Sweet Home Ann Arbor!
Last week, I spent two summer-like days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, visiting the spectacular campus that is
home to the Ross School of Business.
It was a popular week to visit campus, we were told, in large
part because MBA recruiting season was in full swing and
employers had officially swarmed the campus, hosting info
sessions, conducting interviews and mingling over happy hour.
While many Ross students were busy rehearsing and sweating
over case studies, it seemed like an equal number of students
were preoccupied with something else altogether:
Entrepalooza 2013: Accelerate You.
Entrepalooza is the flagship entrepreneurship event hosted by
the Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for
Entrepreneurial Studies and the Entrepreneurship & Venture
Capital Club. It was the reason for my visit to campus along
with our very own CEO, David Klein, who was participating in
the full day of panels, lunch n’ learns and conversing about
what it means to be an entrepreneur.
Among the day’s highlights was the keynote speech given
by Adam Lilling, founder of LaunchPad LA, serial
entrepreneur and notable Ross alum.
His instruction to the room full of students and
entrepreneurs was both practical and thought-provoking.
When building a company, he encouraged us to focus on
personal strengths: “You need to recognize your
weaknesses, but focus on what you’re good at to know
where to fill the gaps.” He also offered his view of what makes a successful entrepreneur:
“Entrepreneurship is being better at execution, not ideation. If you have an idea, you can guarantee 10
others have the same one so it all ends up being about who does it better.”
In closing, Lilling spoke about the importance of taking care of your relationships, nurturing them, and
keeping perspective on how people figure into your success. While this is perhaps a more widely
applicable teaching, its importance and relevance certainly resonated with this audience of
entrepreneurs.
If our experience was any indication, it seems like the people in the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital
Club Club and the broader Ross community are on the right track when it comes to building and
maintaining strong relationships.
David and I visited Ross for the first time back in March and we were fortunate to be invited back for
Entrepalooza, an event that primarily drew speakers from within the Ross family.. David and I felt right
at home, nonetheless, and that has everything to do with the welcoming entrepreneurial community at
Ross.
Be sure to check out this video of the “Pathways to Entrepreneurship” panel:
http://rossmedia.bus.umich.edu/rossmedia/Play/6e5915bd517746c9862efcf642e9d4cb1d?catalog=772
edeb8-eab4-4853-b36a-24035b9bfe1c
Featured panelists (from left to right): David Klein, CEO, CommonBond; Nora Schultz, CEO, Naturally
Nora; Rich Sheridan, CEO, Menlo Innovations LLC; Justin Adams, CEO, AlertWatch;; Moderator: Jeffrey
Schroeder, Ross School of Business ’14
CommonBond team & Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital club at the pre-Entrepalooza Happy Hour!