Get Herald RSSDozens of students filled the third-floor lobby in the Center for Information Technology last Thursday evening to munch on pizza and meet each other - and to discuss ideas that may someday become the next MySpace. Thanks to Startup Dinner, a series of events sponsored by the Slater Technology Fund, computer science students have a new outlet to explore entrepreneurship.
Scott Norton '08 and Chris Ordonez '07 came up with the idea for the informal evening sessions because they wanted to give students a space to share and hear brief pitches on ideas for startup businesses by fellow Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students and alums. Though this first meeting featured just five pitches, Ordonez said he and Norton plan to bring more ideas to future meetings - as well as guest speakers, such as the entrepreneurs behind well-known startup companies.
The goal of the event, Norton and Ordonez said, is to encourage Brown students to pursue original entrepreneurial careers after graduation rather than taking the traditional recruitment path. Norton and Ordonez - who are forming their own online startup, Havadot - cooked up the idea for Startup Dinner after spending the summer in Silicon Valley, where they attended numerous pitch-and-mingle events. Norton said through their dinners, they hope to recreate the energy of Silicon Valley on College Hill.
Norton and Ordonez also hope to match students with different talents in possible collaboration projects. They extended an invitation to RISD students in an effort to combine the "back door" aspect of technology with the "front end" of art and design, according to Ordonez.
"The important thing here is that we're connecting Brown to RISD," Ordonez said. "We're connecting talent to technology."
Several computer science students, including Jonathan Rhone '08, attended the event simply to hear about the field of startups, although Rhone said he will probably pursue a more traditional path.
"Brown doesn't do a lot to encourage kids to do startups," Rhone said. "The push is mostly for them to get recruited by big companies."
Speakers and students alike echoed Rhone's thoughts throughout the evening. CS concentrator Jason French '08 focused part of his pitch on the need for University students to get back to the spirit of innovation, a sentiment he feels is lost among recent graduates.
"The majority of CS kids are very comfortable being hired by companies like Google," French said. "What surprises me is that I don't see a lot of students saying, 'Hey let's start something new.' I see a lot of kids playing it safe."
French pitched his own startup idea, Fantasy Hip Hop, at Thursday's dinner. The online video game, which he created last winter, follows in the tracks of fantasy baseball, with users building their own record companies featuring the artists of their choice and competing against other users.
French was the runner-up of the Brown Entrepreneurship Program's Business Plan Competition last year. Fantasy Hip Hop currently has around 14,700 users, French said, adding that he plans to continue to manage Fantasy Hip Hop while working for Apple next year.
But not all the pitches were for entertainment Web sites: Douglas Campbell RISD'02 is in the process of launching FolioHub to help artists market their work.
The Web site will let artists create portfolios to showcase and sell their work, rather than go through an individual contractor at higher expense and inconvenience. Campbell began working on the startup in 2005 after creating many individual portfolios for artists that he thought could be simplified.
Campbell's advice to other nascent entrepreneurs is to find work that will make them feel good: He said FolioHub elevated him on a "spiritual level" because of the help he is able to provide artists.
"Do something you believe in, not just for the projected income," Campbell said. "Know the value of your own time, what you're good at and also what you need help with."
The speakers also stressed the importance of the undergraduate years. Speaker Matt Gillooly '04 commented that his work in CSCI 1900: "Software System Design" helped him and his partners continue with their startup after graduation. His first startup, East Transit Technologies (EastTransit.com), was born in the spring of 2004 when four students stayed together to complete a class project after graduation. Three of the original four students, including Gillooly, went on to create a second startup called Public Display (PubDisplay.com).
"Brown's role in the undergraduate role is amazing. We retained full ownership, which meant that there was nothing to stop us from taking off (with our idea) and running with it," Gillooly said.
The speakers emphasized starting the collaboration while students are still at school. Henry Shepherd '08 said the inspiration for his startup came from his undergraduate experiences. His Web site, which will be called University Commons, will give students a space to connect with each other and publish media of all kinds, Shepherd said. Shepherd described the project as a space for people to publish media along the lines of "student research journals."
Shepherd's pitch for his startup echoed the evening's overall theme.
"The goal is to help students help each other," Shepherd said.
