'Gate Entrepreneur

Senior Reflection - 7 Unconventional Pieces of Advice for Your Time at Colgate

2011-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

This was originally published in the 2011 graduation edition of the Colgate Maroon-News. By Harry Raymond.

By way of a senior reflection, here are seven somewhat unconventional pieces of advice that may make your Colgate experience you.

1. 1. Professors and administrators are often wrong.

Critical thinking is the most valuable skill you will learn at Colgate and it should be a mission of the college. Too often we forget that we should practice it. Professors are a professional source of knowledge and wisdom. That’s their job. They deserve our respect but respect is not the same as unqualified reference. As much as anyone, professors carry their personal bias and values into their work but the good professors welcome being challenged.

Engage in meaningful conversations even with a dean or a campus cop. Do you have a problem with a Campus Safety policy? Invite an officer to sit down and talk about it over lunch. It’s important to ask why a policy is in place and if it’s reaching it’s intended goal. You’d be surprised how receptive the administration is to change but you have to take the first step to change it.

2. 2. Get Involved with Greek Life.

Being a part of the array of entrepreneurial activities that occurs inside a Greek house – from planning a concert to coordinating kitchen jobs - has been my single most valuable experience at Colgate. 75 students with a diverse group of skills, campus connections and access to resources can make creative ideas come to life.

Whether you are a member of Greek Life or not, the Greek community is a major part of the Colgate community. Be a part of it. Greek life has to be initially exclusive but exclusivity does not mean that Greek houses do not welcome collaboration and sharing their experiences and resources. Party for Pink, Brother’s Poker tournament, and Community Bikes are just a few recent events that happen because non-Greek organizations approach a fraternity with ideas for action that welcome the entire community.

3. 3. Don’t do anything for your resume. Follow your passions.

When I tell people that I’m studying Political Science, I often get the response “So you want to work for the government?” This reflects one fundamental problem with higher education. Learning is no longer about intellectual freedom but is, rather, a means to an end – a career. Is that really what Liberal arts education is about?

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville warned of this phenomenon which he called “restless anxiety in prosperity.” This is a tendency of economic cultures in which people become so focused on the “rat race” and economic mobility that they lose their sense of exploration and reflection. College should be more than career prep.

When else will you have the chance to take a class on the Science of Sports or Mayan Astronomy or Photography? Choose your major based on what interests you. I opted to do a thesis-like independent project on baseball. I pursued one of my sincere interests and it was an exciting academic experience.

Liberal arts education is not about what you learn but learning how to learn. Yes, we all have to feed ourselves and pay off student loans but just focusing on career prep will not make your education investment less valuable. Exploring new things is a luxury that we don’t want to throw away. Follow your passions and your resume will build itself.

4. 4. Break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend from home.

Holding on to a high school sweetheart can isolate you. Too many of my friends regret trying to make a long distance relationship work in their first or second year.

They spent nights Skyping instead of going to a campus concert or meeting new people. They spent weekends driving to their girlfriend’s college instead of going on a rock climbing trip or organizing a campus event. Some can balance the obligations of a long-distance relationships, but, for too many, it diminishes their college experience.

There are great people to love on this campus. Don’t isolate yourself and make sure you get the most out of your short time here at Colgate. It won’t last long.

5. 5. Don’t be afraid to make a fool out of yourself.

Get outside your comfort zone as much as possible. I joined the Rugby team my freshmen year as a pudgy 5’7” kid who didn’t know the rules of the sport and likely was to get squashed by the conventional rugby players. After a month, bloody and bruised, I quit because it was too much of a struggle. I wish I hadn’t quit because even the initial first step spurred an interest in a foreign sport. The more uncomfortable situations you put yourself in, the more confident you’ll become.

6. 6. Meet new people as much as you can.

Some professors have argued that this place is too much of “Camp Colgate” and more focus on academics is needed. My academic experience here has been rewarding, sharpening my communication skills and learning to think critically. However, the academic experience has not defined my Colgate experience. A Colgate degree is a dynamic one which separates us from some of our peer institutions.

Go downtown and learn how to drink a beer but, more importantly, create a network of beer drinkers. When you graduate, what you’ll take with you is the friends you’ve met. I’m thinking of starting my own business after school. The Colgate network provides me with an endless supply of smart people with different skills. I wouldn’t be able to tap that resource if I hadn’t made an effort to go out and meet people.

7. 7. Don’t go abroad

At the Global Leaders Lecture series, President Herbst proudly stated that more than 60 percent of Colgate students study abroad. Is this necessarily a good thing?

I studied in London last year and loved it. I loved the city, I loved travelling, I loved meeting locals in pubs and I loved the Colgate students on my trip. At the same time, going abroad took me away from Colgate at the peak of my development. I was just taking on leadership positions in organizations, and my academic experience was just beginning to focus.

Travel is valuable because it teaches us about other cultures and makes us more globalized citizens but being away made me appreciate Hamilton even more. This is a highly energetic, passionate, and hard-working community that we often take for granted. We shouldn’t have to leave to appreciate it. We all have to leave soon enough.

Travel over the summer. Take an alternative Spring Break trip. I plan on spending the rest of my life travelling the world whenever I can but I will never be able to spend another semester in a vibrant environment where my only obligation is to learn. You only have eight semesters at Colgate. Make them count.

Editor's Column: Admin Sends Drinking Underground

2011-08-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

This was originally published on the front page of the Maroon-News on March 24, 2011. I had lunch with Dean Charlotte Johnson to discuss the article. She departed for a job at Dartmouth a month later.

Many students do not know that every Broad Street party (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) must be registered with Residential Life. The registration process has some perfectly good goals: to form a working relationship between the administration and students and to create a safer environment in which students can socialize. Yet, in the three years since Res Life started requiring registration, there has been a noticeable spike in alcohol-related hospitalizations and deterioration in the relationship between Broad Street and the administration. Somehow, with increased oversight and planning, Colgate has become less safe. How can this be? To answer this question, consider a few of the requirements for holding a registered, alcoholic event:

- If a party has more than 99 people (the six fraternities have an average of 75 members), it must either be catered or be entirely non-alcoholic.

- A registered party requires that each guest bring his or her own alcohol (BYOB event).

There are several unwritten requirements for BYOB events:

- When a guest brings beer or wine (no hard alcohol), the guest must be ID'd and obtain a wrist band at the door, at which point the guest's alcohol is labeled and taken to a central dispensing area.

- A "bar book" must be kept at the dispensing area. If a guest asks for a beer, only that guest's labeled beer can be dispensed and it must be recorded. If a guest asks for a non-alcoholic drink (such as orange juice) that also must be recorded in the bar book.

- The guest must stay with his or her beer or wine in the dispensing area so the party's sponsor can ensure that the guest does not share his or her alcohol with another person, a responsibility that lies solely with that organization.

These requirements are unrealistic and both students and Residential Life know it. The policies force all the participants, students and administrators to engage in a thinly disguised and inherently dishonest game.

