fuel for your endeavor aka startup or can be a curse if you and your investors’ interests are not aligned. Putting aside public markets, taking private money and venture money can raise your business to the next level. This is the standard model these days in VC, but while things are changing, know that you’re going to have to give up a lot of your business for the ‘privilege’ to take an investor’s money. Furthermore, you’re going to have to be held accountable to them, they will want regular reports, and will most likely start telling you what to do with your business. This article highlights the fact that “fewer than one per cent of all companies in the US are venture funded, and once you take other people’s money in exchange for equity in your company, the clock is ticking. They want their money back, plus a multiple of 3x to 10x, so your company will either need to ‘go public’ through an IPO or be sold in a trade sale.”

There are entrepreneurs who bootstrap and go for as long as they can without taking outside money; for some that is a good plan until they make the decision to take investor money. If there is one difference between a tech entrepreneur and a regular business owner, it is the decision to take venture money. An early stage startup’s success is based on scale, and getting sizable market share, so they need to burn through money to do so. While they need to grow, traditional businesses can grow at a stable rate, and start to make a consistent profit.

What problems to solve

Not everyone wants to solve some world pressing problem or disrupt an entire market. If you do, more power to you, but be aware it’s going to be a lot of work. Some people are driven to change the world and want to use technology to do so. They believe their destiny is intertwined with building a revolutionary startup. If you’re going to go big and want to make sure you raise a lot of money, find the biggest market to address.

There are others who want to solve more local problems, or want to build a business helping other businesses deal with tangible problems such as communications, strategy, etc. It’s important to work backwards and figure out who your customers are, and what is the problem that your business is going to solve. Some problems can be solved with an agency model, some need a SaaS model, and some can use a consultancy, but these are things you need to consider before you begin.

The risk factors

It’s not that people on paper don’t understand being an entrepreneur is a risky endeavor. And of course, the flip side is that there is a risk in not taking a chance in life if you really want to launch your own business. Simply put, if you launch a high-risk high growth endeavor such as a startup your chances of failure are higher, and certainly higher than if you launched a cash flow business that quickly turns a profit.

The thing about risk is that many people look only at the upside, on all the things that could go right. But you need to approach the situation thinking about what could go wrong, as most things will be harder than you expect. With startup risk, however, there is no upside at looking at the downside. This is how VCs view risk, as they’re banking on 1 ‘knock it out of the park’ winner out of a portfolio of 20 companies. It’s like a rocket ship: its fuel propels it to the atmosphere and space, and there is the very real risk that it could blow up on the way there. No wonder it’s called rocket ship growth!

Camels on the horizon

Since the pandemic started there has been a shift in the tech community regarding the growth of startups. Yes, you have your Zooms and TikToks of the world, but these are outliers. Right now, the idea of unicorns, billion-dollar valuation startups are not on the horizon. As more bad news comes out surrounding the economy and many companies continue to go under, a new model is emerging. That is of the camel, a startup that can go long periods of time without outside money, and is built for profit, almost like a real business.

“In today’s world, unicorns represent more than a valuation. Rather, they represent a philosophy, an ethos and a process of building startups. When being a unicorn is the objective, very rapid growth is the method. The tools are abundant venture capital, a deep and ready talent pool and a supportive startup ecosystem. This approach has worked well in Silicon Valley for some time. But in the wake of failed IPOs, the pushback against tech models and the range of social ills plaguing the Valley, the approach is losing its luster.”

Because of COVID-19, and for the first time in at least 10 years, we are facing an economic downturn. For many in the tech industry this is their first time dealing with such a situation. Nonetheless, this might be the right time, as many successful companies were built during economic downturns, and these new hybrid models may be the way forward.

Know thyself

In the end, after a long day of work, when you put your head on your pillow you must ask yourself if you are on your mission. You need to ask yourself and look to visualize what your future will look like. Will it be as a solo entrepreneur where freedom is a priority, or will you run a team and build a culture around your idea? Ultimately, these things will change, as you learn from your mistakes, grow and develop. As this article states on understanding yourself, “as an entrepreneur, you will have no place and no one to hide behind. Knowledge of yourself is the key to confidence, and confidence builds leadership. Building a new business requires good leadership to develop the market, attract customers, motivate the team and conquer the unknowns.”

Maybe being an entrepreneur will not be in vogue anymore, and that stability (like a well-protected government job) will be sought after during these tough economic times. Either way, it’s important to understand what makes you happy, and how you feel when you’re by yourself. Telling people at cocktail parties that you’re an early stage tech entrepreneur may sound like a cool idea, but you must be OK with the stress of raising money, dealing with customers, and everything else. You need to ask yourself: if this is what you really want?

Now is a good time as any to start a business, and if you want to get a job that’s fine as well. Many of us have been indoors and have had time to think about where the next few months are going to lead us. That could be building a high growth startup or a business which we slowly build on our own. Taking time to think through the type of business you want to build and envision the end in mind will help you mitigate the risks involved with entrepreneurship. There is no one way to build a business, but there are best practices. Just know the difference before you embark on this journey.

About the Panel

The Department of Service Learning is hosting a student panel event for one of their minors, Sustainable Community Food Systems. The panel will consist of student alumni discussing their scholarship within the minor and the opportunities the minor presented them with both professionally and academically.

How to Participate

The panel will be hosted through WebEx and will take place in the first week of the Spring 2021 semester. For more information, visit the SCFS website at https://sl.engagement.uconn.edu/scfs/.

To register for the event quickly, fill out the following Google Form:
https://forms.gle/4UdJzRGgGDYMQUF99.