Exposure to Entrepreneurship:
A major part of my exposure to entrepreneurship involves one of my dad's best friends, Bill Gurley. Mr. Gurely and my dad became friends when they attended UF together and our families have been close ever since. He is a partner at Benchmark Capital and a venture capitalist. Though I am obviously not involved in any way in his investments with startups, I love hearing about the different projects that he has worked on with entrepreneurs that have become successful today. It's amazing to me how a simple idea can become such a hit--Uber, GrubHub, and Zillow are just a few of some investments he has led. A couple years ago my parents were talking about "taking an Uber" and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about... they said, "give it a couple months and all of your friends will know what Uber is." They couldn't have been more correct. Though Mr. Gurley and Benchmark invested in this particular startup, none of it would be possible without the entrepreneurs behind the idea.
Why I Took ENT3003:
I chose to take this class because entrepreneurship has always been an extremely interesting topic to me. I haven't had any groundbreaking ideas myself, so I really admire those who can come up with a good/service/idea that doesn't already exist. I also admire the amount of risk that entrepreneurs take in their careers. It truly shows how passionate these people about their ideas. I hope that by the end of this course I have learned all about the process of turning an idea into a reality!
Uber is a such a big hit now. It's amazing you know one of the investors in the company. I think the investors are just as important as the entrepreneurs. Without the investors, the entrepreneurs idea wouldn't have been more then an idea. It's great that you were able to grow up seeing these major companies start off as just ideas. I think it's great you admire the entrepreneurs and investors.
ReplyDeleteThat is fantastic that you have such a wealth of entrepreneurial knowledge at your close disposal! That will no doubt serve you well at some point. I was also extremely pleased that this course was being offered over the summer. I absolutely despise the summer semester being split in half and it is nice to have at least a portion of my course load be at a normal pace. Shark Tank has also been a major contributor to taking the class.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with you. it amazes me as well how simple the idea can be but if it solves a need society will latch on and run with it. one of my favorite example is silly band who would of know that making colorful rubber bands into different shapes and advertising them as collectible and traddable would be the idea that made millions of dollars! its great to know you have that source of inspiration so close to home. i myself am really excited for this class and what well learn as far as bringing an idea to life. i wish you the best of luck.
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