Even worse, the registration policies undermine conduct that keeps students safe, such as mandates that designated sober members patrol parties, that food and water be provided to their guests, that a risk management plan be implemented and that social hosts complete an alcohol safety course.

Presumably, the university understands that undergraduates will have parties with alcohol. If that was not the case, they would just ban drinking and strictly enforce it. But the policies now in place do nothing to promote responsible or moderate behavior.

The administration should look to the lessons of America's disastrous experiment in the prohibition of alcohol.

The eighteenth amendment slightly reduced overall alcohol consumption but the reduction came largely among those who already drank responsibly. All other drinkers went underground, creating a black market for a banned substance. The result was a dramatic increase in organized crime, violence and alcohol-related hospitalizations.

The price premium that resulted drove consumers to more potent and dangerous liquor. Law enforcement officials and politicians quickly realized that consistent and comprehensive enforcement was impossible and looked the other way (many for a price), selectively prosecuting when it was politically necessary.

Worst of all, this led to a pervasive mistrust of authority and skepticism about the rule of law, a problem that persists to this day.

This has far-reaching implications for any society. The administration's policies have already had similar black market effects at Colgate.

When students cannot register on-campus alcoholic events, regulated and realistic social options become limited.

This does not stop students from drinking. Instead, underclassmen choose to drink behind closed doors, "ripping shots" before being spotted. They "pregame" harder because they can't get into a party later.

The administration has made it too risky for fraternities to hold non-exclusive events that the larger campus can attend, but those same fraternities are criticized for being socially exclusive.

When the administration decides to enforce its policies, the first punishment is usually taking away the ability to register events.

This simply drives organizations to drink off-campus with no risk management plan or sober community, bringing social activities into houses and apartments with out-of-date fire codes and limited access. No wonder off-campus housing is in such high demand.

Colgate's solution is to respond with more pervasive prohibition policies. In the past year, the administration has banned outdoor/porch drinking, implemented late night walk-throughs, barred first-years from first semester Greek events and continued its haphazard enforcement of their unrealistic registration policies.

While each of these policies is implemented with good intentions, the administration seems unaware that prohibition policies have not curbed behavior but, rather, have displaced drinking to unregulated and unsafe environments.

The solution to unsafe and underground drinking is obvious: make alcoholic event registration clear, consistent and realistic.

Eliminate the fantasy of large-scale BYOB events and negotiate a way for organizations to safely dispense alcohol to a reasonable and manageable number of guests.

Nobody wants anyone getting hurt, not just because students care about the safety of their friends, but also because they know their organization is on the line if something goes wrong.

Universities like Dartmouth and Cornell do not prohibit alcoholic events but, instead, implement specific risk management plans based on the type and size of the event. There is a high degree of peer-to-peer regulation (i.e. Inter Fraternity Council [IFC] and RA walkthroughs) to help enforce realistic community and university standards. Dartmouth does not pretend drinking games do not exist, but instead occasionally sends campus safety to make sure students are safe, not to "write them up."

This cooperation fosters a more honest and stronger relationship between students and the administration.

To be fair, Colgate's administration has a real liability problem. Like all universities, they constantly have to worry about the threat that someone will come along and sue Colgate for not taking reasonable steps to avoid alcohol problems.

Prioritizing liability often prevents the administration from creating a nurturing community with trust and shared values.

In this case, liability avoidance is creating a less safe environment at the same time as it undermines the sense of community, an irony that is, perhaps, lost on the administration, but which will not necessarily shield them from liability. It is just like Prohibition.

This is the creature of a society that is driven by lawsuits that are determined to make someone responsible for whatever happens to anyone.

But, that said, Colgate should realize that the steps it is taking to limit its liability are also driving students to drink unsafely, both undermining the sense of community and creating skepticism of authority.

After his first visit to America in 1921, Albert Einstein wrote about the destructive alcohol laws he observed: "The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced." Underground, Colgate students are saying just the same thing.

Goodbye for now

2011-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

After graduating this past May, I have been planning a cross-country road trip and I finally leave with two fellow Colgate grads tomorrow. New Jersey to California and back. No hotels.

There is so much pressure to get a job right after graduating. I think it's short-sighted and a negative consequence of the rat race mentality.

Colgate grads are all smart and talented people and we should be confident that we can get a job when we're ready and, if not, we'll create our own. If you want to follow our road trip shenanigans visit our blog at road-scholars.tumblr.com or follow us on twitter @roadscholars11

I've had a lot of fun writing this blog and talking to Colgate alumni and students who are passionate about entrepreneurship. Thank you to everyone who helped make this blog happen especially Andy Greenfield and Nick Kokonas. In my final year at Colgate, I noticed a new level of interest in entrepreneurship on campus which makes me excited about Colgate's future.

I'll leave you with the two op-ed pieces I wrote in my final month with the Maroon-News. While they don't directly relate to entrepreneurship, I thought you might enjoy them.

Cheers, Harry

Colgate Entrepreneurs: Sophomore Makes a Difference for Underprivileged Native American Children

2011-06-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

My article below was orginally published in the April 7, 2011 edition of The Colgate Maroon-News. Photo credit: colgateconnect.org

Sophomore Maggie Dunne first visited the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation on a church service trip to South Dakota during her sophomore year of high school. The Oglala Sioux Native American reservation lies within two of the poorest counties in the U.S.

"I had never been exposed to that type of poverty and, it was shocking that it was in our own country," Dunne said. "I felt like I had to do something more."

Dunne made a pledge to return to the Pine Ridge Reservation once a year and try to give back to the community. Five years later, Dunne has far exceeded that ambitious pledge, starting a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing resources to Lakota children.

Three weeks before her second trip back to Lakota, Dunne decided to write articles in local newspapers and magazines asking people to donate children's books and coats. "It was just a last-minute thing," Dunne said. Dunne's articles prompted donations of over 2,000 books and 500 coats in only three weeks. "Seeing that result changed everything for me," Dunne said. "It didn't take that much effort. Just a little outside-the-box thinking and putting yourself out there."

Dunne and some recruited friends distributed the donated items to schools in Lakota. Dunne went to one school that had only three books in their library. When she left, their library had more than 500 and every student went home with a new coat. Dunne said, "Just seeing that made me realize that I can do something and I don't have to wait until I graduate to do it."

Dunne continued to write about the cause in local newspapers. One of her articles caught the attention of a local corporate lawyer who specializes in not-for-profits. Dunne recalls that the lawyers said to her, "‘I usually charge an absurd amount of money for my services, but I can see you're really passionate about this.'"

Despite the large time commitment needed to start a non-profit, Dunne was eager to legitimize the cause. Lakota Pine Ridge Children's Enrichment Project Limited (LPRCEP) has helped her gather resources and attention for the cause. In 2010, LPRCEP shipped over 3,300 pounds of donations (books, clothing, school supplies, etc.) to the Reservation, an illustration of their tremendous growth since 2009 when they shipped 1,300 pounds of donations.

