Matthew Witheiler, principal at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, encouraged the young entrepreneurs in the room to do three things if they wanted to start a business: get a co-founder, talk to their customers and “fake it.” He admitted entrepreneurs have the natural tendency to not fully disclose what they’re working on, because they’re scared that someone will steal their ideas. His response to that? “Odds are that your secret sauce isn’t that secret.”
Witheiler and Michael Greeley, a general partner at Flybridge, attended last night’s Startup Supper at Harvard University, speaking to a room of 60 students from schools across campus, including Harvard Business School, Harvard Law and the undergraduate program, Harvard College, among numerous others. Held at John Harvard’s and hosted by the HBS Startup Tribe, the event was designed to provide a small group setting in which like-minded students could learn more about one another, collaborate on startup ideas and receive feedback from others with a background different from their own.
What I watched unfold was fascinating, as I hopped from table to table introducing myself and asking the students what it was that exactly brought them to the event. One attendant responded, “I want to start a startup, but I don’t even know where to begin.” Another was there to share his expertise on all that he’s learned through his travels.
I listened to one student, currently in the midst of receiving her Master’s, give advice to an undergraduate just trying to get his first business off the ground.
“Well, it sounds like you have two ideas going on here,” she said to him, as he continued to talk through his process.
I met a sophomore who’s already started his own business that already has 1,400 customers, and another who's working on a diabetes ulcer prediction insole that could help save those at risk of leg amputation.
I was blown away. I kept catching myself saying, “Cool! That is so cool!” (Eloquent, I know.) I didn’t know what else to say, though. Here were 60 different entrepreneurs, all sitting under one roof, just casually talking about all that they’ve accomplished so far over plates of nachos and glasses of beer.
Everyone shared their “secret sauce.” Because, yes, no one’s secret sauce is really that secret, and I think those in the room would agree. Why wouldn’t anyone want to clue people in and get them to add some sort of additional flavor to their brand new business?
When I left, I felt like I had 60 new story ideas in my notebook. I also felt a little annoyed, wondering, “Why aren’t the other schools doing this, and, if they are, why haven’t I been invited?” Last night’s Startup Supper was a brilliant idea. It wasn’t the same old panel or conference. The conversations didn’t feel forced.
Over the course of the last two months, I’ve gone from knowing diddly about startups to, at least, being able to hold a conversation. But I’ve opted to go to student-run events like this one yesterday, because I know I’m guaranteed to leave feeling inspired. Whenever I say that, I feel a bit cliche, but there’s so much “cool” stuff out there. There are so many ideas, so many resources and so many people who just have no idea what it is these students are working on. Where’s all the support?
“The people who start a business, are the people who really help push the economy,” said Li Sun, a second year graduate student who’s studied at MIT, Harvard and in Singapore.
Could any of us really have said it better?
Omar Restom, a 2012 HBS student and co-founder of Vaiad, helped coordinate the event, saying, “It’s important to have events like this because it’s much easier to make meaningful connections in a tight knit setting like our small group dinners, as opposed to ‘cold’ networking events like conferences, where you connect with folks on a superficial level and it’s completely random.”
Each table in the room was carefully orchestrated, bringing together students from varying backgrounds, while in similar fields, but from across the Harvard schools.
“These dinners are just the beginning of cross-pollination among the schools that’ll bring our communities closer to one another,” Restom said. “And when Harvard students of varying backgrounds form relationships and work together, great things happen, especially great startups.”
So, who’s next? Which school is going to share their secret sauce?
