A note on starting something while at Iowa State University
on campus and off campus resources
If you’re reading this post and are affiliated with Iowa State University, would you mind sharing it?
As a new semester begins and Ames’ energy levels from the student population skyrockets, one theme will be consistent—ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
The perfect time to start something is as a student. If your venture crashes and burns, your original career path through your studies is still there. If your venture takes off and you’re building from Iowa, the state will benefit from and be supportive in providing you the resources to grow here. Your GPA matters less when you have a growing customer base.
ON CAMPUS RESOURCES:
1. Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship
It’s a campus wide group of people who will be your biggest ambassadors. The team can help you with any business idea. They’ll also be the ones behind most pitch competitions which award $, and the state’s best accelerator, where they pay you to work on your business.
2. A few heavy hitting individuals who move fast to help
a. Rebecca Runyon, Director of the Innovation + Entrepreneurship Academy at Iowa State University.
b. Kevin Kimle, Director of the Start Something Ag program at Iowa State University.
c. Dave Sly, Director of the Start Something Engineering program at Iowa State University.
Each of these individuals have started and scaled a business. Their advice is practical.
OFF CAMPUS RESOURCES:
1. Iowa State University Research Park
If you go through CYstarters (^the best accelerator in the state) or the Startup Factory program, you’ll meet in the Research Park. It’s a hotbed for companies looking to make a big impact in the world.
If your company is growing exponentially, you could end up with your own campus like Workiva or brand new building like Pivot Bio.
If you’re just starting out and want to be surrounded by other startups and people building things that matter, we offer coworking from our office in the Research Park. Drop us a line here. The number of startups in the space has doubled over the past year.
It’s a weekly opportunity to share what you’re working on with the community. It happens most Wednesdays throughout the year, from 8-9 am in downtown Ames at the Ames Chamber. It’s never too early to present at a 1 Million Cups. I have yet to regret presenting at a 1 Million Cups (PS they happen all across the US) and have presented at every stage of every business I’ve started. If you’re not working on something right this moment, show up as an attendee and network.
3. Me. I’m a product of the environment above. I’ve taken advantage of every program and resource possible, and I’m grateful for the opportunity that the Iowa State community gave and continues to give to me. Reach out to me at c@nebullam.com if you think I can help.
I write about what I’ve learned at OpenClayton.Substack.com.
Some of my posts that may help you the most when starting out:
a. My life as I went through Y Combinator. I’m happy to review Y Combinator applications and help you prepare for an interview. We went through it in 2019 and it was incredible.
b. Gathering around Practicality. This post contains a lot of slides from a presentation I gave. It’s practical advice that I wish I had heard about earlier in my entrepreneurial journey.
c. New risks, new rewards. You’ll hear a lot of people talk about SWOT analysis in business. There may be a better way to think about and frame what you’re working on. PS if you have a chance to sign up for Econ 334, it’s one of the best entrepreneurial classes out there
I look forward to seeing what you build for this world, from Ames.