Dunne credits her Thought into Action Entrepreneurship Seminar for helping her set goals and figuring out ways to meet them. At the start of the school year, Dunne set the goal of starting a summer camp for kids on the reservation.

She says, "Thought into Action has allowed me to create a clearer vision of what I want to do and the input of everyone in the class has been really valuable." This May, in cooperation with two other non-for-profit organizations, Dunne will be holding a one-week pilot camp that will focus on leadership and team-building.

Dissecting the Business Card

2011-03-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Certainly biased (source:businesscardsonline.com) but a cool graphic nonetheless. Click on the image for a closer look.

Ask President Jeffrey Herbst a question on entrepreneurship here at 9pm tonight

2011-03-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3324d44664" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Q &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; A with President Herbst&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Want to ask President Herbst a question about Entrepreneurship, Campus Safety, Greek Life or anything else Colgate?

Want to ask the question anonymously?

Thanks to the Colgate Maroon-News, you can get an answer from President Herbst in minutes. Tonight, 9 - 10 pm.

Once the event gets underway, simply submit your question above and President Herbst will try to answer as many questions as possible.

Here are a few questions about entrepreneurship that I think should be asked (feel free to steal them):

- What is your take on the controversial school policy that does not allow students to run their own businesses?
- How do you plan to promote entrepreneurship on campus in the future?
- Tell us about the new Colgate-centric venture capital fund? Do you plan to promote it?

Undergraduate business pitch competition at Princeton

2011-03-01T11:36:00.001-08:00

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2011/03/01/27775/

This would be a good idea to do at Colgate. Alumni, I'm looking at you for seed money.

Student Tea Company Combats World Poverty

2011-03-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

Colgate Students collaborated with the Shapna Co.

Another good article in this week's Maroon-News by Colin Sheridan about students working with the Shapna Tea Company.

Since its inception three years ago, "Making dreams come true" has been the motto of the Shapna Project, a tea and coffee company whose mission is to eradicate poverty through the sale of sustainably grown products.

The Project began as a student-led initiative at Howard University School of Business and School of Law in Washington, D.C. to create a business model that used a 40 percent reinvestment strategy to initiate social and economic change. Among these students was Shapna's President, CEO and co-founder Johny Chaklader '03. Chaklader, whose family originates from Bangladesh, was familiar with the plight of independent small-scale tea farmers in the country who are forced to work under a form of indentured servitude on large corporate tea estates. Shapna works with these kinds of tea farmers in Bangladesh as well as coffee bean farmers in Uganda in a similar situation.

"When Johny and members of our team traveled to Bangladesh in 2009 to approach the independent farmers with this idea, the word they used most frequently was ‘shapna', which is a Bengali word for ‘dream,' to describe what they wanted for their families and future generations, and so it seemed appropriate that "Shapna" become the name of the project," Sales Coordinator Michael Tringali '04 said.

Shapna reinvests 40 percent of their net profits to community development projects, 20 percent to the originating farming communities and 20 percent to communities in the U.S. where Shapna tea and coffee is consumed.

Despite its large commitment to humanitarian aid in Bangladesh and Uganda, Shapna is also giving back to the Colgate community.

"As Colgate alumni," Tringali said, "we're seeking ways to give back to our alma mater, as it has given us so much."

Thanks to their partnership with Sodexo, Shapna tea and coffee is offered at the Barge Canal Coffee Company as well as Frank Dining Hall. These revenues have allowed Shapna to support the work of the Upstate Institute, Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education (COVE), the Office of Sustainability, as well as local community initiatives including the Hamilton Film Festival and the Hamilton Food Cupboard.

Shapna has also supported several Colgate student's research on environmental and sustainability issues in the Central New York area. This summer, Shapna plans to support junior and President of the Shapna Project at Colgate Caroline Anderson's field research in Mbale, Uganda on the humanitarian and sustainable development issues facing Shapna-affiliated coffee growers.

"I want to understand the needs of the coffee-growing villages and in turn help the villagers improve their livelihoods by making the best use of the 20 percent of net profits which Shapna gives back to them," Anderson said.

Supporting Shapna's mission, the Colgate chapter seeks to raise awareness about issues that coffee and tea farmers in these countries face daily.

"We want to inform and empower students to choose to purchase socially conscious products which support small-scale independent farmers who use sustainable agricultural practices," Anderson said. "I'm excited to be part of a project that gives these farmers a voice in the way their villages develop."

Profile of Colgate Entrepreneurs' Club

2011-02-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

Good story by Kate Hicks '11 on the Colgate website about the new Entrepreneurs' Club. I've copied it below for your convenience.

On the morning of Feb. 9, 42 students in Curtis Hall received a sweet wake-up call: Dunkin' Donuts food and coffee delivered to their dorm rooms. The Entrepreneurship Club was testing its latest venture, a service that has students select what they want for breakfast and a delivery time, then pay with their 'Gate Card when it arrives.

One of many business ideas the club has, the test went well, and yielded a substantial profit that will go toward future ventures. The club is always coming up with ways to meet demands they see in the Colgate and Hamilton communities, all while learning about what it takes to start a business.
"We view the club as a learning experience," said Harrison Gillis '13. "We want to get our minds around the practical ideas of starting and running a business, so that if we do have plans to start one, it's not the first time we've dealt with these concepts."

In addition to executing ventures, club members meet with local entrepreneurs, hold classes and seminars on different aspects of entrepreneurship, and speak with alumni who have successfully launched their own businesses.

Those alumni contacts have begun to play a major role in the club's programs. One has them following the endeavors of Nick Kokonas '90, whose restaurant Alinea in Chicago was recently ranked best in the nation by S.Pellegrino. Kokonas also is working on a book about the restaurant business, so he has experience in the publishing world, too.

The club members will follow his efforts, pose questions to him about what he's doing, and then Kokonas responds in unique ways.

Bharadwaj Reddy '12 explains, "Nick gets back to us in a high-tech fashion -- e-mail, Twitter, blogs, because he can't get here, so we're maximizing the time for this opportunity. He's going to be Skyping with us whenever possible, e-mailing us, teleconferencing, etc."

In addition to following Kokonas, some club members are participating in a seminar called "Thought Into Action," a class taught by alumni and offered to about eight students on campus.
One alumnus participating is Wills Hapworth '07, an entrepreneur himself and the founder of DarkHorse Investors, a company that invests in college students' start-up businesses.
"There is a serious interest in entrepreneurship at Colgate that needs to be answered and nurtured," said Hapworth. "Creating a great culture for start-ups and turning thought into action is difficult but essential, and the students, school, and alums all seem to be making steps in the right direction."
The number of ventures the club has in the works is indicative of how the entrepreneurial spirit is starting to thrive at Colgate.

Whether selling Indian and Chinese food at the Coop or hosting an "idea raffle" at Winterfest, the club's members are always thinking of creative ways to meet the demands of the Colgate community while putting their business knowledge into action.

