Thread: Entrepreneurship University Club - Suggestions

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Yeah, good topic. I'm actually trying to start one myself at the university I attend when the semester starts again.

In for ideas.

Get faculty involved. You sound like you're not a freshman, which means you have a limited amount of time to really institutionalize your group. I'm going through the same process now with my Formula SAE team. I'm acting primarily as CEO and Liaison to the University and Sponsors trying to lock down long term deals with key stakeholders. My shopping list consists of:

Guides for each subsystem
A faculty advisor who gives a shit
Bigger/Better Office space.

Things I've done:
Recruit, recruit, recruit,
Create an OFFICIAL exec board.
Get on REALLY good terms with the admins and Dean of Engineering.
Get rid of a source of drama on the team.

There's an improvement, membership is up 50% in 2 months, I've got admin approval to start approaching faculty to sign on, and our design is underway for our 2011 car.

I know this isn't directly applicable, but everything you do should have a passive motive to keep the group alive past your graduation date. You have to be "that guy" who everyone remembers as the guy who got it all back together and really did work to establish the group.

/\/\/\

Actually DVO your situation is completely applicable and you've given him some great advice.

For both of you guys- since you feel the passion to do this you need to become the "Go-To-Guy" that hinges everything together. BUT you can't be the "everywhere at everytime" guy. You need to handpick a small group of people that share your passion to help you do this and delegate responsibility. You can't do everything, you will get burned out and it will fall apart giving the naysayers more fuel to their fire. If you are going to do this you have to do it right. Pick about 3-5 people you can trust to build this idea- sit down and have meeting to prioritize what needs to happen to grow your project. Give each person an assignment based on their skills and you organize everything plus pick up the slack because at least 1 person is going to fall apart on you. Set timelines on what you want to accomplish and meet regularly to make sure everyone is on task. This is a great way for you to learn project managment.

Good Luck and keep us posted as you guys build this!

Originally Posted by Revved

/\/\/\

Actually DVO your situation is completely applicable and you've given him some great advice.

For both of you guys- since you feel the passion to do this you need to become the "Go-To-Guy" that hinges everything together. BUT you can't be the "everywhere at everytime" guy. You need to handpick a small group of people that share your passion to help you do this and delegate responsibility. You can't do everything, you will get burned out and it will fall apart giving the naysayers more fuel to their fire. If you are going to do this you have to do it right. Pick about 3-5 people you can trust to build this idea- sit down and have meeting to prioritize what needs to happen to grow your project. Give each person an assignment based on their skills and you organize everything plus pick up the slack because at least 1 person is going to fall apart on you. Set timelines on what you want to accomplish and meet regularly to make sure everyone is on task. This is a great way for you to learn project managment.

Good Luck and keep us posted as you guys build this!

See "Official Exec Board." I'm just that guy at the top that puts his feet up on the desk and says yes or no, hahaha. (I actually do more than that, but you get the point)

I got brought on board because some people within the University realized they'd be hosed on a couple academic/software projects without a Formula SAE team. They don't want the team to die.