Give 'em the business

Brown's first entrepreneurship forum draws 120

Six Brown alumni who make their living as entrepreneurs shared some how-tos with 120 Brown faculty, students and alumni at Brown's first Entrepreneur Forum Feb. 28, organized by the offices of Alumni Relations, Career Planning Services and the Brown Annual Fund.

Between the panel discussion and smaller group sessions, the moderator, panelists and commentators use great energy and candor in offering a variety of practical suggestions. Here is a sampling:

• "Seek poverty. There is no such thing as the MasterCard police." Tom Scott '90, one of Nantucket Nectars' "juice guys," told the audience not to start a business for any reason besides a love for what you do. Scott recalled fellow classmates buying new sports cars while he lived in his car. He described youth as a time when people can devote all their energies to projects they are passionate about without some of the other responsibilities that may come later in life.

• "If you want someone to give you money, tell them they're going to get a boost in the New York social scene." Independent producer and director Toni Kotite '85 gave advice about fund raising in the arts and the importance of identifying not only the type of environment the audience and staff want, but also what contributors want, then using all one's energy to create it.

• "The real job is to sell your ideas again and again." Success evaded screenwriter Chris Brancato until he started writing scripts for shows he would want to see, not what he thought the audience wanted to see. With that realization, persuading people to use his material and buy his ideas were much easier, he said.

• "When we were at Brown, the business world was likened to the Third Reich." Tom First '89, the other "juice guy" from Nantucket Nectars, remembered an attitude that, despite events such as the Entrepreneur Forum, still lingers among Brown students. However, implicit in what many of the panelists said was that they didn't start their businesses for any reason other than personal satisfaction, and part of that satisfaction has included fair treatment for their employees.

• "Entrepreneurship is a contact sport." Professor Andy van Dam, a faculty member who participated in the forum, made certain students realized that starting a business is very hard work, and only one in ten entrepreneurs succeeds.

• "Everyone is capable. This is not rocket science." Reassuring news from "juice guy" Scott, who lived in his car but found success by following his instincts and refusing to take no for an answer.

• "Marry someone with a job." Advice from "accidental entrepreneur" Eric Goetz '71, who used half his wife's salary after graduating from Brown to purchase a warehouse in which to begin his custom boat building company.

• "Simplest ideas are often the best." Having great ideas, as well as logical ones, has made Liz Hamburg '86 very successful. She brought Nintendo to the United States and cellular phones to Russia.

• "People say we're flexible, but we're so disorganized no one knows the difference," said Professor Barrett Hazeltine, a faculty member who participated in the forum. He explained the value of a Brown education and the way students learn persistence: If someone tells you no, ask someone else.

• "The three P's: passion, persistence and paranoia." - Van Dam, summarizing the driving forces that combine into "brutally hard work" and lead to successful businesses.

• "The new three P's: passion, persistence, paranoia and bullshit." - Moderator Len Schlesinger '72, adding to Van Dam's formula for being a successful entrepreneur.