Colgate Entrepreneurs: Nick Kokonas '90 on how he plans to reinvent the way we eat again

2011-02-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Long before Alinea, Kokonas was a philosophy major at Colgate. After graduating, he became a very successful derivatives trader which he enjoyed for several years, but, as he said in a recent Fast Company interview, his wife told him "'You're in danger of becoming an asshole.'”

In March, Kokonas and Achantz will open their new Chicago-based restaurant called "Next." A movie-like trailer announced that Next will have four different menus per year, each evoking the food of a particular place and year in history: 1912 Paris, Sicily 1949, or even Hong Kong 2036. Even more radical, Next will sell tickets, not reservations, for each table time slot. The price of tickets will be set depending on the supply and demand of a particular time slot. If you want to eat at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday your meal ticket will cost considerably more than 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. It is a pricing model that is used by airlines, Broadway shows and sporting events but has never been attempted in the fine-dining world. Kokonas says "Buy tickets to the Cubs, Bruce Springsteen or a theater and no-show and what happens? You miss the show." It is just another way Kokonas is re-imagining the fine dining experience as entertainment.

When the Maroon-News first reached out to Kokonas for an interview, he was busy sampling 32 classic cocktails with 20 bar-chefs and staff for his third venture, a cocktail bar that he promises will "redefine the cocktail." Kokonas got back to us to discuss his path to creating America's Best Restaurant and how he plans to transform the way we eat.

Raymond: How did you decide to make the transition from derivatives trader to restaurateur? What factors were behind this drastic career change? Did your skills translate or did you have to start over?
Kokonas: I didn't decide really. I had left trading with no intention of doing anything too different. I had invested in Funbrain.com and a few other web start-ups in the late '90s and did a bit of angel investing and thought I would stick with that. However, I met a very amazing chef and person in Grant Achatz and felt compelled to go in that direction.


Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas

I left trading simply because I was 1) fairly burned out and 2) had a very rough year in 2001. My dad died in February and 9/11 happened later in the year, which produced a serious situation for many of our employees and for the country. I just felt that what I was doing was no longer that important to me. So I quit. In all seriousness, I am not quite sure exactly what my skill set is beyond being very curious and driven. I am a huge proponent of a liberal arts education for just that reason. I can dive in to a variety of businesses and think of them clearly and anew.

R: What courses or professors at Colgate influenced the course of your life or career?
K: Without a doubt Professor Balmuth was a key figure for me while I was at Colgate, though I had several other key professors in the Philosophy department, including Professors Jacobson and Clark. I loved Astronomy with Professor Aveni.

Really, the overall liberal education provided so much that I have drawn on – from writing to a knowledge of psychology, theater and economics. I am a strong proponent of a liberal education and believe that ‘business' schools are fine to teach people how to work in a very large company in middle management but do little to produce entrepreneurs and well rounded, educated people. I would never encourage anyone to study business.

R: How does a business guy strike a balance between what is creative and innovative and what is practical? Is that an issue in the restaurant business?
K: Intuition followed by rigorous analysis and detail work. I hate focus groups – I think they breed mediocrity. We have a team of 3 or 4 people at most on almost all of our creative endeavors. The best art, the best businesses create something that people didn't even know they wanted.

I never worried about filling Alinea because I knew that chef Achatz would produce amazing food. I only concerned myself with the marketing... and we did that ourselves as well. Authenticity in marketing is sorely lacking and yet the tools are there for everyone. The ‘trailer' for Next restaurant was made by our designer and me in about 10 days, start to finish...no prior experience. That has itself generated a great deal of press and even a few ad agencies that have called asking who did the video work so that they could hire them. Oddly, I don't consider myself to be ‘in the restaurant business' because what we do is so different than a normal restaurant.

R: How did you decide on the unique pricing for Next? What is the difference between Wednesday at 5PM and Saturday at 7PM?
K: That stemmed from me watching firsthand the fact that we could sell out Saturday night at 7:30 five times over every week but Wednesday not nearly as much. Leveling that demand curve is pretty basic but for some reason – other than the early bird specials at diners – no one had ever tried to account for that. The pricing model is at this point a guess. Saturday is the high point of the bell curve but the slope of the pricing will vary. My guess is for the first menu that we want to average $85 per person for food so Saturday will be about $110 and Wednesday at 9:30 PM will be about $60. It will not, at first, be algorithmic or real-time, more for psychological reasons of the customers and marketing than our ability to do that.

R: How difficult is it to change conventional wisdom? Are you concerned about alienating your customers?
K: It's really hard and really easy at the same time. I think we have skeptics and frankly that fuels both love and hate and the press as well. It's a good story. Some people will be alienated but I really think that those are precisely the people you don't want as customers. 5 percent of the customers cause 95 percent of the problems... this is our way of firing those customers and rewarding the good ones. How many businesses offer coupons to new customers but treat their regulars like crap? It should be the other way around.

R: There has been very little written about your other venture, Aviary, "a cocktail bar redefined." Can you tell us anything? How do you plan to reinvent the cocktail?
K: Think – a lounge with no bar or bartenders... a restaurant for drinks. But lots to talk about there so get back to me.

R: What advice do you have for students interested in entrepreneurship?
K: Start businesses. My first business of my own out of Colgate was selling posters to college students in the Midwest at semester changes. I bet there are still the same posters in many dorm rooms. I made a reasonable amount of money with minimal work – but more importantly I learned the small things of setting up a business that were a bit murkier back then, pre-Google and pre- Internet. Now, there is just no excuse for not being able to start something quick and lean.

I don't think you can teach entrepreneurship and it isn't easy. Back when I was a derivatives trader a friend told me the rule for risk: if you wake up every morning and feel fine you are not taking enough risk. If you wake up every morning and puke you are taking too much risk. If you have a nice, even queasy feeling throughout the day that is just about right. But you have to start something to know how it works...talking about it, planning it out endlessly in business plans and spreadsheets is a nice exercise, but, ultimately, pretty worthless. Find something you really, really want to do and go do it.

R: The recent New York Times piece referred to you as the Medici to Achatz's Michelangelo. What do you make of that comparison?
K: I thought it was absurd! First, it's kind of funny but I think they meant it seriously. I work too hard to be a Medici and, unlike a patron of the arts, I hope and try to create a little of my own.

Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore visits campus on March 2

2011-02-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

Stephen Moore

Check out this business-related event. Here is the event description:

Lecture by Stephen Moore
"The End of Prosperity? Understanding the American Economic and Financial Crisis."
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
4:30 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium

The College Republicans Club is pleased to announce that we will be bringing Mr. Stephen Moore to campus to give a lecture on the American economic and financial crisis. Mr. Moore is a member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board and a senior economics writer, as well as a Fox News contributor. He has served as a budget expert for the Heritage Foundation and a senior economics fellow at the Cato Institute.

Andy Greenfield '74 talks about his "Thought into Action" Entrepreneurship Seminar

2011-02-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

This week's Maroon-News has a great article by Sam Worth '11 (text copied below) on the new "Thought into Action" Seminar at Colgate. The brain-child of Andy Greenfield '74, the seminar is one of the ways Colgate is finally promoting entrepreneurship on campus though there is still an asinine policy against students starting their own businesses. We plan on covering some of the ventures students start in this seminar. In fact, Ryan Smith '13 and Brandan Karson '13 will soon be contributing to this blog by posting their ongoing experience of starting their own paper business through the seminar.

