Several Hamilton entrepreneurs gathered to share lessons and stories of their business ventures with fellow Hamilton alumni. Panelists included: Gretchen Grad '85, Blake Darcy '78, Jennifer Morris K'72 and Michael Gruen '06, and the panel was moderated by Nathana Josephs '80. Each of the panelists shared their lessons in entrepreneurship.
Gretchen Grad is the founder of the non-profit organization Hands of Peace, a unique interfaith program that brings Palestinian, Israeli and American teens together for dialogue and friendship. Grad realized how important it was to ensure the continuation of her organization. She knew that many of her ideas about where she wanted to take the organization were stored only in her head, so she began to “document and delegate.”
Grad suggested that all entrepreneurs write down job descriptions, a mission statement and future plans for their organizations. She said, “Find good people who are just as passionate as you about what they are doing and then trust them.” While delegating tasks to others was challenging for Grad at first, it ultimately helped her organization grow.
Michael Gruen ’06 is one of Hamilton’s youngest entrepreneurs. He is the CEO of LexMachine.com, a website used to quickly generate human-readable legal documents. He also co-authored Twitter for Dummies. When asked about the best way to stay in business, Gruen said, “Recognize the risks of your business - the competitors, the unknowns, and the market externalities - and figure out how to best mitigate them.”
Jennifer Morris K’72 is the founder of LocaWatt Solutions and Image Engineering Corporation. She shared her insights with the audience about how to raise capital to start a business. Morris noted, “As entrepreneurs, the first people we ask for funding are friends and family. But, in terms of risk-reward, those are the individuals you have the most at stake with.” Not only is it the investment at stake, but also the personal relationship. Instead, Morris suggests that entrepreneurs be more strategic about how they go about getting seed funding for their organizations.
Blake Darcy ’78 is a pioneer of online commerce. In 1988, he launched one of the first and most successful online brokerage firms, DLJdirect. Currently, he is the co-founder and CEO of Formula Investing, LLC.
Darcy commented on why “bad times” are actually great times to start a business. For one, when times are uncertain, large corporations often cut back spending on innovative products and services. Thus, it is easier for smaller companies to enter the market. Darcy also noted that when unemployment rates go up, start-up companies are able to hire top talent that they would not otherwise have been able to attract.
He did note one downside to starting a business in a bad economy: the challenge of obtaining credit. If entrepreneurs can overcome the funding hurdle, then starting a company in a down economy can be a smart decision. Darcy ended by saying, “People may tell you that the business you want to start is a bad idea. But sometimes, you just have to ignore them and go for it anyway.”
The panel was sponsored by the Hamilton Venture Network, an organization designed to connect and support entrepreneurs in both non-profit and for-profit projects.
by: Melissa J. Kong
