Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

How to Win Princeton Pitch 2013

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To win the Princeton Pitch competition, you have to explain the value of your idea, the market for it, and the business plan – all in 60 seconds. And if you could do all of that, you still have to have the best idea.

Princeton Pitch, a program of The Princeton Entrepreneurship Club, held its third annual event in Dodds Auditorium last night. Thirty-three aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their plans, some just mere ideas, and some already in execution to standing room only in homes of winning first prize of 1K. A panel of six (mainly VCs) judged the competition. Continue reading →

An Interview with Entrepreneurs Stefan Cordiner and Blake Wittman

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Recently, I had the opportunity to Skype with CEO Stefan Cordiner and COO Blake Wittman of Lime&Tonic, a startup that culls the best restaurants and activities from some of the world’s “coolest cities” to provide exclusive experiences to their members. Launching in Prague in early 2011, Lime&Tonic has since rolled out locations in Sydney, Dubai, London, Slovenia, and Rio de Janeiro. Cordiner and Wittman, who display the kind of ease with one another that’s reminiscent of childhood friends, talk candidly about what it’s like to run a startup.

Tell me about Lime&Tonic.

SC: We like to say internally that we’re saving the world from boredom. What this really means is that we spend our days finding cool things to do – unique events and social experiences for our members. We’re always seeking the “wow factor” in the experiences Continue reading →

An Interview with Princeton University Sophomore and Entrepreneur Shubhro Saha

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This interview is with Shubhro Saha, a Princeton University sophomore and entrepreneur who co-founded Panther Logic, a company which makes “competitor-tracking dead-simple.” A graduate of Tigerlabs startup accelerator, Saha is running his company while pursuing a major in operations research and financial engineering.

What did you did in high school aside from academics?

I did the student council and the debate team. Our school would go to national teams, so I had the great opportunity to debate internationally as well.  In student council, I was president my final year and that was a great amount of work, but it was incredibly fulfilling. Continue reading →

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught in the Classroom? 4 Entrepreneurs Weigh in

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Recently, I contacted some entrepreneurs to weigh in on whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught in the classroom. Before I let you know what these entrepreneurs have to say, I’m going to tell you about Cliff Oxford. Up until yesterday, I had never heard of Oxford. But during my morning perusal of the NYT, I spotted Oxford’s first post on the You’re the Boss Blog in the Small Business section. And it just so happens that Oxford addresses the can-entrepreneurship-be-taught issue in his post.

Oxford, who started his career working for United Parcel Service, writes that earning his MBA helped him to create his “own business, an information technology company, STI Knowledge, in 1995.” By the way, STI was quite successful financially speaking. Continue reading →

Interview with Social Entrepreneurs Arielle Sandor and Christine Blauvelt

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Christine Blauvelt and Arielle Sandor after pitching at the New York Stock Exchange.

Today’s jobtalk is with two up-and-coming social entrepreneurs, Christine Blauvelt and Arielle Sandor. Blauvelt and Sandor’s startup, DUMA, was inspired after they both spent time in Kenya working on their senior theses. Blauvelt, who majored in anthropology, studied HIV/AIDS in the Muslim community. Sandor, a history major, studied how community theater works to educate high-risk communities.

DUMA addresses unemployment in Kenya by connecting employers with qualified employees through a cell-phone based job-networking service. This month, Blauvelt and Sandor leave for Kenya to grow DUMA. Continue reading →

Are You Ready to Be An Entrepreneur? Rethink Diving In Headfirst

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If you’ve read Tim Ferriss’s popular book The Four-Hour Workweek, you’re familiar with the concept of seeking independence in your work, being in control of your time, working remotely, and then using your free time to indulge in things you love.

Independent, footloose and fancy-free, risktaking. That may be the popular profile of a self-made entrepreneur, but it’s not the only one. In 2012, the word “entrepreneur” almost Continue reading →

Gen Z: To Find Work That You Love You Have to Stay Out of Debt

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It’s always easy for older generations to focus on what’s bad about the generations that come after them, but as Pam Majumdar suggests in her post last Friday, Gen Z’s predecessors might also benefit from taking some pointers from them.

For all of Gen Z’s downsides – poor social skills and boundaries to name a couple – they Continue reading →

Interview with Brand-New Princeton Graduate, James Smits

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James Smits sitting in front of the Tiger Inn.

Today’s jobtalk is with James Smits, a brand-new college graduate who works at TigerLabs, downtown Princeton’s first co-working space for emerging start-up companies. Smits joined TigerLabs this past February to help coordinate and oversee its first summer accelerator program for college students, which is housed in the Tiger Inn.

Title: Program Director

Education:

B.A. Economics and Certificate in Environmental Studies, Princeton University, 2012

Age: 21

How did you get involved with TigerLabs?

I know a lot of people in the entrepreneurship community at Princeton. I worked for a start-up last summer, and I realized that is where I wanted to be – involved with start-ups. A buddy of mine connected me to Bert, who’s one of the co-founders of TigerLabs. He knew that Bert was looking for someone to fill a program director position at TigerLabs. At that Continue reading →

Jeet Banerjee Interview

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Today’s jobtalk is with the teen entrepreneur, Jeet Banerjee. At 19, he’s already sold his first business and launched his first startup, StatFuse, an online tool to help students manage the daunting college admissions process. On top of it, he’s pursuing a college degree. Think he’s busy!

Title: Co-Founder of StatFuse, Former CEO of JB Media Force

Education:  B.A. Business Marketing, California State University, Fullerton, anticipated 2014

Age: 19

How did you get the idea to start your first business, JB Media Force?

My father has his own software company and I learned a lot from the time I spent there. While I was in high school I worked there, but I didn’t like working under someone and being told what to do. I had spent so much time in his office that I thought I could do some of the things that he did. So I said to my dad, “You know, I’d like to try to do something on my own and see where it takes me.” That’s how it all began. Continue reading →

Quotes from Conversations About Real Jobs with Real People

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Quotes from conversations about real jobs with real people that inform, inspire, and entertain. Check ‘em out!

Sure, I think the public has a lot of misconceptions, just like I probably have a misconception that everyone who works at Google is eating free sushi and jumping on trampolines all day. In reality, blogging is a labor of love, and I think any blogger will tell you that. - Writer and Blogger B. from stfuparentsblog.com Continue reading →