A Great Start

We had a great start yesterday during the first meeting of the '7515 Entrepreneurs Lounge'.  9 very motivated people showed up and we even had a few from outside class. 

For those of you who could not attend, or are not sure about attending, please keep following this blog as we will be posting updates and information here; you will surprised of the talent and opportunities that will converge to the group.

Some of the things we discussed:

• Each one of us shared our background, interest in entrepreneurship, and what kind of help we can offer.   (We have background in many different areas: libraries / business research, IT, sales, marketing, engineering, HR, consulting, etc.)
  
  
• Everyone is invited to post their profiles in this blog so we all can have access to them any time.  
  
  
• We will be leveraging this blog as a communication and divulgation tool for the group, as well as posting articles, references, links, etc.  All of us are invited to write our own pieces to publish here.  Some people didn't take the class and want some guidance and reference material. 
  
  
• Most of us are interested in start-ups with a wide range of time frames (from a few months to undefined).  There was much more interest in bootstrapping than in obtaining capital via VCs or Angel investors.
  
  
• Good news: Professor Christopher Hanks, the Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at UGA's Terry College of Business, has offered his support to this initiative and we are very glad to have him involved with the 7515 Entrepreneurs Lounge.  We will be working with him in formalizing a collaboration approach.
  
  
• We proposed meeting every second Saturday of the month, from 10:00am to 12:00n.
  
  
• We still have to organize the structure of our meetings, find a few officers that will act as moderators, note takers, etc. and clearly define the purpose of the meetings. This is still an open item.
  
  
• While a major meeting is planned for every month, it is encouraged to form smaller groups that meet more often to discuss and work on your interests.  You are encouraged to form your Gang of 5.
  
  
• We want to extend an invitation to other UGA students to join this group, including undergrads, the Buckhead team and all Gwinnett.
  
  
• Non-UGA students and friends are also welcome to join.
  
  
• We will be creating a survey to learn more about the interests of the group.

Action items:

• Send me your blogger account so I can add you as an author.
  
• Create your profile with the information you want to share with others (i.e. background, interests, etc.)
• Register to this blog as follower so you get notifications with the updates.
• Write your first post about entrepreneurship.  Any topic is welcome.
• Post your suggestions about how to better organize our monthly meetings.

Post your comments anytime.

Next meeting is Saturday, December 13, 2008.   Location TBD.

See you soon.

- AG

Our First Meeting

As of Thursday Nov 10/08 I have received confirmation from 17 people interested in participating in the first meeting. The definite winner is Monday Nov 24th @ 6:00pm at the UGA campus Room 109.

I hope most of you can attend even if you didn't select Monday as one of your options. 17 people is a great start (a third of the class and I know of some others that haven't responded yet that are interested). Please invite others in the MBA program as the value of this group comes from its members.

FIRST MEETING:

When: Monday November 24th, at 6:00pm

Where: UGA Gwinnett Campus

Purpose: Establish a networking group whose main interest is Entrepreneurship.

Think about the following questions suggested by Michelle.

1. What is our entrepreneurship goal and timeframe?
   
2. What is the area of expertise we can best offer to our fellow lounge members?
   
3. What is the area we need the most help with?
   

See you all on Monday, and let's extend the invitation to our friends in the program.

Why Joining a Networking Group in Entrepreneurship

Many people probably don't need convincing why they need to be part of a networking group, yet many of us don't exercise what we know or even what we preach and become part of one. This blog and the 7515 Entrepreneurs Lounge networking group is all about making that good advise a reality - Becoming part of a networking group to grow in the exciting world of Entrepreneurship. So, why joining a networking group in Entrepreneurship? Let me give you a few reasons based on the little experience I've had as an aspiring Entrepreneur.

• Collaboration: In the past few weeks I have been exploring many different ideas for creating a new venture; I have tried doing it alone, with some friends, with family, etc. but whether you do it alone (hopefully not) or with a few more people, you still need a great deal of help and support from other like-minded people to run your ideas by, to get ideas from, or to collaborate. I have spent many hours doing research, that would only take a few minutes or 1-2 hours to discuss with someone that has the expertise I lack and that is willing to share the information with me. Most of the times they will give me an answer that is better than my half-baked research. Now, multiply that the number of different disciplines you will need when developing your venture, and this is a huge time saver. Think that you will be doing the same for them, so everybody wins here.
  


• Expand your reach:  Who doesn't have an account in linkedin or facebook, or any other social networking sites.  Have you noticed the number of second and third level contacts you have?  It takes you to hundreds or thousands.  Well, that tells you a lot about the power of virtual networking; but why not becoming part of a 'real', or in-person network that gives you similar potential (perhaps not at the same scale) but definitely more tangible and effective.  If you are looking to learn or to do a new venture, what can be better than a group that can give you immediate access to dozens of real contacts that can do something for you; again, chances are you can do something for them anyway.
  
  
• A good use of your time:  I have heard from some of my classmates that among the many changes graduation will bring to their lives, is the fact that they will have a lot of free time that was occupied by school work and classes. Why not spending the time in a constructive activity with the same level of intellectual challenge.  Spend the time identifying and idea for a venture and building on it; then join a networking group to make your endeavour more effective and successful. If you don't have an idea, join the networking group so you can develop one with the help of other aspiring entrepreneurs. 

In actuallity there are many reasons why you can benefit from a networking group like this; all you need to do is join one and discover them for yourself.

You can post comments about your expectations, what you like or not, ideas to improve the group or this site.  Anything (appropriate) goes.

In the Beginning

The 7515 Entrepreneurs Lounge is a simple idea generated from the '7515 Management - Entrepreneurship' class in the Evening MBA program in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.  Its main purpose is to serve as a medium to support a network of people interested in Entrepreneurship at any level, from those of us who want to become Entrepreneurs, to those who are experienced Entrepreneurs and are kind enough to share their vast experience, knowledge, and time with us, the aspiring ones.

If you are reading this entry, chances are you are in my Entrepreneurship class in which case I am inviting you to join and contribute your talents to this network, to continue learning, and why not to be serious about entrepreneurship.

There is a lot to gain, and little to lose. I believe there is a great chance that your talents can be matched with someone else's to be able to create something.

If you find this posting because someone passed it on to you, or simply found it on the web, chances are you are interested in this topic anyway.  You are also welcome to join us; there is much to be learned and shared.

I hope to hear from many of you.  We will be meeting regularly in a place to be determined in the Atlanta metro area.  If you can't make it, just keep in touch and contribute through this blog.