WE16 - Starting a Company in College
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Erin Winick provides advice for starting a company while still in college. She discusses finding an idea, making time for a startup while balancing schoolwork, gaining support from university resources and competitions, and obtaining funding through crowdfunding, competitions, or bootstrapping. Winick shares her experience founding Sci Chic, a company combining her passions for STEM diversity and fashion. She encourages utilizing university PR, alumni networks, and social media for traction, and stresses the importance of learning from failures and small victories.
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WE16 - Starting a Company in College
- 1. Starting a Company in CollegeErin Winick
- 2. About Me: Erin Winick ■ Mechanical Engineering Student ■ 4 Summer Internships ■ Sci Chic CEO Copyright Erin Winick 2016
- 3. How can I find the… ■ Idea ■ Time ■ Support ■ Money ■ Traction
- 4. Idea
- 5. IDEA ■ Look for a problem that needs solving. Fall in love with the problem. – Look inward at your passions – Go to Hackathons and Start-Up Weekends
- 6. ■ I founded Sci Chic: The Fashionable Side of Science in October 2015 ■ Combines my loves of encouraging diversity in STEM, fashion and 3D printing
- 7. Time
- 8. Time ■ Less classes per semester ■ Be mindful of projects and exams, calls running late, etc. ■ Give realistic product lead times ■ Company growth vs school ■ Use down time wisely
- 9. Time It will never seem like the perfect time to start a company. There are always reasons to say no. Start now
- 10. Support
- 11. Support ■ Local/University Incubators ■ Entrepreneurship professors ■ National organizations supporting your area of tech or business ■ Maker Spaces ■ Other students
- 12. $
- 13. Crowdfunding ■ Women Startup Challenge: http:// www.womenwhotech.com/women-startup-challenge ■ Kickstarter ■ Indiegogo
- 14. Competitions ■ Project Entrepreneur: http://projectentrepreneur.org/ ■ Local pitch competitions ■ Look to your business schools for business plan competitions
- 15. Bootstrapping ■ Sell an MVP and use the money to fund your growth ■ Make your product as cheaply as possible to get the idea across
- 16. Traction
- 17. Traction ■ Your college PR department is your friend ■ Alumni networks ■ College entrepreneurship competitions ■ Social media ■ Reaching out to news organizations
- 20. Things Won’t Always Go Your Way ■ Move On ■ Learn ■ Don’t Give Up
- 21. Appreciate the small and big victories
- 23. Questions? Personal – Twitter: @bcofengineering – Instagram: @erinwinick Sci Chic – Scichic.com – Facebook.com/sciencechic – Twitter: @scichicnews Copyright Erin Winick 2016
Editor's Notes
- Sci Chic has grown from an Etsy store selling plastic jewelry to its own eCommerce store featured in CNNMoney, winning pitch competitions and in retail stores around the country. I am so happy to have started in college. <number>
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- The biggest thing I got from my entrepreneurship professor is that the problem is more important than the idea. -Be willing to shift and adapt your approach when the market demands it. Kodak failed because they loved film so much they ignored digital photography. You need a problem you care about so much that when your company is its all time low, you don’t even consider giving up. It needs to be a part of your soul. If you are still stumped, try hackathons and start-up weekends. These are great sources of motivated people with an entrepreneurial mindsets. See their ideas, jump on or get inspired <number>
- I had many ideas before, but this one struck me close to my passions. <number>
- You won’t want to get off calls with important people because you have to go to class. Don’t sacrifice study time because you needed to assemble 5 prototypes in your living room. Tell people an honest estimate of when you can get things to them. Better to under promise and over deliver. <number>
- This can apply to many things in life. The time to start writing a book. The time to look for job advancement. However, it if is something you want, do not let those things stand in your way. You don’t want to be saying in a year, “I had that idea! I could have been that person.” when you see a company with your idea taking off. I’ve had that experience too on vacation with my parents. Told them my idea, next day I saw a Kickstarter making thousands with the same one. I started Sci Chic during my senior year in mechanical engineering. I had no extra money. I was/am on track to get job offers from multiple past employers. However, the thing that encouraged me most to make the jump is seeing an opportunity to make a difference doing something I loved. I took only 12 credits of classes during these times. <number>
- Sci Chic has moved into a local incubator, the Selling Factory. We also have Innovation Hub and the Gator Hatchery in the community We have a local 3D printing lab that will happily help out with prototyping Gainesville community has Start-Up hour, pitch competitions. <number>
- Yes, getting investors is a possibility. I want to share some other options that might be easier to manage than doing a round of funding while still in school <number>
- -Prep. You can’t just throw one together. Announce the crowdfunding months before. Get your network on your side for the launch. -Use this as a media opportunity as well Crowdfund at the right time. <number>
- UF’s big idea compeition <number>
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- Competitions also give you PR and traction Target reaching out the people writing articles similar to yours, possibly those focused on college entrepreneurship <number>
- -Be consistent with the naming of your accounts *my mistake* -Build a personal brand on top of a company brand -Post all the time on all of them, but find your strong platform as well. <number>
- Do not be complacent Pivot if needed Expand Ask for help <number>