Last week's profile of Andy Greenfield '74 told the story of a man who knows what it is to try and fail. When Greenfield's first major business venture, Essex Limousine Company, landed him in $250,000 of debt in 1981, he quickly recaptured his passion, rebuilt his confidence and founded Greenfield Consulting Group the very same year. It was not the first time Greenfield implemented that strategy. While at Colgate, poor academic performance during his first two years sent him on a leave of absence. But after discovering a passion for philosophy, he returned the next year and received straight As. Greenfield Consulting became just as successful as Greenfield's second crack at college; it was sold to Microsoft for $486 million in 2008 Greenfield went on to start several other successful business ventures, but the personal philosophy he developed in the face of those initial setbacks hasn't changed: don't be afraid to fail. If you fall, get up, dust yourself off, and try again. Never let fear stop one from realizing a great idea through action.

Greenfield is well known for his success in business, but his name is being recognized more and more around Colgate for his latest investment. A couple of years ago, Greenfield and a friend were discussing how innovators end up turning an idea into something real. Believing that ordinary people all over the world have great ideas every day – Greenfield sought to identify what was holding these ideas back. He found that it was often fear and apprehension that stopped would-be entrepreneurs from realizing their goals: "Maybe I'm too young," "Maybe I don't have the resources," "Maybe my idea isn't good enough, or too incomplete." With his experience, Greenfield decided he could design a course to provide students with the entrepreneurial acumen and skills to overcome apprehension, and follow through with their ideas. Hence, the Thought Into Action (TIA) seminar was born.

Thought Into Action is a new seminar at Colgate, but it can't be found in the course booklet. After deciding to bring an entrepreneurship program to his alma mater, Greenfield approached former President Rebecca Chopp, Vice President and Dean of College Charlotte Johnson, Provost and Dean of the Faculty Lyle Roelofs and several other administrators who all agreed that entrepreneurship skills epitomized the foundation of the liberal arts: critical and original thinking. They directed Greenfield to Associate Director of The Center for Leadership & Student Involvement (CLSI) Tennille Haynes. CLSI became host to the seminar, and before long, Thought Into Action was structurally planned as a year-long course.

Now in its second year, Thought Into Action demands an unusual commitment from its students. The seminar meets once a month for five hours on Saturdays. Greenfield is present for each meeting, along with two other alumni entrepreneurs, CEO of Ridgewood Capital Bob Gold and creator of Darkhorse Investors Wills Hapworth. Seminar students focus on one idea and work throughout the year to make it happen. Each session is divided into two halves. The first half is a lesson in which the three instructors impart entrepreneurial skills that can't be learned in a traditional classroom.

"We develop communication and critical thinking skills," junior Bharadwaj Obula Reddy a current TIA student said. "We don't learn the business skills you would expect – like accounting. We work on things like focusing our ideas, interviewing, being interviewed and creating plans to turn our ideas into actions. The first lesson we learned was how to compact our idea into a focused, 30-second description. The skills are applicable to all parts of my life."

Timeline of Andy Greenfield's Greenfield Online

The second half of each session is a group discussion that allows both students and instructors to discuss and critique each student's progress. When class is not in session, the entrepreneur advisers are available for video conferences, and the students work independently to bring their plans to life. There is no grade in the course, and students receive no credit on their academic transcripts. But students must come with passion for an idea and the drive to follow it through.

Reddy arrived with the idea of creating an entrepreneurship club on campus. So far it has 15 active members and is growing. Sophomore Ryan Smith is working to create a paper distributorship that will bring the only carbon-neutral paper in North America to Colgate. While entrepreneurship is most often associated with the for-profit sector, about half the projects in the current TIA class are non-profit projects.

Both President Herbst and Greenfield are seeking to "scale-up" the seminar. While he wants to emphasize that TIA is always in a state of development, Greenfield is working on expanding TIA into the Thought Into Action Institute, with five sections of about eight students each, more alumni instructors and the possibility of an internship extension program for select students.

For someone who loves teaching, and mentoring young entrepreneurs, seeing Thought Into Action grow and succeed at Colgate has been a dream come true for Greenfield. In no time at all, an idea born out of a friendly conversation became a successful reality. If you were to completely disregard their past business success, the creation process of the seminar itself should prove that Andy Greenfield and his fellow entrepreneurs have very valuable knowledge to impart on Colgate students.

"99 percent of people I've met on Earth have had great ideas. A tiny fraction of these people make those ideas happen," Greenfield said. "If the role of the University is to produce people who will go on to make a difference in the world, the only way to make a difference is by doing. And that's what Thought into Action is all about."

Nick Kokonas '90 set to open more innovative restaurants

2011-02-16T18:03:00.000-08:00

Alinea's pheasant which is served with
burning oak leaves to give the aroma of
autumn, just one part of their $225
28-course food "tour."

Nick Kokonas '90 is the co-founder of Alinea, a Chicago restaurant that is widely considered one of the 10 best restaurants in the world. We're working on getting an interview with Kokonas for next week. When we first tried to reach him, Kokonas was busy sampling 32 classic cocktails for Avairy, his new cocktail bar which promises to "redefine the cocktail." At the same time, he's working on Next, a restaurant that will have four menus a year, each one trying to re-create the cuisine from a particular time and place in history. The movie-like trailer for Next (see below) announces that the first three menus will be Paris 1912, Sicily 1949 and Hong Kong 2036.

Kokonas and chef Grant Achatz got a lot of press today. Today's New York Times article says the duo “evoke a modern Michelangelo and Medici, bonded by mutual trust and now locked into a very public artistic endeavor.” The Chicago Tribune, who has credited the pair for reviving Chicago's restaurant industry, has a lengthy but interesting piece today about Alinea and chef Achatz's battle with tongue cancer. Stay tuned for more from this Colgate entrepreneur

Have questions you want us to ask Kokonas? Post them in the comment section.

Should you get an MBA? Andy Greenfield '74 says no

2011-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Our two-hour interview with Andy Greenfield '74 produced two features in the Colgate Maroon-News (part 1 and part 2). Nonetheless, two articles was not enough space to include all his words of wisdom. That's why over the next couple weeks we'll continue to bring you more from a Colgate grad who has started three successful companies including Greenfield Online which was recently sold to Microsoft for $486 million.

Should students interested in entrepreneurship consider an MBA?
Greenfield: “This answer might be controversial but I truly follow the Nike philosophy: Just do it. You will learn more in the first six months of doing it than you ever will in business school. Business school provides two things: (1) a credential and (2) it provides some people with confidence. You don’t need a credential as an entrepreneur. If you want to build something or start a business, you don’t need to go to business school.”

