How to graduate if you have a startup?

1. ENT REPRENEUR:
BEING A ST UDENT
AN INSIDER'S GUIDE
by Kate Kotenko Lengold

2. Hi everyone!
I am KateKAT E

3. AND MY COMPANY
ABOUT ME
A FEW WORDS
#1
A ST UDENT PRENEUR
WHY BECOME
#2
SURVIVE?
HOW TO
#3

4. CAUT ION
I have strong opinions on things
I don’t fully understand

5. INNOVAT ION
ENT REPRENEURSHIP + IT
COMPUT ER SCIENCE
MY JOURNEY
IT + PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
FOUNDER & CEO

6. SERVICES
FOR SAT ELLIT E & AERIAL IMAGERY
MARKET PLACE

9. A ST UDENT PRENEUR
WHY BECOME
#2

10. ST UDENT MAGAZINE
EARTH WORM BUSINESS
ST UDENT PRENEURS

11. MINIMUM RISK
✓ no responsibility
to take care of your family
✓ can afford to make mistakes
✓ can fail multiple times

12. FRESH VISION
✓ freshness in the way you tackle things
✓ not restricted by the norms and
standards of the industry

13. LEARN ABOUT
YOURSELF
✓ expand your horizon
✓ figure out what things you
enjoy and what things you
are good at

14. CO-FOUNDERS
✓ meet your co-
founders at
school or events
like this one
✓ time to get to
know your co-
founders.
“I’d look for the people
who are not just smart, but
incurable builders. Look for the people
who keep starting projects, and finish
at least some of them.”
- Paul Graham

15. CHANCE TO LEARN
✓ There's a lot to learn before
starting up
✓ Read online. Use Coursera.
Get the skills
✓ Find a mentor or fellow
entrepreneur and get advice

16. NET WORK
✓ senior students who
have started up
✓ professors - free
consulting
✓ alumni network

17. SPREADING
THE WORD
✓ word of mouth works really
well on a college campus
✓ getting your product known
is easier

18. SURVIVE?
HOW TO
#3

19. ST EVE JOBS LARRY ELLISON BILL GAT ES MARK ZUCKERBERG

20. ST EVE JOBS LARRY ELLISON BILL GAT ES MARK ZUCKERBERGCOLLEGE DROPOUTS
the average net worth of billionaires who
dropped out of college is about
three times more than the average
net worth of billionaires with Ph.D.s

21. It’s possible to launch a startup
from your dorm room, and still
manage to graduate

22. USE AVAILABLE
RESOURCES
✓ professor can be a mentor
✓ fellow classmates as a beta pool
✓ entrepreneurial competitions and
conferences for students access
to free tools, like the Adobe Suite,
Microsoft products

23. SET ASIDE T IME TO WORK
ON THE BUSINESS
✓ making time for your
business requires
discipline
✓ pick a day or two per week
where you and other
members of the team all
work together in the same
room.

24. SET GOALS &
EXPECTAT IONS
✓ What will it take for you and your
other co-founders to leave
school and dive in full-time to
the startup?
✓ Discuss everything ahead of
time so everyone understands
and buys into the game plan.

25. HAVE A PLAN
✓ Talk to potential customers
to validate your idea
✓ Make a simple prototype
✓ Test it
✓ Improve it
✓ Test again
✓ Repeat

26. THERE IS NO SUCH
THING AS FAILURE
✓ most people’s first business
ventures don’t succeed - it’s ok.
✓ give things a try - it the best time
to take a risk
✓ when things don't go as
planned (which is very frequent)
it's called an experience

27. now it’s time for
the most important lesson

28. HAVE FUN!

29. email: kate@imageairy.com
LET’S STAY IN TOUCH!
twitter: @katelengold
THANK YOU!