I recently finished a semester-long co-op and have decided to spend the summer starting a new tech company with another student from Duke. After careful consideration, we decided to both live at home with my parents for the summer so we can focus 100% on what we are building (more details on that later).
With the Northeastern co-op schedule, I haven’t lived at home since I graduated high school. What I am quickly discovering though is that for a bunch of 20 year olds writing cool software, living at home can be fantastic.
- It’s free! My parents know that if we end up with $millions from the company we’ll send some their way.
- Food. I’ve been cooking (attempting to cook) while living on my own for co-op, but oh man is it great to have home cooked meals every night.
- We can focus literally 100% on our company - no need to worry about bills, driving, getting furniture etc. We wake up and code.
I always hear that a potential drawback of following the entrepreneurial path is having to worry about forgone paychecks to cover cost of living. I can’t think of a more effective way to combat this at the college age then moving back home.
Bottom line for college entrepreneurs and recent graduates:
Give up your freedom and go live with your parents if it is a viable option in your family. Focus your time and energy on building something great.
Armonk Web & Computer Solutions was my first company - co-founded as freshmen at Byram Hills High School in 2004 with Jeremy Blum and Zach Lynn. The company started out providing PC support services, and later moved into deeper small business IT consulting and ultimately website development. To date, the firm has created 80+ websites for small businesses across the country. In 2008, I moved the company to Boston, MA so I could continue web development while attending Northeastern University. By operating Armonk Web, I learned a ton of lessons as a young entrepreneur:
- The customer is king - ultimate goal is to please the customer
- Web design is a great business to be in - everyone needs it - opens doors
- Develop skills that not everyone has - technical skills are highly valuable
- Learn how to speak the language - technical acronyms are everywhere
Overall, Armonk Web has been a fantastic experience for me to learn how a business works and the basics of entrepreneurship. It served me well and I enjoyed working with all of my wonderful clients. As of today, I have left Armonk Web to focus on some even more exciting opportunities on the horizon (more details coming soon!)
Last weekend I watched the Hills Have Eyes 2 on DVD. Knowing my policy on horror movies (stay away from them), this was admittedly a poor choice. That night as I stared into the blackness of my dark room and I tried to fall asleep, all I could think about was the blood thirsty mutants. As I thought about this more, I realized there is a distinct link between my mutant fear in the dark and risk management in business and entrepreneurship.
Put simply, we fear the unknown. The darkness is scary because we can use our imagination to decide what might be there. An unknown represents a risk and this induces fear. When there is light, we have confidence because we can see exactly what is going on. Unfortunately, the business and especially entrepreneurial world is one giant dark room, filled with risks with unknown outcomes.
The key to mitigating risks (and allowing yourself to fall asleep and not get attacked by desert mutants) is two fold.
- Outline potential outcomes - if (A) happens, what is the worst result? How can I plan to make it better?
- Acquire more intelligence. Analyze data, look at past examples and trends. Shed some light on the darkness.
- Suck it up and move forward - entrepreneurship is a risky business.
In many ways, entrepreneur and hacker mean the same thing. Entrepreneurs create advantage from situations and innovate to build value. They go around obstacles to figure out solutions to getting where they want to be. When I think of the leaders that I strive to work with, people with the “hacker” mentality rise to the top.
