Lessons Learned From Being An Entrepreneur
Success, Failure, And Why It’s Good To Be A Tortoise
This weekend I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel, Successes & Failures, at The University of Maryland’s (UMD) inaugural EnTERPreneur Conference. I, along with the other alums, did our best to share some advice about the long journey that is entrepreneurship. After synthesizing the stories of scar tissue formed from past experiences, mainly in failure, I realized a central theme that inevitably leads to success — patience.
Much like Aesop Fable’s, The Tortoise and the Hare, “the race is not always to the swift.” The story is about a hare who ridicules a slow-moving tortoise. The hare leaves the tortoise behind and, overconfidently, takes a nap midway through the race. The tortoise continues to move without stopping and wins. This fable and the many stories shared at the conference is a testament that you can be more successful by doing things patiently. In this case, the tortoise symbolizes a Terp (UMD’s mascot) entrepreneur. College Park’s entrepreneurs that came before, currently building, and those that come after will find a time in their journey when they are the tortoise — And they’ll win.
The inaugural EnTERPreneur Conference was hosted by the Terp Entrepreneur Network (TEN). TEN is a UMD Alumni Association industry-focused group led together by university staff & alumni entrepreneurs to foster a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem. They intend to connect UMD entrepreneurs with a more significant network of resources, investors, and advisors. Also, to celebrate the achievements of Terp entrepreneurs and learn why UMD ranks in the top 10 entrepreneurship programs for five years in a row.
The full-day event featured an array of panels, including a keynote fireside chat with Scott Nash, CEO & Founder of MOM’s Organic Market. The moderator for my panel was Julie Lenzer, UMD’s Chief Innovation Officer, and my co-panelists included:
- Pramod Raheja, CEO & CoFounder, Airgility, Inc.
- Drew Bewick, Managing Director, Tree House Ventures
- Dan Connors, Versatile In-House Legal Leader for Digital Health, New Space, Telecom, Cyber, and Other Early Stage Companies
Below are my top themes and takeaways from my panel that I believe founders can learn a tremendous amount from, especially in how to deal with and navigate failure:
- Failures should ultimately lead to successes.
- If you have no failures, then you’re not stretching yourself.
- Overnight success can take 25 years.
- Something has to be driving you more than money.
- If you’re in it for the money, go work for wall street.
- Entrepreneurship is about playing the long game.
- Surround yourself with a team of good people.
- Believe in what you’re doing.
- Humble yourself to the data.
- Bootstrap and be customer-funded as long as possible.
- It takes, on average, $30,000 to launch a company, and the majority of minority founders don’t have that network to tap, so you have to be creative.
Entrepreneurship has many lessons that can be found in the ancient fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. One lesson is that you can be more successful by doing things slowly than by acting quickly. Moving fast and breaking things doesn’t apply to all businesses. If it feels like you’re going nowhere, keep moving forward. You just might catch the hare resting.
Thank you to all of those who made this day possible. With over 200 attendees, the EnTERPreneur Conference was the largest gathering of Terp alumni entrepreneurs in UMD history. It’s only going to get bigger! I look forward to participating in future events and contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem for many years to come.
