Early Investor Panel

One of the great thing about having a formal entrepreneurship department at your university is that there are some amazing events right on campus to help further your knowledge of startups, venture capital and more. I was lucky to attend the Early Investor Panel today, hosted by our Entrepreneur in Residence Dr. Mudge-Riley. Although right now I am not currently looking to raise any funding, learning about such an integral topic was a terrific opportunity.

Arriving a few minutes early, I was pleased to see a huge meat and cheese platter, along with some fruit and iced tea awaiting me. The session was to be from 5:30-7:00pm, so the snacks were more than welcome. I’ve always been impressed with how the entrepreneurship department always has provided food at almost every event. I sat in the back with some classmates and waited for the panelists to arrive. I knew there would be five panelists in attendance, all from different areas of venture finance - from angel investors to venture capital and a little of everything in between. I was surprised to see a friendly face once they arrive - Cole Wollack from the Geekdom Fund. He taught one of my early entrepreneurship courses as a guest lecturer so it was exciting to see him up there in a more formal role. The other panelists were Neal Vail from Progenerative Medical, Charlie Strickland from Holt Companies, Ian Clements from the Targeted Technologies Fund II, and lastly (but not leastly!) Eric Youngstrom from Shipping Easy.

The panel itself was amazing. Hearing what investors look for in a company so candidly was great. I think my strongest takeaway is how much the team matter in business. All of the panelists agreed that having a strong team was even more important that a winning idea. I also loved having such varied panelists as you could see how each had to evaluate risk and their goals differently. I also enjoyed hearing Neal discuss how changes in medical legislature have hurt the potentials of some of the companies he has invested in; his discourse was a good reminder that in business once must always consider government regulation as a risk factor.

At the end of the panel, students were able to mingle with alumni in attendance and with the members of the panel to ask questions and network. I love that Trinity entrepreneurship events always include networking time so that students can get advice about their own lives or business. I even had a friend who was able to get advice on how to secure money for their own venture. Such intimate experiences are what Trinity, and especially the small entrepreneurship department is known for that I love.

-Kylie Moden