Young Entrepreneurs, GEN Yers have always fascinated me. When I was in my 20’s the only thing I wanted to be was president of IBM- I never dreamed of being in my own biz until 10 years later.We featured today young entrepreneurs and the businesses and personal challenges they face…and why the heck challenge yourself so much early in your career. Are Gen Y-ers better at entrepreneurship because they have grown up in chaos?
My first guest is one of my favorite GEN Y entrepreneurs- I have always loved the rawness of his enthusiasm. Matt Wilson graduated Bryant University with a clear goal of starting his own business. While in school, Matt led Bryant University to becoming the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization of the year and became National Student Leader of the Year. After moving home he realized there was a lack of smart, innovative, and ambitious people to communicate with. This is where he began to realize the need to bring all these people together who also decided the corporate happy hour wasn’t going to be good enough. Wilson decided to bring these people together on the virtual level and founded Under30CEO.com and HelpAnEntrepreneur.com (HAEO) Newsletter to keep all entrepreneurs informed of upcoming business events. We discussed how he does not worry if he fails- he will still be young and broke!
1. Getting passionate about what you “do”.
2. Generation Y being forced into corporate America.
3. Entrepreneurial education: Never Stop Learning.
4. Helping every entrepreneur on the planet.
My next guest was Nina Beckhardt, President and Creative Director of NYC-based brand naming agency Namebase. A self-described creative solutionist, Nina has led naming projects for top clients including Southwest Airlines, Unilever and Puma. Seh told me how her founder (and personal mentor), James Singer, passed away but appointed her to continue running the business. Many thought that Namebase might flop without James at the helm and with the current economic climate. We talked about:
1. Leading a small company successfully in the face of an economic downturn. Also, leading a company as a woman.
2. The importance of learning on the fly, from experience combined with having a base level of innate business savvy.
3. Importance of having the right mentors and knowing that people have faith in you.
Colin Day, President & CEO of iCIMS has made significant contributions to the Human Resources industry throughout his career. After graduating from Cornell University with a Psychology degree, he kicked off his career at Comrise Technology, a NJ-based IT staffing firm. He saw the marketability of their internally developed recruiting software and, with the help of a loan from Comrise, re-developed that software into the Talent Platform, a web-based HR technology platform, and created iCIMS, Inc. For this success, Colin has been recognized by Human Capital Magazine for the Future HR Leaders Award, presented to significant HR contributors under the age of 30, NJBIZ’s Forty under 40, Ernst & Young’s 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year, FAST MagazinesReader’s Favorite for their Fast 50 awards for forward-thinking business leaders.
We talked about:
1. Is an MBA and business plan critical to starting a company?
2. Understanding the limitations of a funding model.
3. Hiring quality people regardless of their experience.
4. Thrive on chaos, but remain steadfast to who your company is.
