A presentation I gave the Asia-Pacific Students Entrepreneurship Society event on entrepreneurship at Stanford. Nov 17th 2008. www.gumballcapital.org

1. Starting up at Stanford
Stories and lessons from Gumball Capital
Jason Shen - Executive Director
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

2. what you’ll get today
who we are
our journey in starting up
lessons from from the road
lots of q&a
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

3. who we are
Gumball Capital
a Stanford-based nonprofit that engages
students to fight poverty through
entrepreneurship
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

4. who we are
An entrepreneurial competition where student teams
raise awareness and funds for microfinance
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

5. who we are
Gumball Fund
A revolving fund which makes microloans to
entrepreneurs in developing nations through Kiva
Gumball University
An online portal for people to learn more about
microfinance, social-e and starting a venture
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

6. our journey
Caveats:
nonprofit
student-run
not primarily tech based
Your path may differ, but the themes will be similar!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

7. the e-week challenge
Entered and won Stanford’s
2007 Entrepreneurship
Week Challenge
Raised 3k in 3 days in
pledges for microfinance
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

8. the e-week challenge
Stanford Resources
the competition itself
supportive students and faculty
Lesson Learned
Never, ever doubt the power of passionate people
faced with limited time and resource constraints
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

9. exploring possibilities
Decided to explore ways of continuing what we started
Struggled to define the driving purpose of our
organization
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

10. exploring possibilities
Stanford Resources
courses on social-e and starting a venture
GSB students with skills and experience
Lessons Learned
Make sure everyone is passionate about the same
vision
Focus your initial action plan to target a specific
problem/area/customer
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

11. launching the challenge
Late summer - decided to
run an entrepreneurial
microfinance benefit
competition
Two students took the
quarter off to coordinate
the work
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

12. launching challenge
Stanford Resources
flexibility of school for leaves of absence
helpful and high-caliber people at Stanford
Lesson Learned
Talk to lots and lots of people about your idea and
find a mentor to guide your efforts
Executing is imperative! Make sure you get the
right stuff done by the right time.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

13. fear and uncertainty
After challenge some members were burned out and
needed a break
Unclear who would lead the group and whether we
should continue at all
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

14. fear and uncertainty
Stanford Resources
not many... perhaps a detriment
Lessons Learned
Learn to delegate (easy to say!) responsibilities
Passion is what keeps you going
Accept that there is ALWAYS fear and uncertainty
when you start something new
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

15. clarity and commitment
We finally clarified what we were trying to do and
who would take the lead.
People are more likely to get involved in something
they understand.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

16. clarity and commitment
Stanford Resources
BASES Social E-Challenge
Freshmen!
Lessons Learned
When you finally “get” what you are doing, it
makes work much easier
To collaborate better - understand the strengths
and weaknesses of yourself and your team
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

17. where we are today
Launching Gumball University
(gumballuniversity.org)
Building Board of Directors
3-5 year planning
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

18. suggested reading
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
(he also has a new book - Reality Check)
The Dip by Seth Godin
(also has a new book - Tribes)
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston
(ALSO should be coming out with sequel soon)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

19. where we are today
Questions?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

20. contact info
Jason Shen
Gumball Capital
Executive Director
jason@gumballcapital.org
617.538.3678
Tuesday, November 18, 2008