Entrepreneurship Event on Campus: Nick Kokonas '90

2011-02-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

Join the Entrepreneurs' Club as they meet to follow Nick Kokonas '90, Philosophy major, co-founder of Alinea' (#1 restaurant in America, Top 50 Restaurants in the World) and serial entrepreneur. Using all forms of digital media, we will "accompany" Nick as he courses through the opening of three new Chicago restaurants and takes on the publishing industry with the launch of his new book Life, On the Line.

When: Introductory Class this Tuesday (2/15), 9.30 PM - 10.30 PM

Where: Batza meeting room, Case Library

Mediated/taught by Anne Clauss, Director, Investment Studies Program

10 Questions Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors Are Going To Ask

2011-02-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

10 Questions Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors Are Going To Ask

Great post over at Instigator Blog. Even if you are not raising capital, these are some good questions to ask yourself about a potential business:

1. So what's your business all about?

2. What's the barrier to entry for competition.

3. What's going to stop big monster company in your space from copying you?

4. Why are you raising the money want to raise?

5. How far does that money get you?

6. Do you have any customers? Have you spoken to potential customers?

7. What's your marketing strategy?

8. What are you coding in?

9. How are you handling the technological infrastructure for scaling?

10. What's the team look like? What are your backgrounds?

Colgate Entrepreneurs: Andy Greenfield ’74 (part 2 of our interview) explains how a janitor and dishwasher saved his $500 million company

2011-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Serial entrepreneur Andy Greenfield '74 has started several uber-successful companies including Greenfield Online, a market research company that was sold to Microsoft for $486 million in 2008. Greenfield sat down with the Maroon-News for two hours to talk about his tendency to party in college, his rocky road to business success and his new goal to foster entrepreneurship on the Colgate campus. This is part two of the interview. To read part one, see our post here or visit maroon-news.com.

In 1983, Andy Greenfield woke up from a business nightmare. Two years earlier, he had started Essex Limousine Company, but a New York City crime family had taken notice of his initial success and started smashing his cars. Greenfield was forced to sell the company to Patty Testa, the leading enforcer for the Luchese crime family. Testa would later be assassinated in a mafia loyalty struggle.

Greenfield's first major business venture had failed and he was $250,000 in debt.

"The limousine company was my business school with a very expensive tuition," Greenfield said. "I had no cash reserves and a big hole with no prospects of paying it off."

He escaped to Vermont for a two month break.

"I rebuilt myself emotionally and re-captured my drive and passion," Greenfield said. "Passion is the fuel for action. That's all you need."

The same year he was forced to close Essex Limousines, Greenfield emerged from his Vermont hiatus to start Greenfield Consulting Group, a qualitative marketing research firm.

"I liked the [consulting] industry because it remained cottage-like, dominated by mom-and-pop type operations." Greenfield said. "No one had started anything of size yet and I was determined to crack the code." Over the next 25 years, Greenfield built Greenfield Consulting into the largest and most profitable qualitative research company on the planet with 25 years of back-to-back growth.

Greenfield attributes his success in the marketing business to his success in compensating his researchers.

"I never lost sight that my revenue was attached to people, not plant and equipment." Greenfield said. "In the qualitative world, if you lose people, you lose revenue."

Greenfield adopted a unique compensation strategy that enabled him to steal high-end talent from the advertising industry. He paid his researchers two or three times the amount they would make elsewhere by implementing an incentive compensation program in which his researchers were paid a percentage of the revenue they generated. This type of incentive-compensation is common in sales but had never been done in market research.

"The lesson here is critical: the biggest breakthroughs in any category are made not by stealing from within the category but by stealing from other industries. If you want to innovate, don't look within your own industry," Greenfield said.

In the spring of 1993, a dishwasher who worked at one of Greenfield Consulting's focus group facilities approached Greenfield with an idea. Nineteen-year old Hugh Davis told Greenfield that he could use something called the "Internet" to conduct market research without ever talking to the market in person. While Greenfield knew nothing about the fledgling World Wide Web, Davis convinced him it was something to investigate. Greenfield quickly realized that Davis was right. If he was able to build a large enough panel of online consumers, market research would be more efficient and cost effective online than by the conventional methods of mail, phone or in-person.

Despite having no tech experience, Greenfield spent the next three years building the first software for conducting online surveys. By 1996, the revolutionary Greenfield Online was ready for market but he had one problem: no one wanted to buy it. None of Greenfield's clients thought the Web would ever be a mass medium.

"Regardless of how great I thought this idea was and how much I believed in it, I could only swim up stream against nay-saying clients for so long," Greenfield said.

After another failed sales trip in April 1996, Greenfield returned to his office at 8 p.m. to prune his bonsai tree, a form of therapy. He had decided to cut his losses, shutdown Greenfield Online and return to his safer qualitative research firm. Greenfield continued to prune when Tom Kruger, the building's 35-year old janitor walked into Greenfield's office. The friendly Kruger gave Greenfield some tips on raising bonsai telling him that his 11-year old daughter picked up the hobby from German, Korean and Japanese friends she had met online.

"The light bulb went off," Greenfield said. "The nay-saying clients were wrong and I was going to stay the course with Greenfield Online."

In May 1999, Greenfield called Kruger into his office and gave him a check for the equivalent of a year's salary. It was Greenfield's way of saying "thank you" and he had a lot to be thankful for. That month he had sold Greenfield Online to a group of investors that included Michael Dell and the United Bank of Switzerland. The company was subsequently taken public and then, in 2008, Greenfield Online (which also included Ciao, Europe's leading price comparison site) was sold to Microsoft for $486 million.

In 2002, Greenfield sold his consulting group to Millward Brown, one of the world's largest market research firms.

"It was ultimately about identifying an unmet client need which was for true marketing brain power and experience brought to the research table," Greenfield said.

He continues to advise the consulting group's management.

Since then, Greenfield has started a year-long entrepreneurship seminar at Colgate called "Thought into Action." In it's second year, the seminar teaches practical entrepreneurship.

"It's not about required reading, papers or exams. It's about making something happen." He said, "If you believe the role of a liberal arts college is to produce people that make a difference in the world, the only way you make a difference is by making something happen and, historically, that is a skill set that colleges and universities have not been focused on." That's why Greenfield is focused on expanding the opportunities for entrepreneurship at Colgate.

Then, Greenfield leans in and takes a softer tone as if he is revealing a secret.

"Listen, 99 percent of the people I've met on earth have good ideas but only a tiny fraction of them make those ideas happen." He leans back and returns to his louder and confident voice, "Just get out of your chair and go for it."

California Fruit Wine Links our Article

2011-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Brian Haghighi '09 for posting a link to our article on the top of his thriving company's website. Check it out on the top of CaliforniaFruitWine.com.

Colgate Entrenpreneurs: Andy Greenfield '74 reflects on building a $500 million company and his run-in with the mafia

2011-02-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

Greenfield (above) sported a 1.6 GPA his first two years
at Colgate and few believed he was
capable of building a $500 million company.

This was originally published in the Colgate Maroon-News.

"Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell and rose again." It's the type of line you might expect to find in a Kung Fu movie, but when uber-successful serial entrepreneur Andy Greenfield '74 imparts this type of wisdom, he does it with the utmost sincerity and with 40 years of experience starting and running his own businesses. You listen.

One of his businesses was Greenfield Online, the world's leading provider of online survey data. It was eventually sold to Microsoft for $486 million in 2008. Another was iGain.com, a web marketing company focused on helping e-businesses increase customer loyalty. Yet another was Greenfield Consulting Group, which he built into North America's leading qualitative marketing research firm before it was sold to Millward Brown, one of the world's largest marketing firms. But Greenfield's path to becoming the quintessential serial entrepreneur began with failure, and an impressive failure at that.

"As an entrepreneur you will fail," Greenfield said. "It's not a question of if, but when."

In 1971, Greenfield had finished his sophomore year at Colgate when he realized that he was not ready for college.

"Let's just say, I took a leave of absence because of my impressive 1.6 GPA," Greenfield smiles. "I was ready for the social dimension of college, but not the academic dimension."

When he returned home, Greenfield started a small tennis court lighting business. In four months, Greenfield had turned a profit and his business was prospering.

Greenfield said, "That was my first lesson in business. Competitive advantage did not have to be built on a product innovation, but can be built on a simple pricing advantage."

Despite the success of his business, Greenfield felt intellectually unfulfilled. After a few months skiing in Colorado, he returned to Colgate to major in philosophy.

Sufficiently motivated, Greenfield finished his Colgate degree with straight A's before heading to Brown for a Ph.D. program in philosophy. He wanted to be a Philosophy professor but in his time at Brown, Greenfield says the job market for philosophy professors had disappeared, especially for someone who had never taught before.

But Greenfield has no regrets because philosophy prepared him well for the business world.

"Philosophy and liberal arts in general doesn't teach you what to think, but how to think," he said. "It teaches you to reason, formulate a position and make things happen."

After settling for an entry level job in advertising, Greenfield's entrepreneurial stirrings were getting the best of him. His first major venture was Essex Limousines Company, which he started with his friend, Peter Hausburg, in New York City in 1981. Just two years later, he was forced to close his business, which had $250,000 of debt. In its first fourteen months, Essex Limousines was seeing some success. Greenfield and Hausburg were building a company with steadily growing revenue.

"Our market assessment indicated that there was a large gap between the needs and wants of limousine customers, and the quality of service being provided."

But the trouble came in ways that could not be part of a business plan. One Friday night, Greenfield discovered that one of his limousines had all its windows smashed in. Each Friday night for the next month, another limo would be out of commission because of a crowbar attack. "Clearly, someone was trying to send us a message."

Then New York District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, and a team of detectives determined that the string of incidents was an extortion attempt by a rather unpleasant branch of a New York City crime family.

"During the investigation period, I was sleeping maybe an hour a night, getting escorted back and forth from my apartment to our office by detectives." Greenfield said. "That type of situation can only end in two ways: you either get into bed with bad guys or you can say ‘no mas.' I said no more."

Greenfield unloaded the company on Pat Testa, who two years later was "gunned down in a fusillade of 9mm bullets," Greenfield said. Testa was the leading enforcer for the Luchese crime family. "I can laugh about it now, but back then it was ugly."

"When my business closed, I was in terrible shape financially and emotionally," Greenfield said. "We had failed. We had been forced out by the mafia. I was horribly in debt. I was in a world of hurt."

He escaped to Vermont for several months – humbled and $250,000 in debt – hoping to regain his composure. Greenfield explains, "I rebuilt myself emotionally and recaptured my drive and passion." He enthusiastically adds, "Passion is the fuel for action. That's all you need."

He emerged from his mafia nightmare and Vermont hiatus with plenty of drive and passion. In late 1983, the same year Greenfield was forced to close his limousine business, he started Greenfield Consulting Group, which he built into the largest qualitative marketing firm in North America.

"Being an entrepreneur is something that someone simply is. It's an organic expression of who you are. It's in your blood." Greenfield pauses and adds, "Building something from nothing. That's what it's all about."

This is the first part of a two part piece. Next week, read how Greenfield built and sold three companies in 10 years. The Colgate Entrepreneur is a new column that profiles Colgate alumni who have taken the road less traveled and started their own businesses. If you know an innovator or entrepreneur you would like to nominate, e-mail hraymond@colgate.edu.

Life After Facebook: Forbes Profiles Peter Thiel

2011-02-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Check out Forbes cover story this week. Thiel is one of favorite entrepreneurs who is often overshadowed by well-known giants like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Although its a lengthy article, it is worth reading.

He was founder and CEO of Paypal which he sold to Ebay for $1.5 billion. He also was the first major investor in Facebook, giving $500,000 to the unproven social network in exchange for a seat on the board of the directors and 3% stake now worth $1.5 billion (his lucky number I guess). While his most recent venture capital firm has struggled lately, his other firm invested early in YouTube, Linkedin, Yelp, Kiva Microloans and Tesla Motors.

His new goal is to "take civilization to the next level" by investing in some wacky but fascinating projects. For example, Thiel has donated $900,000 so far to the Seasteading Institute which aims to build floating city-states that can compete with governments of the world. In the article, Thiel says "Seasteading is the entrepreneurial way to fix government, by competing with governments rather than complaining."

For further reading on Thiel, I recommend PayPal Wars, a quick and interesting book about Thiel's sturggles in building PayPal.

10 Blogs Entrepreneurs Need to be Reading

2011-02-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Found a good list of 10 Blogs Entrepreneurs Need to be Reading compiled by "Grasslands Blog."

I especially like "Toilet Paper Entrepreneur" and "Duct Tape Marketing."

Club Sparks Interest in Entrepreneurship

2011-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Great article by Taylor Flemming on the front page of this week's Maroon-News. Flemming talked with Entrepreneurs' Club founder Bharadwaj Obdula Reddy and discusses the growing impact of the fledgling Entrepreneurs' club. I've been to a few meetings and, thanks in part to the club, there is a lot of exciting entrepreneurial activity on this campus for the first time since I've been here.

The article is copied below and here is the link. We hope to get Reddy writing for the blog soon.

Colgate's liberal arts program generates well-rounded students with backgrounds in diverse disciplines. Yet, at times, this broad focus can take away from important specialization in certain areas of study or even rewarding career paths.

Specifically, Junior Bharadwaj Obula Reddy noticed that there was "nothing at Colgate for people who wanted to start their own business."

For Reddy, however, these were not just observations. He saw the opportunity to create something and, during the last semester, Reddy organized and began Colgate first-ever Entrepreneurs' Club.

Perhaps the most significant turning point for the club was when Reddy enlisted "Investing" Program Coordinator at the Center for Career Services Anne Clauss to take part in his creation. Clauss, who has a BSE from Princeton University in Aerospace Engineering, an MBA from Harvard Business School and firsthand experience with entrepreneurship, appeared to be the perfect advisor.

