Entrepreneurial Summit | Dorm Room Biz

Nov

Land The Freaking Plane Already

Written by Chris on November 26, 2008 – 9:56 am -

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Photo Credit to Danoots

While at the Entrepreneurial Summit at Radford University in October, I had the chance to meet a group of amazing entrepreneurs who are Radford alum. I also got the opportunity to have dinner with a few of them. As things got going and people started talking, of the people at the table made a comment about having older people as a mentor or on your Board of Advisers. As talk went on, many of the people at the table, some entrepreneurs and some professors continued to go back to this point about having older business people as mentors and providing insight into problems you might not foresee. Now, to me, getting advice from someone older and more experienced in the field or industry that you are in just seemed like the most obvious thing you could do. Whether you needed help, assistance, advice, or just wanted to chat - an older business person who has been through the rungs and been successful (or not) will continue to be a great influence and adviser to you. Listen to what they have to say and their advice will come in handy.

So, anyway…back to the point of the post. One of the people at the table was John Signorello who is the Chairman and CEO of a company called IceWeb which deals in mostly online data storage. At 40 years old, John is the youngest on his companies Board. Anyway, back to the point, again.

John told a story about why he likes having older people or ‘the grey hairs’ on his B.O.A. Now, without actually meeting John, you will have to believe me when I say that he is a very outgoing and charismatic person. Some might even say a little crazy. So one of his board members said to him “John, when are you going to land the plane?” and then continued with something to the effect of how he was great at the business and the marketing and how he is full of ideas, energetic, and excited, yet the plane hasn’t landed.

I absofuckinglutely love this. ‘Land the plane’ is probably one of the simplest lines I have heard in a long time about getting business done and it can be so universal. Land the plan could refer to the next staff meeting you have, the next cold call you make, the next presentation you make to a VC, or over the next week, month, 6 months, or a year. Landing the plane also goes for anything outside of business like your school work or education, the project your working on, the research you have been putting off. ANYTHING that you are working on can be LANDED. It’s just a matter of stopping the bullshit, grabbing the wheel, and landing the plane!

When are you going to land your plane? Now is the time, stop waiting around for someone to guide you in, do it yourself!

Tags: Entrepreneurial Summit, john signorello, land the plane, radford university
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Motivation, Rants / Random | 1 Comment »

Nov

Entrepreneurial Summit Wrap Up

Written by Chris on November 4, 2008 – 7:16 am -

I got back Tuesday night (last week, I am a little behind on getting this posted) to Maryland from The Entrepreneurial Summit at Radford University. This was the second time that the annual summit had been held on campus. The first time was in October 2007 which I created, planned, and executed. The Summit definitely had a different atmosphere this year, but you always recognize that when you are not heavily involved in planning something. You’re on the sidelines enjoying the show rather than worrying about every little detail. So it was nice to be more of an attendee than the organizer.

However, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs club and the College of Business and Economics at Radford did an excellent job of putting the event together which included 2 rounds of 90 second elevator pitch competitions, 3 guest speakers (each speaker had 2 sessions) and a luncheon with a keynote speaker. For full details on the agenda for the summit, you can check the website.

Two of the speakers I was extremely impressed by - both RU graduates - Brian Cork and John Signorello. These guys have stood the test of time in the entrepreneurship race and have been incredibly successful in their ventures…and incredibly unsuccessful in others. However, their experiences, attitudes, and knowledge has helped them be very successful business people. They both had a lot of great points to make in their presentations and over the next week or so I will be touching on a few of them in posts and in videos.

One of the cool things that did happen this year, was that one of the local TV stations in the area picked up the story and broadcast a quick segment in the morning on Tuesday before the Summit events picked up again. The video wouldn’t embed right, but you can see it here.

Also, here are a couple pieces of press/mentions that the Summit got. I am sure over the next few days and week there will be more including the Radford University student newspaper, and more. I’ll update the post as I come across them.

Tags: Brian Cork, collegiate entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Summit, radford university
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Events/Conferences, Motivation, Networking, Reviews, Website Updates / News | 1 Comment »

Oct

Radford University Holds Second Annual Entrepreneurial Summit, Oct 27-28

Written by Chris on October 24, 2008 – 12:00 pm -

A little over a year ago, I was blogging a lot about the Entrepreneurial Summit that I was planning at Radford University. Well, it is happening again! I know I am a little late on putting this out there, but here is the information for it anyway.

I laid a good enough foundation with my planning efforts and ability to get people involved that this years will definitely be better than last and I hope that trend continues year after year. I plan on going back for the summit as long as it continues. It’s almost like a Homecoming, right? I mean this is about the same time that most schools have their Homecoming.

If you are in the Radford, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, or Roanoke area on Monday or Tuesday, then I STRONGLY encourage you to try to attend the Summit at Radford University. The event should be great. If you happen to go - get at me via Twitter @chrispund and we can meet up.

Here are the details from the RU press release that went out yesterday:

RU Hosts Second Annual Entrepreneurial Summit,
Popular Elevator Pitch Competition Returns

RADFORD – Last year, Radford University students from a variety of majors gathered in Hurlburt Auditorium to participate in a highly spirited elevator pitch competition. The objective was to present a 90-second pitch to a panel of successful entrepreneurs. The winner of the competition, an interdisciplinary studies major whose innovative idea to sale ads on school buses in order to generate funds for the education system, walked away with a sizeable award. This year, the popular event returns as part of the second annual Entrepreneurial Summit.

The summit, which is hosted by SunTrust, RU’s College of Business and Economics, and RU Collegiate Entrepreneurs, will be held Monday, Oct. 27-Tuesday, Oct. 28. The mission of the summit is to provide entrepreneurial-minded students the ability to learn from successful executives and entrepreneurs.

****

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, workshop presentations will feature Angela Drummond, Juanita Thornton, Beverly Walters and John Signorello. Brian Patrick Cork, a 1984 RU graduate who was recently named among 2008 Catalyst Top 25 Entrepreneurs in Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker as part of the SunTrust Distinguished Speaker Series during Tuesday’s luncheon. A limited number of seats are available for the event. To learn more, contact Mary Weeks at mweeks@radford.edu or 831-5382, or email rumba@radford.edu

To read the full press release and see the full run down of speakers visit the full press release here. You can also see more details at the ES website, http://www.entrepreneurialsummit.com.