Overview #5

This week, a lot of the work we were doing in class had to do with preparing for our presentations next week! It was just Monday that we found out that we needed a first draft of our presentations for Tuesday, so we began furiously working.

We learned a few things after our first round. We needed to make clear what the theme was. Some people in our group touched the fact that 4A Coffee is a family business, and some touched that it would be student friendly. The connections were not smooth or clear, and there was much repetition within the presentation. 

We got some good advice from the teachers, learning what we should be emphasizing and making a point to mention. We now know what topics to avoid (made the mistake of mention a Jewish area that was not very inclusive of their new shop and heavy talk about specific numbers).

We also went down to the original 4A Coffee so we could all get the feel of what we are working on. We watched them make the drinks, and saw the in shop brewer! The customers looked very happy and loyal, some stuck around to drink their drinks there despite the fact that they don’t provide formal seating.

We used this insight to think about adding even more seating to our store. We hope to continue using the family feel, bright colors, and inviting atmosphere to have our new 4A Coffee be just as, if not more, successful as the existing one. We are working on our presentation and incorporating these personal pictures to make our store even more convincing to the panelists.

We decided to have two people work together on writing the scripts, to ensure that there isn’t repetition and the theme of the presentation is kept in line.

Overview #4

This week, my group and I reevaluated the way we have been going about selling stickers in our 200 Dollar project. Besides one exception right before break, we hadn’t done much mass selling. We made most of our profits off of walking around the library or asking our friends or teachers. After browsing the PTO website, I came across an event for junior parents to attend, and figured that would be perfect! Committed parents of active Brookline High students!

The biggest thing I learned from this (besides knowing who to sell to) was marketing. When I arrived, all three of my group members were sitting at the table, watching people pass and the event room fill up. They hadn’t sold any. I was in a good mood when I came, so I immediately started chatting with Ms. Holman. I explained what the project was for, and our different forms of advertising such as Instagram and Portraits of BHS. She was impressed with the work we had done, and bought three stickers off the bat.

More parents walked by, if the table caught their eye, I invited them over and gave a short and to the point overview of what they were and what they were for. Those who were interested in the cause or the sticker bought one, and those who weren’t hadn’t wasted much time so it wasn’t awkward for them to walk away. By the time the event started, we sold fifteen stickers! Almost as many as we sold during lunch to students, but in a third of the time.

I think this experience shows that if you are interested and invested in what you are doing, it will rub off onto other people. It also shows that doing our research on events happening close by, and the types of people who will be attending is extremely important to creating success.

Ellen Rubin

This week I spoke to a woman named Ellen Rubin. She is the CEO of a company called Clearsky. Clearsky is a business that is still in stealth mode, meaning there is a limited amount of information about the company that can be shared to the public. What I do know, is that it is a company that creates the technology for big businesses (retailers, manufacturers, banks, etc.) to manage their data storage. Ellen has informed me that their group of twenty-five plan to leave stealth mode by the second half of 2015.

Ellen’s interest in entrepreneurship came to be in college. When she was younger, she never had anything to do with things related to technology or starting companies. She began to meet people she liked who were in the entrepreneurial world, which peaked her interest to get a part time job at a startup in college. From this, she decided to go to business school and did another project with a startup, which she enjoyed very much.

Ellen graduated from business school in the 1990’s. This was before the entrepreneur craze came to be, and therefore business schools did not teach anything about being one. Business school mostly revolved around finance and corporate America. Ellen believes that her experience in business school only really helped her with her exploration of the options, and how to manage a large group of people. She believes that leadership is difficult to learn in school, and that people who build start ups lead based on their personalities.

The key piece of advice that Ellen shared with me was to think about developing advisors and mentors for yourself early, and to take advantage of this as much as possible during all different stages of needing help. Younger people often don’t admit they need assistance or guidance, but making an active effort to develop relationships with people and asking questions helps you both learn from them, and build a relationship that will incline them to want to help you in the future.

I'd like to thank Ellen for taking the time to speak with me, and offer her advice!

Lindsay Hyde

I spoke with a very experienced entrepreneur named Lindsay Hyde about her path to where she is today. From a young age, Lindsay displayed innovative qualities. She put together her elementary school talent shows, middle school clubs, and created her first startup in high school when a relative needed an organ transplant. She created a way to teach and explain the significance and importance of donating organs, and the difference it can make in peoples lives.

From there, Lindsay went to Harvard College, where she tried to become a mentor for young girls through an already existing agency. She was told that all college students were allowed to do was to intern and work in the office. When Lindsay noticed the demand of girls that required mentoring, and number of exceptional students wanting to take part in this. She took this need from both sides, and put together a curriculum and more affective mentorship program that college students could take place in.

Another way to start a successful business is to look for a need that you personally have. Towards the end of Lindsay’s time in business school, she and her husband got a dog, and realized how bad the pet care industry really is. The amount of ambiguity of how long the dog is out, if they are actually being walked, and the struggle to always need to pay in cash were some of the main issues Lindsay tried to fix. Her company is now running successfully in a large apartment complex in downtown Boston. People get alerts when their dogs are out, and can see the path that they walked along. Having a centralized person makes it easier for the front desk as well, so they don’t need to navigate handing out keys and keep track of whose dog walkers have already came for the day.

Lindsay believes that one of the problems inexperienced entrepreneurs may not notice, is that they are constantly rushing and trying to cross off things on the to do list. Taking the time to get updates on the lives of the people helping you and the people you are doing business with helps build great relationships that will hopefully help you for the rest of your career. She also believes that you need to really love the problem that you are solving. If you personally see the value in fixing the problem, you will be more motivated and interested in sticking with it and moving forward.

I would like to thank Lindsay for the insightful interview!