Bharadwaj Obdula Reddy, Entrepreneurs' Club founder
and soon-to-be contributor to the blog

Clauss even connected Reddy to a summer internship at the Colgate-associated Chenango Capital Firm. Through spending last summer at the venture firm, Reddy found himself surrounded by entrepreneurs. He learned the ropes and, by summer's end, was determined to bring entrepreneurship to Colgate's campus. After putting Reddy in touch with alumni, who continue to be outlets for potential funding for the club, and overseeing weekly meetings of the club, Clauss has continued to fill the role of advisor.

The first meeting of the Entrepreneurs' Club caught major attention on the Campus distributions list. Over 85 students attended and watched Reddy's plans for the club pour out over a powerpoint presentation. The idea was to give on-campus attention to business creation and ownership and to "provide a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs" by forming firsthand opportunities.

The opportunities of which Reddy spoke quickly became active endeavors. One such project, Alternative Food Service, was a business venture thought up and performed by the group. The idea was to buy food on credit from restaurants and even student chefs, sell to students and turn a profit. The event occurred three times in October and raised $2000 to go into an Entrepreneurs' Club account.

As meetings continued, the club became an outlet for career guidance and connections within and beyond Colgate; students who worked with the club were interested in access to alumni and networking opportunities. Thus, the mission of the group was expanded to include the club's newfound meaning as an entrepreneur-specific network. In fact, in the past semester alone, five accomplished alumni entrepreneurs gave presentations to the club.

With the first project underway, the Entrepreneurs' Club soon discovered its need for organization. During the last semester, a board was elected, which consisted of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and outreach and inreach coordinators.

This semester, the Entrepreneurs' Club hopes to grow in three specific areas: workshops on topics such as web building and franchising; continued entrepreneurial ventures and more networking opportunities. Some projects that have already been discussed include "Good 'Gate Food" which is a continuation of the alternative service; "To Your Door" which would be a campus-wide food delivery service; "Youniversity" which is a student-teaching-student initiative and "Hamiltonian," a service creating classified ads for the village and campus.

The group meets weekly and is searching for new members.

"From the multi-billion dollar Facebook to the home-baked Insomnia Cookies, someone had an idea while in college and they had access to resources that helped them turn the idea into a successful venture." Reddy said. "The Entrepreneurs' Club is that resource for you at Colgate."

Make your own path

2011-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Stumbled upon this cool photo.

Colgate Entrepreneurship Panel - Robert Johnson '94, Jay Brennan '81, John Nozel '81,

2011-01-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

Check out this Entrepreneurship web panel that was broadcast for Colgate alumni couple weeks ago. Robert Johnson '94, Jay Brennan '81 and John Nozell '81 answer questions about entrepreneurship while discussing their experience in business and venture capital.

Here are some of the topics they discuss:
- What is entrepreneurship?
- Should you start a business right after college?
- How do you raise capital for a new business?
- Do you recommend graduate school?
- Can you teach entrepreneurship?

I had the privilege of meeting these three when they visited campus. They were fun smart guys with a passion for promoting entrepreneurship in the Colgate community. They're also in the process of starting a Colgate-centric venture capital firm. Keep following this blog for much more on their ventures.

Brian Haghighi '09 starts the California Fruit Wine Company

2011-01-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

This was originally published in the Colgate Maroon-News. Here is the link to the Maroon-News website.
http://www.maroon-news.com/news/colgate-entrepreneurs-brian-haghighi-09-starts-his-own-fruit-winery-1.1921066

In the summer of 2009, just months after graduating Colgate, a still jobless Brian Haghighi attended a dinner party at the home of some family friends. As a hobby, his friends, Devin and Bobbi Lee Sission were making fruit wine.

"I had never heard of fruit wine and I wasn't much of a wine drinker in college." Hagihidi said.

The Sissions excitingly poured their dinner guests their most recent creation, a plum wine. With Haghighi's first sip, the seed for his San Diego-based California Fruit Wine Company had been planted.

"When I first drank it, I said to myself ‘This is pretty good. Why have I never heard of it? There could be real potential here.'" Hagihidi said.

Haghighi had graduated from Colgate a few months earlier without applying for a single job.

"I didn't apply for jobs out of college, partially because the market was so bad and partially because my dad had an invention that he wanted to make a business out of so I felt obligated to support him," Hagihidi said.

His 75-year old father had invented a hair brush with two handles that would pull apart in the middle in order to put a design in your hair part. It didn't take long for the younger Haghighi to have his doubts.

"It took a couple months for common sense to kick in and realize this was a bad idea." Haghighi explained, "My dad is an old guy so he's probably not the best person to be coming up with female hair products."

Haghighi abandoned the idea of selling his father's hair brush but he still wanted to do something entrepreneurial. He found it in fruit wine.

In September 2009, Haghighi returned to Colgate to visit friends and, at the same time, research the fruit wine market. Both Case Library and the world wide web had little to offer, but Haghighi was encouraged that there were so many wine firms owned and run by three people or less.

"I thought, ‘That must mean that wine is a viable business. There are so many of them that they must be making good money,'" Haghighi said, "a year and a half into it, I've learned that most wine businesses are habitually in the red."

Haghighi was still broke, jobless and had zero credit history when he started looking for capital. He soon partnered with his friends Devin and Bob Lee Sission and his brothers Alan and David to create the California Fruit Wine Company.

"Between the five of us, we started with $12,500 of capital which is nothing for starting a business," Hagihidi said.

Haghighi worked as a free-lance website designer on the side and moved home to save money.

"Living at home is not great for attracting girls but these are the sacrifices you have to make when starting your own company," Hagihidi said.

During the next year, the team, led by Brian and David, built Californiafruitwine.com, found a place for their winery, purchased wine-making equipment, continued to perfect their recipes for larger batches and endured the long permitting process. In order to stay under budget, Haghighi says he used Craigslist.com, an online classifieds community, to find industrial space and purchase cheap second-hand winery equipment.

"When starting any business you have to be resourceful and there are always going to be unforeseen setbacks but after nearly eighteen months we finally had movable and legal product," Hagihidi said.

In November 2010, the California Fruit Wine Company received their last Federal and State licences making them the first Southern California winery dedicated to making fruit wine.

Haghighi, a Political Science major, credits Colgate for teaching him to run a business.

"I learned more about running a business and the real world from my extracurricular activities than any class," Hagihidi said.

Haghighi was involved in the Christian Fellowship, Men at Colgate and Brother's Society. He recommends taking Principles of Accounting and Intro to Economics to get a business foundation but more importantly, he said: "Get involved. Start a club because extracurricular activities teach you to operate in a team with a shared mission." He added, "Colgate is not just an academic institution, it's a life preparation institution so take advantage of those non-academic aspects."

Haghighi's company now offers four varieties of fruit wine for under $15 a bottle: peach, plum, cherry and strawberry. He continues to expand his fledgling business, soon offering wine tastings and parties.

"I am wired for entrepreneurship for a couple reasons. One, I don't deal well with authority. Two, I am always more productive and happy when I do something that originates with me. I couldn't see myself doing much else."