If you came to Wharton with entrepreneurial inclinations, have started a company in the past and are looking to connect with other founders, or are already dead-set on skipping all your classes to get the next Warby Parker off the ground, then keep reading.
Arguably, one of the biggest challenges of founding a company at Wharton is keeping focused. With hundreds of interesting info sessions at every turn, and new and seemingly-viable career paths blindsiding you every other drunken 2am conversation, it’s easy to lose touch with the motivational core that drove you towards entrepreneurship in the first place. If only there was a place hidden from these distractions, designed especially to help you reinforce this desire with like-minded individuals…
Enter the Founders’ Retreat, put on in collaboration between Wharton students from the Entrepreneurship and Founders clubs, Wharton MBA Career Management, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, Wharton Admissions, and Venturef0rth. This year, the Founders’ Retreat was held at Venturef0rth’s space in Northeast Philadelphia, a neo-industrial shared working space full of new entrepreneurial ventures aspiring to be the next big thing. Here they work shoulder-to-shoulder while exchanging ideas and advice as they hurdle obstacle after obstacle on their respective paths to stardom. Founded by Elliot Menschik, part of the faculty at UPenn’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, Venturef0rth also provides strategic and operational support to these fledgling startups.
As around 50 slightly hungover Whartonites arrived and descended on the food – an impressive spread after a week of awful boxed lunches from pre-term – we mingled with successful Wharton entrepreneurs, 2nd years who had secured startup internships over the summer, leaders of the Entrepreneurship Club (eClub), and more. Initial conversations revealed that our group had been more carefully selected than most, and curiosity piqued as we were slowly ushered towards our seats in the main hall.
We started with short lecture by Kartik Hosanagar, one of the most respected entrepreneurship faculty at Wharton. In refreshingly frank terms he explained why startups and VC’s are skeptical of MBAs and, in some cases, why they are correct to be so. After being repeatedly reminded how awesome we all are throughout pre-term, this was a welcome dose of reality. He touched on a number of important challenges we would all face if serious about pursuing startups and offered his help throughout the 2 years for those who needed it. To get that help, however, you may have to schedule a walk home to center city from campus with him as his advice is in exceedingly high demand. Up next, a panel of either current or recently-graduated Whartonites with successful startup experience form a semi-circle in front of us and, along with Professor Fitzgerald, who literally teaches the class on raising capital for startups, they begin to describe history of their companies, complete with soaring highs and seemingly bottomless lows. An emphasis is placed on the challenges of raising capital and the malleable nature of business ideas as ventures grow and occasionally need to pivot. Hearing their stories really brought home the realities of starting something from scratch, doing it while balancing classes and social life, and somehow keeping your sanity.
Afterwards we got up, stretched, and split off into breakout sessions consisting of 5 students and one panelist. As we shuffled towards our respective rooms I caught myself looking around at my fellow students and wondering how serious the people here were about starting something. Sure they had to get in a cab and go somewhere other than campus, but these sorts of events are often full of people just looking to listen, potentially dip a toe in, and leave with a sandwich surreptitiously stuffed in the back pocket of their jeans. As we got seated and did a quick introduction, which included our background, reasons for being here, and any ideas or companies we already had, my suspicions quickly evaporated.
These people were the real effing deal. Not “oh I have this great idea for a new iPhone app” real, I’m talking “We just signed a supply deal with Kimberly-Clark” real. After our panelist, Benjamin Lewis, humbly explained how his veterinary background and an experience saving a dog with an expired human stent led him to found a company specializing in veterinary surgical supplies that is currently sailing at a millions of dollars per year in revenue and expanding to Brazil, my jaw dropped. A few minutes later when, after some prying, he coolly mentioned that he was also the captain of the US kayaking team in the 2004 Olympics, I almost fell over in my chair. Who the hell ARE these people?!?
My breakout group was no less impressive. Dalton Wright, a venture capitalist from Utah, founded a company right out of college and later helped set up one of the most reputable venture funds in Mexico City. To his right a tanned Latin man named Jonathan Levenstein was looking for the next big thing since his company, which provided small loans to taxi drivers in Mexico, was now up and running smoothly. Someone I had just recently met and befriended, Zach Simkin, surprised me by explaining how his involvement in HYSO, a company whose flagship product automatically sanitized door handles, had led to a successful global supply agreement with Kimberly-Clark. Another gent with a media background shared that he had no entrepreneurial experience… aside from having just launched a new company 4 days prior that was working on a social Q&A app to serve as a one-stop polling center… No big deal. As the last to speak, I sheepishly shared my experience founding a company in Palo Alto with a friend over the summer that specialized in underground inspection cameras for pipeline investigation – a growing, but not exactly cool, niche. When I explained that I had gone to China in August to interview potential suppliers and was currently struggling through getting the first prototype to the US, I was offered help by someone who had experience with China-to-US importation. “Yes please!” I said, almost startling him. “I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing”.
And therein lies the wonder of the retreat. Not only had we found others who were serious about starting companies while here at Wharton, we had found a group who we could both commiserate with and learn from. The year hadn’t even fully begun and yet total strangers were already offering helping hands. When one member mentioned that he was having trouble finding a technical lead with a strong Facebook API background, Benjamin immediately pulled out his phone and gave him the info of an undergrad tech guru. “This guy is solid – if he can’t help you he can definitely point you in the direction of someone who can.” This kind of help is HUGE and often means the difference between sinking alone or swimming together.
Staring out the window at blurry and unfamiliar Philadelphia storefronts on my cab ride home, I felt grateful for the members of the many organizations who put this thing on. As overwhelmed as I was now, I was sure that more was yet to come for those committed to starting companies. Knowing that someone else can identify with that pain is comforting – knowing that they’ve got your back with events like these is an entirely different thing.
As I pulled into center city, I realized I would need to hone an intentional tunnel vision to get me through the gauntlet of info sessions, club emails, and leadership opportunities. Until I can see the light at the end of that tunnel, however, the Founders’ Retreat might just be the glimmer in the middle that keeps me moving forward in what can often be a scary, lonely darkness.
/eh