Startup Salon Recap

“Look to your left and to your right. Your peer could be the next prominent entrepreneur. I was inspired by the students there that night because a great event not only brings great opportunities to students, but also brings great students together.”

Avery Izzo, Pomona Student

During our first Startup Salon of the semester, curious students joined Miles T. Bird (CMC’13), managing partner of StoryHouse Ventures, and Randy Saaf (HMC’98), Co-founder and CEO at Play Cubed, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about startups. 

During the evening, students asked questions covering a range of topics, including creating a successful venture, gauging consumer demand, building a strong team, securing funding, and other relevant issues. Miles and Randy discussed their journeys entering early-stage startups after college, the value of AI, leveraging the internet and algorithms to one’s advantage, and, most importantly, the necessity of taking risks. Drawing on their own experiences, they reminded students, “Your whole lives, you’ve been successful because you’ve been optimizing for not failing. But with taking risks, failure is inevitable.” The nature of their success has conditioned many students to avoid risk, and undoing that mindset, they said, is crucial to thriving as an entrepreneur.

Having alums return to campus to share their stories adds an invaluable element to our students’ consideration of their own future journeys. One student said, “I never knew how powerful the alumni connection was if it wasn’t for this event. Randy just mentioning the word ‘clinic’ (Harvey Mudd’s senior project requirement) en route to explaining starting a company, creates a real connection to his past that we’re currently living.” It is powerful to hear successful professionals speak in ways that relate to students now, as it transforms their perception of the speakers from separate, isolated entities to individuals just like them, who were once in their exact position. It motivates students to create something themselves because they see that it is genuinely possible.

If you’re interested in other events surrounding leadership, entrepreneurship, professional development, and creativity, join us on the following dates:

– October 3 | The Curious Case of a Venture-Backed Company

• with Startup Lawyer Cameron Hajialiakbar

– October 15 | Green Careers Panel + Mixer

• with Johanna Teissere, the Director of Farm Program at Uncommon Good, Catherine Baltazar, the Associate Director, Advocacy & Organizing at Climate Resolve, Steven Frieson, the Chief Operating Officer at Alta Planning + Design, and Jerome Chou, the Senior Planning Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative

– November 5 | Miles Bird is back for another Startup Salon

• with CEO Josh Siegel