Entrepreneurial Management

Last week we made the first presentation of the business plan we are developing throughout terms 1 and 2 for our class titled Entrepreneurial Management. As the first group started its Q&A part of the presentation, we all started sweating bullets, wondering if we’d be able to answer the same questions about our business idea.

While I don’t plan on being entrepreneur for awhile, I am really enjoying the process we are completing in this class, and all the additional resources available at IE for fostering the skills to be an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. IE is really able to attract not only quality speakers, but also quality collaborators. I could list names, but that would take too many paragraphs to include in this blog.

Yesterday afternoon, for example, IE put on a speaker event featuring successful investors and entrepreneurs. I liked that the group of speakers included a mix of backgrounds and a mix of businesses.  The IE professors moderating the event noted how successful entrepreneurs often become successful investors, showing how the potential career path of a future entrepreneur might develop.

Here’s a few quotes from the speakers I found inspiring and/or useful:

“They (entrepreneurs) have the greatest potential to drive, change, and positively influence economies and societies.”

- Christopher Pommerening, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Active Venture Partners

“When you’re starting a business, you need everyone to be committed 150%, and to do that, you need them to be happy.”

- Joshua Novikk. CEO & Founder of Antevenio

“Where are we going and why do we want to get there?”

- Jose María Castillejo. CEO & Founder of Zinkia Entertainment

The last quote refers to motivation. It may seem obvious or easy to determine, but as I’m sending out my resume to companies for summer internship opportunities, I am constantly asking myself, what is my mission? What exactly do I want to achieve? And how can I do so with this company? One might be tempted to say that this is even more important when you’re risking your capital and future on your own venture, but to make change, become a leader, having a mission and motivation is key to develop your strategy. I am finding that the more I learn in the MBA, and the more subject matters I explore, and the more people I meet, it is becoming harder to define my specific mission as my brain is stimulated by all the different options. What I’m trying to do now as I prepare for an eventual internship interview is to remember my story, my background, and how I can leverage that to be productive in the business world.

Right now, I’m sitting in an event put on by the Entrepreneurship Club called “Pitch to Your Peers.” The club is hosting a series of events that mirrors the process every entrepreneur goes through. Again, I am inspired. And again, I am eager to figure myself out and to be on the stage.